Vertis Patton helped lead the Vikings to two league titles and three playoff appearances over his tenure.
The Montgomery High School football program will be looking for new leadership.
Head coach Vertis Patton announced this week he is stepping down after leading the Vikings for the past seven seasons. Patton turned in his letter of resignation earlier this week and informed his players he was stepping down in a team meeting Tuesday night.
“I just think it was my time to go at Montgomery,” Patton told The Press Democrat on Wednesday. “You feel like you’ve done everything you could do, and you want to give someone else a chance to elevate it to a higher level.”
Patton said his staff will be staying on to oversee offseason workouts while the school looks for his replacement.
Montgomery went 29-37 since Patton took over in 2018, but he helped lead the Vikings to two North Bay League-Redwood division titles and three North Coast Section playoff appearances over his tenure.
Montgomery went 8-3 in his first year in 2018, which snapped a four-year streak of losing seasons.
“On behalf of everyone here at Montgomery, we would like to thank Vertis Patton for his time and dedication to the Montgomery High School Football program,” the Montgomery Administration and Athletic Department said in a press release Wednesday. “Over the past seven years Vertis has poured his heart and soul into his team and the hundreds of athletes who have worn the Viking uniform. Vertis brought a level of passion and dedication that helped shape the culture of his team, and along with his coaching staff and family he invested countless hours in making this a better place.
“It is with great gratitude and appreciation that we wish him luck in his future endeavors as a coach and we know he has left the program in a positive place for the next Head Football Coach at Montgomery.”
Patton said he was most proud of the work he and his staff did with their players off the field with grades and their personal lives.
“I was around when (Jason) Franci was around and coaching, I played against him and just watching what he did with the program was amazing,” he said of the late longtime Montgomery coach for whom the school’s football field is named. “I just didn’t want to mess it up, I wanted to make sure I treated it with care and respect for him and what he did in those years. That’s what we came in to do and I thought we did that.”
Montgomery finished its 2024 campaign last week at 4-7 overall following a 39-33 season-ending loss to Petaluma in the first round of the NCS Division 6 playoffs.
Patton wants to continue coaching next year, but he’s not sure where yet.
“It was a fun ride,” he said. “Every game was fun, regardless of win or loss. I enjoyed it very much and I’s thankful that Montgomery gave me this opportunity.”
You can reach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JustGusPD.
