By PATRICK YASINSKAS
BROOKSVILLE — Take one part Tony Dungy. Add another part Howard Schnellenberger. Mix them together and you’ll get a pretty clear picture of what the new football coach at Nature Coast Technical High School is all about.
Chris Hawley has been hired to coach the Sharks, Nature Coast Athletic Director Dan Garofano said.
Although this is Hawley’s first head-coaching job on any level he said he’ll pattern his style after legendary coaches Schnellenberger and Dungy. Hawley had a chance to study Schnellenberger up close and Dungy from a little bit of a distance. Most recently, Hawley, 38, spent the last four seasons as the running backs coach at Division III Wheaton College in Illinois.
But Hawley’s lengthy resume as an assistant coach on the high school and college level is highlighted by a three-year stint coaching quarterbacks and wide receivers under Schnellenberger at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Schnellenberger is best known for his coaching stints at Division I powerhouses Miami, Louisville and Oklahoma. Late in his career, Schnellenberger was instrumental in getting the football program started at Florida Atlantic, the school Hawley graduated from with a degree in History and Political Science in 2010.
“I learned a lot about football from Coach Schnellenberger,” Hawley said. “But I also learned a lot from him about how to build a program and run a program and how he dealt with the administration, the boosters and the media.”
Long before Schnellenberger, Hawley had another mentor. As a youngster growing up in Pinellas County and attending Indian Rocks Christian, Hawley said he idolized Dungy, who coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996 through 2001 and later won a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts. Hawley has never met Dungy, but said he studied the Pro Football Hall of Fame coach very closely.
“Coach Dungy has a very strong Christian faith and so do I,” Hawley said. “I’ve always admired the way he carried himself and the way he ran his teams That’s the way I want to run a team.”
Hawley also has been an assistant on the college level at Wisconsin Lutheran and Methodist University and North Carolina. He also spent four seasons as an assistant on the high school level at Pinellas County’s East Lake High School.
“Ever since I was in elementary school or middle school, I dreamed about someday being a head coach and having my own program,” Hawley said.
Now, Hawley will get that chance. When Hawley first learned that former coach Robert Kazmier stepped down after last season, he immediately thought Nature Coast was the perfect situation. The chance to return to Florida where most of his family and his wife’s family live was only part of the attraction.
“Nature Coast has been part of my recruiting territory when I was working on the college level,” said Hawley, who also has been hired to teach Physical Education at Nature Coast. “I’ve always admired Nature Coast. It’s a program that has had sustained success through the years. It’s exactly the kind of place I’ve always wanted to be.
And the cupboard remains pretty full after Kazmier’s departure. The Sharks went 6-6 last season and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs. Quarterback Jackson Hoyt is graduating this spring, but nine starters return on offense and nine starters will be back on defense. The Sharks will be led by senior-to-be Grant Lanning, who is viewed as a major Division I prospect as a defensive end.
“(Kazmier) has been great about getting me up to speed about the players,” Hawley said. “I’ve had a chance to meet with the players and I’m very excited about working with them. I can’t wait to get started.”
The Sharks are scheduled to begin spring practice on April 28.
