Bruce Scifres, who is the winningest coach in Roncalli High School football history and led the Rebels to seven state championships — including one this past season — resigned on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Scifres was appointed the executive director of the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
He ends his 27-year career at Roncalli with a record of 248-88 (.738).
“To be honest, for the longest time I envisioned myself ending my career at Roncalli,” said Scifres, 60. “But the more I thought about it and prayed about it, this seemed like the thing to do.
“Early December is when I officially applied for the job, but I had been contemplating it for a long time.”
Scifres succeeds longtime CYO Archdiocese of Indianapolis executive director Ed Tinder, who retires in June. Scifres will continue to work at Roncalli through the remainder of the 2016-17 school year while making time to job-shadow Tinder.
As Roncalli’s coach, Scifres exited in style.
His final Roncalli team won the Class 4A state championship in November by defeating NorthWood, 36-22, in Lucas Oil Stadium. This capped a perfect 15-0 season, matching the 1999 squad for the best mark in program history.
Scifres, whose 1993 team also finished without a loss (14-0), ranks 24th all-time in victories among Indiana high school football coaches.
“The entire time I’ve been at Roncalli has been a true blessing in my life,” said Scifres, whose four children with his wife, Jackie, are all Roncalli graduates. “I’ve worked with incredible families and some incredible colleagues.
“Outside of my family, it’s been my life. I see the CYO as a continuation of that, but on a much larger scale. At the end of the day, I’ll be trying to impact young people in a positive way.”
