Westwood High will be looking for yet another coach in the weeks ahead with the official resignation Monday of baseball coach Brian Stephenson after eight seasons at the helm.

Stephenson, who relocated to the Valley in 2004 from Yuma after coaching baseball at Yuma High, replaced Ross Pagel beginning with the 2005 season. Stephenson made the decision to step down a couple weeks ago.

Mesa district athletic director Steve Hogen asked Stephenson to reconsider. Stephenson pondered it, but ultimately decided to step aside.

"I think he's a great guy for kids," Hogen said. "He's the kind of guy you want coaching."

Westwood's best season in Stephenson's tenure was in 2006. The Warriors were 14-13 that year. Most other seasons Westwood has flirted with .500 seasons. Westwood finished 12-16 in 2012.

"This was 100 percent my call," Stephenson said. "It really was my time after I looked at it. I was proud of the way our kids played the last two weeks. If we had played that way all year, we'd have won a bunch more ball games.

"We played a lot of tough teams, especially late in the year -- Mountain View, Chaparral, Desert Mountain Desert Vista. When I got here I wanted to change the culture. It's been hard. I don't think I was able to."

Stephenson wants to continue coaching baseball, but at this point he's not sure where or when.

"If I'm back coaching it will be baseball," Stephenson said. "I'm a baseball guy."

It's been a year of turnover at Westwood in the coaching department with football and basketball coaches stepping aside earlier. Football coach Greg Mendez resigned in November after four season and boys basketball coach Paul Wilson stepped down in February after six seasons. Westwood is also in search of a boys soccer coach, girls tennis coach and badminton coach.