Former Wildcat Coach Now Heads South County Football

Gerry Pannoni has been around the Northern Region for a number of years and has been a head coach at three different schools (, Lee, ). Earlier this month he got his fourth head coaching job when he was hired by to replace Pete Bendorf. He will be only the second head coach in the school's seven year history.

Bendorf who led the Stallions to three playoff berths, resigned last month to become the dean of students at . He had an overall record of 30-34 in six seasons and will not coach anywhere this season. He also said that he wanted to be closer to his home which is less than two miles from Westfield. 

Bendorf had been an assistant athletic director and teacher at South County. He has coached at Centreville, Marshall, , and was 's head coach for 11 seasons leading them to a 63-54 record including a trip to the 2002 VHSL AAA Division 6 State Championship Game.

Pannoni will be taking over a team that went 4-6 last season and has not been to the playoffs since 2009. The team will also be playing in Division 5 where it will compete with the likes of Stone Bridge, Yorktown, , and for a Regional Title. This is the first time Pannoni will be a head coach since the 2009 season when he went 3-7 at Centreville.

Pannoni began his head coaching career in 1999 with Lee and he was there for five seasons compiling a 21-29 record and a playoff berth in his final season before moving to W.T. Woodson. In 2004, with the Cavaliers he led them to a 11-2 record and they advanced to the state semifinals. His final season in 2005 didn't go too well as they finished 3-7.

In 2006 he was asked by his longtime friend and then Centreville head coach Mike Skinner to come and be an assistant for the Wildcats. He ended up taking over in 2007 as head coach for Skinner who stepped down to become an assistant coach with the team. In Pannoni's first season, the Wildcats finished with a 6-5 record after losing to West Springfield 30-27 in the first round of the playoffs. Skinner would end up retiring after the season. The 2008 and 2009 seasons were not as successful as Centreville finished 1-9 and 3-7 in those campaigns. Pannoni then resigned in January 2010 and went on to become an assistant coach at W.T. Woodson.

He spent last season with the Cavaliers before leaving the school again. Longtime friend Trey Taylor, who was the head coach at W.T. Woodson accepted the Robinson head coaching job in April and asked Pannoni to come coach with him. Pannoni was at his third school and was set to be the linebackers and special teams coach for the Rams. That is when Bendorf stepped down and Pannoni who lives right next to South County took a chance and ended up getting the job with the Stallions.

Pannoni is a two-time Patriot District Coach of the Year, Northern Region Coach of the Year and President Northern Region Coaches Association.

South County will open their season on September 2 when they face Hayfield at home. They will play at home on September 30 and will have road games at Lee on October 14 and W.T. Woodson on November 4 in their regular season finale. To break it down even farther, Pannoni will get to face the school he was supposed to coach at this season and will also face two schools where he has been the head coach.

Pete Bendorf is the fourth longtime Northern Region coach to retire or step down within the past year. Pete's brother Mark Bendorf (130-35) retired from Robinson in February after leading the Rams to two Division 6 State Championships (1998, 2001), seven district championships, and 11 playoff berths in 14 seasons. Oakton's Joe Thompson (64-29) stepped down last week to become an assistant principal at Annandale. He won a State Championship with the Cougars in 2005 and reached the playoffs in six of his eight seasons, while appearing in the Northern Region Division 6 Championship Game three different seasons. The other coach was Westfield's Tom Verbanic (90-19) who announced he would step down in August 2010 also won two Division 6 State Championships (2003, 2007) with the Bulldogs and was the head coach for all 10 seasons that the school had been open. Verbanic coached some great players including: Washington Redskins RB Evan Royster, Denver Broncos WR Eddie Royal, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Punter Brent Bowden, NC State QB Mike Glennon, and former Virginia Tech and Minnesota Vikings QB Sean Glennon

New head coaches coaching records:

Robinson's Trey Taylor will be the fifth head coach in the school's 41 year history

Westfield's Kyle Simmons will be the second head coach in the school's 11 year history. He has been with the football program since the school opened in 2000.

South County's Gerry Pannoni will be the second head coach in the school's seven year history.

Oakton's Jason Rowley will be the interim coach for Oakton this season. He is a 1994 graduate from Oakton and was the defensive coordinator. He has been an assistant coach with the Cougars for 15 seasons.

Other schools who will have new head coaches this upcoming season: Lee, Madison, South Lakes, W.T. Woodson