Koop out as Carson boys soccer coach

After a succcessful four-year run, Jason Koop is no longer the Carson High boys soccer coach.

Koop said on Monday that the school decided not to renew his contract. In Nevada, all coaches receive one-year contracts and a school can decide not to renew that contract if it chooses.

CHS athletic director Diane Baker Roberts said she couldn't comment on the decision to let Koop go. All she could say is that the school is now looking for a coach and an assistant coach to direct the varsity program this fall. Roberts did say, "He was a good coach, there's no doubt about it."

"I think it was over philosophical differences," said Koop about why he was let go. "We had differences of opinion," Koop also said about himself and the school's administration.

Koop said he received a letter from the school stating his "services would no longer be needed."

Koop also admitted that dealing with some - not all - parents was making the job difficult.

"There's parents out there that support everybody, including the coaches," Koop said. "But there are parents out there that make it really, really hard to coach the kids. THere are parents that would bend over backwards for me and they are the parents who I appreciated."

Koop took over in 2004 and in his first season led Carson to the Northern 4A title and a berth into the NIAA 4A State Championships. The Senators advanced to the zone semifinals in 2005 where they lost to eventual state runner-up Elko 1-0.

Carson won the Sierra League title the past two seasons. In 2006, the Senators advanced to the zone finals, losing to South Tahoe, and in 2007, the Senators were beaten by the Vikings in a shootout in the zone semifinals.

"We improved every year," Koop said. "That's more a tribute to the guys who went through the program and the work they put in."

Koop is a first grade teacher at Seeliger Elementary School. He was a goalie for George Fox University, which at the time was an NAIA program, and he won two national titles with the school. He earned a bachelor's in health and human performance from George Fox in 1991 and a master's in education from George Fox in 2002.

He served as an assistant coach with George Fox and Linfield of Oregon, which have now become NCAA Division III programs, and as an assistant with Carson City's Premiere Development League team, the Nevada Wonders, before taking over at CHS.

Koop also has a national C license from the United States Soccer Federation and national and advanced national diplomas from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

While he would like to return to coaching, Koop said he expects to take some time off. "It's been a major part of my life," he said. "I really enjoy the game and I enjoy teaching what I know.

"This fall it looks like fishing. I'll take a little hiatus and go from there. I'll definitely have to take a look if something's offered to me, but I think this fall I'm going to relax."