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Greg Malling is a quiet guy who keeps to himself about a lot of things. So there was no way Wootton athletics director Chris Thompson could see what was coming Nov. 5 when the school's varsity football coach stepped into his office.

Malling, who revitalized a withering program in five seasons, walked in to announce his resignation, effective immediately.

"I can't even say for sure where I'm going next; I decided I had to make this decision independent of that," Malling said. "I've not even thought about what's next. I want to make sure I do right by these kids and did not just leave for someone else."

In 2005 Malling, a former Whitman assistant, took over a Wootton team that had not put together a winning season in more than a decade. After steadily building for three years, in 2008 he led the Patriots to a 7-4 record and their first playoff appearance since 1991.

They struggled to recover from graduation casualties in this fall's 2-8 finish. Malling ended his Wootton career with a record of 18-33. Thompson said he hoped to name a new coach by January.

"When I first got to Wootton about seven years ago, the football team was kind of the joke of the school," Thompson said. "Then Greg came in and these kids began to believe they were good players and could win. And they did. Now he has huge teams, a couple hundred kids out there playing throughout the year."

The decision to leave was one Malling wrestled with over time. He said it has nothing to do with the players — he plans to keep in touch with all his former charges — or this year's struggles; it was an internal need to change things up.

"Things weren't as fresh as I would like them to have been at this point," Malling said. "It's kind of a ‘You only have so many bullets in your gun' type thing before things become repetitious to some of the guys. There are only a couple coaches in the county who have been with their teams longer than I have. The kids change every four years. It's just time for a change."

Malling did not just rebuild Wootton's football program; his efforts included all Patriots athletes, boys and girls. His daily workouts were open to everyone; former girls soccer goalkeeper Kira Maker, now playing at Stanford (Calif.) University, attended them.

He also preached athlete accountability and organized a leadership council to inspire team cohesion.

"We rarely have problems in school with a football player," Thompson said. "Greg is a total team guy. He preached that to his kids and he lived it. I don't know if we'll be able to replace him."