In a surprise announcement, Don Simon – the second longest tenured coach of Osceola County’s eight high school football coaches – stepped down at Harmony on Thursday afternoon.
He won’t sit idle long -- Simon reportedly will become Tohopekaliga High’s new Athletic Director starting on June 1.
“It’s going to be hard to leave Harmony and the kids, but it simply was time for me to move on,” Simon said. “I’ve been a high school football coach for 28 years and, frankly, I’m tired. It’s time to let the younger guys take over.”
Simon came to Harmony in 2017 from Southern Lee High School in North Carolina. Taking over a program that was coming off a tumultuous 3-7 year, he quickly turned the Longhorns around and posted a 6-4 record in his first year.
After losing the opener in 2018, Harmony ripped off nine consecutive wins and captured the Class 7A, District 7 championship, the school’s first since 2007.
Playing a tough schedule in 2022, Simon led Harmony to a 6-4 record and an at-large playoff berth. Facing perennial power Vero Beach on the road in the first round, Harmony stayed within striking distance for most of the game before giving up a late touchdown in a 24-14 loss.
Overall, Simon was second only to Gateway’s Marlin Roberts in longevity at county schools, and his 33 wins are most in Longhorn school history.
“It’s going to be tough to say goodbye to Don, we owe him a debt of gratitude,” Harmony Athletic Director Dan Kerr said. “He came in under some tough circumstances in 2017 and changed the culture of Harmony football. He got the assistant coaches, players, parents, and boosters all on the same page. All his assistant coaches were working at the school and that’s something that is really hard to achieve. He made Harmony football a family.”
When he moves to Tohopekaliga, It will not be Simon’s first stint as an athletic director. He held the dual roles of AD and head football coach at Southern Lee. He said he was excited about the new opportunity at Tohopekaliga, which opened in 2018.
“It’s obviously going to be a change but it’s one I am looking forward to,” Simon said. “Since Tohopekaliga opened a few years ago, all their athletic programs have gotten better and better every year. Last season, Anthony (Paradiso) did a great job in turning that football program around. There is a lot of positivity at that school, and that extends to the faculty, athletes, coaches, and community. Hopefully I will be able to use my experience to keep the school and athletic department moving in the same positive direction that they have already started to establish.”
In confirming that the Simon was stepping down, Kerr said Simon’s defensive coordinator and long-time assistant Nick Lippert would serve as interim coach through spring football and the rest of the school year. He added that although the school would go through the application process, Lippert would be given ample consideration to get the head coaching job permanently.
“Don and his entire staff were together for a long time and that’s something that created a lot of consistency in our program,” Kerr said. “That consistency is something I would like to see continued.”
Simon also endorsed the idea. “Nick has been with me for a couple of stops. He is an exceptional football coach and has earned the opportunity to run his own program.”
