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Zephyrhills fires football coach amid possible violations

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By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 11, 2009

Updated: 08/11/2009 01:06 pm

Following an investigation by the Zephyrhills administration, as well as Pasco County athletic director, Jerrell Cogmon was "relinquished" of his coaching duties and the school is self-reporting violations to the Florida High School Athletic Association.

"There's a lot of positive things Coach Cogmon has done for the program, but when I looked at the entire program, there are some concerns that have come to light over the summer," Zephyrhills principal Steve Van Gorden said. "One being the violations of [FHSAA rules]."

Van Gorden made it clear, he did not fire Cogmon, instead, he rescinded the offer made last April by then-athletic director Craig Milburn.

"I never expected this," Cogmon said. "I know a lot of this is politics. These guys just aren't ready for change. It's evident."

Cogmon was hired to replace Tom Fisher, who retired after guiding the program for 20 years. Cogmon's hire was historic for the school as he became the first black head football coach at Zephyrhills.

Last Thursday, assistant coach Abel Robinson was terminated after it was determined he had improper communications with his former players at Wesley Chapel.

According to Robinson, the contact had nothing to do with recruiting.

The investigation was touched off by a written complaint sent to county athletic director Phil Bell by a Wesley Chapel assistant football coach stemming from the transfer of Jamal Roberts from Wesley Chapel to Zephyrhills.

The complaint accused Robinson of recruiting, which Robinson vehemently denies.

The Florida High School Athletic Association prohibits coaches from opposing teams from having contact with opposing players.

Longtime Zephyrhills assistants Troy Hochstetler and Greg Mathis will take over the day-to-day responsibilities of the team, while the position is re-advertised.

"I have complete faith in the existing staff that they can handle the day-to-day operations," Van Gorden said. He also said he "strongly encouraged" the current members of the coaching staff to apply for the job.

There is no timeline in place on the hiring of a new coach

"Obviously this was a situation Mr. Van Gorden and Coach [Bruce] Cimorelli did not want to be in," Bell said. "I applaud them for their professionalism of looking into the situation and handling the situation quickly. I feel bad for the administration and the program because it hurts right now. The good thing is it seems like Steve has the troops in place that will help the transition and it will help the kids."

Most recently, Cogmon was the head coach at Leto (2003 and 2004) before resigning in January, 2005. In his two seasons, the Falcons went 1-9 and 3-7 after the school was 4-26 in three previous seasons.

Tuesday morning, one of the biggest things on Cogmon's mind was his players and coaching staff.

"Just good kids," Cogmon said. "I felt like I got support from my athletic director and coaches."

Cogmon, a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University, played linebacker for Plant, graduating in 1992. The next four years he spent as a linebacker for B-CU. Cogmon, who holds a master's degree in educational leadership, served as an assistant coach at Tampa Bay Tech for five seasons before becoming the defensive coordinator and special education teacher at Freedom in 2002-03 before accepting the head coaching position at Leto.

It appears the decision isn't famous with some of the parents or players.

"This man has done a wonderful job with these kids," said Latrice Marbra, mother of quarterback Chris Reaves. "My son has never had a 3.1 grade point average. All of these kids up here are upset, have been crying all morning because the coach came and told them they fired him and the coach had to leave.

"[Cogmon] made my son go to summer school, brought my son's grade point average up. They are out here weightlifting. And my son has never been into football as much as he is now since they've had this coach pushing them. Like I told them, [you] aren't hurting that coach, you're hurting the kids."

Nearly two months into the job, Cogmon caused waves.

A short time following the team's spring football game in May, there was a meeting in which former starting quarterback Tyler Guy was demoted and moved to the offensive line.

His younger brother, Jacob Guy, also a quarterback, transferred to Pasco, while Tyler transferred to Freedom.

"I didn't see this coming at all," Cogmon said.

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