By: J. Daniel Pearson
Photos: Cole Harvey
Historically, Poinciana has had little success on the gridiron. In fact, the school has had just two non-long seasons since it opened 33 years ago. But things appear to be changing—and in a hurry.Under first-year head coach Taron Mallard, Poinciana football is rocketing on an upward trajectory as the Eagles are 3-0 for the first time in school history and more importantly few believe that success to be a fluke or related to Poinciana’s Independent Status, which would allow them build a winning record by scheduling weaker opponents.
“When I was hired, the decision had already been made to stay independent. I asked if it was possible to appeal and try to get in a district but the final decision was to keep status quo,” Mallard said. “But one thing I want to point out is that we are still playing a good schedule this year, most of the teams on our slate are in districts and some will challenge for playoff spots. My ultimate goal is to get back to district play and compete for championships as soon as possible.”
To date, Poinciana has won all three of its contests on the road in convincing fashion, having beaten Celebration, Harmony and St. Cloud. The Eagles 26-5 win over Harmony was just the second victory over the Longhorns in 11 games and although they had not played since 2010, the win over St. Cloud was the first-ever for Poinciana, who had lost six straight to the Bulldogs from 2005-10.
The 3-0 star has been a sweet homecoming for Mallard.
He graduated from Poinciana in 2016, where he was a football and basketball standout – playing center on the Eagles 2015-16 state championship basketball team. He would enroll at Bethune-Cookman, where he earned all-conference honors as a tight end his junior year. But a severe injury cut his senior year short and derailed his aspirations of playing professional football.
He would eventually return to Poinciana, where he served as a volunteer assistant coach for quarterbacks and receivers – playing a role in the only winning season in school history – an 8-2 campaign in 2022. He remained a volunteer at the start of the 2023 campaign but was added to the coaching staff after an assistant resigned.
When the school administration decided to make a head coaching change after the 2023 season, Mallard had not planned on applying for the post, but later felt compelled to do so. “Ultimately, I decided it something I really needed to do. I really never saw myself becoming a football coach, but I wanted to change the culture of Poinciana football. I always felt this school had athletic talent,” Mallard said. “And I also knew that if that if someone could focus and develop that talent, the program could be successful.”
“What is really interesting to me is that when the job became open, Taron really didn’t see himself as a candidate. He was scheduled to accept an adjunct teaching position back at Bethune-Cookman and move on with his professional career. When we decided to make a change, he walked into my office and said he felt it was his calling to apply,” Athletics Director Tiffany King said. “But what really sealed the deal was after we interviewed him. We had another interview scheduled with a much more experienced coach but he came in and said that he had heard that Tay was applying and he wanted to withdraw his name from consideration because we should absolutely give ‘the young guy’ the opportunity. We essentially had a candidate that really wanted the job and he withdrew because he felt it would be better for the school to hire Tay. That really caught my attention.”
At age 25, Mallard is one of the youngest head coaches in Central Florida if not the state, but he says that has not caused any issues with his team. “I was talking to our quarterback’s dad the other day and he mentioned that I didn’t look that much older than my players,” Mallard quipped. “I laughed and told him when I was playing U13 Pop Warner; some of my current players were probably in the same program playing U-6. But to tell you the truth, there have been zero issues with it. When I am coaching, my kids respect me as a coach. Being young, I think they also can relate to me because not that much has changed between now and when I was playing high school football and in some ways I feel like that is a big advantage..”
Mallard says his lifestyle and experience has helped him in his first head coaching job.
“Not married, no kids, so frankly I am able to devote my full attention to this job,” he noted. “In addition to practice, we spend a lot of time in the film room teaching the game to our players.” He also credits his experience of playing on a high school state championship team with his coaching style. “We had a great coach in Shane Whitsett, who was not afraid to alter his game plans based on the situation. If he needed our guard to jack it up 30 times in a game because they were packing in the defense, that’s what we did. I try to incorporate that into by coaching. If we need to run the ball, we will, if we need to throw more, we can change. Don’t be afraid to alter your game plan if the situation calls for it.”
He added that the injury he suffered his senior year also became a learning experience. “I thought I had a shot to play at the next level and that was taken away from me with the injury,” Mallard said. “But it taught me to focus on what was next. That is an absolute vital lesson to use in sports and in life. You can’t let things in the past dictate your future. You should always be moving forward and thinking what’s next?”
Mallard says the core of his philosophy is pretty simple and can be described in the two mottos “Winner’s Win” and “Preparation Breeds Confidence,” and he says he regularly uses them around the team. “For too long, I think people got used to our program losing and just started accepting that was the norm and that’s the way it always had to be,” he says. “Losing can become a habit, but so can winning. I have pointed out to the freshman on this year’s team that Poinciana has already won more games than I did in my four years as a player here. My job is to convince our players that they can decide the outcome.”
The early results have caught the attention of other coaches in Osceola County. “I’ve known Taron for a long time and I am really impressed with what he is doing down there,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said. “He has some stud players but truth is they’ve always had some players. The difference is they are playing with purpose, confidence and with a mission.”
Chad Ansbaugh, St. Cloud’s long-time and highly successful girls’ basketball coach, was working the chain gang for the St. Cloud-Poinciana football game and remarked how impressed he was with the Eagles sideline. “When things went wrong there was no panic, no yelling, the players would just come over and talk to the coaches about what went wrong and why,” Ansbaugh said. “I was absolutely impressed with the discipline and demeanor they were showing on the sideline.”
Should the success continue one would assume bigger and better coaching opportunities will come Mallard’s way, but that is something that neither the young coach nor the Poinciana administration is worried about.
“Being a head football coach has never been a lifetime dream or goal. I am a Poinciana guy, I grew up here, went to school here, and this is where I see myself in the future. I am deeply involved in this community and want to make it a better place. I belong here,” Mallard said.
“I honestly see Coach Mallard as someone who wants to make this school better,” King added. “He had an outstanding opportunity to teach at the University level and turned it down to stay here. I really don’t see him as a typical hotshot young coach trying to move up the ranks but rather a dedicated teacher and coach who thinks community first.”
