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Highlands Today

Red Devils Find Their Man

Brian Gjurgevich/Highlands Today

New Avon Park head football coach Andy Bonjokian smiles during his introductory press conference on Tuesday at Avon Park High School.

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By Brian Gjurgevich | Highlands Today

Published: January 29, 2008

AVON PARK — Andy Bonjokian was so excited, he just had to stand up.

"I'm sorry," he said to a group of reporters gathered in Avon Park principal Stu Guthrie's office. "I'm a wreck here."

The Avon Park alumnus (Class of 1986) was introduced as the Red Devils' new head football coach on Tuesday, standing tall among the candidates after a two-month search brought on by the firing of former skipper Earnest Perkins.

Bonjokian, 39, was an AP assistant coach from 1995-2002, during which he was defensive coordinator for two seasons, the JV head coach, and spent time coaching linebackers, secondary and receivers.

An offensive lineman and linebacker for Avon Park during his playing days, Bonjokian played college football at Division-II Newberry College of South Carolina, and though he left the Heartland to pursue college, Bonjokian said he always kept an eye on the Red Devils.

"This is something I've always thought of and dreamed about," said Bonjokian, wearing a smile on his face and a Red Devil hat on his head. "This is my school — I left, but I never really left."

Bonjokian met with players before he sat down with local media, noting he had coached some of them when he helped with the JV program two years ago. He also said he took in a couple AP games this season and saw plenty he was looking forward to working with.

"There were some really good things I saw, as far as aggressiveness and going at it 100 miles-per-hour," Bonjokian said. "The quality of kids that are out there is good. There are good, solid kids and they have aspirations of doing some good things. And that's what we want to build on."

Avon Park athletic director Mort Jackson agreed, noting Bonjokian set himself apart from the other candidates (50 applied and 13 were interviewed) by his familiarity with the community. Bonjokian moved to Avon Park as a sixth-grader and lives with his wife, Sophia, and 13-year-old step-daughter Mariah, in Sebring.

"I live right in between Sebring and Avon Park," he said with a laugh. "If I were a student, I'd be able to choose where I went."

Address aside, Jackson said Bonjokian has a good feel for what the area is looking for.

"He knows the ins and outs of this community and the importance the football program has," said Jackson, who coached Bonjokian as a high school baseball player. "We know he's going to work hard and sell this program and be very diligent to bring this thing back to where we want it to be."

Bonjokian, who now works at SFCC as a dual enrollment coordinator, plans on joining APHS's faculty as a teacher — "Anything other than chemistry," he quipped — in the coming weeks. During that time, he said, he'll speak to the remainder of Perkins' staff to see where they might fit in.

"I had the opportunity to play under some great coaches," Bonjokian said, noting coach Hoppy Rewis had a large presence at school, checking on his players and keeping them in line. "I know the impact it had on me as a young person. It helped me become the adult I've become."

Bonjokian also stressed the importance of using football to teach life lessons.

"You learn work ethic, and simple things like the importance of being on time," he said. "You learn the value of putting in an honest day's work and the rewards it brings."

And Bonjokian hopes the rewards for Avon Park as a whole will be an increased amount of excitement around the football field, much like it was during his playing days.

"There was nothing like going into Avon Park's Memorial Field and feel people breathing down your neck," he said. "It was a frenzy, and it can be like that again."

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