Chris Fore is an accomplished educational executive, athletic administrator, author, consultant, and leader whose career spans more than three decades of transformative work in education, athletics, organizational development, and personnel management. A results-driven leader known for pairing strategic vision with practical execution, he has built a reputation for strengthening culture, improving performance, and delivering sustainable results for students, educators, coaches, and organizations.
Fore currently serves as Principal of Mojave High School and Hesperia Community Day School in Hesperia, California. Under his leadership, Mojave High School earned recognition as a 2025 California Department of Education Model Continuation School, and HCDS received the Model Community Day School in 2024. He oversees educational operations, student achievement, personnel, budgeting, and community engagement. His tenure has produced measurable gains in graduation rates, academic performance, college and career readiness, and student engagement, reflecting a leadership approach grounded in accountability, innovation, and collaboration.
His path to the principalship began in the classroom and on the field. As a Special Education teacher, Fore worked with diverse learners and developed a deep appreciation for mentorship, relationship-building, and environments in which people can thrive. He coached high school football for sixteen years, including eight as a head varsity coach, and spent one year coaching junior college football. He later served six years as an Athletic Director; at both schools he led, programs set all-time records for championships won in a single year—records established in 2010 and 2013 that still stand. He also spent four and a half years as the administrator supervising athletics while serving as Athletic Director. Those roles sharpened his skills in personnel management, facilities, budgets, compliance, fundraising, and strategic planning, and they instilled a coaching philosophy that continues to shape his work with people and organizations.
Fore’s administrative career expanded through roles as Assistant Principal and Principal. As Principal of The Palmdale Aerospace Academy, he led a school of approximately 1,800 students and more than 125 employees. He participated in collective bargaining, redesigned operational systems, improved college and career readiness and Advanced Placement outcomes, and rebuilt counseling and intervention programs. The ability to diagnose organizational problems and implement lasting solutions became a hallmark of his leadership.
Recognizing a gap in professional development for coaches and athletic administrators, Fore founded Eight Laces Consulting. Through the firm he advises high school, collegiate, and professional clients on career advancement, program building, and leadership. He has written four books—The Head Coach Blueprint, Building Championship-Caliber Football Programs, The Shield Punt, and An Insider’s Guide To Scoring Your Next Coaching Job—and produced four manuals, including The Hidden Yards: A Special Teams Resource, Outside The Lines Manual For Football Coaches, Outside The Lines Manual for Athletic Directors, and 28 Kick and Punt Returns and Blocks. These resources, available at EightLaces.org, sit alongside more than 400 articles published at CoachFore.org and in outlets such as the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, Coach and Athletic Director, and the American Football Coaches Association maganize. He has been featured on Football Scoop, X and O Labs, Coach XO, and My CoachBook, and has appeared on High School Football America radio, Fox Sports AM 570 Los Angeles, San Diego’s Mighty 1090, and FootballCoachingPodcast.com. He is a frequent speaker at Glazier Clinics, the AFCA Convention, the California Athletic Directors’ Association Conference, and regional coaching clinics.
Fore’s governance record is equally extensive. He served as President of the California Coaches Association from June 2018 to July 2021, sat on the CIF State Federated Council for three years, and has served on the CIF Southern Section Football Coach’s Advisory Committee, the Southern California Football Coaches Association Board, and the board of the California Youth Football Alliance. He taught for three years in the Master of Physical Education program at Azusa Pacific University before stepping away in 2019 to focus on full-time administration. He is a Certified Athletic Administrator through the NIAAA.
A distinctive dimension of his portfolio is expertise in educational law and risk management. Fore has served as an expert witness in more than forty athletic and educational lawsuits involving seuxal harrasment, concussion protocols, athletic safety, hazing, equipment, supervision, and institutional liability. That work has given him a sophisticated understanding of compliance, risk mitigation, and board-level accountability.
His academic credentials include a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration, a California Administrative Services Credential, and a California Education Specialist Credential. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Law. Fore approaches leadership as a servant and lifelong learner—committed to mentoring others, strengthening organizations, and building cultures of integrity, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Contact Chris Fore by email at chris@eightlaces dot org.
On Social Media: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube Channel
I Tunes Podcast: The Coaches’ Locker Room
Fore’s Eight Laces consulting website can be found here.
