Marcus Neeson, a former Apopka football defensive coordinator, has officially been named the new head coach for Blue Darter football. From his time as a player to his first years in his coaching journey, Neeson has been waiting for this opportunity.
“But I knew back then, and others knew that football coaching was probably going to be my thing,” Neeson said. “I picked up on plays and coverages better than most kids my age. I saw the game a little differently. I was like a coach on the field when I played.”
Neeson’s journey to becoming Apopka’s new head football coach doesn’t start in Apopka or even Florida but in Georgia. At the age of five, Neeson began playing football for the Redan Raiders in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
“I was a short, squatty, o–lineman–linebacker body,” Neeson said. “I was pulling guard; I was at center. I just wanted to hit people, that’s why I ended up playing those positions – and I was round at that age.”
In middle school, Neeson moved to Florida and lost the baby weight, where a new coach looked at him and saw a receiver. After that, he fell in love with making big plays, catching the ball.
“I went out there and I was catching balls over everyone, and I even broke my collarbone in the first game,” Neeson said.
At Gulf High School in New Port Richey, Florida, Neeson started three years as a varsity receiver. Going into his senior year, his coach told him he needed him to play corner. However, it was a natural transition for Neeson, as he played both ways during his senior season, serving as both a defensive back and a wide receiver.
“My coach was like, ‘Hey, I need you to play corner,’ and I’m looking at him like, ‘You want me to tackle people,'” Neeson said. “And I really hadn’t played on the defense since I was probably 8 or 9, and so I played corner my senior year, and receiver as well.”
Neeson’s first experience with coaching was a senior project where he coached under his high school coach for the Paul R. Smith Middle School basketball team in Holiday, Florida.
After his senior season, Neeson was recruited to Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, to play defensive back, where he played corner and safety for two years. After two years, Neeson moved back to Florida, seeking to complete his AA degree and explore coaching opportunities.
His first real coaching opportunity came in 2009, after he moved back home. A new high school was opening near the middle school where he coached for his senior project in high school. A man who worked with Neeson’s mother told him about Anclote High School.
“He asked me if I wanted to come over and help out with the defensive backs, because they had like a three-guy coaching staff,” Neeson said. “So, I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ And I went over there, and they ended up giving me a full-time coaching supplement.”
While coaching at Anclote High School, Neeson was a student at the University of Central Florida, where he studied sport and exercise science. In 2014, Neeson graduated with a bachelor’s degree and moved to Apopka, where he found a physical education job at Clay Springs Elementary.
It wasn’t until 2017 that Neeson found himself back on the field as a coach, marking the beginning of his journey with Apopka. He said that after playing phone tag with former head coach Rick Darlington, he showed up on the first day of spring practice hoping to find a way back into coaching.
“And then I showed up in the spring of 2017, on the first day of practice, and said, ‘Hey, I’m the guy you’ve been talking to,’ And he goes, ‘Oh, yeah, I know who you are… You start tomorrow,’ I said, ‘Oh, okay,’ And day two out there I’m coaching defensive backs. By the fall season, he made me the freshman defensive coordinator, and then I just kind of worked my way up the ladder from there.”
Neeson said that he took over as the Apopka varsity defensive coordinator a few years ago when former head coach Jeff Rolson transitioned to focusing more on the offense. He said that he somewhat fell into the role because no other coach wanted to take on the responsibility of calling the defense.
Neeson was comfortable in his position until the end of the 2025 school year. After a 4-6 season and a spring game loss to Jones High School, which saw 20 players leave or transfer out of the program, it was apparent that something was amiss within the Apopka football program.
Rolson came to Neeson on the last day of the 2025 school year to tell him that he was considering resigning. The two men went out for dinner, and Rolson laid out Neeson’s options.
“So Rolson told me, ‘So you can wait it out and see who they hire. Or you can put in for the position,’ And I sat there and wasn’t really sure what to do. But I thought about it and decided to put my name in the hat and see what happened,” Neeson said said.
Neeson said that he has learned a great deal during his time at Apopka and is glad to have had the opportunity to work under two championship coaches, Rick Darlington and Rolson.
“And it’s been humbling,” Neeson said. “Being on the defensive side and coaching against Rick’s offense and then on the scout team my first couple of years helped me learn a lot of stuff on offense. And then being able to take over the secondary and coach under Rolson before being made the defensive coordinator for varsity when he went over to help the offense gave me both sides.”
Neeson said he will take a lot from both Darlington’s and Rolson’s approaches, but will also implement his own philosophy, one with a focus on preparation and knowledge. Neeson said his philosophy comes from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War.”
According to the book, knowing your enemy is half the battle, and Neeson said he embraces this through his love of game and practice film.
“I’m big on film. I watch film and analyze every little detail,” Neeson said. “I’m going to see what you like to do and then I’m going to take that away and force you to do something that you’re not comfortable with, that’s going to be on offense and defense.”
Now it’s time for Neeson to take the reins and lead Apopka through a tough fall, after its worst season in 20 years. In the 2025 season, Apopka faces five teams who finished in the Top 50 in the state last year, including two state champions, one state runner-up, one regional runner-up, and one final-four finisher.
Neeson is also coming into the season with just three returning starters, according to Apopka’s 2025 Florida Citrus Sports Media Day documentation. This undoubtedly stems from the 28 players Apopka has lost since the close of the 2024 season.
Neeson said his goal for the program one year from now is to return to being state championship contenders. He said the only way to do that is to keep the Apopka standard as it is and foster excellence through discipline and hard work.