It didn't take Phil Lopez long to live up to what he said he'd do when he accepted the head football coaching job at Rio Rancho High School.

"We will win," vowed Lopez, the school's third varsity football coach.

That would be a welcome change; in the school's first six years of existence, the football team had only one winning season and one postseason appearance. Four seasons, a 29-14 overall record and three District 1-5A championships later, Lopez is now saying "We will leave."

Lopez, 45, turned in his letter of resignation Tuesday morning.

"I'm in a daze right now; I'm in shock," said Pat Mastriano, former Rams junior varsity coach and the team's defensive line coach in 2006.

"I had to look at my family situation and retirement," Lopez explained. "A big part of my career was in Texas. ... I'm interviewing for head positions currently. Last year, this process started."

Lopez, who returned earlier this week from Artesia, where he'd attended a funeral for his wife Terry's 103-year-old grandmother, said that had been a tough situation, as was "telling the boys I wouldn't be back next year."

He recalled how hard it had been for his children to move from McAllen, Texas, to New Mexico four years ago.

"My children didn't want to leave Texas; they cried all the way out here," he said. "We talked about getting back to Texas."

Terry Lopez is a Realtor here; Phil Lopez said "she's a certified teacher in Texas and it might be appealing to her to get back in the classroom."

So now, Lopez said, the time is right to return to the Lone Star State. He said he declined the opportunity to coach at Sidney Lanier High School in Austin last year.

"I turned it down to come back to Rio Rancho. We had dreams of a state championship," Lopez said. "I didn't regret staying at Rio Rancho, but I had that little thought, 'What if?' It was an athletic director's job along with the head football job."

Last year, he had been a finalist for the athletic director's position at RRHS.

Lopez, who played football and graduated from Clovis High School in 1980, coached at New Mexico Highlands, Eastern New Mexico University, Lake Dallas, Fort Sumner, Ruidoso, Garland (Texas), Cobre, and Fort Stockton (Texas) and McAllen (Texas) Memorial high schools before accepting the RRHS job in 2003. He had been the head coach at Fort Sumner, Fort Stockton and McAllen Memorial.

According to sophomore Jeremy Vigil, the announcement didn't come as a shock to the Rams, who gathered in the fieldhouse after school Tuesday to hear Lopez tell them the news.

"I've heard rumors going around and it's been like this for about a year, saying he was going to be leaving us," Vigil said. "We were expecting it; we're just happy he came to us first. ... We were just real happy for him because he's doing something that will help him in the future."

"We wish him nothing but the best - he took the program to places it had not been prior to then," RRHS athletic director Andy Sweet said. "We're looking toward the future now in terms of where the program can go after his departure."

Sweet said the position would be advertised on the RRPS Web site, as well as on the Web site of the New Mexico Activities Association and elsewhere by the RRPS Human Resources Department. (Resumes may be e-mailed to Sweet at asweet@rrhs.rrps.k12.nm.us.)

A committee of 8-10 people will be formed; that committee, RRHS principal Richard VonAncken said, could include parents, coaches, student-athletes and community members.

Sweet said he hopes to have finalists named by the end of March, with a decision on the new coach made in early April.

Finding his successor should be easy, Lopez said.

"We took a program near the bottom of Class 5A and now it's one of the top programs in New Mexico. I told (my players) I won't take a position in New Mexico. I was extremely happy here and it was a great situation."

Lopez said he'll never forget "the relationships with all these young men. It's easy to remember Chris Williams, Marcus Williams, Mike Love, but it's also easy to remember Adrian Martinez and Justin Esquibel. I can't name all of them but I want them all to know I appreciate all their efforts."

"I understand Phil in his decision; he's been here for four years and he's won three district championships," VonAncken said. "He's going to be missed, no question. We have to advertise right away ... because it's kind of late. I feel confident we'll be able to get a very capable football coach. It's a good program and I'm really excited about going through this next process."