Alonso’s Heldt suspended for two weeks

Posted Sep 28, 2009 by Katherine Smith

Updated Sep 28, 2009 at 01:26 PM

Three days after his defensive coordinator was fired at halftime of the game against Hillsborough, Alonso coach Mike Heldt has been suspended.

Alonso administrators suspended Heldt for two weeks following a meeting at the school on Monday. The suspension includes practices and games, including Friday night’s contest against Tampa Bay Tech and the Oct. 9 game against Chamberlain. Interim head coach will be Kevin Diez.

Heldt declined to comment on the situation.

Defensive coordinator Dale Rude was fired during halftime of Friday’s game against Hillsborough.

“He got fired. He got fired for cursing,” Heldt told The Tampa Tribune on Saturday.  “I don’t think it was handled properly. I was hoping we could deal with it on Monday, but they decided to fire him at halftime.”

The Ravens trailed Hillsborough 21-16 at the end of the first half and then took the lead to open the second half when Jesse Anaya returned the kickoff for 95 yards. Hillsborough then reeled off 28 unanswered points and won 49-23.

Rude was a volunteer coach and the Ravens will promote defensive line coach Greg Hamlin to take his place.