Palm Harbor University (FL) looks to overcome all adversity heading into 2022 football season

A smaller roster and a key transfer give the Hurricanes something to overcome, but they are up for the challenge

PALM HARBOR, FL – In four seasons as the head coach at Palm Harbor University, Michael Mullaney has compiled 16 wins and the Hurricanes are now facing likely one of their tougher years in recent memory.

The Hurricanes are having to endure the loss of running back Luke Yoder who transferred over to East Lake and it’s a big void because of his production. Yoder rushed for 1,602 yards and scored a team-high 13 touchdowns. Mullaney points out how the team has dealt with transfers as seeing them as outgoing seniors in a way.

“We lost a few players to transfer since last season, but you have to treat those players as if they were graduating seniors,” Mullaney said. “The players that transfer are not the type of players that you would want to build your program around anyways. They care more about the me than the we.”

Palm Harbor University’s spring was a good measuring stick for the program, as they played in a jamboree with Springstead and Clearwater Central Catholic, one of the county’s top teams annually. The Hurricanes got a good barometer on where they needed to improve going into the summer and Mullaney was encouraged by his team’s willingness to work.

“I was very encouraged about how well we did in the spring,” Mullaney said. “We lost three multiple year starters on the offensive line to graduation, but our young guys did well against some very good competition.

"Defensively we had to basically replacing our entire back seven, and I think they did a lot of good things that we can build off of for this upcoming season. The guys have done a good job of attacking this off-season and some of that is based off of the confidence they got from the spring.”

The Hurricanes have several standouts returning back to the team this summer/fall that should help turn the tide when it comes to being competitive. Sophomore Will Seibert will double up playing quarterback/safety and blocking for him will be junior starter Walker Danneman. Seibert’s main targets on offense will be junior Alex Schmid and senior Mason Kryk. Both Schmid and Kryk will also be starting on defense as well.

This particular team will be light on seniors with only seven and the roster sitting at 29 players total. Despite the losses due to transfers and having a younger squad, Mullaney still expects his team to be competitive week in and week out.

 “The goal every season is to win the district and make the playoffs,” Mullaney added. “We are going to a young football team and every player will be counted on to contribute. There will be some growing pains along the way, but I think this team will grow tremendously throughout the season. We have close to 100 players in the program so the future is bright.”

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.