Luverne High School head football coach Mike Dubose tendered his resignation this week.

“I am officially retiring at the end of this month,” he said.

While he may take on a part-time assistant coaching position one day, Dubose said he had no plans to work with any other program.

“I still love the game, still love spending time with the kids,” he said. “But, as other coaches will tell you, you end up spending more time with others’ kids than your own.”

Dubose decided to retire so that he could spend more time with his grandsons, Drew, 8, and Will, 10.

“I want to watch them play baseball in the summer and go to their football and basketball games in the fall,” he said.

Dubose has coached Luverne for the last two years and has thought about retiring for almost as long.

“I thought about it last year didn’t think it was right to do it after one year,” he said.

Dubose is a native of Opp and commutes to Luverne. Although he has never lived in Luverne, he said it was a great place full of wonderful people.

“It’s a great place to work and a great place to live. It has such tremendous potential,” he said. “I’ll miss the people, especially the players.”

Dubose’s career includes stretches as the defensive line coach at Chattanooga, Southern Miss, Alabama and for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He was the head coach of the University of Alabama from 1997 to 2000.

Dubose also coached a stint at Luverne High School in 2003 and 2004, leading the Tigers to 20-7 regular season record, 5-2 playoff record and 13-1 region record.

Dubose said he was forced to retire in 2004 in order to preserve his U. of A. pension. But he led Luverne to the Class 2A state finals, where they were runner-up in 2003.

Dubose has not talked to the administration about who might take his place, but said the position was a great opportunity for any coach.

“There’s a reason why Luverne has been in the playoffs the last 32 years,” he said. “There’s talent there.”