published: Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Coaching search on again for Avon Park

By DAN HOEHNE

daniel.hoehne@newssun.com

Sooner than expected, the Avon Park varsity football program is conducting another coaching search after first-year head coach Lee Brown resigned from the position last week.

"We had some general conversations after the season and took some time for reflection," Avon Park principal Tealy Williams said. "After we got back from break he offered his resignation.

"He did a great job in starting to turn the program around in many regards, but in the end, we just realized it wasn't the right fit for either side."

And so the search is on again, this time with the initial look being closer to home.

"Last year we did a nationwide search and went through about 40 applicants," Williams said. "Now we're starting our search in house, we'll give our own guys a look first and see where we go from there. If nothing hits here then we'll expand out to look around the county.

"Our focus early on is to look around here and see what we have," he continued. "Having a connection with our community, in Avon Park and Highlands County, is very important to get the program moving in the right direction."

It's been a rough stretch that the Devils have been through, with records ranging from 1-9 in 2007 to 4-7 in '11 before falling back to 2-9 this past season.

And though there is some time to play with, the spring practice season is on the horizon and getting someone in place soon is the priority.

"We're going to try to get this done right, and as quickly as possible," Williams said.