Who Is This Famous Central FL Coach? John Benedetto/Land O'Lakes

[OldSchoolLion]

Who is he?

Where did he coach?

What great qb-receiver tandem did he coach in hs?

[gatorman-uf]

Nothing anybody says will make me think that is not the late Anthony Bourdain......

[badbird]

55 minutes ago, gatorman-uf said:

Nothing anybody says will make me think that is not the late Anthony Bourdain......

I thought it was Epstien

[DarterBlue2]

1 hour ago, badbird said:

I thought it was Epstien

There is a slight resemblance

[OldSchoolLion]

Central FL legend 

[OldSchoolLion]

How about west central FL legend?

[Perspective]

Like, a guy who would eventually have a stadium named after him?   That kind of legend?  

[Hwy17]

Define West Central Florida.  I don't think of the area North of Tampa as West Central Florida.

[Perspective]

1 hour ago, Hwy17 said:

Define West Central Florida.  I don't think of the area North of Tampa as West Central Florida.

Well, how about an area just north of Tampa, but still south of Orlando (if you were to draw a line across the state)?   If Orlando is in Central Florida and Tampa is in Central Florida, I suspect areas in between the two would also be considered part of Central Florida. 

[Hwy17]

5 hours ago, Perspective said:

Well, how about an area just north of Tampa, but still south of Orlando (if you were to draw a line across the state)?   If Orlando is in Central Florida and Tampa is in Central Florida, I suspect areas in between the two would also be considered part of Central Florida. 

Hillsborough and Pinellas, sure. Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, no. Too far north.

[badbird]

Lots of lakes around the land

[OldSchoolLion]

7 hours ago, Perspective said:

Well, how about an area just north of Tampa, but still south of Orlando (if you were to draw a line across the state)?   If Orlando is in Central Florida and Tampa is in Central Florida, I suspect areas in between the two would also be considered part of Central Florida. 

 

1 hour ago, Hwy17 said:

Hillsborough and Pinellas, sure. Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, no. Too far north.

 

1 hour ago, badbird said:

Lots of lakes around the land

OK, I am starting all over.  This coach was a legend who coached in a county in southwest north central FL...or, if you would prefer, northwest south central FL...or, if you are from Lake City, a county about 150 miles due south of the center of the universe.

Oh, and he coached in the south central part of that county, in a high school on the north side of town.  I hope I have provided enough information now.  

[Hwy17]

4 hours ago, badbird said:

Lots of lakes around the land

Butter too.

[OldSchoolLion]

It is John Benedetto, former Land O'Lakes coach.  A native of NY, he came to the school when it opened in 1975 and became the hc 2 years later.  He was hc at LOL for 32 years.  During that time, he led the Gators to 18 winning seasons, including 196 wins. He closed his career with 12 straight playoff appearances.  Arguably his best teams were the 2002 and 2003 versions.

In 2002, led by qb and future Nole Drew Weatherford, the Gators went 12-0 before running into eventual state champion Palm Bay.  In 2003, Weatherford once again led the Gators to the third round of the playoffs, where they lost to eventual stae finalist Lake Gibson in a shootout.  A favorite target of Weatherford's was future Nole TE Caz Piurowski.  They were a deadly combination because of Piurowski's height.

LOL named their stadium after him.   He passed away in 2013 at the age of 66.