Barth steps down; Gannon takes over PSJ football

PORT ST. JOE — Vern Barth said it was time.

Barth voluntarily stepped down after four years as head football coach and athletic director at Port St. Joe High School, accepting a transfer to Gulf Academy, the district’s second-chance school.

Chuck Gannon, a long-time coach in several sports at the high school and most recently defensive coordinator, will take the reins of the football program and become athletic director effective Jan. 1.

“I’m very grateful to all the friends we have made here and the fans,” Barth said. “I appreciate all the people who supported the team over the past four years.”

His first head coaching job had two distinct chapters.

In his first two seasons at the helm, Barth took the Tiger Sharks to the state Class 1A semifinals before losing to Tallahassee North Florida Christian and followed that with a tie for the district title the following year.

The Tiger Sharks, however, missed the playoffs Barth’s second season in a three-way tiebreaker to decide the district’s two postseason berths.

After losing more than a dozen seniors to graduation each of those first two years, the Port St. Joe roster took a dip in size, experience and numbers the ensuing two years.

A 4-6 season in 2010 was followed by a 3-7 mark this past season, a year that began with promise and a win over county rival Wewahitchka but ended with three consecutive one-sided home defeats with the playoffs still within reach.

In four years, Barth was 24-19.

“It’s been a great first head coaching job,” Barth said. “I’ve learned a lot and met a lot of friends I consider family here. I’ve helped some kids go off to college. We’ve helped quite a few kids, I think.

“I appreciate everything the town has given me, my wife and our family. The town treated my family and I as one of their own.”

Gannon, who has coached football, baseball and basketball during his career, said he was humbled by being asked to assume the head coaching duties.

“I was happy to be asked, I was honored,” Gannon said.

The veteran coach said his immediate focus is conditioning.

“Right now, we have to get our kids in the weight room,” Gannon said, adding that applies across most sports. “We have to identify athletes in all our sports and get them in the weight room. We have to jump on board right away and find out who lines up behind you.”

In particular, both Gannon and Barth noted that few football players were participating in any kind of offseason weightlifting program, including scant participation in weightlifting class.

Gannon said that needed to change if only to grow the program and a roster that is painfully young and undersized.

“It’s going to be a work in progress to get us back to where St. Joe ought to be,” Gannon said.

Gannon said he had no visions of making drastic changes in the athletic department beyond trying to nurture a sense of collegiality across all sports and all seasons.

He said he wanted to continue to foster unity among the coaches at the high school, adding, “We need to all get on the same page.”

Change also arrived at the semester break at Wewahitchka High School.

Athletic director and principal designee Todd Lanter, the defensive coordinator on the football team after six years at the helm, will transfer to Port St. Joe Elementary School to take over for Gannon as physical education teacher.

Head football coach Dennis Kizziah assumes the dual duty of athletic director at Wewathitchka, effective the first week of January.