Who's coaching where in 2023? A guide to Brevard County's 16 high school football coaches
Following the 2022 high school football season in Brevard County, five programs saw changes at the head coaching position.
Leaving jobs were: Astronaut High's Justin Worden, Bayside's Corey Broomfield, Heritage's Mark Ainsley, Melbourne Central Catholic's Rich Pruzinsky and Palm Bay High's Jake Owens.
Taking their places are: Logan Hallock at Astronaut, Billy Miller at Bayside, Mykel Benson at Heritage, Nate Hooks at MCC and Dan Burke at Palm Bay.
With Ainsley — previously the longest-tenured head coach in the county — moving on from Heritage, it makes Rockledge head coach Wayne Younger the new elder statesman, having been on the job since 2015.
Start your engines: Brevard County high school football practice opens Monday
321preps Q&A: Dan Burke on returning to head football coaching at Palm Bay
Burke, Brevard County's all-time winningest head coach, returns to Palm Bay, where he coached for 23 years through the 2018 season.
Here is a look at the coaches heading up the area's high school football teams for the 2023 season.
Astronaut High
City: Titusville
Home field: Storey-Taylor Stadium
Head coach: Logan Hallock
Current job since: 2023
Coach factoid: The name Hallock has clout at Astronaut. Logan's uncle Randy Hallock was head coach there for 19 years. Logan Hallock comes over from DeLand High, where he spent time as offensive coordinator, associate head coach and junior varsity head coach during a two-year stint at the school, working directly with receivers in 2022 and quarterbacks previously. Astronaut went 2-8 in 2022. Hallock takes over for Justin Worden, who had been at the helm since 2017.
Bayside High
City: Palm Bay
Home field: Bayside High School Stadium
Head coach: Billy Miller
Current job since: 2023
Coach factoid: Miller previously was Eau Gallie defensive coordinator. He brings more than a quarter century of coaching experience to the position. Miller has been coaching and teaching in the area since 1998, in either Indian River or Brevard counties. Miller takes over for Corey Broomfield, who was head coach from 2017-22. The team hasn't had a winning record since 2014, going 4-6 in 2022.
Cocoa High
City: Cocoa
Home field: Dick Blake Stadium
Head coach: Ryan Schneider
Current job since: 2018
Coach factoid: Schneider finally reached the mountain top in 2022, winning the Class 2S state title with a 38-31 overtime victory over Florida State University High School. He previously led Cocoa into the Class 4A state title game in 2017 and 2021, falling short both times. A 1999 graduate of Plantation High, Schneider played quarterback at UCF from 2000 through 2003. He was the 1998 Florida Dairy Farmers Class 6A Player of the Year. He brought the school its fifth state title, the previous four won by his predecessor, John Wilkinson.
Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High
City: Cocoa Beach
Home field: Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High Stadium
Head coach: Ben Waldrop
Current job since: 2021
Coach factoid: Waldrop led a spectacular turnaround at Cocoa Beach in his second year, going 6-3 after a 1-9 first season in 2021. When he took over the team, it had gone winless in 2020. Waldrop became the second head coach at Viera High, in 2008. He has also coached at Merritt Island, Merritt Island Christian and Rockledge. He played linebacker at Florida State and Troy University, where he later also coached.
Eau Gallie High
City: Melbourne
Home field: Commodore Stadium
Head coach: Chris Sands
Current job since: 2018
Coach factoid: Sands and the Commodores were cruising along in 2022 at 7-1, but lost their final two regular-season games, and their first-round playoff game en route to a 7-4 season. Despite ending on a three-game losing streak, it was an impressive turnaround after a 3-7 season in 2021. Prior to Eau Gallie, Sands was head coach at Brooksville Central for four seasons. He is a 2010 graduate of Florida A&M, where he was a standout offensive lineman.
Heritage High
City: Palm Bay
Home field: Heritage High School Stadium
Head coach: Mykel Benson
Current job since: 2023
Coach factoid: Benson takes over for Mark Ainsley, who had been the longest-tenured head coach in the county, serving from 2014-22. Benson moves up from offensive coordinator, while Ainsley is expected to remain on the staff as an assistant coach. Benson is a 2006 graduate of nearby Bayside High. He played for Florida A&M and graduated in 2010. Benson played arena football from 2011 through 2019. He played on Arena Bowl championship teams with the Philadelphia Soul in 2017 and the Albany Empire in 2019. Heritage went 5-5 in 2022.
Holy Trinity Episcopal
City: Melbourne
Home field: Holy Trinity Stadium
Head coach: Hurlie Brown
Current job since: 2022
Coach factoid: Brown led Holy Trinity to a 6-5 record in his first season with the program, bowing out in the first round of the playoffs. Brown is a 1987 Merritt Island High graduate who was 26-16 in four seasons as the Mustangs head coach, from 2018-21. He led Merritt Island to a state title game and runner-up finish in Class 5A in 2021.
Melbourne High
City: Melbourne
Home field: Tom McIntyre Stadium
Head coach: David Kintigh
Current job since: 2021
Coach factoid: Kintigh has had a major impact on the Melbourne program in his two short years as head coach. He took over a team that was 3-6 in 2020. In his first year, the Bulldogs went 8-2 in the regular season, including eight straight wins after dropping the first two games of the season. They won two playoff games before falling in the region final to Lake Gibson. In 2022, the Bulldogs went 9-3, winning in the first round of the playoffs before falling to Vero Beach. Kintigh, a Satellite High graduate, was a member the University of Miami's 1983 national championship team. He played receiver and returner for Howard Schnellenberger and Jimmy Johnson. He signed with the Tampa Bay Bucs in 1987. He has been coaching since 2003.
Melbourne Central Catholic
City: Melbourne
Home field: Hustlers Stadium
Head coach: Nate Hooks
Current job since: 2023
Coach factoid: The Hustlers are hoping Hooks can bring some stability to a head coaching job that's been a turnstyle in recent history. Hooks led Holy Trinity from 2014-21 before being let go, despite a 10-2 record in 2021 that included the school's first-ever home playoff victory. Hooks was a coach on Cocoa's state title-winning team in 2022. Hooks takes over for Rich Pruzinsky, who spent just one season at MCC, going 2-8 in 2022. Pruzinsky had taken over for Walt Ramsay, who coached MCC from 2019-21. MCC hasn't had a winning season since 2018.
Merritt Island High
City: Merritt Island
Home field: "O-Dome" Mustang Stadium
Head coach: Tyler Murray
Current job since: 2022
Coach factoid: Murray took Merritt Island to the playoffs in his first season as head coach, bowing out in the first round with a loss to Sebring. The Mustangs finished 6-5. Murray played linebacker for Merritt Island, graduating from the school in 2009. He played four seasons at Bethel University of Tennessee, where he was the all-time leading career tackler, with 325 stops. Following his college playing career, Murray played for the San Angelo Bandits of the Arena Football League, played overseas in Germany and then completed a master's degree in sports management at the University of Florida in 2019. He coached linebackers at Bethel before becoming a Mustangs assistant coach under prior head coach Hurlie Brown.
Palm Bay High
City: Melbourne
Home field: Pirates Stadium
Head coach: Dan Burke
Current job since: 2023
Coach factoid: Burke was head coach at Palm Bay from 1996-2018. He retired after the 2018-19 school year. He's Brevard County's all-time winningest head coach, with 214 wins, 21 postseason appearances and two state championships. In 2020, he was inducted into the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In the time since he left, Palm Bay has had two head coach — Dwayne Byrd in 2019 and 2020, and Jake Owens in 2021 and 2022. Byrd was 3-14 in his two seasons, while Owens was 12-10, going 4-6 in his first year and 8-4 in 2022. The Pirates won their first playoff game in 2022, but lost to eventual state champ Cocoa in the second round of the 2S playoffs.
Rockledge High
City: Rockledge
Home field: McLarty Stadium
Head coach: Wayne Younger
Current job since: 2015
Coach factoid: Younger is now Brevard County's longest-tenured head coach. He played high school football at Rockledge's main rival, Cocoa High. He was FLORIDA TODAY's Offensive Player of the Year in 2005 after passing for 20 touchdowns and scoring nine on the ground. He was first-team All-Space Coast in baseball as well and was a Class 4A all-state infielder. He graduated in 2006 and attended Florida International University from 2006-10. In 2022, Rockledge went 9-3, winning a first round playoff game against Satellite before losing a close 16-14 contest to Daytona Beach Mainland. Younger is 58-29 during his time at Rockledge.
Satellite High
City: Satellite Beach
Home field: Satellite High School Football Stadium
Head coach: Brian Helton
Current job since: 2022
Coach factoid: Helton's first season ended with a heartbreaking 13-12 loss to Rockledge in the first round of the playoffs. The Scorpions were 5-6 a year after going 10-3 and making it to the region finals. Prior to taking over at Satellite, Helton was defensive coordinator for Merritt Island's state runner-up team in 2021. His coaching background stretches to 1995, when he entered the profession in Pennsylvania. He then coached in North Carolina and was an athletic director there until coming to Brevard County in 2001, first to coach the offensive line at Eau Gallie. In addition to a previous stop as an assistant at Satellite, Helton also has coached football in Brevard at Cocoa Beach, Florida Air and Viera.
Space Coast Jr./Sr. High
City: Port St. John
Home field: Space Coast Jr./Sr. High School Stadium
Head coach: Clifton Nichols
Current job since: 2021
Coach factoid: Nichols heads into his third year as head coach, still seeking the recipe for success at Space Coast. The Vipers were 1-9 in both 2021 and 2022. Nichols spent four years as offensive line coach at Space Coast before taking over the head coaching role. Nichols was a four-year letterman at Rockledge High and captain of the school's state championship team in 2001. He then attended and played football at Louisiana-Monroe until 2005, before returning to Brevard and beginning his coaching career. He's been an assistant at Titusville, Eau Gallie and Rockledge. Space Coast is seeking its first winning season since 2018.
Titusville High
City: Titusville
Home field: Al Werneke Field
Head coach: John Holmes
Current job since: 2022
Coach factoid: Holmes turned around a long-struggling program, going 7-4 in 2022. The Terriers lost to Palm Bay in the first round of the playoffs. Prior to 2022, Titusville hadn't had a winning season since 2014. Holmes is a Rockledge High alum, having played on the Raiders teams that won back-to-back state championships in 2001 and 2002. He then played linebacker at West Virginia University from 2005 to 2008, where the team made bowl games all four years he was there. Prior to joining Titusville, he had coached football, basketball and track and field, both at Merritt Island and his alma mater of Rockledge.
Viera High
City: Viera
Home field: Viera High Stadium
Head coach: Shane Staples
Current job since: 2022
Coach factoid: Viera struggled mightily in 2022, going 0-10. Following the 2021 season, head coach Derek Smith stepped down. Chad Raymond was briefly named head coach in Jan. 2022 but stepped down in March. Staples stepped up but didn't have a lot of time to get the team in order. The team has higher hopes heading into 2023. Staples, 39, had been an assistant coach at Viera since 2017, coaching the Hawks wide receivers in 2021.
Practices begin Monday
Beginning Monday, FLORIDA TODAY will be bringing you regular coverage of the official beginning of high school football practice. Follow @321preps on Instagram and Twitter and watch for stories, videos and photo galleries at 321preps.com and floridatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Meet Brevard County high school football coaches for 2023 season
