Plant City’s Strunk resigns; Ward takes over in interim

Posted Jun 14, 2010 by Adam Adkins

Updated Jun 14, 2010 at 04:19 PM

Plant City head football coach Jason Strunk has resigned his position after two seasons to take over as quality control coach at Purdue University.

Strunk said Monday that he was hired to the position about a week ago and will start immediately. He added the opportunity was “too good to pass up.”

Raiders assistant coach Wayne Ward, a Plant City alum, has been named interim head coach, and seems to be the frontrunner to land the position.

Strunk came to Plant City from Pennsylvania, where he was an assistant college football coach with a Division III program. He compiled a 10-11 overall mark in his two seasons with the Raiders, including a 7-4 mark that included a Class 5A state playoff appearance in 2009.

Should Ward be hired as expected, the coaching transition should be a seamless one. Ward, a holdover from the staff of Kevin Kelley, for whom Strunk took over prior to the 2008 season, served as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator under Strunk the past two seasons.