Due to personal health reasons, Prairie Central head football coach Andrew Quain has decided to step down from coaching.
“It’s bittersweet for me to be stepping away,” Quain told Fairbury News. “It’s not something that I intended to do or wanted to do but something that I just need to do right now.”
Quain found out last offseason that he would have another surgery which is likely going to turn into two surgeries and the recovery is quite extensive. He said it is not life threatening and not something such as cancer.
With a long recovery, Quain admits it would be hard to meet the demands of a head football coaching position, which is a 12-month job.
“There is no good time to have the surgery and I know coaching football, I’ll come back too quickly.”
While the health matter has become a chronic issue for Quain, he wants to ensure he takes care of himself.
“I’m stepping down for health reasons – not urgent but still pretty significant,” Quain reiterated.
The Prairie Central Board of Education accepted Quain’s resignation as head coach during Thursday evening’s regular meeting in Fairbury. A search is underway to find Quain’s replacement as the school will begin accepting applications immediately since the job of a football coach starts well before August. This allows time for the new coach to get to know players and plan a summer program.
Prairie Central athletic director and assistant principal Austin Wenger noted they would have loved for Quain to stay in the position but understand and fully support the coach and his family in their decision.
“Coach Quain has done an outstanding job leading the Prairie Central football program,” Wenger said in an e-mail to Fairbury News. “The time and effort he has put into helping these kids on and off the field has been everything you could ask for out of a coach.”
Quain will stay on the staff at Prairie Central High School as a guidance counselor and offered to do whatever he could to help with the transition to a new coach. He feels PC will have a strong football team next year with good players returning.
“I think it’s a team that can compete for another conference title and make a run in the playoffs,” said Quain.
According to Quain, the coaching staff is well established at the school and the program is in a good position currently.
While there will be some big shoes to fill in the PC football program, the stage is set for the right person to step in and take over.
