Stark leaving for new position in Georgia
North Paulding High School in Georgia will formally introduce Seminole High’s Don Stark as its new head football coach Friday night.
North Paulding made the announcement on social media late Tuesday. The school is located about 40 miles northwest of Atlanta in Dallas, Georgia.
“We wish Coach Stark all the best on this new adventure. Thank you for making SHS one of the most respected programs in FL,” Seminole High principal Jordan Rodriguez wrote in a tweet.
Stark, who will serve as a physical education instructor at North Paulding, broke the news to Seminole football players early Wednesday morning.
“We tell them all the time that football is very similar to life and that there’s going to be times where you deal with adverse situations, conditions or relationships, and you just have to overcome those,” said Stark. “The program is bigger than any one person and I know they’re going to be fine.”
Stark replaces Jim Bob Bryant at North Paulding following an 11-9 run over the past two seasons. The Wolfpack graduated 22 seniors from a team that went 6-5 last fall.
The move to Georgia will likely bring with it a significant increase in salary for Stark, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High graduate and father of two boys aged 11 and 8. Stark has lived in the Orlando area since enrolling at UCF in 1995.
According to a report last year by Jacksonville’s First Coast News, at least 44 high school football coaches in Georgia earned six-figure salaries during the 2018-19 school year, and more than a dozen of those coaches moved in from Florida.
At nearby Cartersville High, located less than 12 miles north of North Paulding, Raymond King earned a salary of $123,252. Marietta High’s Richard Morgan made $115,234 at a school located approximately 20 miles southeast of North Paulding.
Seminole’s search for a new head coach comes ahead of the spring football season that is slated to begin April 27. Likely in-house candidates include Seminole High athletic director
Mike Kintz and offensive coordinator Woody Cox, both of whom were among 48 applicants for the Oviedo football opening that went to DJ Mayo in December.
Stark leaves the Orlando area with a 68-40 record in 10 seasons following successful stints as head coach at both Seminole and University.
A defensive assistant at Seminole under the late Jim Bernhardt from 2001-03, Stark went on to serve as a graduate assistant at UCF before turning University High into a district contender. He went 28-34 in six seasons (2009-14) while leading the Cougars to a district title and back-to-back playoff appearances in 2012 and 2013.
Stark recorded a 40-6 mark in four seasons at Seminole. He guided the program to a large-class state semifinal in his first season at the helm in 2016, which ended with a 37-34 loss at home against Dr. Phillips.
Seminole lost to Apopka in the first round in 2017 and again in the region finals this past November while finishing at 11-1. Despite compiling an 8-2 record in 2018, the Seminoles missed the postseason that year based on the Florida High School Athletic Association playoff points system.
“I had an opportunity to work for two great principals and a great athletic director, and obviously we had a great coaching staff and phenomenal players,” said Stark of his time at Seminole. “It was tough telling those people goodbye.
“Seminole High School is a special place with a wonderful community that supports athletics.”