By Nick Nahas
Max Warner hit the ground running as soon as he was hired as the head coach of the Bloomingdale football program in March. In just 10 weeks as coach, Warner has already started changing the losing culture at the school which has seen only two winning seasons in its 29-year history, with zero district championships and zero playoff wins.
“He has an attitude for success,” said Donny Peek, Bloomingdale athletic director. “After I introduced him to the team, within a week he had doubled the number of players going out for spring football. He demands perfection from the coaches and expects the same from the student-athletes.”
The Bulls have already shown improvement in Warner’s short tenure. In just his second week after the hire, Bloomingdale beat Brandon 7-0 in it’s spring game after previously losing 41-0 to Brandon in the final week of the regular season. “I think that we will be a lot better than last year and our goal is to win a district championship,” said Sam Skinner, senior defensive end and team captain for the Bulls. “He’s a really good coach; I’m glad we have him.”
Warner previously was the offensive coordinator for Hillsborough High School from 2011-2014. According to Max Preps, in those four seasons, Hillsborough had a record of 36-7, massed a total of 15,283 yards and 190 touchdowns. In 2015 he joined the Virginia Tech coaching staff as the offensive quality control coordinator. When Virginia Tech Head Coach Frank Beamer retired after the 2015 season, Warner was not retained to the coaching staff, which then led him to his next opportunity at Bloomingdale.
Warner instantly brings a winning mindset and pedigree to the Bulls, who were just 1-9 last season. The team is already taking on the personality of its coach. He has instilled self-discipline in his players, who are required to wear a suit and tie to school for every game day and have to sign in each morning to remain accountable.
“Bloomingdale used to be a team that everybody wanted to see on their schedule, to be quite honest,” said Warner. He knows that a culture change and a different mindset has to occur in order for the Bulls to have a successful program. The rebranding started almost immediately with a coat of new paint in the locker room, a new layout to the locker room, brand new jerseys, and a redesigned football logo. New air-conditioning will eventually be installed in the locker room and a weight room will hopefully be added next winter as well.
“Football teaches you a lot about life,” he said. “To watch a kid win a football game is the most rewarding thing that you can do as a coach.”
