Greg Odierno was looking for the perfect opportunity to start his head football coaching career.
After 11 years as an assistant coach under Andy Johnson at Orlando’s Freedom and Boone high schools, Odierno found that opportunity with Oviedo. On Friday, he was named the replacement for Kolby Tackett, who took a job at a high school in Tennessee.
“I’m excited about it. This is a terrific opportunity, it’s something I’ve worked long and hard for and I couldn’t have picked a better school or better community to be a first-time head coach,” Odierno said.
Odierno beat out an impressive list of candidates for the position and said he stood out because of his loyalty and his desire to establish residency in Oviedo, which is close to UCF, where his wife, Stephanie, works.
“I think my resume on the field is pretty strong, and then my loyalty. I am what I am. I was at Boone for eight years and I had opportunities to leave, but I wasn’t just taking the first thing that came along,” Odierno said. “It had to be the right fit. So it’s a great combination. Me and my wife are eager to move to the Oviedo community and make that our permanent home.”
Oviedo has a strong football tradition, but the Lions have struggled since Wes Allen left the school in 2017. Allen won five district titles during his nine-year Oviedo run. He was 63-36.
“[The offense] will be predicated on the personnel, and there are some real good pieces, but I’ll have a better understanding once I get to know the players and what they can do,” Odierno said. “The good thing about Oviedo is that there are a lot of similarities with Boone and I feel confident that we can play an exciting brand of football and put up some points.”
Odierno graduated from UCF but did not play for the Knights. He had been the offensive coordinator at Boone since 2016 and praised his time working with Johnson.
“He’s a brother to me. He meant everything. He allowed me to grow as a coach and didn’t put too many restrictions on me,” Odierno said. “I was able to just grow up with him. He’s not only a father figure as a head coach, but a best friend, and there is nobody else I would have wanted to work for other than Andy. He does it the right way and puts the players first.
“And one of the things I think doesn’t get mentioned a lot is Andy’s coaching tree. There’s Coach Gabe [Travis Gabriel] at Olympia, Mitch [Vernon Mitchell] was at Evans, Oly [Eric] Olson was with us at Freedom and is the new Windermere head coach, Donny Hodges at Colonial and [Jeff] Higgins at Toho. And then throw in Brandon McCray, who was my O-line coach in 2016 and he’s now head coach at [Tallahassee] Godby, and of course myself. When you look at that coaching tree, I think that speaks volumes for the man that Andy is and the type of program that he runs.”
Odierno also mentioned former Freedom quarterback Derek Abbott, who is an assistant coach at the United States Coast Guard Academy.
“I’m super excited and we’re going to build it the right way,” Odierno said of Oviedo football. “We’re going to lay the foundation of a strong culture and pour it into these kids, and let them know that the coaches care about them. We’re going to push them hard, but we’re going to love them harder, and we want to compete for district championships and deep playoff runs.”
