In the span of three weeks, the area’s two longest continually tenured football coaches have resigned. On Oct. 23, Manchester’s Brandon Baker submitted his resignation after nine years at the school, and Monday, Triton’s Rodney Younis did the same thing after 11 years as coach of the Trojans. “I've really enjoyed my time doing this job, but it just takes a lot out of you,” Younis said about his decision. “This was my 11th year of coaching. I had thought about (stepping down) last year, but I decided to stick with it another year and see if I still had the same feelings. I did. The bottom line is, it's just very time consuming to be a head coach.” Younis’ decision had been long thought out, while Baker’s came more abruptly, just four days after his Squires fell 26-6 in the first round of the postseason at North Judson. During his time at Manchester, the Squires went 36-58, getting as far as the sectional championship in 2007. His best season came in 2009, when Manchester went 8-1 in the regular season, splitting the Three Rivers Conference title with Rochester. However, that season ended in the first round of the sectional as his team drew Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, which won that game 69-0 and went on to win the Class 2A state championship. While wins are important, Baker stressed those weren’t his main objective, and made that clear from the outset. “The relationship with the kids,” he said. “For me, that's what it's always been about. When I interviewed for the job nine years ago, I told them 'I have three goals I wanted out of the program: I want the players to learn how to overcome adversity; I want them to learn to work as a team; and I want them to learn the value of hard work.' I really think those three things will carry them far in life.” As one of the smallest teams in the Northern State Conference, Younis has always had to be able to deal with losing, having to go up against the likes of Jimtown, Bremen, John Glenn and New Prairie each year. “When you take a job at a place like this, obviously you know you're going to have those challenges week-in and week-out,” he said. “I welcomed those challenges.” Triton went 40-82 during his tenure, but the Trojans did win back-to-back sectional titles in 2007 and 2008 against other Class 1A teams. And like Baker, it was the teaching that kept Younis coming back as much as it was the coaching. “I really enjoyed working with the kids and building those relationships,” he said. “There's going to be a lot of things I miss about that. “There's been a number of kids I've been in contact with that I've been blessed to get to know,” he added. “I know I've made an impact on their lives, but what they might not know is these kids have made a huge impact on my life. We really tried to make it a family atmosphere. Those are the things that I walk away knowing I gave everything to this program and I have no regrets. We've had success and some down years, but overall, we've always had a team that competed and never gave up.” While he’s walking away from the head coaching position, he’s not ready to walk away completely. “It's not about getting out of football,” he said. “I still want to coach football, but the bottom line is, the number of hours you have to put in as a head coach, I'm just not willing to do that anymore. “This has become home for me,” he added. “What I told the kids is, 'I still want to be a part of the football program in some way.' Obviously, the coach that they hire may want to go in a different route and not want me to be on the coaching staff, but I'm definitely will to stay and help out.” And according to him, the next coach won’t be coming in with a depleted roster. “The cupboards are not bare,” he said. “We have a 17 kids returning that are varsity letter winners. The last two years, we've really played a lot of young kids. There's definitely some potential here that they can build on.” Younis is pleased with the talent he’s developed on the field, and Baker seems just as content with what he did at Manchester. “I have no regrets over the things we've done the last nine years,” Baker said. “I can walk away happy.”
