Frank Garis resigns from Oakleaf football; athletic director Marcus Miller interim coach
Oakleaf announced Monday that Frank Garis has resigned as head football coach after four years, with athletic director Marcus Miller taking over as interim coach for the 2022 high school season.
Miller,
"To get a chance to do it at a place as special as Oakleaf, with our kids and our community, I relish that opportunity," Miller said.
In a statement, Oakleaf principal Matthew Boyack said Garis informed the school Thursday that he was not returning.
"Many discussions have taken place trying to decide what is in the best interest of our student-athletes and program," Boyack said in a statement. "With less than two months to the start of the season, rushing a full-scale coaching search, changing offensive and defensive schemes, bringing in new assistant coaches, and upending an off-season program that has seen our student-athletes make great strides is not in our program’s best interests, especially our rising senior class."
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Garis had coached the Knights for four years, with a combined record of 23-19 and postseason trips to the Class 7A regional playoffs in 2018 and the Class 8A first round in 2020. A Nease graduate, he had served on the staff at Orange Park, Nease, Clay and Ponte Vedra before his hiring at Oakleaf in January 2018.
In his statement, Boyack said that Oakleaf intends to open the position to applications for a nationwide search following the 2022 season. He said the school intends to retain its current assistants on staff for 2022.
Miller's appointment, the school hopes, will bring a sense of continuity. Miller said the coaching staff is considering a few tweaks here and there to the team's scheme rather than any large-scale changes.
Interim coach Miller has worked as Oakleaf's athletic director since 2020, when he took over following the retirement of Frank Jenkins. He previously served as Oakleaf's offensive coordinator in 2019, and he said he worked with the wide receiver corps during one stretch in the spring. He becomes the sixth head coach in school history.
Oakleaf will be Miller's third head coaching job and his first in Clay County. In Jacksonville, he coached Englewood from 2012-16, with a record of 12-28, and Parker in 2017, going 3-7.
"Our key priority is to keep up the consistency for our kids," he said.
Oakleaf, which finished 4-6 last season and missed the playoffs, will be competing this fall in District 3-4S within the Florida High School Athletic Association's new Metro/Suburban plan. Awaiting the Knights in the new district are Bartram Trail, Gainesville Buchholz, Creekside and Fleming Island, all of which qualified for the 2021 playoffs with a cumulative record of 35-13.
The coaching change is the second of the off-season for Clay County football after Marcus Wimberly replaced Tom MacPherson at Orange Park in January.
Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Oakleaf High School football coach Frank Garis resigns; Marcus Miller
