MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Trinity’s football team has experienced a solid start to the 2022 season by winning three of its first four games.
If the Warriors are to maintain and build on their success the remainder of this season, they’ll have to do so with a new head coach.
On Monday night, Christopher Simpson submitted his letter of resignation to the school in what was his third season as head coach of a program that was restored in 2019 following five years without football.
“It was an extremely difficult decision,” Simpson said. “When you come to a crossroads professionally, sometimes it’s better to walk away. I wish Trinity the best and I loved coaching the kids there.”
Simpson acknowledged ongoing disagreements between he and Trinity’s administration ultimately played a part in the resignation, though he did not wish to elaborate.
“When you leave something, you hope you left it better than you found it,” Simpson said. “I’d like to think we did that.”
Simpson estimated half of the Trinity staff will stay in place, with associate head coach/defensive coordinator Mike McKenzie serving as interim head coach the remainder of this season.
“At the end of the day, the most important thing is the kids,” Simpson said. “We knew we couldn’t all walk away, because that would hurt the kids, and that’s not fair. Half are staying and half are walking away. I’m proud of the guys staying for the good of the kids.”
Trinity, a private school that opened in 1997, brought football back in 2019 when it fielded a varsity program for only the second time.
That season, former West Virginia University defensive back Marcus Law was Trinity’s head coach, while Simpson was an assistant.
Simpson became head coach prior to the start of a 2020 COVID-shortened season, and the Warriors’ record improved from 2-8 to 4-3.
In 2021, Trinity was 7-2 in the regular season and earned a spot in the Class A playoffs, before falling in its postseason opener at James Monroe.
Per West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission enrollment figures, Trinity, with an enrollment of 72, is the smallest high school in West Virginia that fields a football program. Hundred is the next smallest with an enrollment of 101. Several similar-sized private schools do not currently have football, including Notre Dame, Parkersburg Catholic and Greater Beckley Christian.
“You have to be creative in the ways you teach football and creative on Friday nights to scheme a way to use their talents to the best their ability and stay from their weaknesses,” Simpson said.
The Warriors have 14 players presently after finishing last season with 16.
“You know you’re doing the right things when you can take a small group like that and get the most out of them,” Simpson said. “If anything is taken away from this, it’s understanding you have to build on character, quality, hustle and determination.”
Simpson was previously head coach of the semi-professional West Virginia Smash and is hopeful he’s not through with coaching football.
“I’m looking forward to the next step in my coaching career,” he said. “Wherever that may be.”
Simpson finishes his tenure at Trinity with a 14-7 record.
The Warriors play Friday at Millersport (Ohio).