Michael Klyce, The Times 2018 football coach of the year, resigns from Locke

The City Section has lost one of its best young football coaches.

Michael Klyce, who was The Los Angeles Times' coach of the year in 2018 after guiding Locke to the City Section Division II championship, said Monday he has resigned.

"We decided to go in a different direction," the 34-year-old said.

The decision by the school and Klyce was finalized Friday.

Klyce was a Locke graduate who became head coach in 2017. He played safety at the University of Arizona. Before he arrived, Locke was forfeiting games in 2015 and 2106 because of lack of players.

"It was horrible," said the mother of one Locke player.

Klyce was able to generate excitement on campus and helped build the program to such a high degree that the Saints played Division I football and were competitive in the Coliseum League, finishing one game behind Crenshaw in second place last season and in 2018.

Each season he also was able to help send a player to an NCAA Division I FBS school.

His youth and community connections earned him a reputation as a rising coach. He said he does not know whether he will coach this season.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.