Norland’s Daryle Heidelburg is the Miami-Dade 2M-1M Football Coach of the Year
For over a decade after former NFL running back Duke Johnson ran the ball for Miami Norland, Daryle Heidelburg saw his share of good, but not great seasons for the Vikings.
That all changed in 2023.
Norland soared to heights it had not reached since 2011 - the last time it won a state title propelled by Johnson, the former University of Miami standout.
And although the finish was a deflating end to a dream season, it appears Heidelburg has put the Vikings back to state title contender status.
Following a remarkable 14-1 season that included a pair of dramatic overtime wins over rival Miami Central, Heidelburg is the Miami Herald’s Class 2M-1M Football Coach of the Year for Miami-Dade County.
“All we can do is regroup and try to make another run at it,” Heidelburg said after his team was dealt a stunning 28-20 loss by Tampa Berkeley Prep in the Class 2M final last month.
The Vikings built off a regional final appearance in 2022 and added 27 new players to a core that was already formidable and led by quarterback Ennio Yapoor, the Herald’s 2M-1M Offensive Player of the Year.
Norland was already one of the more explosive offensive teams in the state, but gained the depth and physicality it had been missing in years past with several transfers on the defensive side of the ball.
The Vikings were able to match up with powerhouses like Central for the first time in years and it showed when Norland upended the Rockets twice including a win in the Region 4-2M final which snapped their four-year run as state champions.
Norland also beat some of the state’s best including Lakeland, Miami Booker T. Washington twice and Miami Columbus for the GMAC championship.
Heidelburg has since been honored as the Miami Dolphins and Warren Henry Auto Group’s South Florida Coach of the Year. He led the Vikings to state for the third time in his career.
The first two trips were in 2010 and 2011 with the first ending with a loss in the state final to Tampa Jefferson.
Heidelburg hopes the Vikings can use the motivation from this year’s loss to bounce back and win a state championship next season much like his 2011 squad did.
“Ennio is coming back so we have a great starting piece to build around,” Heidelburg said in December. “Losses like this are harder because we went undefeated. I’ve been there where we lost one year at state and came back and won it. We just have to try to reload and build it back up.”
