PREP SPORTS: New Mooney AD is a Cougar with claws – Sarasota Herald-Tribune

SARASOTA
The guy who stepped last year into the well-worn shoes of Cardinal Mooney athletic director Bill Donivan knows the deal.
Young men and women don’t become Cougars solely to have the title “student-athlete” affixed to their names. Larry Antonucci realizes athletics merely are a part of a person’s high-school experience.
Still …
“Let’s put an emphasis on it,” the 50-year-old said, noting that more than 400 of Cardinal Mooney’s student-body population of 500 play a sport. “Not too much of an emphasis.
“It’s not the cornerstone. It’s not what we do. But let’s be good at it if we’re going to do it.”
In his first meeting with Cougar football coaches, the native of Rome, New York, who played football at Wagner College in Staten Island — “I tell people I was never an athlete, I just played a sport” — spoke of the Sunshine Cup, presented annually by the FHSAA to schools’ sports teams finishing No. 1 in awarded points, and mentioned last year’s ranking of the Mooney football team.
” ‘Let’s try to get better this year,’ ” Antonucci said. ” ‘Let’s try to win this damn thing one of these years. Why not? Why wouldn’t you? You’re competing.’
“We’re not going to cheat. We’re not going to break rules. We’re not going to disrespect people. We’re going to compete hard and we’re going to do things the right way.”
It’s apparent the scoreboard, and the final numbers it reflects, means a lot to Antonucci, whose uncle, the late Billy Herman, was inducted in 1975 into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
“We’re not going to fire coaches over wins and losses,” he said. “But I made it clear to our coaches, ‘We want to win more than we lose.’ “
In the hiring of Larry Antonucci, the Cougars got an AD who won’t avoid showing passion for his job. He earned a degree in education to become a teacher, but those whom he admired most were his coaches. “So I wanted to be a coach and a teacher.”
After graduating Wagner, Antonucci stayed on for a year as a football grad assistant before taking a job for one year at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey, coaching the team’s offensive line. Then it was off to Kansas’s Emporia State University for a four-year stint before Antonucci, at age 29, got his big break.
A connection got him an interview with South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt and a subsequent job as a graduate assistant, working with the Bulls’ offensive line.
“This was it,” Antonucci said. “I had (my career) all mapped out.”
He ended up staying 16 years at South Florida. During that time he met and married Danielle and fathered his two sons. And in 2007 the Bulls, in their 11th year in existence, rose to No. 2 in the country before losing to Rutgers on a Thursday night game at Raymond James Stadium.
“Some of my best friends I have are in Tampa,” Antonucci said. “From 2005 to 2010 it was cool to be a Bulls’ fan.”
But after 16 years at the school, as coach, director of football operations/recruiting coordinator and assistant AD for football, three different head coaches and four different ADs, “It was probably time to maybe do something else,” Antonucci said. “They didn’t kick me out the door.”
Taking a job close to home, Antonucci became AD for two years at Admiral Farragut Academy. It was his first time in that capacity.
He’s still catching his breath.
“High-school ADs work … it never stops.”
But a chance to work for the fledgling Alliance of American Football had Antonucci again on the move. He became the AAF’s director of stadium operations, a job Antonucci called “the best job I had ever had. The people, what we were doing.
“Unfortunately we just didn’t have the money we’d love to have had. If we had the money … it was a great product, it was good football.”
Let go April 1, Antonucci was paid by the league for the next two months. But without really knowing what he’d do next, he drove an Uber for a bit and considered putting his insurance license to work.
Then, remembering how much his children loved attending Catholic school, Antonucci one day Googled “Catholic High School Athletic Director Jobs.”
Popping up first was Cardinal Mooney High School.
After making a call to former Cougar head coach Paul Maechtle, Antonucci received an interview and following it, was offered the job.
Since taking over last July 1, he’s hired three coaches, at least in Florida, none bigger than the head football coaching job. A committee of people agreed on the hiring of former Cougar Jared Clark, but Antonucci said he checks all the boxes.
“What’s the cherry on top is I like the guy,” he said. “This is his dream job. He wants to be here and he wants to build this thing and that’s important. People want to hear that. People want to believe that.”
Antonucci held a meeting with virtually everyone in the Mooney football program. The discussion centered on what it will take to build it.
Antonucci feels a JV program is essential. “Freshman and sophomores have to play games.” The fact Clark will teach, ensuring his presence in school throughout the day, is huge.
“You got to believe Jared and the message he’s selling and what we sell at Cardinal Mooney. You got to believe in what we do here is the best thing for you. And those are the kinds of kids you’re going to get.”
Even if on the football field they’re running 4.8 40s.
“You know what?” Antonucci said. “If everybody runs a 4.8, as long as they play 4.8 on every single play, we’re going to win games, I can promise you that.”
He then paused.
“The problem is this: You get kids who are 4.8 but they don’t play 4.8.”
Larry Antonucci will be watching to see who doesn’t.
Buckle your chin straps, Cougars.

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