Photo of Damon Wayans Jr. & Zooey Deschanel by Jennifer Clasen

Damon Wayans Jr. will once again be leaving New Girl at the end of the show's current fourth season, Fox has confirmed.

According to Variety, the role of Coach will not be recast, although creator-executive producer Liz Meriwether jokingly noted in a statement that they are "working on crafting an exit for him that will leave the door open for many more returns, especially since Coach is our resolution to the upcoming ‘Who’s Jess’ Baby Daddy?’ storyline."

“I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to come back to New Girl in season three to reprise the role of Coach,” Wayans added. “Working with this incredibly talented and funny cast and crew has been one of the best experiences of my career.”

As we previously mentioned, Wayans was originally booked to return as a "guest star" last season following the cancellation of Happy Endings., He had last been seen only in the New Girl pilot before leaving when Endings was picked up by ABC.