TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Moehle is out as Land O' Lakes AD

ADVERTISEMENT

By EDDIE DANIELS

edaniels@tampatrib.com

Published: May 23, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - Chuck Moehle, the athletic director at Land O' Lakes High, received something Friday that he had hoped for weeks that he wouldn't - the paperwork for an involuntary transfer.

Moehle, who was hired in June 2003, will not return to the school following this school year after the Student Support and Assistance Program in which he teaches, was cut from two staffers to one. Because of his limited years of seniority in Pasco County, his SSAP position at Land O' Lakes was cut.

That paperwork will allow him to apply for open positions across Pasco County.

"The hardest part in all of this is, right now Land O' Lakes is in a tough situation with athletics because of our coaching positions that are open and the job allocations just not being there," Moehle, 52, said Friday. "But that's part of the challenge you look forward to. You take the good with the bad and the tough times with the easy times. That refreshes you - those challenges, those opportunities."

Before coming to Land O' Lakes, Moehle spent three years at Notre Dame Interparochial School in Spring Hill, where he was an assistant principal. For two of those years, he coached the school's girls volleyball team. Prior to that, he had 22 years at Springstead High, including 13 as the Eagles' baseball coach.

Moehle, a Leto High and Saint Leo University graduate, has not ruled out returning to Hernando County.

When asked to point out the highlights of his time at Land O' Lakes, a few things stood out. One was the creation of the school's Coach of the Year Award, which is voted on by all coaches at Land O' Lakes.

Moehle also helped create a coach's handbook, used to convey the school's guidelines instead of them just being assumed.

The other was getting the school's first two athletes on the Florida High School Athletic Association's Academic All-State Team. Ross Hughes was the first in 2006 and Kirstan Lane became the second.

"That makes me very proud that I was just a part of that process," Moehle said. "Those things are important. It's on the field and off the field. It is supposed to be student-athlete, so those things are very important."

Football coaches John Benedetto and Al Claggett also were not renewed.

"It is what it is," Moehle said. "As a district, you have X number of dollars. Those dollars are a lot shorter with these school districts and you have to allocate them the way you feel best."

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

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT