Riverside head football coach Harry Armstrong, who led the Vikings to the state championship game in the 2010 season, resigned Tuesday night, alleging he had been asked to trade support in this year’s school board elections for a job in the district and a $6,000 bonus.

Mr. Armstrong, who met with players, assistant coaches and friends of the football program Tuesday night to announce his decision, said at first he was leaving due to “conflicts” with the school board. His resignation came as a surprise to board members, who voted unanimously Monday night to appoint four assistant coaches on Mr. Armstrong’s recommendation.

Board President Timothy Lavelle said he was “dumbfounded” when told of Mr. Armstrong’s decision to resign. The coach did not give the board a letter of resignation or any advance notice, he said.

Later Tuesday night, Mr. Armstrong expanded on his reasons for resigning in interviews with The Times-Tribune, accusing Mr. Lavelle of attempting to bribe him by making a job in the district and a $6,000 bonus dependent on Mr. Armstrong’s support for certain candidates in the upcoming school board elections.

“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” Mr. Lavelle said, calling the accusation slanderous.

After the season, Mr. Armstrong said he met with Mr. Lavelle to discuss a full-time job within the district in addition to his coaching duties.

“That was something I’ve been striving for,” Mr. Armstrong said. He said they discussed two positions, including one in the business office dealing with transportation and truancy, and a job Mr. Armstrong would create that involved preparing student athletes for the scholarship process.

At the time, he said Mr. Lavelle told him a job would be posted in January and he would be hired in February.

In January, Mr. Armstrong said Mr. Lavelle told him the job would not be posted until July, after the primary elections in May, and asked Mr. Armstrong to support a set of candidates by putting up yard signs and handing out flyers on Election Day.

Mr. Lavelle then offered the coach a $6,000 bonus, Mr. Armstrong said.

“They’re using me as a pawn,” he said.

Mr. Lavelle denied the accusations of bribery.

“Oh my God,” he said. “That’s defamation of character.”

He and Mr. Armstrong did meet after the season to discuss possible jobs within the district, Mr. Lavelle said, adding that he proposed the matter to the board.

But any action on the job stalled, he said, in part because Mr. Armstrong does not have a teaching degree or certificate – narrowing the available opportunities – and in part due to concern over creating a new position when the district faces a significant shortfall in the state funding.

The nine-member board would have had to vote on a bonus, he said. A $6,000 bonus was proposed by George Bieber and Barbara Fedor, neither of whom Mr. Armstrong accused of bribery, and the motion was withdrawn after board members Bob Bennie and Tom Harrison, both officers on the board, raised questions about the cost and a lack of discussion.

Mr. Lavelle said he did ask Mr. Armstrong for help with the upcoming election, but there was no offer of anything in return.

“I asked everyone for help with the election,” he said.

Mr. Armstrong, who led the Vikings to the PIAA Class A football final last season, said his decision to resign was “difficult.”

He is taking a position as the quarterbacks, receivers and passing game coach at Wilkes University.