Bryan Ross resigned as Siloam Springs head football coach on Friday, district athletics director Kevin Downing said.
Ross has been a coach in the district for 14 years, including nine seasons as head coach. He's compiled a record of 30-64-1 over that span.
"We appreciate his hard work and dedication to the football program," Downing said. "He's poured 14 years of life into the program. He's a good man."
Downing said Ross will remain a teacher in the Siloam Springs School District for the remainder of the school year.
Ross joined the Panthers program as a part of Billy Dawson's staff in 2004. In that first season, the Panthers went from winning just one game to eight games and advancing to the Class AAAA playoffs.
Dawson resigned after the 2004 season and Clint Ashcraft took over as head coach to 2005 and he promoted to offensive coordinator.
Ross helped the Panthers reach the AAAA playoffs four straight seasons under Ashcraft through 2008. In 2009 Ashcraft accepted the head coach position at Conway and Ross was hired as head coach.
The Panthers went 3-7 in Ross' first season, but they improved to 5-5 in 2010, including a 38-31 victory over Greenwood -- Siloam Springs' first victory over the Bulldogs in nearly 16 years.
The Panthers went 6-4 in 2011 but missed the postseason after losing to Morrilton at home on the final day of the regular season.
In 2012 Siloam Springs was reclassified into Class 6A and moved into the 7A/6A-West Conference as the only 6A school in the league with 7A powers Bentonville, Rogers, Rogers Heritage, Springdale, Springdale Har-Ber, Fayetteville and Van Buren.
Siloam Springs went 1-10 in 2012, losing at Searcy 49-48 in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs. The Panthers tied Shiloh Christian in the opening game of 2013 and finished 3-8-1. The Panthers won at Searcy 26-21 in the opening round of the 6A playoffs and advanced to the quarterfinals where they were defeated by Pine Bluff.
In 2014, Siloam Springs went 5-7 overall, including 7A/6A-Central victories at Alma and at Russellville, and the Panthers also hosted a first-round playoff game against Texarkana, which they won 26-13. The Panthers were defeated in the 6A quarterfinals by Pine Bluff for the second straight year. It was the last time Siloam Springs made the postseason.
In 2014, Ross was also selected as the 6A/7A coach of the year for what was formerly NWA Media.
The Panthers opened the 2015 season with a 3-0 mark but finished 4-6 overall and missed the playoffs.
In 2016, injuries ravaged the Panthers' roster and they finished 1-9, followed by a 2-8 campaign this season. The Panthers have gone 1-6 in the 6A-West Conference in each of the last two seasons.
Downing said a decision regarding interim leadership of the football program until a new head coach is hired will be announced Monday.
Sports on 11/11/2017