Hernando (FL) football will enter 2022 with a new head and a new attitude

BROOKSVILLE, FL – It’s been a little bit of a revolving door when it comes to the head coaching position for football at Hernando High School.

Since 2011, Hernando has gone through five different head coaches and the Leopards went through another coaching change after the 2021 season with Earl Garcia III stepping down and accepting the defensive coordinator job at Plant High School.

The program has tabbed former Countryside High School defensive coordinator John Scargle as the next head coach and creating a sense of stability is going to be one of the major hurdles. Scargle follows the line of coaches that have come through in the last decade from John Palmer to Garcia III and now wants to put his touch on Hernando football.

“I was at Countryside High School just one season as defensive coordinator, two at Clearwater High School before that as defensive coordinator,” Scargle said. “The main difference between the programs, are the mind set of the culture being the fifth coach in ten years. So far I have had to earn the trust of the players, faculty and boosters. I run the program pretty much the same as when I was at Clearwater Central Catholic, under John Davis when we went to the state championship.”

Hernando had a spring jamboree with Citrus and Fivay, but it ended up getting cut short due to bad weather, leaving much to be desired when it comes at looking at players performing in-game. The Leopards were able to play the Hurricanes for two quarters before the weather came. A limited amount of time to evaluate now has Hernando itching for August 1st team practices to begin.

Scargle did point out some of the players people will need to be watching for, including nose guard/offensive guard Devin Williams, quarterback/safety John Capel, offensive guard/nose guard Tavareon Smith, tight end/offensive guard CC Peeples, running back/defensive back Demarcus Langley, wide receiver/free safety Leandre Wright, wide receiver/defensive back Manny Acker and defensive end/offensive guard Colton Ashworth.

“We had many players step up, who played JV last year, to show they are ready to play at the varsity level,” Scargle said. “Great performance from our leaders, and I was very happy to see the progress we made from the Purple & Gold Game, played two weeks earlier. Of course we had plenty of missed assignments, players that still need to learn how to play at full speed, and many coaching points to expand on while watching film for the players and for the coaches.”

This isn’t Scargle’s first go around as a head coach, with him also being the lead man at Palm Harbor University in 2017-2018. Having already previously been a head coach in the area before, Scargle’s second go around will take place with a program that’s needing continuity at the top down. With summer workouts going well, the Leopards are heading in the right direction for 2022.

“Good, we have most all the players showing up everyday for workouts, with about 65 players on the total team roster,” Scargle added. “The players get their work done in the weight room, and on the field, in a no nonsense approach.”

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.