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Eagles' Bifulco resigns
By BRANT JAMES © St. Petersburg Times, published May 23, 2001 SPRING HILL -- John Bifulco, the most successful soccer coach in Springstead history, will not return next year to lead the girls program he created more than a decade ago, according to athletic director Bob Levija. "He said he just didn't want to do it anymore," Levija said Tuesday. Levija thought health concerns also were an issue. Bifulco had not returned phone calls by press time Tuesday. He indicated last winter that he might be ready for a change, perhaps to seek a college position. The opening leaves the Springstead athletic department with four spots to fill. The Eagles have yet to fill a long-standing football opening, and they need a boys and girls swim coach. Mike Maurer, a police officer who ran the swim program for two seasons, has left because of expanded work duties, Levija said. The Springstead football team is seeking an offensive coordinator/assistant coach for quarterbacks and running backs. Tactical soundness and strong defense were the trademarks of Bifulco teams. "If the other team doesn't score, I can't lose," Bifulco said in 1999. "The worst that can happen is we tie, nil-nil." His bane was "boot ball," the kick-and-chase style he found to prevalent on the North Suncoast, especially in Citrus County. Bifulco's departure ends his second stint at Springstead. He left the girls program after a 1994 season in which he was named Sunshine Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. He led the Eagles to a 62-14-9 record in his first five seasons, including four SAC championships after a 4-6 first year in 1990. Bifulco returned to Springstead in 1999 as a boys coach for the first time and guided the Eagles to a 14-5-2 mark and the program's first district title and trip to a region final. Springstead's upstart season ended a game from the Florida Finals with a 4-0 loss to Orlando Bishop Moore. Bifulco was named the Times' All-Hernando/Citrus Coach of the Year for his efforts. When Bill Horvath was not renewed as girls coach last year, Bifulco re-assumed his old post and forged a 13-5-3 season in which the Eagles were eliminated in the first round of region playoffs. In all, Bifulco went 89-24-14 at Springstead and oversaw the development of a future professional player in the New York Power's Jenny O'Sullivan. "I was really very fortunate to have a really great high school coach," O'Sullivan said of Bifulco this winter. "He definitely developed a different side of me. "I was a defensive player," she said, "and I played center-mid and he gave me different skills as far as attacking and so forth. He was hard on me and at the same time he pushed me. He takes talent he sees in a player and just somehow hones in on it." Levija said he has not completed his review of Springstead's coaching roster, but expected to be done sometime next week. All coaches are appraised and either retained or released each spring. "I don't expect any wholesale changes," Levija said. -- Information from Times archives contributed to this report. John BifulcoSEASONS AT SPRINGSTEAD: 7. OVERALL RECORD: 89-24-14. RECORD WITH GIRLS: 75-19-12 (6 seasons). ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 1994 Sunshine Athletic Conference Girls Coach of the Year; first coach to take a Springstead boys team to regional play; advanced to region final in 1999-2000; coached professional player Jenny O'Sullivan, a member of the New York Power in the Women's United Soccer Association.
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