The time of golden and winning was over before it began in National University.

Not even a year into being promoted to National U's Srs. squad, Goldwin Monteverde has decided to step down as head coach of the Bulldogs.

According to several sources, coach Gold had already informed team management of his decision weeks ago, but it is only now that it has been accepted.

The development was first reported by Tiebreaker Times.

Monteverde’s decision comes on the heels of the exodus from Sampaloc of blue-chip recruits Gerry Abadiano, Kevin Quiambao, and Carl Tamayo.

Those three, alongside Terrence Fortea comprised the core that powered the Bullpups to back-to-back championships.

And so, when National U announced that coach Gold would be the new head coach of its Srs. squad, it also hoped that Abadiano, Quiambao, and Tamayo - and a year later, Fortea - would be along for the ride.

It wasn't meant to be, however, as the University of the Philippines and De La Salle University swooped in to secure the services of those three.

Even so, Monteverde would have still had talents such as John Lloyd Clemente, JV Gallego, and Jonas Tibayan to work with.

Unfortunately, even that did not necessarily fall into place.

Even more, the development has also apparently affected the blue and good’s dynastic Jrs. program. “Nadamay rin kami,” a source said.

That means that the Bullpups’ try for a three-peat would have to move forward without the architect of the juggernaut.

And that means that National U now has to conduct coaching searches for both its Srs. and Jrs. teams.

Coach Gold has long conquered the high school ranks. with championships for National U and Chiang Kai Shek in their respective leagues. He also brought back Adamson High School to contention in his time there.

He also has wins in the NBTC, Palarong Pambansa, and Asean School Games on his resume.

Monteverde was supposed to replace former head coach Jamike Jarin who registered an 11-31 record in his three years in Sampaloc.

This story originally appeared on the ABS-CBN Sports website.