Stoneman Douglas’ Fitz-Gerald, St. Thomas Aquinas’ Berens are Broward Coaches of the Year
Stoneman Douglas baseball and St. Thomas Aquinas girls’ basketball both finished off three-peats this year, and there’s no reason to think they’re done racking up state titles.
The Eagles and Raiders are two of the most impressive powerhouses in South Florida right now, and their coaches are the Miami Herald’s Broward County Coaches of the Year.
In Parkland, Todd Fitz-Gerald has Stoneman Douglas on a 51 game winning streak and won three straight national titles, to go along with his back-to-back-to-back state championships. In Fort Lauderdale, Oliver Berens turned a team without a single state championship into one of the signature programs in Florida by winning three state titles in a row.
As good as the Eagles have been for most of the last decade, they had never had a season like this one. Stoneman Douglas became the first team in the area’s history to neither lose nor tie a single game all year and became the first team in the state to go undefeated since 2017.
The Eagles are only the second Broward team to ever win three straight state championships.
Fitz-Gerald, who’s the Broward County Boys’ Coach of the Year, also led Stoneman Douglas to its first state title in 2016.
“I’m nothing without these guys and we’ve worked hard all year long,” Fitz-Gerald said. “For them to bring it for 29 straight in South Florida and to go out the way we did, it’s pretty special.”
St. Thomas Aquinas didn’t have many holes in its overall athletics resume, but girls’ basketball was one of them until the last few years. Berens led the Raiders to their first state title in 2021 and has now guided them to three straight.
St. Thomas Aquinas finished the season as the No. 4 team in Florida, according to MaxPreps. Along the way, the Raiders played one of the toughest schedules in the state, featuring a showdown with Montverde Academy.
Berens was only 23 when he took over as coach in 2017 and appreciated the confidence he got from former athletic director George Smith, who similarly became the school’s football coach when he was in his early 20s.
“When I was talking about a vision and what we were trying to do, and what this program could look like given the platform of being at such an amazing school, there was no reason why we couldn’t get up to par with all the amazing athletic programs at our school,” Berens said. “Our goal was just to be like everyone else, in a way, and just keep pushing and be better. We wanted to uphold the legacy of the athletic program and of the school.”
Other finalists
Boys’ sports
St. Thomas Aquinas’ Roger Harriott led the Raiders to a fourth straight state title in football. It’s the first time St. Thomas Aquinas has won four straight state championships.
Chaminade-Madonna’s Dameon Jones led the Lions to a third straight state championship in football, as well as a national top-10 finish.
David Roe led Sagemont to its first boys’ basketball state championship since 2013 and did it despite losing his starting point guard to an injury in the first 10 games of the regular season.
Mike Macey led Plantation American Heritage baseball to its first state championship since 2012.
American Heritage’s Todd Goodman guided the Patriots boys’ soccer program to their county-record eighth state title, snapping a three-year championship drought.
Michael Goldenberg led the Raiders to their first state title in boys’ water polo since 2013.
Girls’ sports
American Heritage’s Cindy Marcial won her fifth state championship as the coach of the Raiders’ girls’ soccer team, ending a four-year title drought.
American Heritage’s Mike Carlin led the Raiders to a third straight state championship in girls’ golf.
St. Thomas Aquinas’ Carol Deopsomer led the Raiders to a record 13th state championship in girls’ tennis.
