Booth happy to be back home

John Booth is back in Florida. He’s back in football.

He’s got a program to call his own.

His mother couldn’t be happier.

Neither could he.

The 26-year-old former Manatee Hurricane has wrapped his first spring and is spending his first summer as the head football coach at Valrico Bloomingdale, yet another step on Booth’s football journey.

And oh, what a journey. After his career at Manatee, he became an All-America quarterback at MidAmerica Nazarene, an NAIA school in Kansas, before signing a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs and switching to wide receiver.

He went to NFL Europe, where his 103 receiving yards helped the Amsterdam Admirals win World Bowl XIII, and he played in the Arena League with the Kansas City Brigade.

Booth’s been around. Now he’s interested on passing some wisdom to a younger generation of players.

The best part? He gets to do it in Florida.

“I just wanted to get back home,” Booth said.

“Growing up, you always have that dream of being in the NFL and being a player and being able to play forever. Then you realize that isn’t going to happen. I love the game. I love football. I love teaching it. That’s what it’s all about for me. When I got toward the end of my playing career, I thought, ‘I cannot just not be involved in football.’”

His family wanted him home, too.

“It’s an answer to many prayers,” said his mother, Kathi. “And he has the privilege of doing what he loves.”

Though Booth coached wide receivers for two seasons at Nazarene, this marks his first head coaching job. He knows there’s a learning curve and knows there’s going to be some growing pains.

But he also has 75 to 80 kids a day showing up for summer workouts.

“When I got here, one of the assistants who has been here for a long time said I was the third head coach some of these seniors have had. So there’s been a lot of turnover,” Booth said.

“Summer has been great. ... The biggest thing I’m teaching our kids is to be disciplined. Not just on the field, but in the classroom.”

The Bulls went 6-5 last season, earning a playoff berth as the runner-up out of Class 5A-District 7. Booth hopes to build off that success, but he also wants to see his players do well away from the football field.

“As a teacher and a coach, my goal is to see these kids succeed in the classroom,” said Booth, a physical education teacher, “and succeed in life and be productive after they graduate.”

The learning experience includes the coach, too.

“Coaching has always been something I’ve been passionate about,” Booth said. “It’s a learning process every single year.”