Don Rother will have to live with the regret of not winning a state title during his three years at the helm of Norman North’s boys soccer program. Good thing he’s prepared to do exactly that.

“I’ve thought all this stuff through,” he said. “I’ll be sitting there watching (next season), saying ‘I could have been there.’ But I’ll be involved in their lives in other ways.”

Rother, North class of 1998, who became an assistant coach with the program the year after he graduated from it, and who, after eight years of that, replaced original North boys coach Bryan Young, resigned from the program last week.

It can be argued his decision was based on, well, soccer.

The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association does not allow the same person to be both a high school soccer coach and a club soccer coach of high school-aged players. And Rother, who was already the director of the recreational and academy programs of the Norman Youth Soccer Association, has chosen to pick up a club team as well. That decision necessitated his resignation from North’s program.

Rother isn’t choosing just any club team either. Instead, he and Young, who is also North’s principal, will together coach Celtic 93, the club team that includes several of North’s rising juniors, like Jack Coleman, J.T. Harrison and Trevor Laffoon.

As is his habit, Rother was frank on the factors that led to his decision. And one of the big ones was the fact he’ll be involved in many more competitive soccer games than he would have been at North.

“High school, there’s really only a couple of (very competitive) games,” he said. “At the club level, the team we’re going to be coaching, just about every game it plays will be against top competition.”

Also, Rother asserted, over the course of a calendar year, he’ll actually spend more time with his players (many of them the same players he was coaching at North) as a club coach than he would have as a high school coach.

“I think I can make a big difference with these kids,” he said.

For the record, Rother added, there is no distinction between he and Young with Celtic 93. He is neither assisting Young, nor is Young assisting him.

Also for the record, he figures he’s leaving a gold ball or two behind.

“I really have no doubt that in the next two or three years, (the Timberwolves) will win one or two state titles.”

Young, as North’s principal, will likely have a say in who the next North boys coach will be. The position has just recently been posted on th Norman Public Schools Web site.

“There will be some great people out there,” Young said. “It’s a great job and all those kids are coming through North. It will be a great, great job. There’s going to be a lot of interest.”