Brian Boyd is no longer the football coach at Gilroy High, but how that happened isn't entirely clear.
"The position is open," Gilroy assistant principal Bruce Corbett said when asked about the situation late Tuesday morning. "Brian resigned for family reasons. He has a son in college playing football in Oregon and a younger one here and he can't watch both play and hang on to the program."
Added Corbett: "He did a great job. We had a transition a few years ago (with Christoper High opening) and it cuts the talent pool in half and so you have to go out and rebuild with what's left and get new players, but we were not dissatisfied at all."
Boyd on Tuesday discounted that version of events, emphatically stating he did not resign.
"I was asked to resign because I didn't win enough football games," he said. "I'm not too happy. I asked that if I won two or three more games and beat (intra-city rival) Christopher would we be having this meeting, and was told no."
Boyd was the fifth coach at Gilroy since 2008, taking over for Steve Lo, who went 2-8 in his only year as the Mustangs' coach. Lo is now the offensive coordinator at Serra. Gilroy went a combined 10-20 in Boyd's three years as coach, including a 3-7 record in 2014.
Boyd said a wave of injuries took their toll this past season with eight starters sidelined including four who were two-way starters. He also said football players' grades improved while he was the coach and the financial status of the program improved dramatically during his tenure.
A graduate of the now-closed Blackford High in San Jose and a former San Jose City College player, Boyd said he was taken aback at what he described as his dismissal.
"There was zero indication during the season and I didn't have any inclination this would happen," he said.
Boyd said he heard before a meeting he requested with the Gilroy administration that Corbett brought a possible coaching replacement onto campus. Boyd said the visiting coach was introduced to one of the Mustangs' returning team captains, among others, and that it got back to Boyd's son Christian and other Mustang players. Those players in turn began asking if Boyd was getting fired, Boyd said.
"This wasn't a good subject for us to have at home with my wife asking why my boy has to deal with this," Boyd said.
Corbett, reached for a second time on Tuesday shortly after noon, said that's not what happened.
"Not at all," said the former San Benito High football coach and current Gilroy administrator. "He misconstrued that. A coach who I used to coach with many years ago stopped by to see me. I've known him for over 20 years and we chatted. We're old friends."
Corbett said he had planned on reuniting with the visiting coach for several months and that his appearance on campus was unrelated to the Gilroy football job. He also said it's not unusual for old friends to stop by and visit.
Asked again if Boyd was fired or decided to resign, Corbett said: "It was a mutual thing. I think the biggest thing tearing at him is his family obligation. It's difficult because he has a son in college in Oregon and he wants to attend the games and he has a young son who will be on junior varsity next year. If you look at the whole trajectory of things, it's hard to serve two masters, with both sons playing football and the demands on a varsity coach which are great. So we're moving forward and we'll have a new coach."
Both Boyd and Corbett agreed it's the desire of the Gilroy administration to elevate the Mustangs from the weaker MBL-Pacific to the formidable MBL-Gabilan. That's an arguably tall order since the Gabilan is one of the stronger leagues in the Central Coast Section and the talent pool in Gilroy has been divided in recent years since Christopher opened.
Regarding the events of the past week, Boyd emphasized he would not resign as coach because that would suggest he was quitting on the players. He said if the Gilroy administration said what's transpired in the past week was all a mistake and he could be the coach again, he would.
Informed of that, Corbett said: "It was not a mistake. We sat down and decided the trajectory of the program was not what it would take to be successful and get us to the next level. It's our intention to get into the Gabilan Division and so there's a question of how do you attend your sons' games and do that. It would be a burden on him. We welcome him as a (assistant) coach and he'll be a good one with us or wherever he lands."
Boyd said Christopher coach Tim Pierleoni has already asked him to join the Cougar staff. Boyd also said there are no plans for his younger son to leave Gilroy, where Brian Boyd had hoped to coach for at least another three years.
Boyd's older son Brandon rushed for more then 2,300 yards and scored 30 touchdowns his senior year at Gilroy while playing for his father as the Mustangs managed their best record (5-5) in four years. He rushed for close to 5,000 yards in his Mustang career, though he missed more than half his junior year due to injury. Brandon red-shirted (sat out) last season at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, about 20 minutes outside of Portland.
Brian Boyd said he informed his players last Friday of his status.
Boyd, 49, was not an on-campus coach. He delivers water for Alhambra, but said was on campus during football by 1 or 1:30 p.m. each day.
He said he feels blind-sided by his loss of the football job.
"This was all a big surprise to me and my coaching staff and everyone really," Boyd said. "A lot of parents and people in the community our unhappy, including myself."
