Central’s Roland Smith is Miami-Dade County’s 5A-Ind. Football Coach of the Year
Just because Central won its five playoff games by an average of 30 points to claim a third straight state title and a eighth championship in 12 years, doesn’t mean it was always easy for Roland Smith and his Rockets.
In fact, before most of South Florida had even begun its regular season, Central got hit with a blow that could’ve been crippling for most other teams. Keyone Jenkins, their championship-winning quarterback and first-team all-county star, broke a bone in his hand in the Rockets’ season-opening loss to St. John Bosco in Bellflower, California, during a week designated for preseason games in Florida.
Dylan Tulloch -- an unheralded, untested backup -- came in to start the rest of the regular season, lost in his first start and then Central got on a roll with 12 straight victories to win the Class 5A championship.
For the way he guided the Rockets through adversity to a county-record eighth state title and a complicated quarterback situation, Smith is the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Coach of the Year for Classes 5A-Independent.
“We coach every kid to be a starter,” Smith said.
It paid off for Central, Jenkins and Tulloch.
The Rockets averaged 41.8 points per game and finished the year as the No. 20 team in the nation, according to MaxPreps. Jenkins came back in time to start for the entire postseason and finished the year 70 of 89 for 1,283 yards, 17 touchdowns and two interceptions to be a first-team all-county selection for the second straight year. Tulloch started 8 of 9 games in the regular season and even contributed during the playoffs to finish the year 82 of 124 for 1,293 yards and 15 touchdowns to garner third-team all-county honors.
“Nobody knew about Dylan and nobody believed in Dylan but us,” Smith said.
In the preseason, Smith knew Tulloch was in a difficult situation. Even though he was blocked by Jenkins, Tulloch felt he was good enough to be a starting quarterback, but he really didn’t want to transfer.
Smith sat down with Tulloch and his mother, and told them, “There’s going to be a time this year you’re going to help this team out,” he said and he made a promise.
“If Dylan proves to us that he can play and he can move the ball as well as the other quarterback,” he told them, “I don’t mind playing two quarterbacks.”
In the end he was true to his word and the culture he has established at Central — where future stars are happy to sit on the bench until their moment arrives — let the two quarterbacks coexist.
In the Region 4-Class 5A semifinals against American Heritage in Plantation, the Rockets got off to a slow start, so Smith temporarily benched Jenkins and let Tulloch spark the offense. The junior ran for a touchdown to cut the Patriots’ two-touchdown lead in half and Central stormed back to win its toughest test on the way to another championship.
When the Rockets lost their first two games of the season, Smith saw his team stray away from the culture and identity they’ve established in the last decade. With Tulloch and Jenkins as a conduit for his message, Central eventually got back to playing its style and once again became unbeatable.
“We was worrying about, Me, me, me, instead of playing team ball,” he said. “Once we got focused on playing together as a team it was hard to beat us.”
