BROOKSVILLE- There has been another change when it comes to football coaches throughout Hernando County and this time it’s on the middle school level.
D.S. Parrott Middle School has become a good stepping stone for coaches to hone their skills before taking on the same role at the high school level. Now a former Hernando High School coach will be taking over the reins come this fall.
Former Hernando High defensive coordinator Jon Malandruco has been announced as the new head coach at Parrott Middle School, per a tweet sent out by principal Ed LaRose on Twitter this past week. Malandruco served as an assistant coach under Rob Kazmier in the last two seasons. Kazmier just recently stepped down as the head coach at Hernando High School.
LaRose made the announcement via Twitter and below is the tweet that the Parrott Middle School principal made in regards to the hiring.
“Parrott is overly excited to introduce our new Head Football Coach, Jon Malandruco. Jon will be on campus as well as he joins the ESE Department. Welcome to the TEAM coach!!!” – D.S. Parrott Middle School principal Ed LaRose
Kazmier announced in early June that he would be stepping down as head football coach at Hernando High School, leaving Malandruco’s status at the school up in the air. Kazmier was the Leopards’ head coach for two seasons and led Hernando to the playoffs in 2018. It left the Leopards searching for their third head coach in four years and they were able to quickly zero in on a candidate and new hire.
Hernando High School announced within the last couple of weeks via its athletics website that they named former Hillsborough High School defensive coordinator Earl Garcia III as the school’s new head coach. Garcia took over for Kazmier, who stepped away due to family reasons. With Garcia III being a defensive play-caller, it seemed to make sense that Malandruco would end up moving on to another school.
With Malandruco taking over at Parrott Middle School, he follows a line of successful coaches. Dwayne Mobley, who formerly played running back at the University of Florida, was a head coach at Parrott Middle before moving onto being a head coach at Hernando High. Mobley served as an assistant at Hernando this past 2019 season.
Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
