After a 2-8 season, Tohopekaliga High officials said head football Coach Jeff Higgins will not return as head coach in 2022.
“We had a meeting and reached the decision that the program needs to head in another direction,” Athletic Director Lonnie Flores said. “It was hard season and there were a lot of extenuating circumstances. It was just decided that a fresh start was needed.”
The Tigers defeated Gateway and Cypress Creek in the regular season, but went winless in district games and were outscored 412-62 on the season. Their season ended with a 40-0 loss to Lake Nona on Nov. 11.
Several players off last season’s 5-4 team that won a playoff game elected to transfer in the off-season. Covid-tracing issues caused several players and Higgins to miss several games and injuries mounted up during the season.
“A former professional player and coach, Higgins was announced with much fanfare last February, but found little success. “Given the overall picture, we just thought a fresh start was needed,” Flores said, “There wasn’t any one incident or situation that led to the decision.”
Tohopekaliga will be under its fourth head coach in its fifth season next year. Anthony Davis started the program and was its first head coach. When Davis resigned just before the start of the 2019 season, offensive coordinator Marc Deas was elevated to head coach. He found immediate success, going 7-4 and winning a bowl game in 2019 and then guiding the Tigers to a winning season and the school’s first state playoff game last year. But Deas also resigned suddenly to take the head coaching position at Feltrim Academy in Haines City, creating a vacancy that Higgins filled.
“My initial preference is to find a candidate with successful head coaching experience at the high school level,” Flores said. “But we are definitely going to look at all candidates and find the right fit.
“In reality, we have had a little bad luck in that Coach Davis wanted to get back home Miami and Coach Deas was offered a position he just felt he could not turn down. I think we have a lot to offer here at Tohopekaliga and I also believe in my heart there is a lot of potential for success here. I believe we are going to have a lot of interest and applications for this position.”