UNION CITY — James Logan football coach James Barnes has resigned after one season, he told the Bay Area News Group on Monday.
Barnes’ decision to step down as head coach comes just days after Logan lost its North Coast Section Division III first-round playoff game to Heritage 34-0 – a game in which Barnes was not on the sidelines after serving a suspension for getting into an altercation with a member of his coaching staff.
Logan principal Ron Polk, in an email to this news organization on Thursday, described the incident as a “confidential personnel issue that has been since rectified.”
Barnes said his split from the school was a joint decision.
“It was a mutual agreement,” Barnes said on Monday “At the end of the day, the program was bigger than one person. I feel that the program was going in a great direction. They got it going in a good direction. I don’t want to be the one trying to redirect my plan for something they already had in place.”
Despite ending the season 4-7, Logan had a strong finish in league play. The Colts started the year 0-4, but were right in the thick of the WACC Foothill title race down the stretch, earning a playoff berth.
Logan reached the postseason despite seeing many of its star players from last season move on from the program, including Fresno State-bound quarterback Jonathan Craft, who transferred to El Cerrito.
According to Barnes, a lack of continuity between coaches played a role in the team’s ups and downs this fall.
“The (assistant) coaches that I had there this season were there prior to me getting there and were rehired,” Barnes said. “I just think my philosophy and their philosophy that they had the last five years just didn’t match.”
For Barnes, the decision to step away was a tough one. The Oakland native believed he was on the path to building something special at Logan and had plans to coach the Union City school for the long run.
“The future is bright,” Barnes said after a league title-clinching loss to O’Dowd two weeks ago. “We’re not going anywhere. The guys believe in the system. It’s going to take one more year to get over that hump. We take our bumps now, so then going forward, we know what it feels like to be prepared and experienced to play those games.”
Barnes said he has no plans to find another coaching position once the season ends. He was head coach at Castlemont from 2018-2021 and was an assistant coach at St. Vincent de Paul in 2023.
“I’m not going to look for any openings,” Barnes said. “I’m gonna take this time to just relax a little bit. I just gotta slow down and relax. I have three kids, two in college with one playing college basketball. My son plays high school basketball, so I’ll get to spend more time with them.”