Trinity Catholic names Clint Hart as football coach

The former NFL player and local business owner took over the Celtics program on Jan. 17.


Clint Hart, who owns Healthy Harts Fitness, leads a workout during a “Workout with the Mayor and Clint Hart” event on May 4, 2024. On Jan. 17, Hart was named head football coach at Trinity Catholic Hight School. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman]

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Posted January 22, 2025 | By Mark Pinson, Special to the Ocala Gazette

Trinity Catholic High School named former NFL player Clint Hart as its new head football coach on Jan. 17. Hart takes over for former coach John Brantley, who resigned a month ago and is now the head coach at Forest High School.

Hart, who is from Webster, in nearby Sumter County, played football and baseball at South Sumter High School before he graduated in 1995. He played baseball in college but did not play football before taking a circuitous route to the NFL. He played for the Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers and St. Louis Rams from 2002 until 2009.

That kind of professional experience should give Hart, who played safety and on special teams in the NFL, great credibility with his players at Trinity Catholic.

“I’m excited for this opportunity at Trinity Catholic and I look forward to developing the student-athletes and helping them to meet their potential,” said coach Hart. “We’re going to have discipline and tough love. Some coaches are afraid to discipline their players because they’re afraid they’ll run and go to other schools. I’ve been coached by some great coaches, like Andy Reid and Marty Schottenheimer, and I know what they look like and how they organized things. I also know what bad coaching looks like. I’m going to put together a really good coaching staff and get these kids to believe in me and the coaches and know that we care about them.”

Hart was a multi-sport athlete at South Sumter High School before he played baseball in college. He was taken by the Anaheim Angels in the 32nd round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft but turned down the opportunity to play professional baseball because he wanted to play professional football instead. After he played for two years in the Arena Football League, he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2002 and played in NFL Europe before he joined the Eagles roster in 2003. Hart played for the Chargers from 2004 until 2009. He finished his career with the Rams in 2009.

Hart, who owns Healthy Harts Fitness in Ocala, was the defensive coordinator at Ocala Christian Academy in 2017.

Trinity Catholic struggled through a 2-9 season in 2024, but the Class 1A Celtics, a perennial state power, have a solid nucleus of players returning, which Hart hopes to build around, including senior quarterback Carter Schofield.

“I played a lot of positions, including quarterback, so I can help to develop Carter,” Hart said.

With Spring practice only three months away, Hart said he is looking forward to meeting his players, hiring his coaching staff and building the right culture at Trinity Catholic.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know the players,” the 47-year-old Hart said. “We want to be winners on and off the field. We want to get the parents, the school and the community behind us to help support a team they can be proud of.”

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