Southeast head football coach John Warren resigns

BRADENTON -- John Warren, who took the Southeast High School football program from a one-win team to the playoffs in his second year, unexpectedly announced his resignation on Wednesday.

Southeast athletic director Daniel Bradshaw said in a statement that family needs forced Warren to move out of state and resign.

Prior to the 2014 season, Warren assumed the difficult job of replacing legendary Southeast coach Paul Maechtle, and the Seminoles won only one game.

Southeast started last season 0-3, but turned the corner, going 4-1 in Class 5A-District 11 to finish as the runner-up and qualify for the playoffs. Only a 14-7 loss to Englewood Lemon Bay kept the Seminoles from winning the district title.

The team showed significant improvement on defense and Warren coached Kevin Johnson, the Seminoles' jack-of-all-trades running back/quarterback, who was named Bradenton Herald Offensive Player of The Year.

Bradshaw said he would try to name a successor as soon as possible. There will be a plethora of names thrown around that is sure to be highlighted by Brett Timmons, who was considered a leading candidate when Warren was hired.

Timmons, a linebacker who played on Southeast's state championship team, was head coach at Out-Of-Door-Academy at the time when Southeast was looking for Maechtle's replacement.

He is no longer in that position and might be considered the frontrunner in many people's eyes.

"We would like to thank Coach Warren for his two years as the head coach of the Seminoles and we wish him luck in the future," Bradshaw said in a statement. "He was a great role model for our athletes and worked tirelessly to help them learn much more than just football. The turnaround from the his first year's struggles to earning a playoff berth as district runner-up sets up the Southeast football program for a great future. We will begin the search for his replacement immediately."

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Southeast head football coach John Warren resigns ."