Chris Musseman has stepped as head coach of Ripon’s football team, just days before a much-anticipated showdown with cross-town rival Ripon Christian.

Both Ripon Athletic Director Rod Wright and Musseman confirmed the resignation Tuesday night, but neither would elaborate on the reasons why. Assistant coach Cole Williams, a Ripon alumnus, has taken over in the interim.

“Love the kids, and it has been a great experience,” Musseman said. “I just didn’t want to become a distraction to them and thought it was best at this time to step down.”

Musseman will continue teaching English at the school.

The 1989 Monte Vista (Danville) graduate began coaching football as an assistant at Ripon in 2002. He took the head coaching reigns from Chris Johnson in 2016, leading the Indians to two Trans-Valley League co-championships, six straight Sac-Joaquin Section appearances and a 55-35 overall record, not counting the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

The high-water mark was the 2019 season, when the depth-lacking Indians finished 14-1, claimed its second SJS title (Division V) and Division V-AA NorCal and state championships. Cal-Hi Sports named Ripon as its Small Schools Team of the Year, while Musseman received Small Schools State Coach of the Year.

The Indians are currently 2-4 going into their big game at Ripon Christian. They’ll meet on Friday for the first time since 2013.

Musseman has also enjoyed great success coaching Ripon’s boys golf team, which has claimed six of its seven SJS championships with him at the helm.

“We thank him for his 23 years of coaching football at Ripon High School and all the good things he has done for the program,” Wright said.