By Kyle Coppola
Apopka High School Head Football Coach Jeff Rolson Steps Down
APOPKA, Fla. — Apopka High School football coach Jeff Rolson is stepping down after six successful seasons leading the Blue Darters, the school announced Friday.
Rolson, who succeeded longtime head coach Rick Darlington in 2019, compiled an impressive 55-23 record during his tenure. Under his leadership, Apopka made three appearances in the FHSAA Class 7A state championship game — in 2019, 2021, and 2022 — and reached the state semifinals in 2020.
(Coach Rolson ends his coaching career at Apopka with a 55-23 record. Photo Credit – Apopka High.)
“It’s been an impressive run for Coach Rolson, and we all wish him well,” the Apopka Blue Darters Fan Club said in a statement.
With 12 seasons as a head coach in Florida, Rolson also led programs at Kissimmee Osceola (2006–2009) and Panama City Rutherford (2010–2011) before arriving at Apopka. His coaching career also includes stints in Illinois and Missouri in the late 90s and early 2000s.
(The sun sets behind coach Rolson after the Apopka Spring Football game in what would become the final game that coach Rolson would be the head coach for at Apopka High. It was an incredible six year run. Photo Credit – Apopka High.)
A former collegiate football player at Eastern Illinois, Rolson shared the field with current Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who played quarterback for the Panthers in the mid-1980s.
At this time, Rolson does not have another coaching position lined up. Sources close to the program say the decision to step down was his own. Apopka High School will now search for it’s next head coach. Since 2006, Apopka High has only had 2 head coaches between coach Darlington and coach Rolson and of course in the early 2000s it was coach Ty Ensor. Who will be the next head coach of the Blue Darters? It’s a program with a very storied history and a very successful one especially the past 6 years.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
