Ierulli leaving P.B. Central, calls move ‘no-brainer’
Palm Beach Central coach Tino Ierulli has stepped down as the Broncos’ football coach and has accepted a head coaching position in Georgia.
Ierulli, who spent five years at the helm at Palm Beach Central, informed the team on Thursday. He could not name his new school due to local Georgia rules regarding officially accepting a position.
“It was tough,” Ierulli said. “It took a little bit for me to prepare the speech. The bond you build with these kids, what we’ve been through the last five years, what they’ve accomplished — building this program to where it is — it was tough.”
Ierulli compiled a 33-24 record over five years as Palm Beach Central’s head coach, with the most success coming in the past two seasons. Ierulli won three playoff games in the past two seasons and won three district titles.
Palm Beach Central went 11-2 this season before falling to Deerfield Beach in the regional finals.
Ierulli cited the pay differential and facilities as the reasons he’s leaving Palm Beach Central for Georgia.
“Don’t get me wrong, my principal was the best. Mr. [Darren] Edgecomb is phenomenal,” Ierulli said. “But there’s only so much they can do. It comes down to the district’s financial support, the facilities.”
Ierulli said his teacher’s salary will be higher in Georgia and his coaching pay will rise, as well. The yearly stipend for a head football coach in Palm Beach County is $4,316 and it will increase to $4,532 in July.
“It’s a no-brainer me,” he said.
Ierulli is not the first Palm Beach County coach to leave for Georgia.
Former Suncoast coach Bobby May took a coordinator position at Westlake (Ga.) High School last year, and Seminole Ridge coach Rick Casko spent several years coaching at Cass High in Cartersville, Ga., before returning to Palm Beach County in 2014. Former Seminole Ridge coach Matt Dickmann left in 2012 to take the head coaching job at Harrison High in Kennesaw, Ga., as did former Palm Beach Gardens for coach Chris Davis, who left for Cedar Shoals in Athens.
It’s not only a Palm Beach County issue; Broward County has seen coaches leave for greener pastures in Georgia, too. Former Westminster Academy coach Jake Sorg took a position at Kennesaw’s North Cobb Christian in 2016, as did Coconut Creek’s Kareem Reid, who left for Westlake.
“[Georgia’s system] blows Florida’s out of the water,” Ierulli said. “It’s ridiculous. For any teacher to stay in Florida when they have the opportunity to go to Georgia, I just don’t understand.”
Ierulli said he leaves Palm Beach Central with no regrets, and he is proud of the way the Broncos turned the team culture.
“We changed the culture of the program” he said. “We’ve got kids that are always getting complimented by the principal, by the faculty and staff. How respectful they are, how they conduct themselves in the building, how they’re academically prepared to go to college, whether they play ball or not, and just how they conduct themselves.
“They’re always volunteering their services to help, like digging out flower beds in the courtyard in the school. It’s little things like that.”