After guiding the program to five winning seasons in seven years, Matthew Christ has stepped down as Westerville South football coach.
The Wildcats qualified for the Division II, Region 7 playoffs the past five seasons. They reached a regional quarterfinal this fall, losing to eventual state champion Massillon Washington 50-7 to finish 7-5.
Christ announced his decision Wednesday in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
"Change is an inevitable part of life," he said in the statement. "Much has changed in the landscape of high school and college sports over the last several years. Those changes certainly have caused me to evaluate the controllables within my life.
"Change is never easy and as much as I don't want to, I need to make a change for myself and my family. After much reflection and prayer, I have arrived at the choice to resign from the position as the head football coach at Westerville South."
South went 46-29 overall and 27-14 in OCC play under Christ, winning league titles in 2022 and 2020. The Wildcats went 11-2 in 2022 , their most wins since finishing 11-1 in 1995.
"Coach Christ ran a first-class program and is a fantastic representative of Westerville South High School and the Westerville City School District," athletic director Jeff Good said. "We are grateful for his leadership and commitment to defend the standard. I am happy for Matthew and look forward to what comes next."
Peter Pedrozo, a 2021 graduate who guided the Wildcats' offense at quarterback for three seasons, credits Christ for the program's success.
"I was shocked when I saw (the announcement) at first," said Pedrozo, a junior at Otterbein. "Obviously, once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat. I hate to see him leave, but first and foremost, he's going to look after his best interests, his family.
"I couldn't have asked for a better coach. He was a young coach coming in. He always kept his energy up, spirit up. He was really enthusiastic in team meetings, during practice and especially on the sideline."
Before accepting his first head-coaching position at South in 2017 , Christ had been an associate head coach at Grandview Heights since 2012, also serving as defensive coordinator, linebackers coach and wide receivers coach. Grandview made the playoffs in 2014 and 2015.
Christ was the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Dublin Jerome in 2011, and previously was an assistant at McComb (defensive backs, wide receivers) and Ohio Northern (defensive graduate assistant).
A 2008 graduate of Albright College, he was a four-year starter at free safety for the Lions, earning Division III All-American recognition in 2007.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Matthew Christ steps down as Westerville South football coach
