Not all high school football head coaches can still throw down on the gridiron. But Ocoee’s Jason Boltus can. In his first season as head coach at Ocoee High School, Boltus juggled coaching with playing, signing on as backup quarterback for the National Arena League’s Jacksonville Sharks after spring ball wrapped up.

“They called me with an opportunity and turning down a contract is very hard to do because your window of play is so short so I took it for five weeks,” said Boltus, who is in his first season as Head Coach at Ocoee. “Just had to wake up earlier, that’s all it was.”

Boltus commuted for the final five weeks of the Sharks season, driving to and from Jacksonville every day, returning just in time to open the weight room and lead summer workouts for the Knights.

“For the love of the game you are going to do what you can do to play,” joked Boltus.

Boltus has played near a dozen years of professional football, even quarterbacking in the past for the now defunct Orlando Predators and the Tampa Bay Storm. But the 29-year old had never won a championship, until now. In the league’s title game Boltus took over in the second half due to an injury to the starter.

His first two drives back in the game? Touchdowns.

“It was kind of a storybook ending of a career.”

Boltus isn’t saying he is 100 percent done yet. As he pointed out, you don’t turn down a contract. But whether he ever dresses out again, the fact that he can, makes a difference to the kids he is coaching.

“We can learn from him because he is still playing as a professional so he has a lot of knowledge to teach us,” said wide receiver Garrett Duffina.

Incoming sophomore free safety Lovie Jenkins agrees, “Most other high school coaches, their football season is done. Our coach still plays.”

That youthful energy is obvious in the weight room and on the practice field. And come fall, the Knights will see how it translates to the gridiron.