Tarpon Springs picks one of its own to guide football program

Posted Mar 12, 2010 by Eddie Daniels

Updated Mar 12, 2010 at 02:53 PM

Atif Austin will return home after he was selected as the Tarpon Springs football coach today, replacing George Kotis, who resigned last month.

Austin, who has been the University of Northern Iowa’s running backs coach for the past five seasons, is a 1998 Tarpon Springs grad. He played running back and cornerback for the Spongers before heading to Iowa State (1998-2002), where started all four years as a defensive back.

During his time at Iowa State, Austin was named an All-Big 12 received honorable mention (2001) and was selected as ISU’s Reuben J. Miller Award winner (2002).

In four seasons, Kotis led the Spongers to a 29-15 record, including this past season’s 10-3 campaign.