Parkersburg South head coach Nathan Tanner, left, speaks to players prior a game against University last season at Erickson All-Sports Facility. Tanner has announced his resignation as South’s football coach. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG — After six seasons at the helm for the Parkersburg South football team, head coach Nathan Tanner has announced his resignation.

Tanner has accepted the head coaching position at Princeton High School and will take over the Tiger program.

He compiled a 41-27 record in his time with the Patriots and guided PSHS to the postseason in five of his six years. South advanced to the state semifinals in 2019, Tanner’s first year, before falling to Martinsburg 77-20.

Then, in 2022, the Patriots had their most successful season under Tanner, advancing to the state championship game where they lost 28-3 to Huntington. South went 12-2 that year.

South won six games each of the last two years, advancing past the first round last season with a 24-17 win over Washington. The Patriots’ campaign came to a close in the state quarterfinals with a 56-14 loss to Martinsburg.

Tanner, a 2011 graduate of Concord University, replaced Mike Eddy in 2019. Tanner had previously been the head coach at Summers County from 2013-16 and then Martinsville (Va.) in 2017 and 2018.

Tanner released the following statement on Facebook Wednesday evening: “(Six) years ago you all welcomed my family and I with open arms. I will be forever grateful for that. We have been very blessed to cross paths with several great people while being here. I want to start this letter by thanking the kids and coaches for pouring their hearts and souls into our process the past (six) years. It’s been a true blessing getting to work with you all. I want to thank the administration and community for their unwavering support as well.

“I’m very proud of what our kids have been able to accomplish the past (six) years,” Tanner continued. “We put a lot of sweat equity into the program as well as a ton of time and emotion. I look forward to watching the program continue to grow from the outside and wish our kids, Parkersburg South and the south side community nothing but the best moving forward.”