Marty Gordon
Christiansburg High School is looking for a new football coach after Alex Wilkens stepped down late last week.
In a social media post, Wilkens said the past few years have been an incredible journey as a head coach.
“I have had so much fun, even in the hardest of times,” he said. “There are too many people to thank for the help and/or trust and faith in me to lead a program. It was an incredible honor and responsibility I never take lightly.”
He said the decision to step down was one of the hardest decisions in his life and cited his family and its importance as being the reason for stepping down.
This past year was Wilkens’ seventh as head coach after previously serving as an assistant at Glenvar.
“This was the best decision (to step down) for my family in this phase of my life in order to be the best version of myself for those that I’ve been so blessed to develop relationships with over the first half of my life,” he said.
The coach will finish his career at 38-39. His first four at the school were considered a rebuilding time, but he then led the team to two 10-win seasons and a 2023 8-4 mark. The team fell 27-20 to Magna Vista in the region semi-finals.
Christiansburg won the region 3D title in 2022 and advanced to the state semi-finals before falling to Heritage.
Wilkens said he will remember the people for his time as coach.
“There are so many wonderful people that I’ve worked with along the way,” he said. “I’m not sure at this point I can name just one, you don’t really think about those things until it’s over; and that’s still very new for me. There were some incredible successes on the field, but seeing the people leave our program and find success in their next chapters is what I think back on with the fondest of memories.”
Wilkens plans to continue to teach physical education at the school. He wouldn’t rule out a return to the sidelines somewhere down the road.
“I most certainly wouldn’t rule it out,” he said. “One of my favorite things in my life has been being part of a team. I don’t know what it feels like to not be on a team. I fell in love with that when I was eight years old and that has never wavered. I know I will miss it tremendously.”
