Former NFL Player Turned Coral Springs Football Coach Takes Team To Postseason For First Time Since 2014

CORAL SPRINGS, FL – Leonard Weaver is no stranger to adversity.

After making the Pro Bowl in 2009 after being dubbed the league’s top fullback, his NFL career was over after his first carry of the 2010 season.

His career ended abruptly after he tore his ACL while being stopped at the line of scrimmage for no gain in a game against the Green Bay Packers. He had to be carried off the field.

The 38-year-old Weaver turned to coaching high school football, and in his first year as a head football coach, Weaver guided the Coral Springs High School football team to just its fourth postseason appearance since the school opened in 1975 and the first playoff game since 2014.

Despite getting the job a couple of weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic shut everything down, including the spring football practice, spring game, and summer training, Weaver has clearly made his mark on the sidelines.

“It was really tough,” said Weaver, who was an assistant football coach at several schools prior to getting the Colts job, including most recently Monarch High School in Coconut Creek where he was the offensive coordinator.

“One of the biggest things we dwell on as football coaches and teams is building relationships,” Weaver said. “We were not afforded that opportunity. We couldn’t actually meet with the guys…they couldn’t actually experience us. We were able to get things done through Zoom and make some connections with the players and they kind of corralled the other guys who were doing workouts on their own. That helped us tremendously.”

The Colts dropped a 28-13 decision to Boca Raton in the Class 8A Silver Level Tri-County football tournament on Friday night as senior Devonte Bouie scored twice. They play at Flanagan High School next Friday night in a consolation bracket game.

The tournament was put together after most of the South Florida public schools were forced to seek an alternative competition to the FHSAA State series when the COVID-19 pandemic had school officials skittish of entering the state playoffs.

Coral Springs High School Athletic Director Brandon Wesley has known Weaver for a dozen years dating back to when he was the athletic director at Boyd Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes and Weaver was a finalist for the head coaching position there.

The two men remained close and even coached together at nearby Monarch High School when Wesley was a wide receivers coach and Weaver was the offensive coordinator. Wesley jumped at the chance of bringing Weaver in to lead the Colts.

“These kids have been through so much in the last four years and to see them buy in to the everyday hustle and to be a student-athlete and see what it takes to do well in the Coral Springs community,” Wesley said. “Everybody has jelled here and when I come out to the fields it is a brotherhood and I haven’t seen that in a long time. The community has come out for the first time in a few years and they are showing much love and support.”

Sophomore quarterback Tony Martin, 16, who lives in Coral Springs, said he likes what Weaver has instilled in the team.

“It’s awesome,” Martin said. “We have a special group out here and they trust me a lot and I can tell that. We have been working relentlessly. I knew eventually the hard work would pay off.”

Coral Springs opened in 1975 and was among the top programs in Broward County and even produced National Football League Hall of Famer Steve Hutchinson, a seven-time pro bowler. Hutchinson graduated in 1996. He was named to the Hall of Fame in February.

“We played our first game just 18 days after we put on the pads for the first time,” Weaver said. “You can’t ask for anything more. I like where we are as a program and where we are headed.”