Oviedo High School is looking for a new head football coach for the third time since the end of 2019 after Kolby Tackett left for a new job late last week.
Tackett was named the football coach at Middle Tennessee Christian School on Monday. He led Oviedo to a 5-5 record last fall after going 23-9 in three seasons as head coach at Mount Dora Christian Academy.
Middle Tennessee Christian is located less than 40 miles southeast of Nashville.
“Leaving the kids is the hardest part,” Tackett said by phone Thursday afternoon. “If I’m staying in Florida, I’m never leaving Oviedo, but things change sometimes. It’s the best situation for me and my family right now.”
Tackett was hired in June to replace DJ Mayo, who left for an assistant coaching position at Camden County in Georgia after less than five months on the job. Mayo was hired in December 2019, a month after the Lions fired three-year coach Matt Dixon.
A combined 82 applicants sought the position at Oviedo when the job opened the past two times.
Much like Mayo did when he departed, Tackett lauded Oviedo’s administration on his way out.
“I almost stayed just because of the administration and how great they were,” Tackett said. “Oviedo is a good place, and I liked our trajectory. I liked what we were doing and was looking for every reason to stay.”
Four other Orlando area programs have openings for football head coaches, including Orange County schools Cypress Creek, Freedom and Windermere High.
Kit Hill and Robert Mahoney are out at Cypress Creek and Freedom, respectively, after two seasons. Robert Couch, who took over as a late hire at Windermere in July, coached his only season as a non-faculty member.
Celebration coach Jay Skobe stepped down Feb. 1 after four seasons with the Storm.
Horizon High School in Winter Garden, which opens in August, and Orangewood Christian in Maitland have yet to announce football coaching hires.
This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email J.C. Carnahan at jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com.
