Yelm football coach Jason Ronquillo, who led team to state title, abruptly resigns
Yelm High School football coach Jason Ronquillo, who turned the Tornados into a Class 3A state power, resigned from his position on Friday.
Neither Ronquillo nor the school district provided a reason for his resignation. Reached by phone on Thursday, Yelm athletic director Rob Hill declined to comment. Efforts to reach Ronquillo for comment were unsuccessful.
Multiple sources have told The News Tribune the resignation stemmed from an off-the-field, personal issue.
For years, Yelm’s football program struggled to put a winning product on the field. Prior to 2018, the program’s last state tournament appearance came in 1987. That changed when Ronquillo was hired in 2013. Yelm made state tournament appearances in 2018, 2019 and 2021 before beating Eastside Catholic in the Class 3A state championship game in 2022. Yelm returned to the title game in 2023, falling to Bellevue in the championship.
Ronquillo’s departure is the latest blow for athletics at Yelm Community Schools, which has suffered massive district-wide cuts to the athletics budget after the recent failure of multiple levies.
With summer football workouts right around the corner, Hill will need to move to fill the position quickly. Hill said the job will be posted soon.
This story was originally published May 23, 2025 at 11:44 AM.
