- April 22, 2024
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Matanzas football coach Keith Lagocki confirmed Friday morning that he has resigned after eight seasons.
Lagocki, who also resigned as the boys weightlifting coach, has been the only football coach since the program began at the high school in the 2005-06 school year.
Over eight seasons, Lagocki compiled a 26-45 record. He informed his players of his decision on Friday morning.
“My only regret is that we didn’t win more,” Lagocki said Friday in a phone interview. “We, being the coaches and the players, worked our tails off to try and do that. And that’s really the only place left for the program to go — is to get where I just couldn’t get it.”
Lagocki said spending more time with his family, including his 1-year-old son, was the deciding factor in his decision to move on.
“There were sometimes where I would go two or three days without seeing my son awake ... and that’s not fair to him and my family,” Lagocki said.
Lagocki said he wouldn’t rule out a return to the football field in the future, but definitely “not in the immediate future.”
“I just want to relax and be a good father,” he said.
Matanzas Athletics Director Ken Seybold said Friday that the administration will begin its coaching search in December. The search will be both internal and external, and he didn’t rule out promoting any of the coaches currently on the staff.
“When Keith came here, and a lot of people don’t see this, but there was nothing here,” Seybold said Friday. “There wasn’t a football here; there wasn’t a needle to pump up a football.”
But at the end of the day, Seybold said, the program is measured on wins and losses.
“If there were some more wins, I think things in general would have been easier for him,” Seybold said. “He put a lot of time into this program, and I think it weighed on him that he didn’t win more.”
According to Seybold, Lagocki will remain on the Matanzas staff as a teacher. “He’s a tremendous educator,” Seybold said.
Seybold said Lagocki is a huge reason both the football and weightlifting programs even exist.
“We’re close friends and it’s hard for me, but it’s not about me, it’s about Keith,” Seybold said.
Lagocki said he wanted to announce his decision early in the offseason process to allow a new coaching staff to take over as soon as possible.
One thing is certain, though. Lagocki will miss spending time on the field with his players.
“I always told the kids the best part of my day is the time I spent with them out on the field, and that’s what I’m going to miss most,” Lagocki said.
