Deltona Pine Ridge names new coach, Windermere still looking
The first week of high school football summer workouts permitted in Orange and Volusia counties opened Monday without head coaches in place at Windermere High and Deltona Pine Ridge.
Derrick Bumpers, 43, reportedly stepped down at Windermere due to a delay in getting assistant coaches approved through Orange County Public Schools and concerns with how the state of Florida plans to reopen schools, which closed in March due to the spread of COVID-19.
Sean Washington, 27, confirmed Monday via text message that he left his post at Pine Ridge last week after accepting a college position as tight ends coach at Mississippi Valley State.
Allen “BJ” Johnson became Pine Ridge’s seventh head coach in 10 years on Thursday afternoon, which was announced on Twitter. Johnson, a DeLand graduate, stepped down as head coach at Deltona in November after going 26-43-1 in seven seasons due to ongoing health issues. Bumpers and Washington join DJ Mayo as newly named head coaches in the Orlando area to leave their respective schools before ever coaching a game. Mayo, hired at Oviedo the same day Washington was awarded the Pine Ridge job in December, took over as offensive coordinator at Camden County High in Georgia in May.
Windermere posted its football coaching vacancy on the Florida High School Athletic Association website Monday, stating that the school is looking for a coach who has a current Florida Teaching Certificate and is “local to the Orlando Metro area.”
Athletic director Russell Williams declined to verify that there was an opening at the school in an email Wednesday morning.
“Any questions about coach Bumpers and the football program will have to go through OCPS communications,” Williams said.
Bumpers, who previously coached in Alabama and Georgia and spent the past three seasons in the Panhandle at South Walton
High in Santa Rosa Beach, was hired in February from a pool of nine applicants, according to OCPS. That list included internal candidate Keith Woods.
“It’s July, and I have a couple guys I’ve been trying to get hired since February,” said Bumpers this week in an interview with the Orange Observer while discussing his departure.
Bumpers did not respond to repeated calls and text messages from the Orlando Sentinel. OCPS has yet to provide details about the coaching change, including a time frame for when a new hire is expected to be made.
Windermere is in search of its fourth football coach since 2017 when Greg Miller was initially selected to launch the program. Fred Priest, who served as Windermere head coach the past two seasons, announced his retirement in November.
The first official day of fall preseason practices for FHSAA football programs is scheduled for Monday, July 27.