Marion County sees two big coaching changes on the same day

The first day back from a holiday usually doesn’t warrant too many big surprises.

However, in Marion County, two schools sprung some surprises not only on locals living near the schools, but to the entire state in general.

The first came announcement came after 3:00 PM this afternoon when the Ocala Star-Banner reported that Alex Castaneda officially decided to step down, announcing the news to the team this afternoon.

Some of the reasoning behind Castaneda stepping down was about his future with the program.

With his future being talked about in the rumor mill for weeks, Castaneda finally made decision, announcing the move to team this afternoon.

— Ocala Preps (@OcalaPreps) January 6, 2014

However, Castaneda will be noted for turning around a struggling Knights team that made the playoffs quickly in his first season as the head coach for the program.

With his future being talked about in the rumor mill for weeks, Castaneda finally made decision, announcing the move to team this afternoon.

— Ocala Preps (@OcalaPreps) January 6, 2014

Castaneda was also the head coach at West Port for that program’s first five seasons and led them to the playoffs in year two. No word yet on how long it will take to find a new head coach to lead the Knights in 2014.

Within 20 minutes of the announcement of the change at Vanguard, came the biggest news of the day as North Marion found their new leader.

Stephen Field, who was Miami Northwestern’s head coach for the past two seasons was hired to become the Colts’ next permanent head coach, which was first reported by Ocala Star-Banner reporter Ted Beck.

BREAKING: North Marion gets their man. Stephen Field, who was head coach at Miami Northwestern last 2 years, will be Colts next head coach

— Ted Beck (@ted_beck) January 6, 2014

Field who went 14-8 in two seasons with Miami Northwestern was already on the hunt for a new opportunity as he planned to move on from the Bulls football program prior to the Christmas holiday.

Field told both FloridaHSFootball.com and NationalHSFootball.com that he is excited for the new opportunity to become the head coach at North Marion.

You can check out a more in-depth report on Field’s hiring from Dallas Jackson at NationalHSFootball.com.

With the Vanguard opening, four Marion County programs will have new head coaches in 2014 including West Port and Dunnellon which have already filled their open positions.

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