SLIPPERY ROCK — For John Tabisz, the third time was charming.

But, he said jokingly, “There won’t be a fourth.”

Tabisz’s resignation as the Slippery Rock High girls basketball coach was approved by the school board Monday, ending a three-year run in his third stint as coach.

Tabisz, who is a retired Slippery Rock teacher, also coached from 1980-83 and from 1988-2002.

“I’ve had fond memories all three times,” Tabisz said. “But this time was a little more special because I never thought I’d do it again.

“It was like going back for a third piece of cake,” Tabisz added. “It was good, but it’s time to say goodbye.”

Tabisz led the Rockets to a 44-24 record the last three years and an impressive 26-6 mark in a difficult District 10 Class AAA region.

The Rockets shared the Region 5 title with Hickory this past season.

He was the 2014-15 Butler Eagle Girls Basketball Coach of the Year, leading a team that lost two of its top players to season-ending knee injuries and that featured a lineup of four sophomores and a freshman to the District 10 playoffs.

But Tabisz decided to leave a program loaded with young talent when he began to question if he had the zeal needed for a fourth season.

“I went to three weeks of open gyms and sat back and thought, ‘Do I really want to do this for another six months, day in and day out?’” Tabisz said. “I’m mentally tired and those kids are great kids and they deserve a coach who will have the energy.”

That coach may very well be Tabisz’s assistant for the last three years, Amber Osborn.

Osborn — then Amber McFeely — was a standout player at Grove City College and Slippery Rock University.

“I talked to Amber and she said she was ready,” Tabisz said. “When I asked her to be my assistant, I asked her, ‘Do you want to be a head coach?’ She said, ‘Definitely.’”

Slippery Rock must post the position and do a search before the vacancy is filled.

“They have to go through the whole process,” Tabisz said. “I hope (Amber) gets the opportunity.”

Slippery Rock athletic director John Osborne said Tabisz will be tough to follow.

“He is a great guy and a great coach,” he said. “Whoever gets the position is going to have big shoes to fill.”

Chris Burtch, the current Grove City High girls basketball coach who played for Tabisz, coached with him and also against him, said he was fortunate to have Tabisz as his mentor — both on the court and in the classroom as a teacher.

“He continues to be a role model for me to this day,” Burtch said. “For a lot of us who went to school and/or played basketball at Slippery Rock High School in the ’80s and ’90s and 2000s, he was Slippery Rock to us in a lot of ways.”

Burtch said Tabisz’s strength was his ability to relate to and bring out the best in his players.

“Coach Tabisz was that rare coach who made his players want to be better,” Burtch said. “Better players, better teammates, better people. The life lessons he taught continue to make all of us who played for him very grateful.”