Several first-year coaches prepared

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Preparation for the 2011 high school football season begins Monday at seven Osceola County public schools.

St. Cloud, Harmony and Poinciana will have new head coaches this year.

Two private schools, Life Academy and City of Life Christian Academy, also will be on the field. Life Academy is switching from six-man to 11-man football this season, and City of Life is establishing a six-man program.

St. Cloud will be the first local football team on the practice field Monday. Coach Mike Short, in his first season as the head coach after serving as an assistant for several years, has scheduled a “midnight madness” workout at 12:01 a.m.

“Originally we had planned to have some festivities along with it, but we’ve scaled it back and it’ll just be a regular practice,” Short, beginning his first season as the head coach, said.

The Bulldogs bring playoff potential to the 2011 season with quarterback Phillip Steinmetz, a 6-5 senior, expected to lead an explosive offense.

The team received bad news last week when junior receiver Jordan Reus injured his knee at a combine and may be lost for the season.

“They were doing one-on-ones at the end of the combine when it happened,” Short said.

But, the team may receive a boost by the return of running back Irving Huggins, last year’s county rushing leader (1,371 yards), who left in the spring with the intention of transferring to a military school.

“That didn’t work out, and it’s possible that he could return here,” Short said. “We’ll know more about that next week.”

The Bulldogs were 7-4 on the field last season but forfeited wins against Osceola and Stuart Martin County for using an ineligible player.

Another new head coach, Harmony’s Jerrad Butler, will lead a young Longhorns squad through two-a-days next week in the morning and late afternoon.

“We’re going at 3 o’clock during the day. Sure it will be hot, but when school starts, that’s what time we’ll practice,” he said. “We’ll be in the routine by then.”

Butler could start an entire backfield of sophomores and juniors when the season begins, as only 53 carries, 10 passing attempts, 16 receptions and five touchdowns return from last year due to graduation and other subtractions.

Sophomores Alex Britton and Sterling Hicks will work at quarterback. Britton started two games in place of injured starter Adam Harvey last year, and Hicks was the starter on the freshman team, which Butler coached.

“They’ve got experience, and a lot of our younger kids also played varsity last year because of injuries,” Butler said. “They understand the task at hand. Their mental approach isn’t a concern.”

Osceola Coach Doug Nichols begins his second season as the head coach with a Kowboys team that resembled the powerhouse squad of 2007 during a 21-14 spring win against Lake Gibson.

“We’ve had a good summer. We’ve got a pretty decent backfield, we’ve got a good bunch of linemen coming back and we played a lot of young kids on defense last year who should be better,” Nichols said. “But, that’s what we’ll have to see.”

The Kowboys will be on the field for morning, afternoon and evening workouts next week. The afternoon practice is for special teams.

Osceola was 4-7 on the field last season but picked up forfeit wins from St. Cloud and Dr. Phillips and officially is 6-5.

Liberty High Coach David Benson begins his second season with a team that he considers to have playoff potential.

The Chargers will be young, but explosive, in 7A District 6, he said.

“Offensively, this could be the best team we’ve had here,” he said.

The Chargers will workout at 9:30 a.m. and at 1 p.m. next week.

“That 1 o’clock one will be hot, but we want to get them acclimated to the heat,” Benson said. “We’ll break for water every 20 minutes and there will be ice buckets out there for whenever they need them. We’ll take all the precautions.”

Benson said he wants his team to be ready to go during the muggy September evenings that mark the early part of the season.

“We figure if they can take the heat in the afternoons, then the Friday night games won’t be a problem,” he said.

Gateway’s Marlin Roberts also will run 1 p.m. afternoon sessions next week after morning practices.

“That’s what you do if you want to avoid the rain,” he said. “You know what happens in Florida at 5 o’clock in the summer.”

Poinciana former assistant Cory Fleming takes over the program after Michael Timpson was not retained

in June.

Fleming will try to rally a program that was winless last season and has just seven victories over the past decade. Fleming said his athletes have prepared themselves for Monday’s first workout.

“Our turnout over the summer was outstanding, it was better than it was last year,” Fleming said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who have been here through the summer getting their work in.”

Mike Bonneville is the coach at Life Academy, where the Lions began their 11-man program last spring and participated in a jamboree. The team also did well during 7-on-7 competitions over the summer.

“We still have to work on things like tackling and other technique stuff, but we’re getting close to getting the basics down,” he said.

Glenn Harris, a former St. Cloud High assistant, is establishing the six-man program at City of Life.

“We have 53 guys in the school, and every one of them wants to play,” he said. “We’ve got 18 guys on the roster and they are excited about it and ready to go.”

The public schools will compete in Kickoff Classics Aug. 26. The regular season openers are Sept. 2.

The private schools also will play Aug. 26. Life Academy will play an independent schedule, and City of Life will compete in the Florida Christian Association of Private and Parochial Schools, which consists of about 30 schools.

The first three days of practice are non-contact.

Ken Jackson contributed to this story.