Longtime Bainbridge High School football Head Coach Andy Grimm will not be returning to the gridiron next season, school officials announced Friday.
“This is strictly a football decision,” BHS Principal Duane Fish said. “We’ve decided it’s time to make a change. That is not a reflection at all on the type of man Coach Grimm is. He is widely well thought of.”
Grimm, an iconic figure in the school’s athletic department, had led the team for nearly 20 years. He will remain Head Coach of the school’s track and field team as well as the Health and Physical Education teacher, BHS Athletic Director Kaycee Taylor said Friday.
“It’s a decision that was not come to lightly,” he added.
Grimm could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.
Fish said that the decision to seek a new coach was made as part of an effort to revitalize the Spartan football program.
“It’s not all about wins and losses,” he said. “It’s more about getting a positive energy around the program, and building it into something that we know it’s possible that we could have here on Bainbridge Island.”
Grimm would be more than welcome, Fish added, to continue to be a part of the football program should he so choose and if the new coach was amenable to it.
The coach himself was notified of the decision a week before the public announcement.
“Out of respect for his decades of dedication to the program, school and community, Coach Grimm was given time to inform his coaches, team and families prior to any public announcement by BHS,” Fish said in the email sent to school faculty. “A former graduate of Bainbridge High School, Coach Grimm is a caring, kind professional and highly thought of in our community. Bainbridge High School and all those who have been influenced by his football leadership are truly grateful for the 17 seasons Coach Grimm led the Spartan program.”
The process to secure a new head football coach began immediately after the official decision was made, Fish explained.
“Once located and hired, the new head football coach will build his staff of assistants and lower level head coaches with the assistance of the athletic department,” he said, adding that all other current football coaches will have the opportunity to apply for positions under the new head football coach.
