Boca Coach Jeff Rosa Resigns, Returns To Former Team At Gulf Coast High

Like most people, Jeff Rosa knows that home is where the heart is.

The Boca High baseball coach recently made the decision to return to his former program at Gulf Coast High in Naples, and therefore he tendered his resignation from the Bobcats program.

After spending one season on the opposite coast of South Florida, Coach Rosa realized that he was unhappy and missed the Naples area. So when he received word that a position was available for him on his old Sharks team at Gulf Coast, he decided to come home.

“I made my mind up and then let [Boca Principal] Dr. McKee know that I would not be back,” Rosa said. “It was more of a personal decision and was not about the kids. I really enjoyed the kids this year and I will miss them. But I got a situation where I could go back home, so I decided to take it.”

Rosa will serve as the Sharks pitching coach, working as an assistant for newly-hired coach and longtime friend Pete Garcia.

Coach Rosa had previously served as the Sharks head coach from 2005 until 2009, where he compiled a 95-49 record that included a 24-1 mark in 2006. In his only season with the Bobcats he was 10-17 and led the team to the Class 8A regional quarterfinals, where they fell 1-0 to Dwyer.

Coach Rosa had opted to move to South Florida’s East Coast and take over the Boca program this year due in part to the opportunity to spend more time with his two teenage nieces whom live in the area. But as the reality of his coaching duties limited the amount of time he was actually able to spend with them, Coach Rosa became homesick and disheartened in recent months and realized he simply wanted to return home to Naples.

He also was able to get his old job back teaching history at the high school.

“I even got my same portable classroom back,” Rosa said.

While Rosa admitted he was pretty sure the school had already named his successor, Boca High has not yet made an official announcement regarding the coaching vacancy.

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