Ryan Huisenga doesn’t know where he’ll be on fall weekends over the next few years.
Could be Arizona. Could be Washington or Oregon. Could be Illinois or Kansas.
It won’t be on the sidelines at Moorpark High.
Huisenga, 50, resigned Monday after eight seasons as Moorpark High head football coach.
“It is with mixed emotions that I submit my resignation,” Huisenga wrote in his resignation letter. “It has been an honor and dream to lead this program.”
With his twin sons approaching graduation and poised to continuing playing football on college campuses to be named later, Huisenga is planning on joining the rest of the family in the stands.
The football coach is shifting roles to football dad.
“They could be playing for another four or five years,” Huisenga said. “I intend to enjoy that.”
His twin sons Quinn and Tyler starred as a linebacker and receiver, respectively, for the 8-3 Musketeers this past fall.
As their recruiting heated up over the past five weeks, Huisenga began seriously considering his future.
He thought about a relative who recently played at Minot State. He was able to follow his games on Saturday, but not in person.
“I could never go and watch him,” Huisenga said. “There was no way I could justify still being a head coach. I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.”
Moorpark was 47-34 (.580) in the eight seasons since the former Moorpark High and Cal Lutheran University quarterback took over from Tim Lins in January 2017.
“He’s had a long tenure of coaching here and Cal Lutheran,” Moorpark athletic director Rob Dearborn said. “It’s been pretty special. It’s always great when you have alumni coaching your program.”
As quarterback in 1993, Huisenga led Moorpark to a 9-2-1 record, its best season in seven decades.
“He turned the tide for Moorpark High School,” Dearborn said. “He’s hard to replace.”
As head coach in 2017, Huisenga led Moorpark to a 11-4 record and a berth in the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 final. That team was memorable for an explosive and acrobatic receiver named Drake London.
Moorpark won 17 games over the past two seasons, going 9-2 with a share of the Canyon League title in 2023 and 8-3 in 2024.
“I wanted to do what Tim (Lins) did for me, and make sure the cupboard wasn’t bare for my successor,” Huisegna said. “Last season, the freshman won league title, the JV won league title and (the varsity) was a two-point play away from a league title.”
The recent efforts of Huisenga and an alumni-heavy coaching staff make the Moorpark job attractive.
“He’s leaving the program in a really good place,” Dearborn said. “I’m sure we’ll have a good pool of candidates to pick from.”
Joe Curley covers high school, collegiate and professional football for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook and TikTok.

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