BILL KISER

sports@newstopic.net

West Caldwell will begin searching for another head football coach following the resignation of Mike Setzer after two seasons.

Setzer, who played at West in the 1990s, turned in his resignation to school officials on Wednesday afternoon, then informed his players later that day.

"It's solely because of my family," Setzer, whose last day as a teacher is Feb. 19, said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "I've been apart from my family for almost two years. We've prayed on this a lot, but we feel this is the right thing to do to get my family back under one roof."

Setzer compiled a 1-21 record in two years heading the Warriors' program, which had not had a winning season since West went 10-3 under former coach Craig Styron, and last made the playoffs in 2004 under then-coach Mark Buffamoyer.

However, school officials were quick to say that the Warriors' record had nothing to do with Setzer's resignation.

"It's 100 percent his decision," West Caldwell athletics director Danny Anderson said in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon. "People will want to sit there and make something out of it that it's not, but the bottom line was that he had to make a decision about his family.

"He'll be the first to tell you that nobody's happy we didn't win as many games as we wanted to, but Mike is a quality, first-class guy who was doing things the right way as far as handling the kids. ... But two years without your family wears on you, and it speaks highly about him."

When Setzer took over as the Warriors' head coach in 2008 after four years at Saint Pauls, a 2A program near Lumberton in Robeson County, his wife Erica and youngest child, Theophilus (now age 3), remained in Lumberton, while his two older sons -- Sayvon, now 12, and Kane, 14 -- moved to Caldwell County with their father.

The plan then, according to Setzer and Anderson, was for Erica Setzer to find a job similar to that she held in Lumberton -- finance officer for the Robeson County Schools system -- in either Caldwell County or the surrounding area, then move.

However, the economy threw a monkey wrench into that plan, Setzer said.

"This decision has been a long process," Setzer said. "We made the decision to review this at Christmas, and then we decided to give it a little longer. But January turned into February. We talked to some people we thought could help with the resources to pull things together and help her find her a job here ... but we continued to get the same answer -- there's nothing out there right now.

"It's really nobody's fault -- it's the economy, and that's just how the way things are. Three years ago, there were jobs everywhere in her field, but right now, people who have those jobs aren't moving like they were three years ago."

The Warriors have gone 15-64 under three different head coaches -- Styron, Buffamoyer and Setzer -- since their last winning season, and currently have a 23-game conference losing streak.

But Setzer said that there was progress being made with the team.

"They were hurt, because there hasn't been the type of consistency that you need from a head coach," Setzer said. "There's (rising) seniors right now that will have their third head coach. That's tough on an individual, and tough on a program. If I had it any other way, I'd stay, but this is a 100 percent family decision."

Anderson said that he will sit down with WCHS principal Doug Rhoney within the next day or so to discuss hiring a replacement.

"Obviously, for the program we've got to move quick," Anderson said. "We'll probably talk a little bit today about what we need to do, how fast we need to move, those kind of things. ... We want to be quick about it, but we also don't want to rush and make a mistake. We don't want to overreact; we've got a lot of good people here who can help us until we figure out what we are going to do.

"I told the kids that what Mike's doing is what the real world is about -- making hard decisions. In a perfect world, he'd love to stay here and have his family here, but that didn't work out. ... It's a tough situation for him, because his heart feels like there's unfinished business here, but your family takes precedence over your ego."