Northwood High football coach Paige Nobles, who in his first season led the Timberwolves to an 8-3 record last fall, has been relieved of his duties, he said Friday, Oct. 16.
Nobles, a walk-on coach, said he was informed of the decision Thursday during a meeting with principal Leslie Roach and assistant principal in charge of athletics Eric Keith but didn’t receive a reason for his firing.
Northwood decided to go in a “different direction”, Nobles said.
“It definitely caught me off guard,” he said in a phone interview. “I never got the answer (about why) and I don’t think I ever will.”
Nobles said the only incident mentioned during his conversation with the administrators was a COVID-19 incident recently at the school that didn’t involve a football player.
Irvine Unified’s database for coronavirus cases shows one student at Northwood as a confirmed COVD-19 case.
Northwood athletic director Brandon Emery didn’t immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment.
Last season, Nobles led Northwood to a strong second-place finish in the Pacific Coast League with a 4-1 record. The Timberwolves lost to upstart and league champion Portola 13-10 in a mid-October showdown.
Northwood lost in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 12 playoffs to undefeated Rio Hondo 41-22.
“These kids,” Nobles said, “meant so much to me. .. We were a family.”
Nobles joined Northwood in 2018 after a long stretch as an assistant at Laguna Beach. He coached special teams, running backs and defensive linemen for Northwood, which went 8-4 under Peter Mitchell.
Mitchell then resigned after two seasons.
Nobles was recently guiding the Timberwolves in Phase 2 of their modified conditioning and skills training. He said the program had no coronavirus cases.
Earlier in the offseason, Northwood lost to offensive coordinator Dan Selway to Capistrano Valley.
With the departures of Selway and Nobles, veteran defensive coordinator J.C. Clark and Dean Toohey are Northwood’s best-known assistants. Toohey is a former head coach at Northwood.
The team’s top player is wide receiver Travis Arena (6-1, 205).
Nobles said he has received four offers to join other coaching staffs as an assistant but declined to mention them by name. His son is a freshman football and soccer player at Aliso Niguel.
“I’m not the type of person that’s going to dwell on things,” Nobles said. “One door closes, another opens.”
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