Team USA Assistant Coaches Named
Head coach Mark Guandolo has named his Team USA Football coaching staff for the NFL Global Junior Championship XI. The Chaminade-Madonna Preparatory School coach has enlisted the expertise of six high school coaches from both Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.
Guandolo will also be Team USA Football’s Offensive Coordinator, while joining him from Broward County are Defensive Coordinator Marcello Rodriguez (below) (Chaminade-Madonna), Linebackers coach Art Taylor (Head Coach Deerfield Beach), Defensive Ends coach Dan Marguriet (Head Coach Coconut Creek), Defensive Tackles coach Mark James (Head Coach Boyd Anderson) and Outside Linebackers coach Alan Jackson (Head Coach Monarch).
Miami-Dade county will be represented by Defensive Line coach Steve Smith (Head Coach Hialeah), Special Teams and Quarterbacks coach Frank Ponce (Head Coach Miami High), Running Backs coach Clark Eakes (Head Coach Varela), Wide Receivers coach Tim Harris (Head Coach Booker T Washington), Defensive Backs coach Billy Rolle (Head Coach Killian) and Offensive Line coach Alex Mirabal (Offensive Coordinator Columbus). The team’s Head Trainer will be Vinny Scavo (Coral Gables).
“We will have a wealth of experience on the sidelines and I’m pleased with the staff we have assembled,” said Guandolo. “It will be a challenge to put a team together and have them practice and ready to go in a relatively short space of time, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Japan has named former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Amsterdam Admirals linebacker Shinzo Yamada (below) as head coach. Yamada played for the Buccaneers in the 2003 American Bowl in Toyko and in addition to his spell in NFL Europe also played in the Arena League.
As a player Yamada helped lead his college team Kwansei-Gakuin University to the Japanese national title during his sophomore season. He also earned the College All-Star game Most Valuable Player Award while at Kwansei.
Japan recorded a third place finish at the NFL Global Junior Championship X in Michigan, beating Mexico 8-6, having tied with Team USA and beaten Europe’s representatives Germany during the group stages.