09/10/09  vs. Port Charlotte
09/16/09  vs. Booker                        09/24/09  vs. Riverview
10/01/09  vs. North Port - 7:30      10/08/09  @ Sarasota
10/15/09  vs. Charlotte
10/22/09  @ Riverview 
10/29/09  @ Manatee

09/10/09  @ Pt. Charlotte - 5pm
09/15/09  @ Booker
09/23/09  @ Riverview
10/01/09  vs. North Port - 5pm
10/07/09  vs. Sarasota
10/14/09  @ Charlotte
10/21/09  vs. Riverview                  10/28/09  vs. Manatee 

Coach John Peacock: Head Coach 
 

                Coach Peacock enters his second year as Head Coach.  Coach Peacock has been coaching at Venice since 1999.  He has served as Linebackers, Defensive Backs, Wide Receivers, Running Backs, Special Teams Coordinator, and defensive coordinator while at Venice.

               
                Coach Peacock graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School were he was named the Tri-county Offensive Player of The Year in 1993.  After High School Coach Peacock lettered one year at East Carolina as a running back before transferring to Georgia Southern where he lettered two years as a linebacker, and graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Education.  Coach Peacock received his Masters Degree from National-Louis University in December 2006.

               
                 Born and raised in Venice, FL.  Coach Peacock is married to Briana Peacock a former standout for the Venice High School Volleyball Team.

Larry Shannon:

Born: 2/2/1975

Hometown: Stark, Fl

Position: WR/ OLB / Defensive Coordinator

Originally from Stark, FL, Coach Shannon coaches our wide receivers and our Outside Linebackers. He is also the Special Teams Coordinator. As a player, Coach Shannon was a very successful athlete. From 1993 to 1997 he was an outstanding wide receiver for the East Carolina Pirates. Upon graduating from ECU with a B.S. in Business Administration in 1997, he was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. Coach Shannon was in the Dolphins organization from 1998 to 2000, in 2000 he went to the Oakland Raiders, and in 2002 was with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He received his Masters in Exercise and Sports Science in 2004 from ECU.

            
            Coach Shannon was an assistant coach at ECU from 2003-2004. He has been a coach and teacher at Venice High School since 2004.

           
            Larry is married to Kweli Shannon and has three children: Jannah 11, Larry David 4 and Aaliyah 3.

Mike Bartlett:

Born: 3/30/1969

Hometown: Cambridge, Oh

Position: TE/DB

A Buckeye through and through, Coach Bartlett is from Cambridge, Ohio. Mike played four years at West Liberty State in West Liberty, WV, as a wide receiver and quarterback. He received his Bachelor’s in Physical Science and Special Education from West Liberty in 1992, and his Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from National-Louis in December 2005.

           Coach Bartlett has been coaching for 14 years. He spent one year at Buckeye Local High School as the Head JV Coach, Running Backs Coach and Defensive Backs Coach. At Terry Sanford High in Fayetteville, NC he spent four years as a wide receivers coach. Coach Bartlett also spent five years coaching wide receivers, defensive backs, and outside linebackers at rival Charlotte High School.

           This is Coach Bartlett’s sixth year at Venice High. He is in charge of the tight ends and defensive backs. Coach Bartlett teaches PC Support and Intro to Information Technology.

           
           He is married to Brenda Bartlett, who is also a guidance counselor at VHS. They have one daughter, Leah, who is three.

John Ryan:

Position: DL

Coach Ryan is a Venice High alumnus and received his Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University in 1996.  Coach Ryan has been teaching and coaching for the past eleven years.

            He enters his third year as a science teacher and coach at VHS. Coach Ryan is in charge of the Defensive and Offensive lines.

            
            John is married to Heather Ryan, formerly Heather Cox of Alexandria, Va. Heather is also the athletic trainer at VHS. They have one daughter, Ansley Eileen Ryan who turns one in May.

Dave Butler:

Born: 11/15/1962

Hometown: Venice, Fl

Position: OL

            Coach Butler is originally from Venice, FL, and is a 1980 graduate of Venice High School. Coach Butler played for the Indians throughout high school under legendary coach Jim Powell. He continued his playing career at Ottawa University and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from there in 1985.

            
            This is Coach Butler’s third season with the Indians. For the past two seasons he assisted with the offensive line. This season he will be taking over the line and coaching the defensive e nds. Coach Butler is also a very successful coach at the pop warner level, where he coaches the Sarasota Sun Devils.

           
            Dave is married to Victoria Butler, and they have two children, Brett, age 12 and Kayla, age 16.

Jessica Pluchino

Born: 12/10/1984

Hometown: Whitestone, New York

Position: Equipment Manager; Assistant to the Head Coach

This is Jessica’s eighth season with the Indians. In 2000 and 2001 Jessica was a student manager and after graduating from Venice High in 2002 she stayed on as an assistant equipment manager. Since graduating Jessica has balanced her time between football, work, and taking classes towards her bachelors degree.

           
            When visiting Venice High you can see Jessica around campus, as she is one of the campus aides at the school. She is also an assistant coach for the Venice High softball team.

           
            Jessica is looking forward to the upcoming season even though she will be extremely busy balancing her equipment duties and running errands for Coach Peacock. She can only hope to squeeze in a few rounds of golf during the season.

Wayne Skelton

Position: Head Freshmen Coach

Coach Skelton is in his sixth year at Venice High School teaching driver education and coaching both football and baseball. A 1975 graduate of the University of MD, Skelton coached at Oakland Mills High School in Columbia, MD from 1975-1986 and 1988-1990. After relocating to Sarasota County he coached at Cardinal Mooney during the 1991 season. Coach Skelton is married to Elizabeth Skelton and has two children, Christina (29) and Ryan (15), as well as granddaughters, Shawna (6) and Kiersten (4).

Larry Sandburg

Hometown: Opa-Locka, Fl.

Position: Athletic Director

Larry moved to Sarasota in 1955 and graduated from Cardinal Mooney in 1968. He attended Indian River Junior College where he played baseball. He graduated from florida State in 1972 and started work at VHS the same year. He has coached football, basketball, baseball, Girls Golf, and Girls Softball. As the head baseball coach for 21 years, he had an overall 374-215 record.

Larry is married to the former Helen Hanes and they have three daughters. Brook, a 1995 VHS graduate. Briana also a 1995 VHS graduate is married to Head Coach John Peacock. Both graduated from Campbell University in 1999. Youngest daughter, Lori, graduated from Valdosta State University where she played volleyball.

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Jon Cooley
Born: 9/10/1973
Hometown: Sarasota, FL
Position: QB / Offensive Coordinator

         Born and raised in Sarasota, Florida, Coach Cooley will enter his first year at Venice High coaching Quarterbacks and coordinating the Venice passing attack.  As a player, Coach Cooley was a successful athlete.  He graduated from Cardinal Mooney in 1992 where he was First team all-area and an all-state quarterback.  From 1993-1996 he was a quarterback for the Tigers at Auburn University.  Upon graduating from Auburn with a BA in communications, he went on to play professionally in Europe for the Tyreso Royal Crowns.  In his first year Coach Cooley lead the Crowns to the championship game.  After Europe Coach Cooley took his football career to the big screen, where he trained principle actors and played the role of a quarterback in several major motion pictures; such as "Remember The Titans", "Any Given Sunday" and "The New Guy".

        In 2001 and 2002 Coach Cooley was the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach at Cardinal Mooney, where his teams both went to the second round of the playoffs each year.  Both quarterbacks led the area in passing and were ranked among the top 3 in the state of Florida.  They both signed Division I scholarships and went on to have successful college careers.  In 2003 he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Barron Collier in Naples, Florida; his team lost in the first round of the playoffs.

      Coach Cooley is looking forward to the upcoming season and is excited to be joining the Venice program.

Rodney Ring

Hometown: Texas

Position: Team Chaplin     

       Rodney Ring was born in the great state of Texas.  Sports have always been his passion.  Rodney played football in middle school and in high school lettering his junior and senior year.  After high school, Rodney attended Texas Tech University and played football there for one year. 

       Even more than a passion for sports is Rodney’s passion for Jesus Christ and helping students know Him better.  After graduating from Texas Tech he went into full-time youth ministry.  He now serves as worship and student pastor at The Bridge Church in Venice and as Chaplin for football, baseball, and volleyball at Venice High School. 

       Rodney is married to his beautiful wife Miki and they have two kids, Zoe and Sam (big smoothie).  His hobbies include fishing, hunting, playing guitar, video games, watching his beloved Dallas Cowboys, and spending time with his family.  His favorite food is everything and he loves Dr. Pepper

                                                             GO INDIANS!!!