Ex-OHS assistant was head coach at four other schools

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Bill Buldini will get a look at the St. Cloud-Osceola football rivalry from a different perspective in September after he was named as St. Cloud’s head coach Monday by Athletic Director Chad Ansbaugh.

Buldini, who turns 47 next week, was a Kowboys’ assistant coach for the past three years under former coach Jeff Rolson.

Buldini replaces Mark Jackson at St. Cloud after Jackson was forced to resign last month by Principal Pam Tapley.

“The way it turned out, this kind of happened fast. Things happened quick,” Buldini said. “I’m excited about it. I like our kids. I think we have the ability to get some things done.”

Buldini came from Osceola High last spring to replace Brad Lennox as the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator. Lennox went to OHS to join Doug Nichols’ coaching staff.

After Jackson resigned, Buldini and offensive coordinator Mike Short teamed to run the football program while interviews for the head coaching job were conducted.

“The kids never stopped coming in, and we coordinated everything and kept things moving for when the new coach came in,” Buldini said.

Ansbaugh helped out as a football assistant coach through the spring drills and he said that, after working alongside Buldini, he is confident that Buldini is the right man to lead the St. Cloud program.

“We had a ton of people who applied. We got a lot of glitzy resumes from 10 different states, but I got to work with Bill every day this spring when I was helping Mark, and seeing how he worked and did things the right way impressed me,” Ansbaugh said. “I was glad that he applied, and based on what I saw this spring plus his previous experience, I’m satisfied that he is the right coach for our school.”

This is Buldini’s fifth head coaching job, including a two-year stint at Haines City in 2005-06, when he led the Hornets to the regional playoffs.

Buldini played football at Medford High in Massachusetts and at American International College in Springfield, Mass., where he became a football graduate assistant. He worked at two Division III colleges before taking the head coaching job at his high school alma mater and also at Hudson Catholic High in New Jersey.

After a stint as the offensive coordinator at Beaufort, S.C., Buldini took the head coaching job at Jasper County High in South Carolina before coming to Haines City.

“I made up my mind that I wanted to be a head coach in Florida,” Buldini said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but it was something that I wanted to do.”

Buldini joined Rolson’s staff at OHS in 2007 as a defensive line coach when the Kowboys enjoyed a 14-1 season and a trip to the state championship game.

“I’ve seen some great athletes, especially in South Carolina and Florida,” Buldini said. “I’ve coached against St. Cloud five years in a row, counting a couple of seasons that I was at Haines City. My first year at OHS, St. Cloud kind of struggled, but I remember at the start of the game that next season that when we walked on the field and saw St. Cloud’s players, it was like, wow, these guys look a lot better.”

Buldini plans to retain the spread offense that Jackson implemented.

“Having Mike Short back is really important because he was the quarterback coach and he knows all the ins and outs,” Buldini said.

Rising junior quarterback Phillip Steinmetz was the county’s leading passer in 2009.

Buldini will continue to call the defensive signals. St. Cloud struggled in the spring, switching from an odd-man front to an even-man front and the team was beaten decisively in the spring game at Olympia.

“We really didn’t work that much on the passing game in the spring. We worked mostly against the run, and we held them to 87 yards rushing. But, they got 300 passing,” Buldini said. “We’re going to continue to work on it and we’ll get the secondary shored up.”

Buldini understands that many players and their families were upset about Jackson’s sudden departure.

“It’s important that there is a sense of continuity. We don’t want to be making too many changes,” he said. “We’re going to miss Mark. There’s a lot of affection for him here, and I understand that because he’s been an important part of things here for a long time. We prayed for him and his family, and it’s important for him to find the best situation possible.”

Buldini and Short are taking the team to a series of 7-on-7 tournaments as part of the preseason preparations.

“We had to cancel a couple of camps because things got a little hectic, but we’re working on some things and we’ll make sure that we get our guys some opportunities to compete,” he said. “It’s important to play the tournaments, even for the defensive guys.”

Buldini has several vacant assistant coaching positions to fill. He is the fifth new head football coach in Osceola County since last season.