UPDATE: Dunkly Resigns PG Baseball

Barely a week after he was hired to coach varsity baseball at Pleasant Grove, Nolan Dunkly Thursday resigned the post.

He explained his reason for quitting on Friday.

“My idea of how the program should be run and the way the administration thinks it should be run were two different things,” he said. “I didn’t want this to linger so I thought it best to quit now.”

Dunkly didn’t want to get into the specifics of the disagreement.

“I was really looking forward to coaching this group of boys,” he said. “They are a great group of guys. I coached them two years ago on the junior varsity squad.”

The Eagles' athletic director Bruce Belden confirmed the resignation Thursday evening saying Dunkly felt as though he couldn't devote the time necessary to the baseball program.

"Like any good teacher his number one priority is his classroom, and I completely understand this, he felt as though he couldn't give the energy necessary to both programs," Belden said. "I truly respect him because he's a great teacher."

Dunkly has been a history teacher at Pleasant Grove for seven years. He graduated from UC-San Diego in 2004 where he played baseball, as well.

Dunkly didn’t say whether he might do any coaching in the spring.

“This week has been such a whirlwind, I haven’t even thought about that,” he said.

The Eagles are the defending Delta River League champions after a 21-5 season. Under Rinaldi Pleasant Grove has won 21 or more games five years in a row.

Dunkly is a 2000 graduate of Elk Grove High School where he played football, soccer and baseball.

On Monday Dunkly announced that former varsity head coach Rob Rinaldi would now coach the freshman team and long-time varsity assistant Tom Alston would be the junior varsity coach. It's unknown whether they will continue in those assignments.