Veteran football coaches return: Brad Metheny to Mulberry, Richie Marsh to Frostproof

The last time Brad Metheny and Richie Marsh were on a Polk County football sideline at the same time as head coaches was in 2002. Metheny coached at Winter Haven, Marsh coached at Bartow.

Both coaches are returning to the sidelines as head coaches – only this time Metheny is at Mulberry and Marsh is returning to Frostproof where he got his start as a head coach 30 years ago.

For Metheny, it's his first head coaching job since he stepped down after leading Cape Coral to the playoffs two years in a row just over a decade ago. He spent the past year at Mulberry as an assistant coach under Kevin Wells, who went into last season saying it would be his last year as a head coach.

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"This is what I've wanted since I came back from the pipeline in 2016," Metheny said. "I wanted to get back in the saddle as a head coach, and so it was an opportunity that presented itself. Kevin and I talked about this and so after doing the year over here and seeing what it was all about, that was sort of the option that I had."

Recently, Metheny had thrown his hat in the ring when the Lake Gibson and the Winter Haven jobs opened up.

"It was kind of a natural fit for him to come over and be our OC last year, and he did such a great job with the offense," Mulberry athletic director Heath Hunt said. "There's continuity with him being familiar with the school, being familiar with the players, the culture. We just think it's a good fit and with the success he's had. He's a great football guy — X's and O's. You know he loves it. He lives it."

Metheny has been in Polk County for most of the last 26 years after former Lake Wales head coach Rod Shafer brought him down from West Virginia to replace Kelly Scott as defensive coordinator in 1996.

After two years as defensive coordinator, Metheny moved to Winter Haven for four seasons. He had one losing season in the four years and led Winter Haven to the postseason twice and also to one bowl game win in his first year.

Metheny coached at Webber briefly after leaving Winter Haven then spent three years at Frostproof from 2007 to 2009, leading the Bulldogs to a 27-9 record and two district and two regional titles.

After leading Cape Coral to the playoffs in 2010 and 2011, Metheny left Florida and returned to West Virginia to help care for his mother and was out of coaching for four years. While in West Virginia, he worked as a safety inspector on a natural gas pipeline.

Metheny, whose all-time record as a head coach is 102-59, returned to Florida in 2016 and coached under Billy Deeds for a year before returning to Lake Wales in 2017 as offensive coordinator.

At Mulberry, he takes over a program that went 6-4 in the regular season before losing to Bishop Verot in the playoffs. There 16 seniors on the squad.

"We had eight starters coming back on offense, but three or four of those have moved on," Metheny said. "So it's an opportunity for people to step up and play and get recognized."

Metheny faces the challenge all coaches face in an era of athletes changing schools - keeping the homegrown talent.

"We have to find some way to change the culture enough to keep the kids here at Mulberry and know that they're going to get recruited and do the right things to get recruited," Metheny said. "They can do that from Mulberry. You go all the way back to Arian Smith.

"Arian Smith was being recruited by Kirby Smart and Nick Saban and Sweeney before he left Mulberry. He didn't have to leave Mulberry to get those looks.

"We've got to get that message across to the parents and the community and everything else. If you're good enough to play at that level, they're going to find you no matter where you're at and we're going to do a good job promoting you as a coaching staff to get coaches to come in and look at him. But we need them to be here at Mulberry where they're growing up and playing."

Marsh replaced Faris Brannen for his first head coaching job

Marsh was a three-year letterman at Bartow where he played for Paul Quinn and was the starting linebacker on the Yellow Jackets' 1985 state championship squad. He first became a head coach when he took over for Faris Brannen in 1993 after Brannen retired following the 1992 state championship season.

"We're extremely excited about the opportunity of coach Marsh coming back to Frostproof for obviously the things he's done in the past, the success he's had in Georgia," Frostproof athletic director Chris Ballance said. "We're just looking for him to be able to come back and have a positive impact on our student-athletes' lives and have a big impact on the community."

Marsh applied for the position when it opened after Rod McDowell stepped down after three seasons.

"This was the best-case scenario at Frostproof to have coach Marsh and his family to want to come back and put the time and effort in to be able to work in Frostproof," Ballance said. "We're blessed beyond measure to have coach Marsh back.”

Frostproof is coming off a 10-3 season and advanced to the region finals.

"The bottom line with this one is it was something I felt by the Lord to do," Marsh said. "I've always loved Frostproof. I've always felt it was a very special place for me. Polk County is special to me. I graduated from Bartow. I've got 31 year in, and I just feel like this is a place the Lord was willing me back to. After talking with my family about it and the Lord humbling me, I'm excited about the opportunity to be back."

Marsh said he is bring is offensive coordinator from Toombs County, Dominique Wilson, with him to Frostproof but otherwise, the make-up of the staff is a work in progress. He said former head coach Shannon Benton, who played for Marsh, will be helping out.

Marsh coached six years at Frostproof and led the Bulldogs to three district titles and a state runner-up finish in 1996 during Travis Henry's record-setting season.

In 1999, Marsh returned to his alma mater where he replaced Wells as head coach. In four years at Bartow, he led his team to the playoffs twice as district runner-up.

Marsh left for Georgia following the 2002 season. In the 20 years between his Florida head coaching gigs, Marsh was defensive coordinator at Valdosta High School for three season before becoming head coach at Thomasville. In eight seasons, he led Thomasville to the state playoffs seven times.

Aftter returning to Florida to coach at Southeastern as defensive coordinator for three years, Marsh returned to Georgia. He has been the head coach at Toombs County for the past seven years and compiled a 46-31 record. Overall in his career, Marsh is 156-118.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: HS football: Brad Metheny to coach Mulberry, Richie Marsh to Frostproof