Glenwood Springs High School head football coach Tory “Thor” Jensen announced to parents and players this week that he will not be returning for a second season as head coach.

Jensen, a longtime former youth football coach, high school assistant coach and ex-Roaring Fork High head football coach, cited personal reasons for his decision.

“I have my mom’s health to take into account,” Jensen said of his obligation as an only child to care for his aging mother in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Several times this past fall season he said he had to leave between weekend games to tend to family matters.

“For me, I just can’t commit to five or six months in a row of coaching,” Jensen told the Post Independent.

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He said that potential was disclosed earlier this year when GSHS Athletic Director Craig Denney hired him for the job, replacing former Demons coach Pat Engle. 

“We are grateful for the time and effort coach Jensen put into the football program and to the kids,” GSHS Assistant Athletic Director Jordan DeCrow said. “While we’re sad to see him go, we understand the reason he needed to step away from coaching, and we wish him the best.”

DeCrow said the position will be posted after the winter break and a search will begin for a new head coach.

Jensen got a bit of a late start taking on the Demons programs after being hired in mid-May, but was successful with recruitment and worked to boost player numbers in the program.

Glenwood Springs ultimately finished 5-5 overall and 2-3 in the super-competitive 3A League 3, which this year included perennial powerhouse Durango. The Durango Demons went undefeated to win league and played on into the 3A state semifinals, finishing at 11-2 overall.

“We had a great group of seniors this year, and a lot of young kids coming up who will be great football players,” Jensen said.

Though he is stepping away as the head coach, he said he hopes to remain active with the Demons program in the offseason.

“I’m still here, I’m not going anyway,” he said. “I’ll stay involved, but I just can’t commit to being the coach.”

Before hiring Jensen, Denney had expressed a desire to find a head football coach who could also be a teacher or work in some other capacity at Glenwood High School.

Jensen said he agrees with that approach, but understands the challenges of pairing athletic and academic duties.

“If you really want to build a program and take it to that next level, it’s important to have someone in the building getting to know the kids and developing those relationships,” Jensen said.

Post Independent interim Managing Editor and senior reporter John Stroud can be reached at jstroud@postindependent.com or at 970-384-9160.