Los Lunas High football coach ousted

Greg Henington, the only coach to lead Los Lunas to a state football championship, has been ousted as the Tigers head coach.

Henington met on Monday with Bill Hays, Los Lunas Schools athletic coordinator and another district administrator, the coach told the Valencia County News-Bulletin this afternoon.

“I was told they would like to go in a different direction,” without giving a specific reason, Henington said Wednesday afternoon. “They gave me the opportunity to resign. It’s not something I wanted to do.”

Efforts to reach Hays and LLS superintendent Susan Chavez for comment were not immediately successful. In a news release Wednesday, the district repeated what Henington had told the News-Bulletin, that it is “moving in a different direction regarding the leadership of the Los Lunas High School Tigers football program,” but didn’t give a specific reason.

The news release stated the district wants to extend “appreciation to Coach Greg Henington for his contributions to the program over the past four seasons.”

The news release added the district will ensure a smooth transition, support and resources for the student athletes and that a search for a new coach will begin quickly.

Los Lunas High School went 13-0 in 2021, winning the 5A State Championship in Henington’s first season at the helm. In his five years leading the Tigers, Henington compiled a 43-16 record while making the playoffs each season. Under Henington, the Tigers were 4-0 against archrival Belen before the series was discontinued because of dominance by LLHS.

The first head coaching job for Henington was at Belen High School, where he spent three seasons. During that span, the Eagles qualified for the postseason every year, reaching the 5A title game in 2017. Henington’s record was 27-9, making his combined head coaching mark 70-25.

The Henington family is well known in Valencia County. Henington’s father, Rex, was a standout athlete and coach in Belen, recently named to the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame, and was principal and athletic director at LLHS as well.

Between stints at BHS and LLHS, Henington was the offensive coordinator for two seasons at Eldorado High School in Albuquerque.

While Henington’s teams enjoyed success every season, winning became more challenging when the Tigers were moved to 6A. There, LLHS faced the largest schools in New Mexico, such as powerhouses like Cleveland, La Cueva and Las Cruces. For next season, the New Mexico Activities Association has dropped Los Lunas back down to 5A, where a new coach will take up the challenge.

“We were very excited about getting down to our correct classification level,” Henington said, adding that the goal was to “bring another blue trophy (championship) to Valencia County.”

Henington, who will remain as a physical education teacher at LLHS, thanked the community of Los Lunas, his staff, parents and student-athletes. Still, coaching remains in his blood.

“I always treated the kids the right way, and I have sincere care and love for them. I’m not done coaching.”