The hardest part, Dave Morton was saying Thursday, was the start of football season.

He missed high school football coaching terribly – the competition and kids – and it was reflective in his mood.

"I stayed away from football for most of the last 14 years, but that opening Friday of the season over the years, I was a mess – weepy or grumpy or both," Morton said. "Now I'm back and I'm excited."

Back, indeed. Morton has been hired as coach at Laguna Creek within the Elk Grove Unified School District, 17 years after he was named the school's first coach assigned the task of building an infant program from scratch.

Fiery and proud and a bear of man, Morton resigned his football post midway through the 1997 season a torn man. Some of his players complained that he was too demanding and vocal. Others appreciated his discipline. Scores of parents pleaded for him to reconsider his resignation.

Morton took a break, helped his wife, Lynne, raise their three active sons. He wondered if he'd return to the sideline, or if he wanted to. Morton spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Sierra College in Rocklin and one under Max Miller at Cordova, where Morton had been a fixture on the sideline as Miller's right-hand man during the Lancers' championship run throughout the 1980s.

But a return to Laguna Creek, of all places? Morton never anticipated it, even though he has been a driver's education and health teacher at the school since its inception. Stepping away the last time nearly stamped out his football spirit for good.

"I was absolutely crushed, devastated, humbled," Morton said, looking back.

Morton still looks the same – lineman-large at 6-foot-5, the handlebar mustache, the engaging personality and wit. So what's changed?

Morton said his wife, whom he calls "sweetie," and Miller encouraged him to look into the Laguna Creek post to rediscover himself. Laguna Creek administrators also asked him to apply.

"My sweetie broke down those walls," Morton said. "I started to think, 'Why do we need a new captain for this football job when we can get the first captain?' "

Said Laguna Creek athletic director Brian La Forte, "We're very fortunate to find someone with as much experience and knowledge of the game as Dave. He is already a strong presence on our campus and will run a respectable and competitive program. We're all very excited."

Morton said he'll still coach with passion but acknowledges he understands football isn't "life or death."

"I'm a different man," Morton said. "I'm 58 now, and I'm a lot different than I was at 28 or 38 or 48. I'll be more patient and more flexible than I was the last time.

"My sweetie, she's the biggest part of all this," Morton said. "And let's face it, Mom runs the show."

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