When high school players report for football practice on Aug. 1, many teams will have a new look.
The most noticeable changes will be that four of the county’s eight schools will be under the leadership of new head coaches.
The dominoes began to fall in late December, when Tohopekaliga’s Mark Deas left to become the new head coach at Feltrim Academy – a private school modeled after Bradenton’s IGM Academy.
Athletic Director Lonnie Flores announced in January that Jeff Higgins, a former professional football player with high school head coaching experience, would replace Deas.
A month later, Celebration’s Jay Sobke stepped down and the school announced Rich Pringle would be taking over. A 2013 graduate of Texas A&M, Pringle coached several years in Texas before moving to Florida where he was defensive coordinator at Ocala Forest High School and most recently at Lake Gibson High, where his defense recorded six shutouts in a 12-2 season.
In May, Doug Nichols, who spent 30 years at Osceola High School including 11 seasons as its head coach, sent shockwaves through the county when he made a sudden announcement during spring football that he was stepping down. Nichols’ Hall of Fame resume included an 111-23 record and three trips to the FHSAA State Championship game.
After a short search, Athletic Director Jim Bird announced that Assistant Coach Eric Pinellas would take over the head coaching reigns. Pinellas said little would change within the Kowboys’ program.
“We are going to tweak some things, but we certainly are not going to reinvent the wheel,” said the coach and Kowboys alumni known in Kissimmee as “EP”.
“Coach Nichols and those before him have built and maintained a great program and my job will be to keep it going. I played at this school and have coached here for 20 years so I am more than aware of the traditions and expectations. The expectations are my expectations.”
Following its spring game, Liberty head coach Brandon Pennington announced he was stepping down in order to return to St. Cloud High School as its defensive coordinator. Pennington said it was a difficult decision that was influenced by family matters.
“I have two children in middle school that will be going to St. Cloud High School in the near future,” he said. “The chance to come back and be able to coach and teach at the same school as my kids was really a deciding factor.”
As of this week, Liberty has not announced who its next coach would be but County Athletic Director Ryan Adams noted that an announcement is expected shortly.
The moves leave Marlin Roberts as the “Dean” of head coaches in Osceola County as he begins his 20th year at Gateway, including his 14th year at the Panthers’ helm.
Schedules will also look a lot different this year, as the FHSAA announced district realignment for the 2021 season.
Among the more interesting moves was the placement of Osceola in the same District 8A-9 as traditional power Dr. Phillips and upstart West Orange. According to MaxPreps, the new district is the toughest in the state as it has three programs that finished in the top 10 class 8A rankings from a year ago. Celebration is also scheduled to play in that district with Olympia and Windermere in Orange County.
Both Liberty and Poinciana will play the 2021 season as independents, making them ineligible for the postseason.
Eagles coach Randy Beeken and then-Chargers coach Pennington gave similar explanations for the move.
“I think we both were put in districts where we had absolutely zero chance to be competitive,” Beeken said. “By going the independent route, it allowed us the opportunity to put together a schedule where we could be competitive.”
Teams will play Kickoff Classics Aug. 20, with the 2021 10-game regular season beginning on Friday, Aug. 27.
“After the crazy year we went through with Covid, it is going to be nice to get back to a regular schedule,” Harmony Coach Don Simon said. “Last year was incredibly difficult for the players, coaches, fans and administration.”
Some of this year’s highly anticipated matchups include St. Cloud at Osceola (Aug. 27), Celebration at Poinciana (Sept. 3), Gateway at Harmony and Osceola at Manatee (Sept. 24), Gateway at St. Cloud (Oct. 8), Dr. Phillips at Osceola (Oct. 15), Osceola at West Orange (Oct. 22), St. Cloud at Harmony and Lake Nona at Tohopekaliga (Oct. 29) and Liberty at Poinciana (Nov. 5).
