Las Vegas High football coach Chris Faircloth, who was one of the state's most successful coaches of the last decade, resigned this week to spend more time with his family. Longtime assistant James Thurman will replace Faircloth, the school announced.
Faircloth's teams were 78-17 in his seven seasons and he led the Wildcats to Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Class 4A state titles in 2005 and 2006. Las Vegas also won five straight Sunrise Region titles before falling 27-20 to Foothill (Henderson) in the opening round in 2009.
Las Vegas went 11-2 last season, reaching the Sunrise Region final where it lost 35-14 to Liberty (Henderson). The Wildcats featured two of the state's top prospects from the Class of 2012 in quarterback
Hasaan Henderson and running back
Farrell Victor.
"I don't think I've probably been as good a father or spent as much time as I needed to with my kid," Faircloth told Nevadapreps.com, referring to his 9-year-old son, Grant. "I needed to do that before the window closes. That was the deciding factor."
Thurman has been on the staff at Las Vegas for 14 years and was the team's defensive line coach and special teams coordinator last season.
"It's always been a goal to be a head coach, but I wasn't in a hurry," Thurman told Nevadapreps.com. "I would have worked for Faircloth for 15 more years if he would have let me. But when you get this opportunity, you can't pass it up. Hopefully we don't mess it up."
Faircloth is one of the most recognizable coaches in the Vegas valley, having spent 12 years as an assistant with the Wildcats before taking over as coach.
"It's just the interaction with the kids; it's probably the best part of the whole experience," Faircloth told Nevadapreps.com. "Coaches have a huge influence on who kids end up being, what their futures may end up being. That's a big deal. A lot of times you're almost like their parents to them, and that's all coaches. It's meaningful. That part of it, I'm definitely going to miss."
Faircloth informed the players of his decision Wednesday, according to Nevadapreps.com. He will remain at the school as a business teacher and expects the continuity in the coaching staff to aid the program as it goes through the transition.
"The idea that the rest of the coaches are going to be there is comforting to them that life's not going to drastically change and they know how they're going to be treated and everything else," Faircloth told Nevadapreps.com.
Other football coaching changes:
1. Chris Littmann takes over at
Desert Oasis (Las Vegas) for Faron Seibel, who was 15-6 in two years as coach. Littmann was the school's offensive line coach the past two seasons.
2. Valley (Las Vegas) tabbed assistant Marcus Sherman to take over for John Elwell, who was 10-22 in three seasons. Elwell helped two players, Kerwynn Williams (Utah State) and Garic Wharton (Arizona), move on to Football Bowl Subdivision schools.
3. Sunrise Mountain (Las Vegas) hired Ky Edwards as the second coach in school history. He replaces Jason Basso, who was 2-17 in his two seasons.
4. Derek Bennett was hired at
Hug (Reno), replacing interim coach Brad Bodine. Bennett has been on the staff for six years and was the running backs/defensive backs coach in 2010. Longtime Hug coach Rollins Stallworth resigned in July.
5. Gabe Gledhill resigned Monday at
Shadow Ridge (Las Vegas) after going 12-28 in four seasons.
6. Green Valley (Henderson) is still searching for a replacement for Matt Gerber. Gerber was 24-30 in five years, winning a share of the Southeast League title in 2008.
