Skyview football coach resigns after 20 years. The close call that showed him it’s time
After 28 years working with other people’s children, Skyview High football coach David Young said it’s time to focus on his own.
Young resigned as the Hawks’ football coach Friday, ending a 20-year run in which he led Skyview to a 104-96 record (.520 winning percentage) and 16 playoff appearances.
Young, 48, said football allowed him to coach and spend time with his two sons, Camden and Brady. But his daughter, Jacie, is a sophomore at the school and a budding dance, volleyball and track athlete of her own.
Young said his daughter nearly made the varsity volleyball team this fall, which crystallized the difficult choices he soon would face: Abandon his team during the state playoffs or miss his only daughter play at the state volleyball tournament.
“I don’t want to have to make those decisions going forward,” Young said. “I don’t want to be put in that spot again. Because I’ll never turn my daughter down.”
Young led Skyview to four 4A Southern Idaho Conference titles (2006, ‘11, ‘14, ‘17) and to a second-place finish in the 2013 4A state playoffs, the best finish in program history. But he said his favorite memories came off the field.
“The games are exciting,” Young said. “But most of the fun stuff is in the summertime and going to the Idaho State camp and sleeping in the dome with the team.
“I don’t care if we win or lose. I’d rather have a good experience. Of course, you want the team to be the best it can be. But just enjoying those down times, the bonding times, that’s what I’ll really miss.”
Skyview Athletic Director Eric Bonds coached alongside Young for 19 years and said he always did right by the program and the school.
“He rebuilt this program twice from the ground up — once, when he first got here, and again when Columbia opened up,” Bonds said. “He’s a great person. He’s a great family man. He’ll be missed on the field, but he’ll still be in the school.”
Bonds said the school has not set a timeline for hiring a new coach. But he knows Skyview won’t find another coach like Young.
“The old cliche is somebody has big shoes to fill,” Bonds said. “But we don’t want them to fill his shoes. We want them to bring their own shoes.”
Young said the program remains in strong shape, from its equipment inventory to its budget. And he pointed out Skyview will return six to seven starters on defense and four on offense next season.
“The offense needs to be rebuilt, but the junior class is good and the sophomore class is strong,” said Young, who remains Skyview’s track coach. “We had four sophomores on varsity, and three of them started both ways in any given game. So there’s a nice corps to build on.”
Young adds to the growing list of football coaching changes in the 5A and 4A Southern Idaho Conference this offseason. Bishop Kelly, Caldwell, Capital, Centennial, Nampa and Owyhee will also have new leadership next fall.
This story was originally published January 6, 2023 at 4:57 PM.
