Mainland hired within the family in a variety of ways Wednesday to fill its sudden football coaching vacancy.
Jereem Squatty Bell, who led Atlantic to a District 8-2S championship and returned to the Florida High School Athletic Association playoffs last fall, told the News Journal Wednesday afternoon that he has accepted an offer to take over his alma mater. mother. Bell, 40, is a cousin of his predecessor, Travis Rowland, who left for Kingsland (Ga.) Camden County last month.
“This is 100 percent a dream job,” said Bell, who had an overall record of 10-19 in three seasons at Atlantic. “Emotions are all over the place. I'm excited. I'm happy and ready to work. But it's hard to leave what we've built at Atlantic with those kids.”
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In Roland's third and final season, Mainland won the FHSAA Class 3S championship with a 21-19 victory over St. Augustine at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee. It was the school's first state title in 20 years. After the FHSAA board rescinded the Metro-Suburban split in December, the Bucs faced the difficult task of repeating themselves after being grouped in Class 5A with fellow state champion Lakeland and St. Thomas Aquinas. ing.
“The goal was to get the best talent here to move the program in the right direction,” Mainland athletic director Terry Anthony said. “Mainland is Mainland. No matter who the head coach, principal or athletic director is, Mainland is going to move forward. We're going to keep moving forward.”
“Coming from the Treasure Coast, (Bell) has been part of a successful program and has done a great job in his three years at Atlantic. A track record of getting kids into school, he's done a great job “We heard everything'' is a great reference about him. ”
Bell attended Mainland from 1998 to 2002, playing on the defensive line for three varsity seasons. He coached locally at Pop Warner football for seven years, was the offensive coordinator at Calvary Christian in 2012, and then spent seven years as an assistant on Earvin Jones' staff on the Treasure Coast.
He brought a Treasure Coast side of identity to Atlantic. Last season, the Sharks rushed for 268.8 yards per game (an average of 8.4 yards per carry) and scored 28 touchdowns on the ground.
But Bell plans to keep Mainland in a traditional spread offense to “move guys around.”
In addition to the graduation of five-star national recruits L.J. McCray (Florida) and Xavier Mincey (Alabama), the Bucs also added Division I signees Rodney Hill (South Florida), Esaiah Shine (Tulane), Dennis He plans to restart after his departure. Murray Jr. (Georgia State University), Madden Santiago (Harvard University), Ramon McCollough Jr. (Wofford), Elijah Walker (Alabama State University).
Meanwhile, Atlantic currently has only one vacancy to fill its local football coaching vacancy. The Sharks changed eight head coaches between January 2014 and Bell's appointment in April 2021, three of whom had never coached a regular-season game.
The Sharks are tied for Class 3A and will compete this fall in a district that includes Bishop Moore, Eustis, Mount Dora and Tavares.
“Atlantic is in pretty good shape,” Bell said. “We put in a lot of effort to get that back. They have a lot of young, good talent on their roster. If they can get the right guys, they should be fine.”
