Virgil Henderson resigns as Cholla’s head coach after leading Chargers for six seasons

Longtime local coach Virgil Henderson announced on social media Tuesday that he informed Cholla’s administration that he is resigning as the Chargers’ football coach after leading the program for six years.

Virgil was 17-34 in his Cholla tenure and is 17-44 overall in seven years as a head coach (he went 0-10 at Rincon/University in 2013 on an interim basis).

“Today I informed my AD that I will be resigning from head football coach at Cholla,” Henderson posted on social media. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to turn the program around like I wanted and it’s best that the school find someone that can. I’m blessed for the opportunity and I can’t wait for the next chapter. I like to thank my family for there support and love.”

The Chargers’ last winning season was in 2015 when they finished 6-4 under Henderson.

That team included linebacker Cristian Villaescusa, who became an assistant under Henderson. Villaescusa went on to play for Pima College before the school disbanded the football program. He is a potential candidate to take over.

Over the last 25 years, Henderson has served on the coaching staffs of some of Southern Arizona’s greats — Dennis Bene at Salpointe, Matt Johnson at Ironwood Ridge and Mountain View, Gary Minor at Ironwood Ridge and Richard Sanchez at Sunnyside.

He is one of the best players Catalina High School has produced as a star running back/defensive back (Class of 1987).

Cholla now has one of seven coaching openings in Southern Arizona, joining Pueblo, Rincon/University, Rio Rico, Sahuarita, Bisbee and Benson.

Salpointe filled its vacancy with defensive coordinator Pat Ryden last month after Eric Rogers resigned after lead the Lancers for four years.

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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.