Barely a week into spring drills, Osceola’s Doug Nichols sent shockwaves through central Florida’s high school football community when he announced his sudden retirement as head coach.
Nichols, who spent almost three decades at the school, including the last 11 as the team’s leader, had built up a Hall of Fame resume — averaging 10 wins a season and getting the Kowboys to the state championship game three times.
The timing of his departure was even more unsettling, given that he was returning almost all of his starters from a powerhouse team that had won nine games during a Covid-shortened season, advancing to the Class 8A Championship game.
On May 21, Osceola Athletic Director Jim Bird announced that assistant Eric Pinellas would become the new head coach, just hours before the Kowboys defeated Edgewater 18-13 in the spring game.
“I think we are going to be the same type of team we were under Coach Nick and concentrate on doing the things we do well,” Pinellas said. “About the only thing you are going to see different is we are getting rid of the flex and will run strictly the spread offense. We will not huddle and signal the plays in from the sideline.”
Minor changes aside, Pinellas knows he is taking over a very good, very athletic and deep football team.
Leading the way will be a pair of senior quarterbacks in starter Chad Mascoe and backup Blake Birchler. A former Florida State commit, Mascoe completed 61.6% of his passes last season for 12 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He also ran for 208 more yards. Birchler is more than capable of running the offense, havingthrown for more than 600 yards and five touchdowns in limited backup action the last two years.
Osceola’s bread and butter is its running game and nothing should change this fall. Rising senior Ja’Randy Swint averaged 6.6 yards per carry last season, gaining 884 yards and scoring nine touchdowns on the ground. And while Jamison Jones, who rushed for nearly 400 yards and four touchdowns, has announced his intentions of transferring, two-sport star (football and baseball) Isaiah Jean-Baptiste saw a lot of action at running back last season, accounting for more than 700 all-purpose yards and scoring six touchdowns in the process. The Kowboys also have some younger talent waiting in the wings, including Perry Garret.
Although the Kowboys graduated their top wide receiver in Massimo Rivera (20-292-1 TD), they do return junior speedster Donald Cummings (6-115- 1 TD) and Chris Combs (7- 133-1 TD). It should also be noted that Osceola throws a lot to its running backs, as they caught 65 balls out of the backfield last year for nearly 750 yards and 10 touchdowns.
About the only question mark on offense is the line, where Osceola loses four starters, including two Osceola News Gazette All-County players in Cody Carter and Xavier Castillo. Still, this may not necessarily be a concern for the Kowboys.
Jimarion McCrimon, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound rising junior, has started every game since his freshman year and will anchor the offensive line at tackle. Damian Williams played half a season last year but appears poised to capture a spot at guard. And as many as three rising sophomores could capture starting spots, including Antonio Cruz at center and Joseph Sweet who, despite playing football for the first time, has surprised coaches with his ability.
“It’s going to be a young offensive line and we don’t have a ton of depth,” Pinellas said. “But we are cross-training some defensive linemen so they can go both ways if needed.”
Defensively, Osceola will be fearsome up front. Led by a pair of junior linemen in John Walker (75 tackles, 16 TFL, 15 QS) and Derrick LeBlanc (58 tackles, 8 QS, 13 QB hurries), the Kowboys will be formidable up front. Both Walker and LeBlanc are ranked by most recruiting services as Top 300 Juniors in the country.
At linebacker, Osceola saw the departure of two outstanding seniors in Alvin Lee and Nolin Eady, but Osceola should not miss a beat as junior starter Lamont Lee returns. Joel Campbell, who played mostly running back last season, has looked solid at linebacker this spring, while Jaheim Graham is a senior who will compete for playing time.
Gunner Holland, a state wrestling champion as a freshman last school year, is expected to see time at either linebacker or safety, and Anthony Famularo (4 QS) made the switch this spring from the defensive line to linebacker.
Opposing quarterbacks will not have an easy time throwing against Osceola’s secondary, as a trio of excellent defensive backs in Bo Mascoe (Jr.), Kaylon Walters (Sr.) and Jeremiah Wilson (Sr.) all return. Those players combined for 117 tackles, 10 interceptions and 38 pass breakups last year.
Osceola will have to find a replacement for Osceola News Gazette’s All-County kicker Spencer Richards, who went 41 of 42 on extra points and 6 of 6 on field goal attempts, scoring 59 points and averaging more than 40 yards a punt.
One area that will be challenging for the Kowboys will be a new assignment that will find them in the same district as long-time power Dr. Phillips and upstart West Orange. According to the Max Preps website, it is the toughest district in the state, as it is the only one in the state that features three teams that finished in the top 11 in the state’s power rankings.
