- April 19, 2024
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Principal Dusty Sims and Athletics Director Steve DeAugustino have created a school buzz by hiring Mainland’s former defensive coordinator Travis Roland as the new Bulldogs head coach.
The Bulldogs fired former head coach Tommy Moody after the completion of his second season with the team. FPC went 7-12 and missed the playoffs both seasons under him.
“What stood out to me about Travis is his work ethic,” DeAugustino said. “He also has a motivation to coach, because he wants to help kids, whether they’re football players, basketball players or whatever. He wants to help kids become better people, and I believe he’s going to get our kids exposure and get them into colleges. He’s going to work for the kids.”
Roland spent some time talking with students during school lunches on Monday. He also spoke to the football team shortly after.
“I wanted to talk to them and let them know who I was and what I was about,” Roland said. “I told them I expect them to do and choose what’s right, because, when you do and choose right, there’s no way you can do wrong. That’s something coach (Scott) Wilson instills in the kids at Mainland, and I plan to do it here.”
Ryan Dean, FPC’s defensive back, has already taken a liking to his new coach, saying, “I believe will honestly get this program going in the right direction. With him, I feel like it'll bring more kids in, and we will be a definite contender in our district. We are all glad to have him.”
Roland then met with the Bulldogs’ coaching staff.
“We basically sat in a circle, and I told those guys to let out what needs to be let out,” Roland said. “I wanted to hear their questions and comments. The No. 1 things you have to have on a football team are loyalty and trust.” Roland has made it clear that he intends to keep a lot of the coaches intact, for the sake of consistency and their skills.
Under Roland’s leadership, Mainland’s defense shut out 19 opponents. Only 13 opponents scored more than 21 points in that span. The Bucs went 58-10 in that span, winning at least one playoff game in each of those seasons.
“I’ve made it no secret,” Roland said. “Everything I do will be modeled from the program I’m coming from, because we’ve had so much success. That only makes sense.”
Coach Travis Roland will begin his new position Monday, Jan. 9.
Get ‘em to the next level: As Mainland’s defensive coordinator, Roland has helped many defensive players play Saturday-college football. Some include Jachai Polite (University of Florida), A.J. Westbrook and Cyrus Fagan (FSU), Quinton Powell (USC), Marcus Brunson (Ohio), Kevin McCrary (FAU) and Meiko Dotson (Georgia Tech).
Say that again: “I’ve made it no secret. Everything I do will be modeled from the program I’m coming from, because we’ve had so much success.”
