In football as in life, all good things must eventually come to
an end.
So it goes for the Windsor High School football program after
successful veteran coach Jason Fayter announced his resignation
from the varsity post last week.
Fayter made the surprise announcement after guiding his team to
a 6-4 record and an NCS playoff spot this season, citing family
reasons for his departure.
Easily the winningest coach in school football history, Fayter
took over a floundering program in 2003 with the varsity team mired
in a 26-game losing streak.
That year, the entire high school roster consisted of just 17
players- a far cry from the 100 kids making up the frosh, JV and
varsity teams this year.
A former star quarterback at Cloverdale High School before going
on to play at Butte College and Sonoma State University, Fayter
came to Windsor after piloting the Frazier Mountain High School
football team in Southern California to its Section playoffs.
Fayter inherited a Jaguar football program that was on
life-support, perhaps a risky move for a young coach with winning
aspirations.
“Some people thought I was crazy when I took the coaching job,”
said the 36-year-old Fayter, whose wife Barbara is expecting the
couple’s first child in May. “But it was great to be a part of
rebuilding the program- taking it from where it was to where it is
now.”
To illustrate just how far Windsor football has come in a
relatively short period of time, the varsity Jaguars had compiled
an overall mark of 4-36 in the four years prior to Fayter’s
arrival, and went 38-34 with three NCS playoff appearances in the
subsequent seven seasons.
The local football future looks even brighter, with the junior
varsity squad completing its third straight unbeaten season this
fall.
“It was a matter of changing the football culture at Windsor,”
said Fayter, who teaches Physical Education at the school. “I think
we laid a great foundation for a winning tradition.”
The Windsor High School administration has posted the vacant
coaching job and is excepting applications until Dec. 18. Athletic
Director Gene Sandwina hopes to name a successor by Feb. 1,
2010.
