Wawasee football head coach Josh Ekovich announced his resignation from his football coaching position Friday.

SYRACUSE – Josh Ekovich stepped down Friday as the Wawasee football coach.

He had some good reasons for his well thought out decision too.

“It comes down to things have changed as time has past,” said Ekovich in a phone interview Saturday morning. “My kids are eight, five and three now. They will only be eight, five and three once. Spending time with them is huge and has always been in the back on my mind.

“We took our first family vacation over Spring Break and I realized what I’m missing.

“I’m also finishing up some grad school stuff and this opens up other opportunities down the line if I want to pursue them. I went back and forth on this, but I’m at peace with it. It’s in the best interest for me to do it now to give the school an opportunity to hire someone else.”

Ekovich guided Wawasee to an overall mark of 18-22 during his four-year tenure. The Warriors were 11-17 in Northern Lakes Conference play during that span.

“I’m going to miss the kids and the effort and commitment that they put into the program,” remarked Ekovich. “I’m going to miss the coaches in the NLC and the competition. But, I’ll miss the little moments with the kids probably the most.”

Wawasee posted a 4-6 overall mark and finished 2-5 in the NLC during the 2016 season.

“I think that the program is in good shape and there is a good foundation there for the next coach,” said Ekovich, who spent six years total coaching at Wawasee. “There is some skill, experience and depth coming back for next season. There has been consistency, discipline and accountability in the program. I think that there are things to build off of.”

Ekovich, who lives in Kendallville, spent two seasons as an assistant before taking over when Tom Wogomon left to take over at Northridge.

Ekovich plans to remain at Wawasee as a physical education teacher.