EAFL 
Dunedin Highlanders Football
menuWhat Happened to the Highlanders Coaches?
The Dunedin Highlanders head into their inaugural playoff run with no coaches. While not having coaches isn't ideal, The Highlanders Senior Administration Team had many concerns about the direction of the team heading into the playoffs, specifically the inadequacies and unnecessary drama by the coaches. The Highlanders went 1-3 to end the regular season, being out-coached by every competitive team they played at the back end of the 2025 regular season.
The Highlanders and then head coach & defensive coordinator Scott Fisk mutually parted ways on April 27th. On May 12th, two days after the regular season finale, The Highlanders traded defensive coordinator (formerly offensive coordinator) Nate Barlow and player Andy Villamarzo (formerly Highlanders team vice president and general manager, founder of the Tarpon Springs Pirates) to the Tarpon Springs Pirates especially since they expressed their strong desire to return to the Pirates to finish out the 2025 season. Villamarzo was already involved administratively with the Pirates in 2025, while still playing for The Highlanders.
Following this move, head coach Chris Cook submitted his resignation. Cook cited his allegiance to Barlow as the main reason. Subsequently, the other core coaches also quit, including offensive coordinator Rodney Robinson, defensive line coach Jay Feret, and offensive assistant coach Jase Naranjo. Defensive assistant coach Mike Busher was no longer available due to his commitments as defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Inferno as their regular season began on April 26, 2025.
* Fisk, Barlow, and Robinson have been coaching together for many years between 2009 and 2022 with Andy VIllamarzo's Tarpon Springs Pirates. During Villamarzo's tenure as president/owner of the Pirates, the team had a combined record of 46 wins, 67 losses, and 5 ties.
Below is a Q&A between freelance EAFL reporter Todd Gantt and Highlanders team president Steve Korossy.
History:
Andy Villamarzo founded the Anclote Pirates in 2009. Steve Korossy met Andy in 2016. Andy asked Steve if he would be interested in helping with the Pirates. Steve agreed and over the next several months, Steve and Andy rebuilt the Pirates from a simple park-playing team. We relocated the Pirates to Dunedin and they became the Dunedin Pirates. We developed a relationship with the high school and started using their stadium for our home games. We elevated the organization and the game day experience. Andy was the President, Steve was Vice President and Game Day Manager. Steve injected many progressive ideas to elevate the organization. In 2018, former NFL Player Ernest Givins was brought in to be the team's head coach.
Unfortunately, the players Andy brought in did not buy into Coach Givins' style of coaching and the team didn't win a game on the field. In 2016, Steve stepped out of administration but remained with the Pirates as the PA Announcer at home games. In 2022, Andy turned over the Pirates to Darius Smalls and he relocated the Pirates to Tarpon Springs. Andy stayed on with the Pirates for the 2023 season to help teach all the behind the scenes things that go on when running a team. After the 2023 season, Andy "retired". In March 2024, Steve and Andy were talking and decided to start The Dunedin Highlanders.
Q&A
1. What has been your experience as an owner of a Semi-Pro Football Team.
Answer:
It's been interesting, to say the least.
2. Do you think that people are blowing things way out of proportion when it comes to how bad things are for the Highlanders?
Answer:
Most of the Players are dedicated players who just want to play football. They paid their Player Fee and show up to practices and games. Unfortunatly, mixed in are a number of Players who are about themselves and their own interests. They feel entitled and always look to create drama to try to get their way. These players are unappreciative of all the time and effort put in by me, our volunteer staff, vendors, and fans. I've been out daily networking and working on getting sponsors to help offset costs. Even trying to get a handful of players to be involved in occasional community events met fierce resistance by a number of players and coaches.
3. Is it true that players will be benched if they do not pay their dues by the Playoff game?
Answer:
Players are expected to pay their Player Fee. Even if all Players pay their full Player fee of $300, it would not cover the full team expenses. Our standard has always been to be the best of the best, on and off the field. This requires funds to accomplish. Our regular season home games cost is over $2,500 per home game. Many have no idea about all the additional costs there are to run a quality team. Liability Insurance, Uniforms, LLC Registration, Logo Design, Graphics, Promotional Material, and many other expenses. Sure, if we just played at a local park, our expenses would be low, however, our organizational vision is bigger than that. Players were informed of the Player Fee from the beginning. Some Players who were in a challenging financial circumstance were offered other ways, including bringing in a sponsor to cover some or all of their Player Fee. Not one Player who was offered an alternative method took us up on it. Some players stepped up and helped pay for some player fees of their friends who they wanted to play, leaving other players hanging. We are at a point in the season that if a Player hasn't paid their Player Fee, then they can't suit up until they do.
4. Do you feel like your point of view has been completely ignored when it comes to the drama happening around the Highlanders?
Answer:
Absolutly. The louder the cries are, the more they seem to be heard. When this team was started one year ago, my vision and direction was clear. What became increasingly obvious was that then VP/GM Andy Villamarzo and I were not pulling this wagon in the same direction. He unfortunaly brought in a number of Players and Coaches who approached this like buddy-ball. He brought in his buddy coaches (some he's known since childhood) and wanted to run this team like they have always done, dating back to their early days with the Pirates, playing at a local park... As long as you were in the clique, you were golden. If you weren't, you wouldn't sniff the field.
Originally, Chris Housholder was the head coach last summer. He wanted to bring in competition at a number of key positions. Andy and his buddy coaches were against it because they had promised positions and playing time to their friends. Chris wanted to bring in competition because competition breeds success. In late summer last year, Chris and Andy were at an impass because Chris felt like he was being handcuffed. Chris offered to shift his role from head coach to defensive coordinator. Andy and the buddy-ball coaches took this opportunity to push Chris and another coach out the door. One day late summer last year, Andy told me Chris was no longer coaching. When I asked the reason, it was vague and didn't make much sense. I didn't push it at the time because Andy was the GM and I trusted him to make decisions in the best interest of the organization.
As time went on, it became increasingly obvious that serious problems existed. The fracture between Andy and I began in mid-March. The topic was uniform standards. I explained that the expectation was 100% compliance. Andy told me that players who are good players should have one standard, while players who aren't good should have another. This was shocking to me. I told him "absolutly not". Sure players have to be politiced with differently, but all players are held to the same standard. I've seen this type of buddy-ball from Andy over the years, but this is the first time these words came out of his mouth. I repeatedly told Andy that as the General Manager, I needed him to generally manage. Unfortunaly, Andy was more concerned with being liked by the Players, instead of holding them accountable to the team standards.
Over the next few weeks, our relationship continued to degrade. One day, Andy said he quit. He's done this several times over the past year, always wanting me to chase him to come back. Well, this time, I didn't. His buddy coaches then threatened to all quit and take a number of players with them. Coach Barlow stated, "if Andy walks, we all walk". I took this time to reach out to Chris Housholder and asked him the reasons he stepped back from The Highlanders last summer, that's when I learned about the fracture between him and Andy and the Coaching Staff. Chris stated he still wanted to be involved with The Highlanders, so I brought him in as the new GM.
Our senior leadership team continued to evaluate the organization and the team on the field. What was glaring was their failure to adjust and their commitment to stick with their friends. Sure, when we were playing teams who weren't so good, we were blowing them out. Even with numerous blowouts, some players never saw the field. We knew however, once we started to play good teams, the wheels were going to fall off.
On April 12th, we traveled to Lakeland to face the Jokers. We were up 40-12 at halftime. Due to the failing to adjust and poor coaching, we almost lost, escaping with a 40-36 win. During the second half of that game, our players on the sideline and coaching staff were imploding. Also during this game, two players had a facemask which wasn't was outside team and league standards, leaving an opening for the Pirates to report this to the league. Ultimately, we suspended the two players and head coach Scott Fisk for one game as a result. The continued resistance by the head coach, and the numeous instances of insubordination, left us no choice but to take disciplinary action. It was made clear to the suspended players and head coach that they are expected to be at the upcoming Pirates game because if it being a big game. The suspended head coach stated he was going to the beach instead and didn't show up at the game.
Following the blowout again the Pirates, it was obvious we needed to shuffle the deck. I informed the Head Coach and GM in multiple text messages that Coach Fisk needed to be removed from his role as head coach and DC and Nate Barlow needed to be removed from the role of OC because the slow moving train wreck was obvious. Fisk and Barlow and a number of their player friends then went on a social media tirade. It should be noted that these coaches said they quit on multiple occasions when they didn't get their way.
Several vocal players wanted to keep things going with the same group of coaches and we attempted to adjust, moving Coach Fisk to Special Teams Coordinator and Coach Barlow to Defensive Coordinator. Coach Fisk never showed up after, instead speding his time hurling insults on social media.
We moved forward and won big against the 352 Wild Tigers, who showed up to the game with 13 players. They quit early in the 3rd quarter down 61-8. Over the last four games of the regular season, we went 1-3.
The relationship between Andy and I continued to degrade after he was no longer the GM. His other administrative responsibilities continued to be sub-par. It seemed more like Andy enjoyed having titles, but not put in the necessary work that is required for those roles. He also continued his love for the Pirates, even posting "Good Luck Pirates" on multiple Dunedin Highlanders Facebook posts.
Information was that Andy was involved with the Pirates administratively. Coach Barlow told GM Housholder that he was strongly considering going over to the Pirates to finish out the season. As a result of Andy failing to meet organizational standards of the various administrative titles he had with The Highlanders, I relieved him of all his admin titles with The Highlanders. I told him he is welcome to rejoin the Pirates at the conclusion of the season.
Over the next several games, Coach Barlow continued his active involvement in the offense, which was contrary to our administrative decision to shuffle the deck. The offense continued to struggle. We lost 14-12 in triple overtime at the East Coast Sharks, and then losing 26-6 against the regular season finale against the North Florida Warriors.
Last week, I received confirmation that Andy was involved with the Pirates administration, which was a conflict of interest. Following the multiple poor games on the field and then playoffs fast approaching, it was time to move on from Andy and Coach Barlow. As a result, a number of vocal players took to social media to hurl insults. They've made it clear they are in this for themselves, not The Highlanders organization.
5. Are you planning to come back for the 2026 season?
Answer:
Absolutly. In many ways administratively, we are already working on the 2026 season, which is right around the corner. We have already named the 2026 Head Coach and the Director of Scouting. We also have indeed posts for coordinator positions, as well as Quarterback. GM Housholder is tasked with building this organization in his vision of excellence. To date, I am extremely pleased with his efforts.
6. What were some of the growing pains of being a owner?
Answer:
Getting the right people in house who share my passion and vision. I trusted Andy to work together with me to build a great organization, unfortunately, he was building Pirates 2.0 instead. This isn't to say Andy ran a completely bad organization with the Pirates, it's time to move on to bigger and better things, but Andy clearly didn't want that.
7. If you could redo it all again, what would you change, if anything?
Answer:
Yes. There are always thoughts in hindsight, but the biggest would have been to have Chris Housholder as GM from Day One. We've accomplished a lot in our first year, it would have been even more amazing if we had people in house pulling this organization in the same direction.
Moving forward, we will have steps in place to make sure we have the right people in house. For example, following a tryout, players selected to move on in the process will be interviewed by the GM and HC to determine if they are a good fit for The Highlanders, and if The Highlanders are a good fit for them. We recognize our approach is not for everyone.
I personally apoligize to any player who was misled thinking this was gonna be the same old semi-pro football team. It should be noted that not all the coaches are part of the buddy-ball type approach. I apologize to them for having to deal with all this unnecessary drama. I also apoligize to the number of players who felt like they were pushed out of the way by some coaches in favor of their friends.
We are on the heels of the Playoffs. With the right coaches, we could go a long way this season. A number of Players are again threatening to quit. Frankly, it's completely on the Players if they want to ride this season out or be knows as quitters. Administratively, we are keeping this organization going, this time with a much better foundation. First tryouts for the 2026 season are tentatively scheduled for July 2025.
Thank you for reaching out to get my comments.
Q&A
1. What has been your experience as an owner of a Semi-Pro Football Team.
Answer:
It's been interesting, to say the least.
2. Do you think that people are blowing things way out of proportion when it comes to how bad things are for the Highlanders?
Answer:
Most of the Players are dedicated players who just want to play football. They paid their Player Fee and show up to practices and games. Unfortunatly, mixed in are a number of Players who are about themselves and their own interests. They feel entitled and always look to create drama to try to get their way. These players are unappreciative of all the time and effort put in by me, our volunteer staff, vendors, and fans. I've been out daily networking and working on getting sponsors to help offset costs. Even trying to get a handful of players to be involved in occasional community events met fierce resistance by a number of players and coaches.
3. Is it true that players will be benched if they do not pay their dues by the Playoff game?
Answer:
Players are expected to pay their Player Fee. Even if all Players pay their full Player fee of $300, it would not cover the full team expenses. Our standard has always been to be the best of the best, on and off the field. This requires funds to accomplish. Our regular season home games cost is over $2,500 per home game. Many have no idea about all the additional costs there are to run a quality team. Liability Insurance, Uniforms, LLC Registration, Logo Design, Graphics, Promotional Material, and many other expenses. Sure, if we just played at a local park, our expenses would be low, however, our organizational vision is bigger than that. Players were informed of the Player Fee from the beginning. Some Players who were in a challenging financial circumstance were offered other ways, including bringing in a sponsor to cover some or all of their Player Fee. Not one Player who was offered an alternative method took us up on it. Some players stepped up and helped pay for some player fees of their friends who they wanted to play, leaving other players hanging. We are at a point in the season that if a Player hasn't paid their Player Fee, then they can't suit up until they do.
4. Do you feel like your point of view has been completely ignored when it comes to the drama happening around the Highlanders?
Answer:
Absolutly. The louder the cries are, the more they seem to be heard. When this team was started one year ago, my vision and direction was clear. What became increasingly obvious was that then VP/GM Andy Villamarzo and I were not pulling this wagon in the same direction. He unfortunaly brought in a number of Players and Coaches who approached this like buddy-ball. He brought in his buddy coaches (some he's known since childhood) and wanted to run this team like they have always done, dating back to their early days with the Pirates, playing at a local park... As long as you were in the clique, you were golden. If you weren't, you wouldn't sniff the field.
Originally, Chris Housholder was the head coach last summer. He wanted to bring in competition at a number of key positions. Andy and his buddy coaches were against it because they had promised positions and playing time to their friends. Chris wanted to bring in competition because competition breeds success. In late summer last year, Chris and Andy were at an impass because Chris felt like he was being handcuffed. Chris offered to shift his role from head coach to defensive coordinator. Andy and the buddy-ball coaches took this opportunity to push Chris and another coach out the door. One day late summer last year, Andy told me Chris was no longer coaching. When I asked the reason, it was vague and didn't make much sense. I didn't push it at the time because Andy was the GM and I trusted him to make decisions in the best interest of the organization.
As time went on, it became increasingly obvious that serious problems existed. The fracture between Andy and I began in mid-March. The topic was uniform standards. I explained that the expectation was 100% compliance. Andy told me that players who are good players should have one standard, while players who aren't good should have another. This was shocking to me. I told him "absolutly not". Sure players have to be politiced with differently, but all players are held to the same standard. I've seen this type of buddy-ball from Andy over the years, but this is the first time these words came out of his mouth. I repeatedly told Andy that as the General Manager, I needed him to generally manage. Unfortunaly, Andy was more concerned with being liked by the Players, instead of holding them accountable to the team standards.
Over the next few weeks, our relationship continued to degrade. One day, Andy said he quit. He's done this several times over the past year, always wanting me to chase him to come back. Well, this time, I didn't. His buddy coaches then threatened to all quit and take a number of players with them. Coach Barlow stated, "if Andy walks, we all walk". I took this time to reach out to Chris Housholder and asked him the reasons he stepped back from The Highlanders last summer, that's when I learned about the fracture between him and Andy and the Coaching Staff. Chris stated he still wanted to be involved with The Highlanders, so I brought him in as the new GM.
Our senior leadership team continued to evaluate the organization and the team on the field. What was glaring was their failure to adjust and their commitment to stick with their friends. Sure, when we were playing teams who weren't so good, we were blowing them out. Even with numerous blowouts, some players never saw the field. We knew however, once we started to play good teams, the wheels were going to fall off.
On April 12th, we traveled to Lakeland to face the Jokers. We were up 40-12 at halftime. Due to the failing to adjust and poor coaching, we almost lost, escaping with a 40-36 win. During the second half of that game, our players on the sideline and coaching staff were imploding. Also during this game, two players had a facemask which wasn't was outside team and league standards, leaving an opening for the Pirates to report this to the league. Ultimately, we suspended the two players and head coach Scott Fisk for one game as a result. The continued resistance by the head coach, and the numeous instances of insubordination, left us no choice but to take disciplinary action. It was made clear to the suspended players and head coach that they are expected to be at the upcoming Pirates game because if it being a big game. The suspended head coach stated he was going to the beach instead and didn't show up at the game.
Following the blowout again the Pirates, it was obvious we needed to shuffle the deck. I informed the Head Coach and GM in multiple text messages that Coach Fisk needed to be removed from his role as head coach and DC and Nate Barlow needed to be removed from the role of OC because the slow moving train wreck was obvious. Fisk and Barlow and a number of their player friends then went on a social media tirade. It should be noted that these coaches said they quit on multiple occasions when they didn't get their way.
Several vocal players wanted to keep things going with the same group of coaches and we attempted to adjust, moving Coach Fisk to Special Teams Coordinator and Coach Barlow to Defensive Coordinator. Coach Fisk never showed up after, instead speding his time hurling insults on social media.
We moved forward and won big against the 352 Wild Tigers, who showed up to the game with 13 players. They quit early in the 3rd quarter down 61-8. Over the last four games of the regular season, we went 1-3.
The relationship between Andy and I continued to degrade after he was no longer the GM. His other administrative responsibilities continued to be sub-par. It seemed more like Andy enjoyed having titles, but not put in the necessary work that is required for those roles. He also continued his love for the Pirates, even posting "Good Luck Pirates" on multiple Dunedin Highlanders Facebook posts.
Information was that Andy was involved with the Pirates administratively. Coach Barlow told GM Housholder that he was strongly considering going over to the Pirates to finish out the season. As a result of Andy failing to meet organizational standards of the various administrative titles he had with The Highlanders, I relieved him of all his admin titles with The Highlanders. I told him he is welcome to rejoin the Pirates at the conclusion of the season.
Over the next several games, Coach Barlow continued his active involvement in the offense, which was contrary to our administrative decision to shuffle the deck. The offense continued to struggle. We lost 14-12 in triple overtime at the East Coast Sharks, and then losing 26-6 against the regular season finale against the North Florida Warriors.
Last week, I received confirmation that Andy was involved with the Pirates administration, which was a conflict of interest. Following the multiple poor games on the field and then playoffs fast approaching, it was time to move on from Andy and Coach Barlow. As a result, a number of vocal players took to social media to hurl insults. They've made it clear they are in this for themselves, not The Highlanders organization.
5. Are you planning to come back for the 2026 season?
Answer:
Absolutly. In many ways administratively, we are already working on the 2026 season, which is right around the corner. We have already named the 2026 Head Coach and the Director of Scouting. We also have indeed posts for coordinator positions, as well as Quarterback. GM Housholder is tasked with building this organization in his vision of excellence. To date, I am extremely pleased with his efforts.
6. What were some of the growing pains of being a owner?
Answer:
Getting the right people in house who share my passion and vision. I trusted Andy to work together with me to build a great organization, unfortunately, he was building Pirates 2.0 instead. This isn't to say Andy ran a completely bad organization with the Pirates, it's time to move on to bigger and better things, but Andy clearly didn't want that.
7. If you could redo it all again, what would you change, if anything?
Answer:
Yes. There are always thoughts in hindsight, but the biggest would have been to have Chris Housholder as GM from Day One. We've accomplished a lot in our first year, it would have been even more amazing if we had people in house pulling this organization in the same direction.
Moving forward, we will have steps in place to make sure we have the right people in house. For example, following a tryout, players selected to move on in the process will be interviewed by the GM and HC to determine if they are a good fit for The Highlanders, and if The Highlanders are a good fit for them. We recognize our approach is not for everyone.
I personally apoligize to any player who was misled thinking this was gonna be the same old semi-pro football team. It should be noted that not all the coaches are part of the buddy-ball type approach. I apologize to them for having to deal with all this unnecessary drama. I also apoligize to the number of players who felt like they were pushed out of the way by some coaches in favor of their friends.
We are on the heels of the Playoffs. With the right coaches, we could go a long way this season. A number of Players are again threatening to quit. Frankly, it's completely on the Players if they want to ride this season out or be knows as quitters. Administratively, we are keeping this organization going, this time with a much better foundation. First tryouts for the 2026 season are tentatively scheduled for July 2025.
Thank you for reaching out to get my comments.
Respectfully,
Steve Korossy
Chief of The Highlanders Clan
Dunedin Highlanders FB
727-488-8440
"WE STAND TOGETHER"