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Kitchie new Land O' Lakes football coach

Photo provided by Land O’ Lakes High School

Kitchie becomes just the third Land O’ Lakes football coach in the program’s 34-year history.

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By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 22, 2009

Updated: 06/22/2009 06:03 pm

Since 1975 only two men have held the reigns to the Land O' Lakes football program.

Dan Sikes opened the program, coaching just two seasons. In 1977, his assistant John Benedetto took over with his tenure ending this past season.

Matthew Kitchie becomes the third.

"First of all I'm extremely excited to be part of a tradition-rich program," Kitchie said. "It is an honor for me that I was picked for this position. I'm a younger guy and I am not lost on the fact this is a well respected position in this community and there's a little bit of pressure on it and it's important for me to do a great job."

Kitchie, 31, was the head football coach at Saint Stephen's Episcopal School in Bradenton since 2006. There, he started the middle school and high school programs. The Bradenton Southeast graduate was the Video Coordinator and gradate assistant at Eastern Kentucky University from 2005-06. Prior to that, he was an assistant at Bradenton Southeast from 2001-05.

Kitchie played for the 1993 and 1994 Bradenton Southeast state championship teams as a quarterback. He then went on to play at South Carolina's Newberry College. During his time at Newberry, Kitchie was an All-South Conference Academic team selection.

He is slated to complete his Master's Degree in Sports Administration in August.

"We feel pretty good about where we're at right now," new Land O' Lakes principal Ric Mellin said. "I've kind of been describing Matt as the complete package in terms of what I was looking for. He's a younger guy, but he's still pretty established in terms of having a variety of experiences."

Kitchie, who was one of at least 60 applicants, takes over for Benedetto, who guided the Gators for 32 seasons. During that time, Benedetto led the program to 13 district titles, including the last three seasons; 17 playoff appearances, including the last 12 seasons; six Sunshine Athletic Conference titles and two appearances in the regional finals. During his tenure, Benedetto collected a 196-149 record.

"To me, it's exciting," Kitchie said of following Benedetto's legacy. "First of all I'm filing some very large shoes. The opportunity is just a phenomenal one. The fact that they care about football and they want to win makes it to where I want to help the team be successful. It's not easy to win football games in the state of Florida and you have to work very hard at it. Hopefully I'll do my very best and make the community of Land O' Lakes very happy."

Had things gone as planned, this scenario likely would have been delayed a year. Benedetto planned to coach the 2009 season and then call it a career, but his hand was essentially forced. Although former principal Monica Ilse approved his final extension in the Deferred Retirement Option Program, also known as DROP, in March, Benedetto received a letter from the District School Board of Pasco County denying that eighth and final year.

Now begs the question will the remaining coaching staff stay.

The group has been together for years. Benedetto took over the program in 1977 and served an assistant for the Gators when the school opened in 1975. Defensive coordinator Al Claggett has been an assistant since '75; Bill Gebauer started at Land O' Lakes in '77, former Land O' Lakes linebacker and line coach Tom Carter has coached the team since 1988, while Rock Ridgeway came on board in 1992. The youngest, Bryan Babij, has been on the staff since 2003.

"I think it's extremely difficult when you look at the success that the football program has had," Mellin said. "Regardless of whether I made the decision to hire Coach Kitchie or anyone else, it's gong to be difficult. I've commented to people in regards to this using the analogy of, the Miami Dolphins hiring for Don Shula or Pittsburgh Steelers hiring for Chuck Noll.

"It's difficult no matter what you do because you have someone who was in the position, in our case since the school opened, for over 30 years. Other school's have experienced a lot of turnover. We've experienced absolutely none. … I have to thank the community and I have to thank the assistant coaches because they're ready to move forward and they're going to embrace our new coach. They may not have agreed with my decision, but they're here for the kids and that came out loud and clear."

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 259-7066.

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