John Bussard, Ceres High School’s athletic director for the past seven years, has retired.

“It was time,” he said. “I’ve been in education for 33 years.”

Ceres High has had just four athletic directors in the last 44 years.

Bussard, 60, took a great deal of pride following in the footsteps of Shawna Nunes, Glenn Driskell and Phil de la Porte.

Nunes, Driskell and de la Porte served as the high school’s athletic director for eight, four and 25 years, respectively.

“John is going to do fantastic,” Nunes said during the interview process prior to Bussard’s hiring. “He’s got some really good ideas. He brings a unique skillset to the job. It’s not going to be a steep learning curve for him. He understands policies and procedures. He was athletic director at Gustine.”

“I had some big shoes to fill,” Bussard said. “It was a privilege and honor. There were some tough times. I was A.D. during COVID. I think we brought our football program into better success. We expanded a lot of our athletic offerings, primarily our female athletic offerings. Our participation numbers increased drastically.”

Bussard oversaw more than 20 different sports programs as Ceres High’s athletic director, including football, girls flag football, girls golf, girls tennis, girls volleyball, cross country, water polo, boys basketball, girls basketball, boys soccer, girls basketball, wrestling, baseball, boys golf, boys tennis, boys volleyball, softball, swimming, track and field, stunt cheer and cheerleading.

“You have to make yourself visible,” Bussard said while talking about his job responsibilities. “If I didn’t spread the wealth and make an impact in all of our sports, I wouldn’t be an effective athletic director.”

A 1984 Hughson High School grad, Bussard worked at Ceres High School for 18 years.

“There’s a lot of history and tradition at Ceres High,” said Bussard, who was Gustine High School’s athletic director for 10 years before joining the Bulldog family. “It’s definitely an honor to be a part of the school. I never got into coaching or teaching with the expectation of climbing the ladder.”

Prior to serving as the Bulldogs’ athletic director, Bussard taught history and physical education and coached baseball, football and boys golf at Ceres High.

Ceres High’s baseball program amassed an 84-31-1 overall record, participated in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs four times and claimed two Western Athletic Conference titles under Bussard’s guidance from 2012-15.

He helped lead the Bulldogs to their first league title in 20 years in 2014.

Bussard was an assistant football coach for 11 years.

He coached the boys golf team for two seasons.

“I’m very proud of the work I did as head baseball coach,” Bussard said. “We achieved a lot of success and saw a lot of our players play at the college level.”

Bussard generated a host of fond memories during his time at Ceres High.

“I’ve made some lifelong friendships there,” he said.

Former colleague Julio Madrigal was named Bussard’s successor in January.

Madrigal was an administrative assistant for five years (2018-23) and campus supervisor for 18 months (2016-18) at Ceres High.

“I was fortunate to work with John in different capacities,” Madrigal said. “We communicated heavily. He brought new ideas and energy into the athletic program. He was impactful to the culture.”

Bussard and his wife Susan will enjoy retirement together.

Susan, who worked in the Ag banking field, also retired this year.

They celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary in April.

They’re both passionate about music, golf, baseball and football.

They’re San Francisco 49ers season-ticket holders.

They watched the San Francisco Giants play on the road against the Arizona Diamondbacks last month.

They also attended a Kenny Chesney Concert at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

“We’re going to try to hit all the MLB and NFL stadiums,” Bussard said. “We want to take a trip to Europe. We’re planning for a wedding. Our son Brad is getting married.”

John will be added to Brad’s baseball coaching staff at Central Valley High School next spring.

Brent, John’s other son and Brad’s twin brother, will join them in the dugout.

Brent has assisted Brad the past four seasons.

“How often do you get to coach with your sons?” John said. “I’m going to help them part-time for a couple years.”