Former Nature Coast Tech coach Tom Keeler, who resigned in April, has decided to come back to Pinellas County, where he spent 20 years as a teacher and coach.
Keeler took a job teaching in the dropout prevention program at Seminole, and he will be an assistant coach for the school.
The move reunites Keeler with principal Rick Misenti.
Both worked together at East Lake, where Keeler coached for seven years (1996-2002) and had a career mark of 43-33, which included no losing regular seasons.
Part of the reason Keeler left Nature Coast Tech was the commute.
He lived in Tarpon Springs and drove 45 minutes to coach the newly formed program. Keeler also was seeking a way for he, his wife and two children to attend the same school while shortening his drive to work.
Keeler taught physical education at Nature Coast. His wife, Billie, teaches at East Lake High, where their daughter, Lizzy, is a senior and their son, Ben, is a freshman.
After leading Nature Coast to a 3-6 record in its start-up junior varsity season, Keeler started to look for work elsewhere. He applied for head coaching positions at Citrus and Hernando.
In April, he officially stepped down at Nature Coast. Jamie Joyner, a former assistant at East Lake who joined Keeler's staff at Nature Coast, took over as coach. The Sharks will play a varsity schedule this season.
