High School

West Ranch football coach Chris Varner announces retirement from coaching

Varner was the coach at West Ranch for nine seasons and won the program's first and only Foothill League title in 2022.

Tarek Fattal

Chris Varner (center) announces his retirement from high school football after nine seasons at West Ranch.
Chris Varner (center) announces his retirement from high school football after nine seasons at West Ranch. / Chris Varner

Chris Varner has been coaching high school football for 27 years, and that's plenty of football for anyone.

The fiery coach tells High School on SI he's retiring from coaching after nine seasons at West Ranch High, which went 59-34 with him at the helm including a Foothill League title in 2022.

The Wildcats had just two losing seasons under Varner, who took over in December of 2015 after being the coach at Canyon High.

"Coaching at West Ranch and having the fortunate opportunity to work with all the amazing young men including winning the first league title in the school's history while coaching my own sons has been the experience of a lifetime," Varner said.

"I would like to thank all of the support from the staff and fans over the years that have made my tenure at West Ranch a truly memorable one. I could not have worked with two greater principles in Mark Crawford and Robert Fisher, and I know the program will continue to have success.  Most importantly, I would like to thank my beautiful wife Candice and my family that never wavered in their belief of me."

Varner's best season was in the fall of 2022 when West Ranch went 6-0 in the Foothill League led by standout QB Ryan Staub, who would later sign to play at Colorado. Varner also got to coach his two sons, Austin and Colt (pictured above).

Varner says he will still be on campus as a teacher of psychology.

West Ranch will be an attractive job in the Foothill League, which is also home to Valencia, Hart, Saugus, Castaic, Golden Valley and Canyon. The coaching vacancy joins other programs in search of a new head coach like Harvard-Westlake, Bishop Amat, Bishop Alemany, Burbank/Burroughs, and Heritage Christian.

The Wildcats went 4-6 this past season.

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Tarek Fattal, SBLive Sports
TAREK FATTAL

Tarek Fattal has been covering high school sports since 2015 in Southern California and primarily in Los Angeles, covering notable athletes such as Bronny James, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Alyssa Thompson. He was with the LA Daily News for eight years, which included being the beat reporter for the UCLA men's basketball team. Tarek can be seen on TV regularly on CBS/KCAL as a sports analyst with Jim Hill.

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