Seminole, which is seeking a new football coach after Sam Roper stepped down after 28 seasons as head coach, released its list of applicants to the Times on Tuesday afternoon. There were 48 in total.
Several former bay area head coaches applied, including Atif Austin (Tarpon Springs), Jon Bolen (Boca Ciega), Jerrell Cogmon (Zephyrhills), Bob Gobel (Countryside), Chris Miller (Admiral Farragut) and Pat O'Brien (Sickles, King).
Other notable applicants include Largo assistant Jeremy Frioud, who recently was a finalist for the Gibbs job; Pinellas Park assistant Shawn Austin, whose father is Jerry Austin, Pinellas County's all-time winningest coach; and former Seminole football player Mitch Disney, who is now an assistant at Tarpon Springs.
Though Northside Christian coach and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Mike Alstott was rumored to have been interested in the position, Seminole assistant principal for athletics Tom Scott said Alstott did not submit a resume. Scott reiterated that school officials would prefer to hire a coach who will also be a teacher on campus.
Scott said the administrative staff would narrow down the list of applicants this week, and a committee would start the interview process next week. The school would like to have a coach in place by May 15. Mark DeRuzzo is currently the interim coach but has no interest in taking over the position full time.
Here is the complete list of applicants.
Taliaferro Adams, Dan Akers, Atif Austin, Shawn Austin, Dennis Bannick, Bruce Barber, Stephen Bilinski, Jon Bolen, Marlon Bennett, Darryl Clark, Jerrell Cogman, Mitch Disney, Andrew Erwin, Matthew Franklin, Jeremy Frioud, Denis Gillen, Bob Gobel, Robert Goebel, Joe Hammond, Daniel Hier, Taylor Higgins, Christopher Hug, Mark Kelley, Mrk Kirk, David LaMarre, William Larkin, Tony Lombardo, Hank Mallol, Chris Miller, Michael Mincy, Salvador Moncada, Pat O'Brien, Harold Pearson, Keith Powers, Jim Pusateri, Chris Sands, Chris Shepard, Anthony Scott, Darryl Simmons, Brian Smith, Sam Smith, Rafael Tolentino, Dennis Thomas, Vince Turner, David Watson, Daniel Whittaker, Jeffrey Whittaker, Ben Willis.