Hall of Fame football coach Phil Lazenby has stepped down after two years at Bayshore Christian School.

Lazenby’s resignation is effective immediately. He was scheduled to talk to the team Wednesday afternoon.

“We love coach Lazenby, and we are grateful and thankful for all he’s been able to do for Bayshore football and for Bayshore in general,” athletic director Jeff Hauge said. “He’s a great man. We are sad he is stepping down.”

Hauge said defensive coordinator David Stapleton, who joined Lazenby a year ago, also has resigned. Bayshore hired Lazenby in May of 2023 to start the football program at the school, which already had been successful in multiple sports including baseball, cross country and girls volleyball.

The Eagles played a modified junior varsity schedule in 2023 before moving into varsity competition for the 2024 season. Bayshore went 3-6 in Class 2A, Region 1 under Lazenby, who said a large part of his decision was based on dwindling numbers in the program.

“We only had eight or nine middle schoolers that signed up to play football and only about 19 varsity players,” he said. “You can’t run a program when you don’t have kids who want to participate. I thought it was the best thing for me to step down at this time because I’m just not sure a lot of the kids there are interested in playing football. I’m not saying that’s bad, but it is for a football coach.”

Lazenby has a 203-144 record overall in 27 years overall as a head coach. He won 38 games in five years at Guntersville, 6 in a single year at Southside-Gadsden, 41 in four years at Benjamin Russell and 115 in 16 years at Bayside Academy. He led Benjamin Russell to a pair of state championship games and Bayside to one as well.

He started the Bayshore program with a young roster dominated by student-athletes who had little to no football experience, but he said he has no regrets.

“I’ve coached some really good kids and really nice kids, but we just don’t have the numbers right now to participate and to do it the way it has to be done,” Lazenby said. “I made a decision. My decision was not based on the people who work there because I think they are some of the nicest people you could possibly be around. The kids are great.”

He did not shut the door on a return to coaching at another location.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m not burned out. This was me making a decision on the situation at the school. If you don’t have that many people participating, there is a reason. If it’s me, that’s one reason. If it’s parents just don’t want their kids playing football, that’s another reason. Neither one of them are good. I thought it was the right thing to do.”

Hauge said he expects the football program to continue at the school with a new leader.

“I’m going to start talking to people, talking to other coaches and see the best direction we need to go for our program,” he said. “I want to find someone else to take over this program and build upon the foundation coach Lazenby has already laid for us.”