Clearwater Tornadoes stage remarkable turnaround

Photo by Jeff Rosenfield

CLEARWATER – The walls of Clearwater High School’s newly renovated football facility are plastered with blown-up photos and inspirational quotes, with a shot of the Tornadoes players carrying the team flag onto the field with the words “Tornado Strong Football” above it.

Two years ago, the same area that now features a locker room painted in the team’s red and gray color scheme, plus offices and meetings rooms sporting couches and flat screen TVs, was condemned. As in literally condemned, due to mold and misuse.

That disparity perfectly sums up the recent rise of the Tornadoes varsity football program, which went from the depths of a winless 0-10 season four years ago to the highs of an undefeated 9-0 campaign this year, the school’s first perfect season in nearly half a century. Clearwater followed a season-ending win over perennial Pinellas County power East Lake with the school’s first playoff win in 13 years, a 27-16 victory over Port Charlotte in the Class 6A regional quarterfinals on Nov. 11.

The Tornadoes’ drastic turnaround can easily be traced to one man – head coach Don Mesick, who took over for Donnie Abraham prior to the 2015 season. Since taking the helm, Mesic has guided the Tornadoes to an 18-3 record and two playoff appearances, including the program’s first postseason game since 2003.

“Coach Mesick has changed things here immensely,” senior offensive tackle Zach Hauschild said before practice during the week leading up to the Tornadoes second playoff game at Charlotte. “Coach Abraham tried to get the wheels going, but Coach Mesick is the one who got it to go. He really changed the culture of this team and set the tone for where we are today.”

“Coach’s work ethic,” senior cornerback Jatavious Byrd, who along with twin brother Jaquez, have formed the backbone of the Tornadoes defense throughout the program’s resurgence, said of the main reason for the improvement. “He always works hard and never lets us quit on ourselves, and we all just feed off of that.”

Indeed in just a few short years, Mesick has completely changed the culture of a program that once enjoyed many successful seasons under longtime head coach Tom Bostic before dropping off at the tail end of the legendary coach’s career. The transition from Bostic to Abraham, a former Buccaneer great who had no prior head coaching experience, was not smooth, with reports of players being locked out of practice for tardiness and a general malaise surrounding the program, culminating in the embarrassing winless season in 2013, when Clearwater got outscored by an average margin of 45-10.

After serving as an offensive assistant during a 4-6 season in 2014, Mesick was given the opportunity to take over the head coaching duties after Abraham stepped down in April 2015. The Tornadoes promptly went 8-2 last season and followed that up with a 9-0 mark this year (one game was canceled due to Hurricane Hermine), and just like that, more than a decade of disappointment had been erased.

“Coach Abraham started it going in the right direction with that first freshman class, and we were able to keep many of those kids here in the program,” Mesick, who tends to deflect any credit for the team’s recent success, explained. “So keeping kids like the Byrd brothers and Jacquez Jones and Zack Hauschild here was a big key to our turnaround. Those guys never thought about leaving. That was a key to the transition, having guys who were willing to stay here and see this thing through and help be part of something special. They are very solid players and solid leaders that helped make this possible.”

Ask the man who looks like a drill sergeant and can easily outwork guys half his age the reason behind the Tornadoes’ remarkable turnaround, and Mesick has a simple answer.

“Work hard and show up,” he said. “When the kids see how hard we’re working as coaches, they want to do it too. I always tell the kids I’m not going to ask you to do anything I wouldn’t do for myself. All I ask is you be on time, work hard, put in a full effort and everything is going to work out. We’ve made it really comfortable for them to be here – we help with their college recruiting, we built this nice new locker room. We’ve laid out the ground work, we’ve done what we said we’re going to do, and they started to buy in.”

It’s easier to buy in when the head coach is doing things like hand painting the field and the locker room, hanging the ‘Tornado warning’ flags above Jack White Stadium, and building a shelter at the practice field so the training staff and resting players have a respite from the elements.

“Coach Mesick is the biggest reason for our success by far,” senior starting quarterback Austin Day said. “He’s so dedicated to improving every aspect of our team. We see his attention to detail and preparing for every game, and everyone’s attitude has changed. I think we’re one of the best programs in the county right now, right up there with East Lake, and we’re going to attract talent here for years and keep up this level thanks to Coach Mesick.”

As good as things have been on the field, Mesick sees room for improvement, and like many coaches, he’s always using past failures as fuel for potential future successes.

“The plan was to go .500 the first year, win a playoff game the next season, and then win a state championship this season,” he said. “In 2014 we finished 4-6, last year we lost in the playoffs, and this year, we won a playoff game, but we still have a long way to go to reach our goals. We’ve been one game behind our expectations every year. I’m satisfied with where our program is at as a whole, and I’m proud of the strides we’ve made, but until I meet the expectation of bringing home a championship, I won’t be satisfied. I’ll keep pushing until we’re where we want to be, which is competing for championships every year. I love winning, but I fear losing more than I love winning.”

While it’s clear Mesick has set the bar high for the Tornadoes program moving forward, there’s no doubt that many of the players who made it through some of the darkest days in program history already have a reason to celebrate.

“Never,” Hauschild said when asked if he expected to cap his career with a season like this. “To go from a winless season to winning a playoff game in four years is incredible. It’s shocking. It’s something I’ll never forget being a part of for the rest of my life.”

“I never thought this would happen,” Jaquez Byrd echoed. “After we went 0-10, I thought it was always gonna be like that. But here we are, playing in the second round after going undefeated in the regular season, and we’re one of the best teams in Pinellas County. It feels good. We made history.”

Note: Clearwater lost its regional semifinal game against Charlotte, 52-25, on Friday, Nov. 18.

Article published on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016

Reprinted with permission from the Editor.