With an unexpected vacancy at the top of the South Tahoe High football program, the school’s vice principal and athletic administrator, Jack Stafford, said on Friday that he wouldn’t comment about the Vikings’ next varsity coach until today.

Nick Samaras, who cited personal reasons for resigning last week, was set to enter his second season with the program before a sudden switch in plans. Although defensive line coach Mike Gorman has been rumored to be the leading candidate to replace Samaras, one person who isn’t interested in the position is former coach Todd McIntyre.

“If the circumstances are right, I’ll coach again but not right now,” said McIntyre, who also mentioned he was surprised to hear of Samaras resigning. “I thought he was doing a good job and he got it rolling. I thought he was in it for the long haul.”

The Vikings participated in a summer camp July 22 and 23 in Sacramento. According to Duane Wallace, the son of senior lineman Miles Wallace, STHS allowed just two touchdowns and scored six TDs in 18 quarters of action.

“We’re all really disappointed to see coach Samaras go,” Duane Wallace said. “The kids were really excited about the offense he was switching to and the way things were going.”

With six different varsity coaches in six years, STHS has lacked consistent leadership in its football program ever since longtime coach Tim Jaureguito left the school following the 2000 season. (Jaureguito became an administrator at Bishop Manogue.) The coaching carousel in the football program has not been a pleasant experience for Stafford or athletic director Don Borges.

Samaras was hired about 14 months ago after Borges’ first choice to fill the coaching vacancy opted to stay in North Carolina. Before the 2002 season, former University of Nevada quarterback Eric Beavers resigned under protest prior to his second season due to an integrity issue.

During the 2002 offseason, 60 players agreed to an increased emphasis on weight lifting and conditioning, but during that spring about half of the players stopped fulfilling their promises. As a result, Beavers didn’t want to accept the “uncommitted” players on his team.

The school decided that those players could still try out for the varsity, though Beavers offered to coach the Vikings’ “dedicated” junior varsity team players. School administrators wanted Beavers to follow through with his obligation to coach the varsity, but two days before the start of preseason practice, Beavers reluctantly tendered his resignation.

“Based on what I believe to be implied threats to my career as a teacher, and my perhaps my future dismissal, I am, for all practical purposes, being forced to resign,” Beavers, a 1999 UNR Hall of Fame selection, told the Tribune.

Assistants Chris Morgan and Rod Robison stepped forward to lead the Vikings through the 2002 season. McIntyre, who was an assistant to Jaureguito for nearly 15 years, coached the team in 2003, then he and Beavers were co-coaches during the 2004 season.

South Tahoe went 1-8 last season and made the Northern 4A playoffs in 2003 and 2004. The Vikings open practice on Aug. 10 and are scheduled to kick off the 2006 season on Sept. 1 at Galena.

Viking coaching carousel

Year Coach(es)

2000 Tim Jaureguito

2001 Eric Beavers

2002 Chris Morgan and Rod Robison

2003 Todd McIntyre

2004 Todd McIntyre and Eric Beavers

2005 Nick Samaras

2006 ?????