Laramie Plainsmen Head Coach Chuck Syverson
Seneca Riggins, Townsquare Media
loading...

The Laramie Plainsmen football program will have a new head coach when the 2017 season starts in August.

After four seasons at the helm, head coach Chuck Syverson is stepping down to pursue other opportunities in Florida.

KOWB sat down for a one-on-one interview with the now former LHS head coach. Syverson explained why he made this decision.

“I’m kind of at the point in my career where I’m looking forward to retirement. To be vested in Florida, you need to be down there for eight years, and so looking at my age now and how much longer I anticipate going, I basically had this year and next year to kind of make that decision and make that move.”

He is taking a position as an offensive coordinator at Franklin County Schools in Eastpoint, FL.

From a timing standpoint, Syverson said it’s always hard.

“We’ve already got our summer schedule planned, and a lot of the guys are pretty excited for camps… You look at situations like this, and there’s never a good time to do it, and there’s never an easy time to do it.”

He is also pleased with how the team progressed in four years.

“I think we’ve had some tremendous growth here. I think our coaches have really done a great job. I think our kids have bought in to what we wanted to do, and really, I think, bought in to our program, and worked hard and done everything we’ve asked them to do.”

Syverson was 13-27 as Laramie’s head coach. He guided the Plainsmen to the playoffs in all four of his seasons, but they were never able to advance past the first round or quarterfinals. The 2016 season was his most successful. Laramie went 4-6 overall and swept the Cheyenne schools for the first time since 2000, when there were only two high schools in the Capital City.

He pointed to the comeback versus Kelly Walsh in 2013 as probably one of the highlights of his career. He mentioned he’s never had a rally to win like that before. Also, he said the Rock Springs win on the road in his first year was very emotional and had lots of excitement about simply winning the game.

His personal favorite was just last fall, and their road win at Cheyenne East.

“We’ve been trying to get Coach Goff for the last four years, and we finally got him this year, which was a big accomplishment, I think, for our program to show how far we’ve come, and how much more potential we have.”

Syverson coached eight players that earned a total of nine 4A All-State honors from the Wyoming Coaches Association. Receiver Connor Beeston was named All-State twice.

He also feels the program’s in better shape than what he inherited four years ago.

“We’ve got more kids out. I think kids are working harder, more than they ever have the last 10-15 years. I think they’re very excited about where the program’s been the last four years and where it’s heading.”

Syverson stated that the initial reaction has been as expected. He said the guys are disappointed.

“Like I told them, this is their team and their program. Whether I’m at the head of it or not, they will be as successful as they carry themselves, and how far they want to push themselves to go. I would expect them to be successful this fall.”

The Plainsmen return three starters on offense and five on defense.

Prior to coming to Laramie, Syverson was head coach at Thermopolis for four seasons. He led the Bobcats to a 30-14 record and back-to-back state titles in class 2A in 2009 and 2010.

With this news, Laramie High School will be looking for its sixth head coach in the last 15 seasons. Compare that to two over 59 years from the Deti family prior to 2003.

Laramie will open the 2017 season versus Kelly Walsh at Deti Stadium on Aug. 25.

More From KOWB 1290