He’ll be taking over as athletic director and head coach at Bruceville-Eddy, a Class AA high school in Texas, about 18 miles south of Waco.

Scot Sloan, who currently serves as Riverside’s athletic director, will take over as football coach for the Eagles and will retain AD duties.

"I’ve got two children ages 13 and 15 that have been (in Texas), and what’s been tough is missing them and missing family," said Lancaster, who coached in the area at Baylor University for 10 years. "My wife’s from out there, and it’s been tough. We’re doing this for the family."

In two years at the school, Lancaster’s teams went 13-9 with two trips to the playoffs, including a 7-4 campaign in 2008, when the Eagles returned to GHSA after a stint in the Georgia Independent Schools Association.

"I’ll always be a Riverrat," said Lancaster, who graduated from Riverside in the 1980s. "It’ll always be a big part of me, and it’s going to be a hard place to leave. But in the end, I had to do it for my family."

Lancaster will finish out the school year at Riverside. When he walks away, he feels he’s leaving the program in good hands.

"I know Scot will do a great job," said Lancaster, who played with Sloan at Clemson University. "He’ll get it to the next level. One thing I’m proud of is that we’ve made the smooth transition to GHSA, and I know Scot will continue that tradition. He’ll be a great head football coach. He’s ready, he’s organized, the kids love him, and he’ll be a great ambassador for Riverside."

Sloan’s coaching background includes stints as a graduate assistant at Clemson (’92-’95), defensive coordinator/assistant head coach at Georgia Military College (’96-’01), and defensive backs coach at Georgia Southern (’02-’05). He spent 2006 as the defensive coordinator at Griffin High School and has held the same position at Riverside for the last two seasons.

This will be his first head coaching position.

"I’ve very excited. Head coaching opportunities are hard to come by," Sloan said, adding that the bulk of the 2008 coaching staff will remain in place. "That’s one thing that I’m really excited about."