Taneyhill staying at Chesterfield

By: | SCNOW
Published: December 18, 2008

The two-time defending Class A Division I state football champion Chesterfield Rams began offseason workouts Monday.

On Wednesday, coach Steve Taneyhill decided that he wanted to be there to see their hard work come to fruition next fall.

Chesterfield athletic director Jimmy Weatherford and Taneyhill announced Wednesday that the coach will return for his fifth season at the school.

The Rams are 38-15 under Taneyhill with three straight double-digit win seasons.

“After the (state championship), you’ve got a lot of things going through your mind,” Taneyhill said. “But we’ve just started to build this program into being special and one of those that, year in and year out, you don’t want to play.

“We’ve got all our coaches coming back and a lot of the players, we’ve got support from the community, and it was just a combination of different things that you take into consideration. But I feel comfortable at Chesterfield and want to enjoy some of the success.”

As with every offseason, Taneyhill said he talked informally about a few different opportunities, but declined to say what they were.

Taneyhill went on to say that he doesn’t have any formal plans to leave or move to a bigger school by a certain time. Rather, he evaluates his situation and opportunities every year.

“To me, it doesn’t really matter how many A’s you have in front of your school (classification), but if you’re comfortable and happy where you are,” Taneyhill said. “I’m happy where I am right now. I like to hunt and coach football and I can do both of those at Chesterfield.”

And the most important thing right now is that he’s committed to the Rams, he said.

“We ask these guys to be all-in during the offseason, and I think the coach should be, too,” Taneyhill said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us if we want that third ring.”

Like most school employees, Taneyhill’s contract is on a year-to-year basis. Weatherford said that he and Taneyhill had been talking throughout the weeks after the state championship.

“Steve has to do what’s best for Steve,” Weatherford said. “But I think he felt comfortable here and really enjoyed seeing the success of the program.

“But he came in and talked to me (Wednesday) and we got a few things cleared up and that was it. With the kids going in the weight room, I think it was really important to get all this settled so that we can move on.”