Eustis High School announced Darrell Harrison as its new head football coach on Monday. He replaces first-year coach Joe Burnett , who stepped down prior to the beginning of fall practice.
Reached by the Orlando Sentinel via text message Sunday evening, Burnett replied, “All is well, personal matter that led to the decision of stepping down. Tough decision, but a decision where my immediate family needed me.
“I will be back coaching sometime in my life. Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t right for me to step in and lead my alumni at EHS.”
Harrison, a former Oak Ridge standout, previously was an assistant for nearby Mount Dora Christian. He also assisted at Lake Mary.
“We found an extremely talented individual that has what I feel is exactly what Eustis needs,” Panthers athletics director Michelle Long said.
The Eustis press release read, “Coach Harrison brings with him a wealth of experience, coming over from Mount Dora Christian Academy where he coached track and field and football. He played at Oak Ridge High and is in the Oak Ridge High School Hall of Fame. A four-year letterman for football and track, Coach Harrison has been coaching football and track for 25 years.”
According to Long the rest of the coaching staff will remain intact.
Harrison played college football at Western Illinois and previously coached at Lake Mary.
Burnett was hired this past spring to fill the vacancy left by Frank Scott, who is now at Leesburg.
After Burnett’s departure, Leesburg initially offered offensive coordinator Jabari Dunham the job as interim head coach. Dunham turned down the offer. He said before Monday’s announcement that the staff was “kind of coaching by committee” in preseason practices.
Burnett played cornerback and was a kick returner at University of Central Florida upon graduation from Eustis in 2005. He was named all-American as a senior in 2008 and is in the UCF Sports Hall of Fame. He had 16 interceptions in four seasons. Burnett went on to play in the NFL for three years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants, and seven years in the Canadian Football League.
Chris Hays can be found on X @OS_ChrisHays. He can be reached via email at chays@orlandosentinel.com.
