Kaiser coach to quit at end of this season

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Advertiser Staff

Tony Gayer said he will resign as football coach at Kaiser High at the end of the season.

Gayer, 34, said he would like to continue coaching, but as an assistant, preferably at the collegiate level.

"For me to have personal growth, I have to step back and evaluate what I'm doing," he said.

He said he has turned downed coaching opportunities at a junior college and an NAIA program. He knows that landing a job at the University of Hawai'i is not likely.

"I could end up as an assistant at another high school (here)," he said. "There's only one show in town and they (UH) seem to be pretty well set."

Gayer, a Punahou School graduate and a science teacher at Kaiser, compiled a 24-32 career record since taking over the Cougars in 1995. He led the Cougars to an O'ahu Interscholastic Association White Conference title in 1996. His teams advanced to the OIA playoffs in 1996 and 1997.

A school selection committee will begin a search for a successor after the season, athletic director Bill von Arnswaldt said. "Some people have already expressed interest," he said.