A surprise football head coaching vacancy led Steve Mikles back to Hagerty High School just two months after he guided Winter Springs to the postseason.
Mikles was named Hagerty’s new football coach from a pool of 15 applicants on Friday. He replaces Wes Allen, who went 4-6 in one season with the Huskies before leaving to take over the football program at The Master’s Academy on Jan. 2.
“I could always see myself back there, but I never expected the job to come open so soon,” Mikles said.
Mikles, an Oviedo resident, spent four seasons as defensive coordinator at Hagerty under former head coach Phil Ziglar from 2014-17. He then took over as head coach at Winter Springs and went 7-14 in two seasons.
The Bears, just 6-24 in three seasons before Mikles’ arrival, finished 6-5 and won a district title for the first time since 2013 in his second year on the job this past fall.
“I can’t thank Winter Springs enough for giving me a chance,” Mikles said. “Returning to Hagerty is an opportunity for me and my family. That’s the number one thing. My kids know Hagerty and they’ve spent a lot of time there with me while growing up.”
Hagerty is one of five schools in the Orlando Sentinel coverage area to recently land new football coaches.
Deltona High reached outside of the area to bring Jeff Smothers to southwest Volusia County as its new coach on Jan. 10. The Kentucky native takes over a program coming off of a 1-9 season after spending the past four years as offensive coordinator at Wauchula Hardee.
Smothers, along with Mikles and Allen, was among 48 applicants for the head job at Oviedo High, which was filled last month by DJ Mayo.
In Orange County, Oak Ridge turned to one of its current basketball assistants, Billy Owens, as its head football coach after finishing with a 2-8 record in 2019 under interim coach Kyle Hayes. Owens, who played pro football for the Dallas Cowboys in 1988 and later for the Orlando Predators, was a head basketball coach at University High School of Orlando for seven seasons (2009-16).
Faith Christian promoted long-time assistant Shawn Hardiman to become its third head coach in as many years in place of Tim Swore, who opted to return to Michigan after going 7-4.
Tavares tabbed Tim Kraemer as its new coach in place of Gary Dugger, who went 5-5 in his only season. Dugger left the area last month to join former Apopka coach Rick Darlington as an assistant at Enterprise High School in Alabama. Kraemer, a Winter Haven native, served as defensive coordinator with the Bulldogs in 2019 after assisting at Davenport Ridge Community.
Athletic Directors at neighboring schools Windermere High and West Orange, along with Lake County’s Mount Dora, said they expect new coaching hires to be made by the end of the month. Windermere opened in relief of West Orange in 2017.
