Steve Garland, one of the high school baseball’s coaching veterans in the Chattanooga area, unexpectedly tendered his resignation Monday as Soddy-Daisy’s coach.

“I know there are going to be a lot of questions,” he said. “It isn’t family issues or health issues, and I’m not in any trouble (at school).”

The 37-year-old, who will continue to work as defensive coordinator for the Trojans’ football team, is simply tired.

“I just have felt consumed,” said Garland, who is recognized as his own toughest critic. “We might be going to a Christmas function, and I think of something I should have done differently in the previous season, or we would be on vacation and I would worry if someone had remembered to water the field. The best answer that I’ve arrived at is that being a head high school baseball coach is ‘all-consuming.’ There have been many times when baseball is the last thing on my mind at night and the first thing on my mind in the morning.”

Garland took Soddy-Daisy baseball to new heights. In his 11-year run as head coach, the Trojans produced a 247-171 record and averaged 22.5 wins while capturing seven District 6-AAA regular-season titles and two 6-AAA tournament championships. They appeared in six Region 3-AAA tournaments, winning in it 2004 and securing Soddy-Daisy’s first state tournament appearance in 27 seasons.

During Garland’s tenure, Soddy-Daisy sent 35 players on to the college ranks and had two — pitchers David Mead and Jamie Tricoglou — selected out of high school in the first and sixth rounds of the major league baseball draft, respectively.

“Obviously, the key ingredient in any successful program is the student-athletes who make so many sacrifices to create a winning atmosphere and a team-oriented culture. I will never be able to repay my players over the years who have given of themselves, always played with great heart and determination, and ‘bought in’ to my often quirky style of coaching,” Garland said. “We have been blessed with remarkable talent, and in a number of cases, young men who were great players, but even better people.”

Garland’s teams didn’t always win but they were always competitive.

“Our rivalry with Soddy-Daisy was as big as they come, but it was also weird because he is the closest friend I have in the profession,” Red Bank coach Bumper Reese said. “When you played Soddy-Daisy, you turned it up a notch because you were going to get that extra from him. You either brought your best or you were going to lose. His kids always came to play.”

Garland, who withdrew from consideration for the Ooltewah job early in the Owls’ search, said he still has a love for the game and indicated that he might even be an assistant somewhere this spring — although it won’t be with a team in the Trojans’ district. He also said he might one day return to the sport as a head coach.

“I still love the great game of baseball,” he said. “I hope to pursue opportunities to coach baseball down the road. I just need a sabbatical from the responsibilities and obligations of a head coach. I want to make it clear that I do hope to coach baseball again. Meanwhile, I am dedicated to teaching U.S. History and assisting with Soddy-Daisy football this year.”

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