Sports

Groomed by the game

Five local movers and shakers look back on high school football days as vital to their taking the path to responsible, influential adulthood.

By JOEY KNIGHT
Published August 31, 2007

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Name: Richard Gonzmart

Alma mater: Jesuit (Class of '71)

Position: Running back

Prep coach: Bill Minahan

Backstory: After fulfilling his dream of playing football for the Tigers, Gonzmart, a sophomore on Jesuit's 1968 state championship team, began preparing for a life in the family business. He attended the University of Denver and University of Madrid to study hotel/restaurant management.

Today: A highly respected local philanthropist, Gonzmart is president/CEO of the Columbia Restaurant Group. The original Columbia, a 102-year-old Ybor City shrine, was founded by his great-grandfather. In 2006, Gonzmart was honored by Tampa Hispanic Heritage as its Man of the Year.

Family: Wife, Melanie. Two daughters, three grandchildren

How prep football molded him: "Bill Minahan taught me about discipline, following team rules. ...He just taught me what it was to be tough and to never give up. He was one of the three most influential people in my life. I think a good high school coach, you consider him good when his players look back 10 years later and say that their coach was one of the top five. He's one of the top three, besides my dad and my grandfather."e_SClBEducation

Name: Vernon Korhn

Alma mater: Plant (Class of '63)

Position: Quarterback

Prep coach: John Burgess

Backstory: Korhn, who lost his mom at age 7 and dad at 14, leaned on sports as a refuge. Living with an older brother saddled with his own physical ailments, Korhn evolved into a straight-A student at Plant and won the 1962 Guy Toph Award as Hillsborough County's top senior player.

Today: Korhn officially retired Dec. 31, 2006, after 38 years of employment with the School District of Hillsborough County. He spent his past seven years as county athletic director, but also was a teacher, administrator and coach of various sports, including a stint as Leto football coach in the '70s. Last year, he was inducted into the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Family: Wife, Brenda. Two children, two grandchildren (No. 3 is due in November)

How prep football molded him: In an emotional interview with the Times last fall, Korhn said, "My coaches, they took care of me. ...They talked to me about life and what was going on in my life every day."e_SClBFinance

Name: Barry Clark

Alma mater: Tampa Catholic (Class of '92)

Position: Defensive back

Prep coaches: David Lewis (sophomore, junior years), Bob Henriquez (senior year)

Backstory: While excelling on the field for the Crusaders, Clark was academically lax. "I wasn't dumb or anything, I just didn't do homework," he said. Taken under the wing of then-TC assistant and ex-Chicago Bear Tyrone Keys, Clark ultimately signed with Morehead State out of high school, but transferred to Ball State after two seasons when Morehead trimmed its scholarship money. He eventually earned a degree in sociology.

Today: Clark has worked for several banks the past 11 years, but has spent the past two as a premier client manager for Bank of America. He also served as an assistant on Jefferson's staff the previous four seasons.

Family: Wife, Shannon. Two children, three stepchildren ("But I consider all of them my own," Clark noted.)

How prep football molded him: "It taught me the importance of always giving 100-percent effort, having enthusiasm in what you do and always playing till the whistle blows. It's like that in business. You've got to go hard every single day, just like every practice."

 

Law enforcement

Name: Ron McMullen

Alma mater: Brandon (Class of '82)

Position: Offensive tackle

Prep coach: Larry Bass

Backstory: An imposing blocker for diminutive Eagles ball-carrying legend Andre Darby, McMullen was accepted at Brown University and played three seasons for the Ivy League program. A human biology/Spanish major, he is considered a non-degreed alumnus at Brown, though he has "more than enough" credits to graduate.

Today: Fulfilling a longtime desire to enter law enforcement, McMullen enrolled at the police academy on Dec. 7, 1988. Now an 18-year veteran of the Tampa Police Department, McMullen was promoted to lieutenant in November.

Family: McMullen is single.

How prep football molded him: "Even though some of the people I met at Brown were some of the most famous and wealthiest people in the world - and they were good friends of mine - I still reference my high school career. I'll reference what I see on television, like a good hit, to (ex-Brandon stars) Stanley Scott or Robert Bradley hitting someone, or the heart of Ernest Hayes. My parents said high school would be the best time of your life, and it really was."

Military

Name: Joey Gerena

Alma mater: Armwood (Class of '97)

Position: QuarterbackPrep coach: Sean Callahan

Backstory: The engineer of the Hawks' triple-option attack when it first became dominant, Gerena led Armwood to an 18-4 mark - and the program's first playoff berth - his final two seasons. The success helped land him an appointment to West Point, where he started as Army's quarterback for two years. Gerena's shining moment came as a sophomore, when he came off the bench with his team trailing Navy 10-0 and ran for 92 yards to rally the Cadets to a 34-30 triumph. Gerena was named the game's MVP.

Today: Commissioned as a second lieutenant upon graduating from West Point in 2001, Gerena was an executive officer for a basic training company in Fort Jackson, S.C., when he was medically discharged in October 2003. Earlier this month, he joined a local design and construction service firm as a senior project engineer.

Family: Wife, Shayla. One son, one daughter

How prep football molded him: "It's the building block for everything I accomplished. ...Everybody out in the civilian world talks about how tough it is to manage people, but that's the thing I do best because of my experiences I had growing up. ...All that built off the success we had our junior and senior year at Armwood."

Chances are, many of the high-character players profiled in this section will evolve into adult role models - much like the five prominent area citizens featured here. All played prep football locally and, more importantly, remain vital contributors to society to this day.

 

.fast facts

Meet the players

Vernon Korhn Plant '63

Richard Gonzmart Jesuit '71

Ron McMullen Brandon '82

Barry Clark Tampa Catholic '92

Joey Gerena Armwood '97

 

[Last modified August 30, 2007, 13:11:46]

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