Chad Eppley has stepped down after five seasons as the Northridge football coach, the school announced on Tuesday.

He was 33-28 in his time as the Raiders coach, leading Northridge to the state finals in his first season in 2021 and to regionals in 2022. Northridge was just 6-15 in over the last 2 years.

Eppley will stay on as a teacher at Northridge and will take over as the boys track and field coach this spring.

“I am honored to have had the opportunity to lead this program for the last five years,” Eppley said in a statement released by the school. “I was able to work with incredible athletes, coaches and support staff along the way. For the betterment of myself and my family, I decided it is best for me to step down as the head football coach at Northridge High School. I am extremely proud of everything that my players, my coaching staff and myself accomplished during my time. I came into the program preaching FAMILY and my hope is that the student athletes and coaches felt that. I want to thank everyone who helped and supported me along the way. GET SOME!”

Eppley took over the program at the age of 26 from his high school football coach at Wawasee Tom Wogomon after Wogomon stepped down following the 2020 Covid season.

“Coach Eppley did things the right way,” Northridge Athletic Director Ryan Bales said. “He always put the players first and no matter the situation he was dealing with or the opponent he was going up against, he never lost belief in his players. So many times over the past five years we came in as an underdog and he found a way for us to be competitive and in a lot of cases found ways to win. I am grateful for the time we have had together and I am thankful he is remaining here at NHS as a teacher and a track and field coach. We are a better school with people like him in our building. We have some resilient and hard-nosed football players and believe this is a great job for our next head coach.”

Bales says the search for a new head coach football coach begins immediately. Interested candidates should contact him.