Rockville Coach Kevin Bernot
The first installment in my series on Montgomery County head football coaches focuses on Rockville High School.
When I caught up with Rockville High School head coach Kevin Bernot, he was well into preparations for his first pre-season as a head coach in Montgomery County, and it was early in the morning a full three weeks before the season opened on August 15th. Clearly Coach Bernot is dedicated to football, as his background and experience would indicate.
As a Montgomery County student and football player at Sherwood High School in the early 1980’s, Bernot played alongside standout players and future head coaches Andrew Fields and Randy Trivers. After graduating with a degree in history from Western State College of Colorado, Bernot began teaching at Glenwood Springs Middle School in the Aspen Valley. While teaching middle school he served as the varsity defensive coordinator and junior varsity head coach at Glenwood Springs High School.
Bernot moved back to Maryland in 1999, eventually becoming a full time Social Studies and AP Economics teacher at Sherwood starting in 2001. Bernot also began working in the career and internship programs at Sherwood, all the while earning a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Maryland in 2004.
With his hiring as Sherwood’s Varsity Assistant Line Coach in 2004, Bernot came full circle in his football career. Working under the legendary Al Thomas is, of course, a good situation for any aspiring coach. “I will always be grateful to Coach Thomas as a mentor and teacher,” Bernot said. In 2005 Bernot took over as offensive coordinator of the junior varsity, where he compiled a 29-6 record over four seasons.
All of which brings us to the present: Head Coach at Rockville High School. “Rockville is a great school. The community is very supportive, and the administration is behind us.” Bernot credits Rockville Principal Dr. Debra Munk with creating an outstanding environment. “Dr. Munk is very supportive, and we both want success in academics and athletics for the students.” Bernot brings the academic side of success to Rockville as well, as he is the Cooperative Work Experience (CWE) and Internship Coordinator at Rockville.
So now that Coach Bernot is the man in charge, how does he feel about his first season and team? “I’m very excited and feel very positive,” his enthusiasm spilling into the discussion. Bernot’s philosophy appears simple enough: utilize players as best they can.
“We are very lucky,” said Bernot. “(Previous) Coach Mark Maradei (now at Northwest) left us in very good shape.” Indeed, after coming through a 5-5 season in 2008, Rockville appears to be well positioned in the Maryland 2A division. “We will run first, nothing special, and take advantage of what we have.”
That’s a great philosophy when “what we have” is rising junior Crusoe Gongbay, an All-Met performer coming off a 1300+ yards, 19-touchdown season. Bernot is equally excited about a solid corps of seniors coming back, guys he says are “leaders in the weight room and want to win.” Leading that group are Robbie Parker, Josue Gaitan, Brandon Bryant, and Julian Parks.
Good players, strong community support, a Principal who shares your passion: all in all, not a bad way to start your career as a Montgomery County head football coach.
For more on Rockville football: Rockville High School Varsity Football
Tuesday's Profile: Coach Joe Allen, Churchill High School
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