Rich Landis is stepping away from his football coaching duties in order to focus on his roles as SouthLake's athletic director and dean of students. He also remains the school's baseball coach.
"The administration of the school wants me to go in a different direction within the school," Landis said this week. "And that direction is more of a focus as athletic director and dean of students."
Landis' football teams were 60-41 in nine seasons, including a two-year mark of 17-8 when SouthLake began its program by playing eight-man football in 2003 and 2004.
After a 2-8 campaign in 2009, the Eagles were 18-6 the past two years, including a school-best 10-2 last fall. SouthLake reached the state semifinals in both of those seasons, giving the school three state semifinal appearances overall. The 2007 Eagles were 9-3 and also reached the state's final four.
SouthLake has promoted associate head coach/offensive coordinator Geoff 'Bub' O'Donnell into the head coaching role. O'Donnell has spent the past two seasons on Landis' staff and was an assistant coach at Davidson College from 1993-98. Landis' younger brother Tim was Davidson's head coach at the time.
"Geoff's impressive collegiate coaching experience will serve him well as he builds on our football program's already solid foundation and takes it to the next level," SouthLake Headmaster Wayne Parker said in a statement. "Most important, however, is that Geoff agrees with SouthLake's philosophy of excellence on and off the field. Our football program's mission is to produce young men who not only perform on the gridiron, but in the classroom as well."
Landis has been athletic director since 2005 and dean of students since 2006. The Junior Eagle Football Association (JEFA) program, which includes nearly 200 players, was launched under his watch in 2005. His Eagles baseball team won the NCISAA 2A title last spring.
Landis was hired at SouthLake in 2002 to teach science and begin SouthLake's baseball program. Soon after, he made a presentation to the administration about starting football.
"Over the past 10 years, SouthLake Christian's athletic program has grown beyond our wildest expectations," said Parker. "In large part to Rich's commitment to leading our student-athletes and coaches, SouthLake Christian now offers 17 varsity sports that compete at the NCISAA Class 3A level and fields 38 middle school and high school teams. In order to meet the challenges ahead, SouthLake Christian has hired Geoff to take over our football program so that Rich can devote more time and energy to the global vision of our athletic department."
