Palmetto native Nate Varnadore gets second head football coaching job

Nate Varnadore missed the Friday night lights.

“Watching on Friday nights sitting at home is miserable,” said Varnadore about spending the 2016 high school football season away from the game.

So Varnadore, a Palmetto native with deep roots in the area and a former Palmetto High assistant coach, found his next coaching stop.

He was recently named the head coach at Citrus High School, a Class 5A program located in Inverness in Citrus County.

Varnadore was an assistant at Palmetto under current South Florida defensive coordinator Ray Woodie and Palmetto High head coach Dave Marino after Woodie left for the college ranks.

He left Manatee County and headed north to take over Crystal River a few years ago.

“It was like the perfect storm of transition that we were going through,” Marino said. “We were going from 5A to 7A, then you lose your defensive coordinator, you lose your assistant head coach that ... had done a lot in community relations and helping with fundraising. On many fronts, he was a major loss to the program. And then we lost Elijah Freeman (to Bayshore High) a year later. So that two-year period was a real difficult transition for us, and it was evident on the field.”

The move to Crystal River lasted until 2015, when Varnadore said he felt he couldn’t take the program any further.

That led to joining 5A Belleview’s staff for spring football as an assistant earlier this year.

Citing the need to spend more time with his family, Varnadore stepped away from coaching after spring football.

But the season away from the game only fueled Varnadore’s passion, and once wife Melissia gave him the blessing, he jumped at the chance to return to coaching.

But with the move to Citrus High, which plays in the same classification as Bayshore and Southeast, comes joining a district rival of his first head coaching stop: Crystal River.

“It’s kind of like going from Southeast to Manatee,” Varnadore said. “They hate each other. It was kind of a controversial move. When I left, I left with the best intentions. I left the administration there with good terms.”

Varnadore is a fifth generation Palmetto native on his mom’s side, and fourth generation on his dad’s side. Becoming a football coach with the Tigers under Woodie and later Marino was steeped in his desire to turn his players from “good young men into great young men.”

With Citrus High, Varnadore said the administration gets that aspect. He also credits Marino with taking his coaching career to the next level.

“As good as Raymond (Woodie) was, Dave Marino was an amazing man,” Varnadore said. “He’s like a big brother to me. I still call him for advice.”

Noteworthy

The Florida Athletic Coaches Association released the rosters for the 62nd annual North/South Football Classic on Friday. Three Manatee County players and Marino, as an assistant coach, were selected for the South team.

Southeast High linebacker Dequan Williams joined two Palmetto High offensive linemen, Christian Kalish and Rodshon Williams, as South team selections.

“It just goes to show you the Suncoast football is some of the best in the state,” Marino said.

Williams registered 99 tackles, 32 tackles for a loss, 11 1/2 sacks, 25 quarterback hurries, five forced fumbles and three pass breakups in a scorching season as a hybrid linebacker and edge rusher.

The game, which is for seniors, is Saturday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. at The Villages High School.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 7:22 PM with the headline "Palmetto native Nate Varnadore gets second head football coaching job."