Mascoutah football coach Scott Battas resigns

After seven seasons of leading his hometown Mascoutah High School football program, Scott Battas has stepped down as the Indians head coach.

Battas, 36, who is currently in his second full year as the Mascoutah athletic director, submitted his letter of resignation this week. The decision was not an easy one for Battas, who was an assistant with the Indians for three years before taking over for Terry Moeller prior to the 2009-10 season.

But the responsibilities of running the Indians athletic department and a desire to build Mascoutah sports to a higher and more successful level were just two of many reasons, Battas is giving up one of his true passions and that is coaching football.

“At least for now. I think once football gets in your blood, I don’t think you ever lose it,” Battas said. “But for several reasons I just think the timing is right right now. I have a lot of added responsibility as the athletic director and I’m trying to do everything I can to get our entire sports program back on track.

“It’s not that we’re in awful shape. It’s just that there are some things that we need to improve upon to get us to the next level.”

Battas also spent time as a graduate assistant at Northern Illinois University and as an assistant at both DeKalb and Edwardsville high schools. In seven years as head coach at Mascoutah, Battas’ teams compiled an 18-46 record, including an 0-9 mark this past year. Battas led Mascoutah into the Class 4A playoffs in his first season of 2009.

The Indians finished with a record of 5-5 in 2009.

The decision to step down was a very difficult one for Battas, who has a tremendous passion for the game and for his hometown team. He played for nearly two decades ago for Mascoutah.

“It’s tough. I love football. It’s been very good to me and I’ve learned a lot about myself and I’ve learned a lot of lessons about life through football,” Battas said. “It’s tough to walk away and it will be even tougher next summer when practice begins. But that’s life. You’ve got to prioritize things and right now I feel this what I need to do.

“Plus I don’t think I’m done coaching football yet.”

Battas is also the father of a 5-year-old daughter and a 19-month old son.

“That’s another part of it. I’ll get to spend a little more time with my kids. They’re getting to the age where they are a little more active and I want to be part of that,” Battas said. “I’m looking forward to watching my kids grow up. My daughter plays soccer and she loves volleyball and I got my son a pair of shoulder pads for Christmas. But I’m not going to push them into anything. Whatever they want to do is fine with me.”

While coaching at Mascoutah and running the Indians athletic department will continue to be a rewarding experience for Battas, the one drawback has been seeing athletes whose parents are stationed or affiliated with Scott Air force Base, being transferred to another part of the country or in some cases other parts of the world.

“That’s part of the and will always be part of the dynamics of coaching and teaching here. Just this year we had two starters leave — one being an all-stater,” Battas said. “But even moreso than as just football players you have a kid in here for two or three years, you build a close relationship with them and and their families and then they are transferred out. That’s tough to handle. But like I said, that’s part of coaching here at Mascoutah High School.”

Battas does not plan to begin the process of hiring a new coach until after Christmas. But he believes being the football coach at Mascoutah will be an attractive and rewarding experience for whoever is hired.

“I just resigned this week so what we’re going to do is see what teaching jobs will be opening up after Christmas and we’ll go from there. I’m sure we’ll have several coaches on staff who will be interested and we’ll have several from outside who will be as well,” Battas said. “I think it’s a very attractive job. We’re in the process of redoing our track facility and there has been talk about installing turf. We’ve got a wonderful school district to work in, a very supportive community and a beautiful (school) building with excellent facilities in which to work.”

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Mascoutah football coach Scott Battas resigns."