Hundreds of players who followed Les Parrilla onto the gridiron over his 13 seasons as head coach at Roosevelt.

Now, however, Parrilla has another team to guide: his younger children. Parrilla has stepped down as Roosevelt football coach effective immediately.

”;The hardest thing about leaving is the kids. That's who you're there for,”; Parrilla said yesterday. “;You'll miss the football kids you work with every day.”;

Parrilla will continue to teach physical education at Roosevelt. His years as head coach were often challenging. Most of those 13 seasons, Roosevelt was in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference, taking on bigger, deeper teams. Parrilla's teams closed the gap with intensity and ingenuity.

A few years ago, Roosevelt implemented funky formations dubbed “;Flamingo,”; “;Duck”; and other avian-like variations to upset powerhouse Kahuku.

Players who made it to the next level from Parrilla's program include former UH Warriors Chad Kapanui, Chad Owens and Ryan Keomaka. Lineman Naymon Frank went on to play at Oregon State. Now, Parrilla can focus his energy on Austin (12), Amy (10) and Adam (8).

”;My oldest (Amber) is 18. I missed her already,”; he said. “;This gives me more time to spend with them. Thanks to my wife, Kim, and our children, I've been able to coach this long.”;

Parrilla began coaching in 1979 as a volunteer JV assistant at Kalani. He came to Roosevelt in '84, then was a varsity assistant at Aiea for five seasons under current Na Alii head coach Wendell Say.

Then, Parrilla returned to Roosevelt at the varsity level, bringing ideas that had been simmering for years.

”;That duck, quack-quack offense. Even with us, he would always talk about it,”; Say said. “;We never used it (at Aiea), but he talked about it.”;

Parrilla, Say and the late Lino Caling often attended clinics near and far. After Caling died during a clinic, Parrilla named the summer combine at Roosevelt after his fallen friend.

”;He's a good coach, a good person. I hate to see him leave,”; Say added. “;Every year, he said the same thing, that he was going to step down, but he would come back. I told him, 'Until I see it in the paper…' “;

Parrilla coached long enough to see Roosevelt's overused, porous field—shared with teams from Farrington, Kaimuki and McKinley—become a gem among facilities statewide when synthetic turf was installed in 2008.

Applicants for the open position can fax to 587-4742. Resumes will be accepted until Feb. 2.