These days, Bill Vonada has plenty on his plate. In a few months, he could have even more. But right now, he’s preparing to perform the job he’s done for nearly 20 years: serving as head coach of a local prep football team.
Beginning his third season at Hernando, Vonada is attempting to coax further progress out of the Leopards in a rebuilding plan all while running for a spot on Hernando County’s school board.
“It’s been a crazy summer. I’ve been running from one thing to the next,” said Vonada, who has never before pursued a political office. “I guess there are people who think I’d have to give up one, but I made a commitment to these young men, spent a couple of years building relationships and that’s the way it is.
“There are seasons of your life where you’re really busy and this is one of those for me. I’m holding up well and the reason I’m holding up well is I’m surrounded by good people.”
The Leopards are coming off a 3-7 season, but had an encouraging 13-12 victory over Ocala-West Port in Thursday’s preseason classic.
Still, Hernando has plenty of questions to answer, with graduation forcing a slew of personnel changes.
“We’re a little bit behind where we want to be because we were a little behind in the spring being understaffed at the time,” Vonada said. “We’re at full staff now. We were able to get some guys here and that’s been a blessing for us.
“We like what we see. We’re not there yet. We’ve still got a lot of things to clean up yet. We know there are things to fix, too. And we don’t have a lot of numbers. But we feel good about the numbers we have. We feel we have guys who are dependable. We feel there are guys who were questionable at the beginning of the summer who have matured for us.”
From a coaching standpoint, Hernando snatched up two veteran assistants off the Weeki Wachee staff, including defensive coordinator Jon Malandrucco, who will call the defensive plays for the Leopards.
The other is Rob Kazmier, who will serve as special teams coordinator and built a reputation for aiding players at Nature Coast through the college recruiting process. He was briefly on the Hernando staff during Vonada’s first spring before taking a teaching job at Weeki Wachee and coaching there.
Former Hernando head coach Dwayne Mobley has returned to work with running backs and another longtime local coach, Mark Griffith, has joined a group helmed by Vonada and former Central head coach Mike Einspahr.
They’ll have to do quite a bit of molding for a team that lost its top two leading rushers, Christian Dowdell (1,036 yards, five touchdowns) and Jacob Valentino (393 yards, four touchdowns). Also gone is Tyler Quigley, who accounted for 243 of the team’s 399 receiving yards and hauled in both of the Leopards’ only touchdown passes.
Additional graduates are the five leading tacklers, Austin Sternberger, Tyson Libengood, Brock Buchanan, Beck Buchanan and Bruce Warren.
“I feel like in my third year, we do have some guys grasping not just the expectations but the system a lot more,” Vonada said. “We’re still worried about making sure we’re working on the basics. We work to do that in all phases of the game.
“I hope the biggest thing the guys learn is to depend on each other and learn to be dependable for each other. … Our guys are figuring out that in order for us to be good, we’ve all got to be accountable to each other. When they learn to be accountable to other people, not only will they be better football players but better people. That’s something they can take with them long after they’re done playing football.”
Seniors Juan Rodriguez, a defensive back, and Harry Williams, a linebacker, figure to pace the defense. Linebacker/fullback Brad Ellis and offensive lineman Keegan O’Rourke are two more seniors that should play a prominent role, along with quarterback Scott Bierwiler.
In Vonada’s run-heavy triple option offense, sophomore David Hale Bronson could have a breakout campaign. In an injury-plagued freshman year, he rushed for 265 yards and three scores.
Plus, a transfer from Texas, 6-foot-2, 250-pound senior Steven Geib, could prove a key piece on the offensive front.
But it remains to be seen whether or not the Leopards can put everything together in time to compete in Class 5A, District 7 with Central, Citrus, Crystal River, Lecanto, Nature Coast and Weeki Wachee.
“I don’t know how you pick a frontrunner. Who knows what could happen?” Vonada said. “Our biggest thing is to continue to improve on the basics. Execute, not give into distractions or adversity, and keep moving.
“For us, we don’t want to take steps backward. We’re always trying to move ahead. If we do that and stay healthy, I think we can be pretty competitive.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.