Dan Fritz has been dismissed as head football coach at Willamette High School after seven seasons.
Fritz had an overall record of 31-37 with the Wolverines, including a 15-24 Midwestern League record. He led the Wolverines to a share of the Midwestern League title in 2007, but Willamette finished 2-7, including 1-6 in league play, last season.
?The principal asked me to step down,? Fritz said. ?I think he was caving in to a few parents.
?I?m a little frustrated with it. I thought we were starting to turn things around. We had a tough year, but we could have been 5-4 as easily as 2-7 with just a couple more plays. I thought we did well considering the young kids we had.?
Willamette principal Peter Burrows declined to give specifics for Fritz?s dismissal, but said he appreciated the work he has done for the school.
?I can?t speak to specific events that may or may not have taken place,? Burrows wrote in an e-mail to The Register-Guard. ?We?re moving forward with the process to find the next leader of our football program. Dan?s a great mentor, a longtime Willamette teacher, and we truly appreciate all the work he?s put into the program. We?re going to continue building the program.?
Fritz was hired in 2006 when Skip Raish retired after 25 years at the school. Fritz was an assistant to Raish for nine seasons, including six seasons as defensive coordinator, before being named head coach.
In Fritz?s second season as head coach, Willamette went 4-1 in Midwestern play to share the league title with Thurston. The Wolverines beat Hillsboro in the second round of the playoffs before losing to Bend in overtime in the quarterfinals.
Willamette went 6-4 in 2008 and then finished 3-7 in 2009 and 1-8 in 2010. The Wolverines tied for third in the MWL at 4-3 in 2011 and finished 5-4 overall after losing a play-in game against Lebanon.
?Our overall record was right around .500 and I thought we did a good job with where we were at,? Fritz said. ?I took over a program that had gone two years in a row with a losing record and then the second year we won the league title. The last couple years we struggled a bit with injuries and youth.?
Fritz, who began his coaching career as an assistant at North Eugene from 1989-96, said he plans to continue coaching in the area.
Willamette athletic director Barry Bokn said the deadline for applicants is Friday and the school hopes to have a new coach hired by March 1.
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