Teneroc football turns to person familiar to Polk County as its next head coach

LAKELAND — When Irving Strickland was the head football coach at Kathleen, he trusted Anthony Troutman to take over as defensive coordinator without even asking. Now the athletic director at Tenoroc, he’s trusting Troutman again, this time to take over as Titans head coach.

Strickland announced on Wednesday that Troutman is tabbed to replace Patrick Smith, who stepped down last month following a winless campaign. Troutman was an assistant coach under Smith this past season after coaching three years at Bartow under Richard Tate.

“I know what he’s going to bring to the program,” Strickland said. “He has a wealth of knowledge. I just know what he’s going to be. The vision is the same (as Smith’s vision), get the program bigger and get it consistent year in and year out. It’s a tough job, but it’s a great place to work. There are great kids. They want to win like everyone else.”

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Strickland approached Troutman about the position when Smith stepped down but said other candidates also would be interviewed.

“I just know he’s the best man for the job,” Strickland said. “There’s a lot of great things happening around Tenoroc. He can keep the program going in the right direction.”

This is Troutman’s second head coaching job. After becoming an assistant coach at Kathleen in 2005 and later being named defensive coordinator by Strickland, he replaced Strickland in 2019. He coached for two seasons, going 6-5 and earning a playoff berth before falling to 2-8.

“When I left Kathleen, I was a bit disappointed having to leave,” Troutman said. “When I took it as the head coach over there, I thought I was going to retire there at Kathleen High School because I had been there for so long at that point.”

Although at one point he was undecided about whether or not he would stay in coaching, he went to Bartow in 2021 when Tate reached out to him to be an assistant.

“I just wanted to look at it as a learning experience,” he said.

Troutman spent three years at Bartow. When Tate left for Ridge, he applied for the Bartow job then joined the Tenoroc staff after Bartow hired Tyler Eden. At the time, he said he didn’t know it would be Smith’s last season.

Troutman said there are benefits taking over a program after being an assistant.

“It is possible to go somewhere that you don't know as well, but being there, you do get to have an idea of who some of the guys are, who some of the kids are,” Troutman said. “You know what it is that they already offer and what they can do and what it is that they continue to improve on. So that's definitely a benefit that does happen there.”

Being around Polk County, Troutman understands the different challenges Tenoroc presents compared with Kathleen and Bartow.

“It's definitely a different place from Kathleen, different from Bartow,” he said. “Every place is always different. But the thing about Tenoroc, the plus side, it is just looking at it as being a farmer, being a foundation layer. You're able to see something grow into something, and that's what it kind of excites me about when I get to plant something in my own yard at the house and seeing the thing grow.

"You work with it and next thing you know, it grows into something. So the same thing with Tenoroc, just having an opportunity to see something continue to grow. Coach Smith was able to lead the team to their first ever playoff appearance. At this point now, you know things are in a building stage and you can see what can come of it.”

Troutman understands the challenges today’s coaching environment in Florida with open enrollment and said the challenge is to create a place that athletes want to be a part of and a place where they want to be.

Strickland said Troutman can create that environment.

“You’ve got to love kids,” Strickland said. “Coaching is easy. Affecting the kids life is the hardest part. But Iyou’ve got to love kids.He can continue what coach Smith has started.”

Roy Fuoco can be reached at roy.fuoco@theledger.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RoyFuoco.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Teneroc football chooses Anthony Troutman as next head coach