OHS star from 1993-96 coached in Coffey Field dugout for 20+ years, last 7 years as head coach
When the next high school softball season begins to take shape at Osceola High, a very, very, very familiar face will not be in the dugout.
Head coach Miranda Watford, who played, assisted and for the last seven seasons led the Kowboys from the dugout at what is now George Coffey Field, announced Friday that she is stepping down. She made the announcement on Facebook Friday, and when interviewed, echoed her post regarding the changing landscape of coaching youth sports.
"The culture of high school sports, coaching, the school, and this community has changed drastically and as hard as it is, it’s time for a change," she said. "It's hard to accept the new way things are with travel ball, transfers, NIL. I think it's just time to have a fresh coach for the program. It's the right decision."
Watford became the head coach in 2020 — "the COVID year", "When we got to play all of 10 games," she said — after longtime Coach George Coffey, the man who built the program and, literally, the complex, retired the spring prior. She led the Kowboys to an 81-74 record with two district titles and an Orange Belt Conference crown, all the while working to develop players by competing against the toughest competition available. Osceola annually plays in the top bracket of the Roger Jones Kissimmee Klassic, started by Coffey and run by its namesake, becoming regarded as one of top high school tournaments in the Southeast.
Watford's connection to that tournament at the program started in 1993, when she started a four-year varsity career. OHS qualified for two state tournaments in that time from 1993-96. Watford was only away from the program during a college playing career at Daytona Beach Community College and Rollins College, as she returned to Osceola to coach the volleyball team in 2000 and then become an assistant to Coffey in 2001.
She was a dutiful assistant for nearly 20 years, bridging the gap from players to the staff, all the while staying active in the game, playing competitively in high-level slowpitch softball and making a pro appearance with the Kissimmee-based USSSA Pride of National Pro Fastpitch in 2009.
"Coach (Charlene) Davids started it and Coach Coffey took it to new heights and combined, they made it what it is today," Watford said. "They taught us so much, supported us through all stages of life, we laughed together and cried together. They were definitely a hard act to follow, but i pray I made them proud as it was an honor to take the helm over the last seven years. It was an honor to represent Lady Kowboy Softball and Osceola High School as player, coach, and now as just an alumni."
Former OHS Athletic Director Rick Tribit, who worked with Watford for his five years there, said he saw her obligation to the legacy of the program.
"A consummate Kowboy, one of the last of them, that sums it up," he said. "She worked at every level and kept the program going under the pressure of filling George's shoes, and just wearing the name 'Osceola Kowboys' on her jersey. "She just worked her tail off, you never wondered where her heart was. That's the way she's wired."
Watford said she's told school officials she's willing to help find the next coach.
"It's a program that's changed a lot of lives and meant a lot to a lot of people," she said.
