Butler prepared to lead Horns

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Butler prepared to lead Horns

Sports

Friday, 18 February 2011 13:49

JButler_HHS

Butler

By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer
You won’t find anybody around Harmony High School’s football program more invested in it than Jerrad Butler.
He remembers its first days in the summer of 2004, handing out equipment from a hot trailer at an equally-hot St. Cloud Middle School field. Now, he’ll be handing out starting varsity jobs.
Butler, a former offensive lineman at St. Cloud and a member of the Longhorns coaching staff since its inception, was named the program’s third head coach last week by Principal Grover “Buddy” Butler (no relation).
He was the head freshman coach the last two years after serving as defensive coordinator from 2004-08 under former coaches Tyler Anderson and Dayne Brown. Brown stepped down recently after three seasons to take a position at Pikeville (Ky.) College.
Butler, 33, who played two years as a guard for St. Cloud under Coach John Wallauer (and three years as a first baseman/pitcher for Mike Fields’ baseball team), had been working toward becoming a head football coach, and everything fell into place for it to happen right now.
“Now is a much better time for me, professionally and for my family. In 2008, I was the defensive coordinator but I never got to see my daughter, who was just born,” he said. “It’s funny how things have worked out, but I’m just looking forward to the opportunity.”
Butler, who’s been an Osceola County resident his entire life minus four years spent at the University of Kentucky, where he earned a degree in biology, was the school’s defensive coordinator under both Anderson and in Brown’s first season.
For the past two seasons he led the freshman team to an 11-4 record. He was on the staff in 2007 when the Longhorns went 10-3 and made their only playoff appearance, making it to the 3A Region 3 finals before losing at Citra North Marion.
It’s that pedigree that made him the man for the job, Buddy Butler said.
“Jerrad’s been in the fold for a long time. He’s a Longhorn in every sense of the word, and has built the trust of the community and students,” he said. “I was very impressed with how he handled the freshman program, and he’s grown a lot along with the school. He has a sense of where we’ve been and where we need to be.”
Coach Butler, who worked directly with two-thirds of what will be his varsity squad when he coached them as freshmen, said he sees no reason that the Longhorns can’t return to the playoffs, and do it soon, in the manner that Anderson got them there.
“I look at this as a chance to forge some of the old with some of the new,” he said. “I appreciate everything that Tyler, Dayne and the administration have done for this program. My job is to be a good steward of it.
“It’s funny, the only group I haven’t worked with yet is the rising seniors.”
Butler said he hopes to adjust the offense a bit from the option attack Brown ran the past two seasons.
“We’ll be multiple on offense. We’ll look more like we did in 2006 and ‘07,” he said. “People forget that early on we had Spencer Endsley throwing it 40-50 times a game, but we had our best success when we were balanced, so we’ve got to be able to run the ball.”
Butler will be his own defensive coordinator.
“I haven’t settled on a scheme yet, but I know I’m inheriting a group that’s fundamentally sound,” he said. “I know they’re going to do all the things I ask: swarm the ball, tackle and be aggressive. I hope we’re opportunistic.”
Butler will rely on some young players this year since much of the offensive backfield and the top five tacklers in 2010 were seniors. The top returning rusher will be sophomore Austin Ocasio (45 rushes, 320 yards, 4 TDs). Freshman Alex Britton got some snaps at quarterback in relief of starter Adam Harvey, who was injured late in the season.
Butler is now busy assembling two key components to the 2011 season: the schedule – the Lonhgorns will play Mount Dora in May’s spring game – and his coaching staff.
“The schedule’s coming along. We’ve got open weeks and we’re looking for the right kind of opponents,” he said. “As for the staff, let’s just say you’ll see some people you recognize on the sidelines next year.”
Butler and his wife Stephanie have two children, Blake, 4, and Reese, 2.