Van Troxel resigns after 22 years at Lake City

Lake City football coach Van Troxel, the architect of one of the top programs in Idaho, resigned Thursday.

Troxel, who turns 62 in March, said it’s time to be a full-time grandpa.

“I thought it was time to make a change halfway through the season,” Troxel said.

Troxel built Lake City from the ground up, leaving a similar job at Hellgate High in Missoula when the Coeur d’Alene school opened in 1994.

In 22 seasons, the Timberwolves were 142-85-1, winning state championships in 2002 and 2006 and finishing runner-up twice.

“If I wasn’t the hardest working person in the program, including the kids and my assistants, then I couldn’t keep coaching because that’s the way I built it,” Troxel said.

In 37 years as a head coach, Troxel’s teams were 219-164-1. He was head coach at Hellgate for 13 years and got his start as a head coach in Hamilton, Montana, where he spent three years.

“Tireless worker. The hardest working coach I’ve been involved with,” LC athletic director Jim Winger said. “And he was a great leader. He built this from nothing.”

Troxel seemingly lived at LC 365 days a year. He often showered there. He intentionally bought his home “45 seconds” from the school.

“Lake City was his second home,” Winger said. “The record and the success speaks for itself.”

LC was 0-9 the first year, and there were significant growing pains the first three seasons. But in the fourth year, LC made the state playoffs and went on a streak of 17 straight years in the postseason. LC has 11 state football trophies in its trophy case.

In recent years, Troxel began to measure how much longer he wanted to coach.

“By Thanksgiving, I couldn’t wait to get started on next year,” Troxel said. “I didn’t want to do it this year. The drive wasn’t there.”

Troxel shared the news with the returning players on Monday.

“I told the kids that I’ve changed a lot in 39 years of doing this,” he said. “I changed how I did things a dozen times or more. Change is good. It’s time for a different person. Hopefully, they’ll keep some of the tradition going forward.”

LC finished 2-7 this fall in one of Troxel’s most trying seasons – almost as difficult, for different reasons, than his early years. The T-Wolves lost nine starters and 16 total players during the season. Most of the injuries were season ending.

“I’ve never had that happen in all the years of coaching,” Troxel said. “We were never the team I believed we could have been. Just when you thought you were on track there were more injuries.”

Troxel said he’ll endorse defensive coordinator and LC graduate Travis Harmon as his replacement.

Winger said he’s not sure of the timeline but plans to open the position soon. In the mean time, Harmon has taken over program duties, Troxel said.

“I’m making the right decision for the program and myself,” Troxel said. “We’ve got great memories. And I’m excited about what’s ahead.”

CdA coach Shawn Amos and Troxel had mutual respect for each other in a town divided by two schools. Amos survived early difficult years to build CdA into a powerhouse and winners of three state titles in the last six years.

“Van set the bar in North Idaho for what it takes to be successful,” Amos said. “I have learned a lot from watching how he runs his program. He has the ability to be very demanding, but his players still love and respect him. Even though our programs are rivals and we have been competing against each other for 20 years, we have maintained a friendship and mutual respect for each other. It will be very strange playing Lake City and not seeing Van on the other sideline.”

Troxel coached his two sons, Chad and Matt.

Matt is the offensive line coach for Mike Kramer at Idaho State University. Chad is a medical device salesman in Bozeman, Montana, and his daughter, Ashley, is a teacher in Spokane.

Troxel’s wife, Karen, is an elementary principal in CdA.

Troxel graduated from Moscow High in 1972 and went on to play quarterback at Montana.

His late father, Ed, coached at Idaho and is considered the early Godfather of prep football in Idaho. He built Borah in Boise into a powerhouse before moving on to Idaho.

After leaving Idaho, Ed landed at Kennewick High. He coached there until he retired.