2018 Coaching Staff!

We would like to first thank our 2017 staff for such a great and memorable season. We have been fortunate enough to retain the entire coaching staff going forward. All in different, and perhaps more suitable positions.

Jason Nielsen will be staying on as the Head Coach for the 2018 campaign.

David Zinser will be moving from Offensive Coordinator to QB Coach, Assistant OC, and Assistant HC. One many with many hats, all he is well suited for. We are very excited to see the development of our Youngest Coach on the staff into what we know he can be.

Ronnie Cohen will be moving back to a position group as he had originally intended to do, and take over the Defensive Line. He admirably stepped in and lead our defense this past season as the Defensive Coordinator and excelled. Getting back to the position group that he played and loved, and is more suited for his coaching style. We are very excited and eager to see what he can do with the dogs up front.

John Dunderdale will be moving to coach the Offensive Line solely. The position he had originally asked for and we had agreed upon. Due to the lack of coaches on the staff in the 2017 season, he stepped in as our Line Of Scrimmage Coach. Taking on the burden of all the big men up front. This year having two coaches dedicated to the position group will increase focus and allow for more personalized training in practice. We are very eager to see the development of John's line to turn it into the strength of the team.

**We also have three new coaches to add to the staff, with more on the way. Two of which will be our coordinators for next season. We as an organization went out of our way to target both Casey Adams and Scott Mirto to take over the Offense and Defense, respectively, next season.**

Casey Adams: The Original Founder of the War Eagles, Casey had to step down due to personal reasons before the 2017 campaign. He took a season to gather himself and is back eager as ever. With Nine Years of Coaching experience under his belt coaching at the Youth, High School, Semi-Pro, and College level. Coaching a litany of different positions and groups to include: Offensive Line (x3), Tight Ends, Offensive Coordinator (x2), and of course he was the Owner and Head Coach of the North Pinellas Decepticons. His experience and guidance will be essential to a coaching staff that was underwhelming in terms of tenure, a season ago. This will be the first time in quite some time Casey can focus solely on one side of the ball and one aspect of the game. Not having to do EVERYTHING himself, and having renewed focus and energy should equate to one hell of a season for the offensive side of the ball for the War Eagles in 2018.

Scott Mirto: Scott has been around this level of football for a very long time. With Nineteen years of Coaching experience, coaching everything from Defensive Line (x6), to Linebackers (x3), to Special Teams (x2), to Defensive Coordinator (x6), to Offensive Coordinator (x6), and of course to Head Coach (x2). Denying his resume or accolades earned at his stops would be assinine. Scott moved down from Ohio last year to Coach the Anclote Pirates. Things did not quite work out between them over there, and we were lucky enough to have drawn his attention. We are extremely excited as an organization to welcome him to the Staff, and are very eager to see what he can do with the level of talent we possess on that side of the ball. Between himself and Casey, that adds more than 25 years of Coaching experience to the team.

**But wait, there's more**

John Johnson: Son of a life-long Coach, has been watching and breaking down film since he was 4 years old. Growing up in Bradenton, his coaching career started in 2009 jumping right in as a Defensive Coordinator. Spent the next several years with a couple different teams in the Manatee area making his rounds through the different defensive position groups. He has worked as a consultant for several teams as well. He will be coming on in our 2018 campaign as our Linebackers Coach. We're hoping his keen eye for breaking down film can help the defense key on opposing offenses, and allow our linebackers to see what's going on in front of them with a little more clarity. We are very excited to see what he can do with our young crop of linebackers, and are confident that he will excell.

We are in negotiations and talks with several other coaches at the moment to fill the rest of the staff. If it is something that may interest you, please let us know as soon as possible so we can set up an interview.