'All the right notes': Sandalwood hires Brad Kessel as new head football coach
Brad Kessel wasn't always sure whether life as a head football coach would be just right for him.
But a taste of the responsibility four years ago inspired him to try again, and led him to a new destination on the First Coast.
Kessel, formerly defensive coordinator at Nease, is ready for his next challenge after Sandalwood hired him as the next head football coach at the Class 7A Jacksonville program.
"It's been a long time coming," said Kessel, an assistant coach for nearly 30 years in both Ohio and Florida.
He takes over from Adam Geis, who stepped down in December as the school's all-time victories leader after coaching the Saints in two stints from 2002-07 and from 2009-23.
After a long run among Jacksonville's perennial postseason contenders, the Saints slumped to 0-10 in 2023, scoring only 82 points during the first winless season since the school opened in 1971.
But in a remote interview with the Times-Union, Kessel said he's confident that the school west of the Intracoastal Waterway is the right fit.
"It hit all the right notes," Kessel said about his decision to pursue the Sandalwood job. "The facilities are good, the talent level is high and the community is supportive."
Kessel, 50, brings extensive experience going back to his start as an assistant in Ohio in 1995, where he worked under coaches including Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame honoree Sam Fornsaglio.
While Sandalwood is Kessel's first full-time head coaching position, he did lead Ponte Vedra during a five-game interim stint near the close of 2020.
That spell in charge, he said, "kind of lit a fire under me to want to do this [head coaching]."
During Kessel's most recent campaign in charge of Nease's defense, the Panthers reduced their average points allowed by 5.9 per game in 2023 and vaulted to the top of District 4-4S in the Florida High School Athletic Association's now-discarded Metro-Suburban system.
At Sandalwood, second-largest to Atlantic Coast among Duval County public high schools, Kessel said he's working to boost participation and encourage athletes in other sports to pursue football as well.
Kessel will become the seventh head coach in the past half-century of Sandalwood football, following Jimmy DeAngelis, Bob Withrow (three stints), Ron Shockley, Sam Disch, Terry Gilliam and Geis (two stints).
The Saints are scheduled to move into a new District 1-7A for the 2024 and 2025 reclassification cycle, competing against Atlantic Coast and Creekside. Barring a change in FHSAA procedures, Sandalwood will not occupy the same district as 2023 state runner-up Mandarin for the first time in 24 years.
In the long run, Kessel said, Sandalwood has the tools to compete for a championship. The school made its deepest postseason run in 1995 with Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Football Frankie Franklin at running back, advancing to the Class 6A final before losing 12-7 to Miami Northwestern.
"I want to do things the right way," Kessel said, "and win a lot of football games."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Brad Kessel: Sandalwood High School hires new football coach
