Lely Coaches Find Positives in Winless Season

No one should be surprised that the Lely Trojans finished the season winless. After firing head coach Ben Hammer the day before Winter Break after back-to-back district championships and regional semifinals, then firing his replacement Dan Nieboer after a 0-3 start, the program was in disarray. And it didn’t help that the Trojans were facing a schedule better suited for a championship roster than a gutted one. So Lely finishing 0-10 after a 55-0 loss to local power South Ft. Myers on Senior Night, Friday, October 30 at Trojan Stadium, was to be expected.

The team was decimated by player transfers following Hammer’s dismissal, then again after Nieboer’s strict disciplinarian stance fell flat with the remaining players and assistant coaches. After being outscored 166-0 in their three games under Nieboer, the school administration turned to a co-head coach system with program-loyal coaches Kit Fowler and Carlos Cornelio. Fowler, the school’s assistant athletic director and baseball coach—and a former Lely quarterback—took over the offense. Cornelio, the only coach to stick around following the Hammer and Nieboer firings, coached the defense. And while their seven-game stint as co-head coaches didn’t produce the wins they hoped for, both coaches found plenty of positives.

“A lot of young guys got reps,” Fowler said. “Guys that are coming up through the program. They got a ton of reps, whether it be against a team that we stood up against or a team that overpowered us, they got those reps regardless. And all reps matter. That’s a big one for me.”

Cornelio agrees.

“I echo the same thing,” he said. “Getting the young guys varsity reps. That’s rare in this area for young guys to get varsity reps. They better watch out next year because these guys are going to be ready to go.”

The co-head coaches are proud of how their young charges stayed the course to the very end of a challenging season. 

“The negativity as the year went on really kind of lessened,” Fowler said. “It was just those couple games against Island Coast (a 31-14 loss) and Cypress Lake (a 20-12 loss) where we were in those games and we just ended up not pulling it out. Other than that, the sideline was never down. One big thing we were trying to implement when we first took over was: let’s not be negative. Let’s have constructive criticism, not just criticism.”

Cornelio said the younger players respected the senior players, especially on Senior Night.

“A lot of the guys knew that this is the last game for those seniors,” he said. “And I think the seniors were feeling it too. Understanding that this is it for some of them. Some of them are never going to play football again. And I think they understood the seriousness and how much that means to them to not be negative.”

Fowler likes what he is seeing from the underclassmen.

“It’s a lot of bumps and bruises,” Fowler said. “We’ve got a really young, young crew. We have a depleted senior class, depleted junior class. But our freshmen and sophomore classes are huge, even on varsity. Most of the team are freshmen and sophomores. And that’s something that you can really build on.”

Cornelio said the Lely culture is still alive and well.

“I got to see what the Lely culture is,” Cornelio said. “Kit graduated from here; I didn’t. I’ve always wanted to see that culture. I wanted to see what the culture was. I saw Kit jump in to coach when he didn’t have to. Jumping in and hitting the ground running. And the kids going through the fire that they went through and being able to finish the season. There was a point there at the beginning where we didn’t think we were going to finish the season. I got to see the Lely culture, which is we’re just going to keep fighting no matter what happens. And it’s beautiful to see because that was instilled into the young ones and it’s going to keep going.”

Fowler’s been part of the Lely culture since his playing days.

“Ever since I went here,” Fowler said, “the culture’s been hard work. And relationships. When the players have a good relationship, when they respect the head person, they’ll work their tails off. And that’s for every sport, not just for football. When these kids respect who’s in charge, these kids will work. They’ll do whatever you ask. That’s the culture here, that hard work and the relationships.”

The coaches said the Lely administration and community have been supportive throughout the difficult season.

“The amount of people that have reached out to us,” Fowler said, “about coaching or helping out, doing meals for us, it’s been awesome to see. Lely really rallied around the football program when they were at their lowest.”

“I personally had coaches that graduated from here and coached here who aren’t here anymore reach out and say, ‘Hey, whatever you guys need, let me know,’” Cornelio said. “That shows you what the culture is. When Lely seems to be down, everyone comes in and puts the work in. And I think that’s beautiful.”