Schutt Sports: Regional High School Coaches of the Year

SOUTHEASTNick ColemanVenice High School (Venice, Fla.)2000: 15-0, Class 5A state champs, Record at school: 21-5, 2 yearsVenice High School coach Nick Coleman is a little ahead of his time. At 31, he\'s already led a team to a state championship and a national ranking. Rarely has such a young head coach accomplished so much in the highly competitive world of Florida prep football. And when Coleman started his second full season as head coach of the Indians last August, expectations weren\'t high. Despite winning the district title for the first time in 16 years and qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in 19 years , Venice was nowhere to be found in the preseason state rankings. \"We knew we snuck up on some people last year,\" says Coleman, who was the school\'s defensive coordinator from 1996-98 when the Indians compiled a 9-20 record. \"We knew we\'d have to play some good,