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Quilhaugh steps down as North coach By GREG STILES Gene Quilhaugh ended a three-year tenure at North Medford High and a 22-year coaching career Friday when he resigned as the Black Tornado boys basketball coach. Quilhaugh posted a 35-35 record at North, winning the 1998-99 Southern Oregon Conference championship. Overall, Quilhaugh�s teams at North Douglas, Mt. Edgecumbe, Alaska, Stayton and North Medford were 213-135. North Douglas won the 1987 Class 2A championship and Stayton reached the Class 3A finals 1993-95, winning it all in 1995. His final Tornado team posted a 9-15 record and qualified for the state playoffs with a fourth-place finish in the SOC. "I had three wonderful years coaching here," Quilhaugh said. "But I�m excited about getting to be a different kind of person." That means spending a lot more time in the outdoors for the 48-year-old contemporary issues/physical education teacher. "I don�t think I�ve fished two days in a row in the last 20 years," Quilhaugh said. "I was born and raised (in Powers) 32 miles from the Agness/Illahe area on the Rogue River and that�s certainly a doable day trip. There�s an entire world in Northern California I�ve never explored, and I�m two hours away from rivers, creeks, the ocean, mountains and lakes." Quilhaugh began reflecting on his family relationships and other life issues a year ago when his father passed away. He noted he often passed up the things he wanted to do in order to satisfy coaching demands. "When I was at Mt. Edgecumbe," Quilhaugh said, "I went fishing, hunting and kayaking less than 10 times in two years. There I was in a salmon and halibut fishing, deer, bear and elk hunting paradise and I didn�t get a chance to enjoy where I was." Quilhaugh�s resignation leaves North with two major coaching vacancies. Football coach Rod Rumrey stepped down last week. "This caught me a little by surprise," Medford Schools athletic coordinator Bruce Howell said. "But not as much as Rod�s resignation. It doesn�t surprise me though when someone has been coaching a long, long time." Off-season demands have weighed heavily on many coaches. Howell noted that of the 28 varsity coaches active when he assumed his role 12 years ago, only South Medford boys basketball coach Dennis Murphy and North Medford girls tennis coach Dale Jensen remain on the job. There comes a time, he said, when coaches look around and say there is more to life. "After a while, the old guard steps back and says they�ve had enough," Howell says. "The new guard doesn�t know any different." In the latter months of his father�s life, Quilhaugh felt the pressure to be a teacher and coach when he desired to spend more time with his dad. "Those are agonizing decisions," he said. He plans to spend more time be an uncle to young nieces in the Winston area and to his siblings� children in Arizona. Chances are he�ll get to see more of what�s going on at North Medford. "There are nine buildings, 57 acres and more than 2,000 kids," Quilhaugh said. "Certainly football was important to Rod and basketball was important to me. But certainly there is a lot more going on there. "I didn�t get a chance to observe much of what was going on in theater or music, but I�m sure they�re doing a great job there. I never watched a tennis match, but I know they�re doing a super job year in and year out." Howell said it helped the district when both coaches announced their intentions early, rather than waiting until the end of the school year. He hopes interviews will begin for both posts in April. He said Medford is an attractive place for educators. "We had 29 applicants for the North Medford (principal) job and we interviewed eight," Howell said. "I don�t see it being any different for the coaching jobs." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.