Rolson resigns from OHS

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Rolson resigns from OHS

Sports

Thursday, 18 March 2010 06:33

Kowboys coach accepts football job at Rutherford
By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
Four years after he arrived and revitalized the Osceola High football program, Coach Jeff Rolson said Tuesday that he was resigning effective April 1 to accept a similar position at Springfield Rutherford High, located near Panama City.

Rolson said his decision was based on economics.
“It’s a situation where I have to take care of my family,” he said. “Things have changed since I came here. Summer school is gone, and I don’t have an extra class. I’m making about $10,000 less than when I first got here.”
Rolson, who led the Kowboys to the state championship game in 2007, said he has nothing but good things to say about his four seasons at OHS.
“It was a tough decision. It’s always a tough decision to leave. I’ve had great support from the administration and the community, and the kids are second to none,” he said. “I wish I could have announced this sooner, but it didn’t become finalized until (Monday).”
Osceola Athletic Director Jim Bird said he is sorry to lose Rolson.
“Jeff is a great coach, and he did a great job for us here,” Bird said. “Not only on the field, but he made the program Christian-based and taught life skills. He turned some lives around. He did an awesome job, and I wish him nothing but good luck.”
Bird said he expects to have Rolson’s position filled soon after the spring break, which ends April 12. Spring drills begin in early May.
“I’ll sit down with (OHS Principal) Mr. (Gary) Preisser and go through the resumes and pick out the five that look the best,” Bird said. “With a P.E. position being open, we won’t have any problem getting it filled immediately.”
Bird said that it is impossible for local schools to match the salary scale for football coaches in the Florida Panhandle.
“You’re looking at $30,000 more a year,” Bird said.
Rolson earned the respect of his local rivals.
“I think Jeff is a great coach and a better person. He did the right things for those kids on and off the field, and made them better men,” St. Cloud Coach Mark Jackson said. “I will not miss coaching against him, though. Hopefully, we can continue to close that gap between them and us.”
About 20 Kowboys signed football grants under Rolson.
Rolson was 37-13 at OHS, including 14-1 in 2007 when the Kowboys reached the Class 5A championship game against St. Thomas Aquinas. OHS lost, 35-20, after starting quarterback T’Sharvan Bell was injured in the state semifinals and could not play. The 14 wins are the most at OHS in a season.
During the 2007 season, Osceola snapped Lakeland High’s 53-game winning streak, the longest in Florida history, 25-21, to clinch the district championship. Osceola also beat Lakeland, 22-7, in the second round of the playoffs that season.
Rolson’s playoff record was 6-3. The Kowboys reached the regional semifinal round in three of his four seasons. The Kowboys were 8-3 during Rolson’s first season, 2006, and beat Harmony in the Scholarship Bowl.
Ironically, Rutherford twice eliminated OHS from the state playoffs, in 1997 and 1999. Osceola was undefeated, 13-0, in 1999 when Coach Jim Scible’s team lost a 21-20 heartbreaker one year after winning the school’s only state championship.
“It’s a situation similar to this one when I got here. It’s a great program that went through some hard times for a few years, but the coaches did a good job of getting it back to where it used to be,” Rolson said.
Rutherford now plays in Class 3A.
Rolson came to OHS after three years as an assistant at Valdosta, Ga., High with head coach Rick Darlington. Rolson was Darlington’s defensive co-ordinator at Apopka when the school won the 2001 state championship.
Rolson said he might invite one or more of his OHS assistant coaches to join him at Rutherford.
“I’ll have to get up there and see what the situation is, but, you always like to bring in good coaches when you have that opportunity,” he said.
Rolson was the third local football coach to step down this off-season, following Poinciana’s Gene Smith in December and Celebration’s John Bangley in January.
Former NFL player Michael Timpson took the Poinciana job earlier this month.
Bangley, the Celebration athletic director, said Tuesday that he has hired Lakeland High assistant coach Ben Aarsted to take over the Storm football program. Aarsted will meet players and parents Monday at 6 p.m in the school’s media center.