He has won state championships and grew up around football all of his life, but if you ask Rocco Casullo what excites him the most, he will say teaching and promoting the athletes.
On Friday, the one-time St. Thomas Aquinas and Mater Academy football coach, was named as the head coach at Cypress Bay, replacing Josh Shapiro, who returned to South Broward.
What Casullo represents is someone who has plenty of experience – coming from a family that has been involved in the game all of his life. His father Bob is a former coach at the collegiate level for 15 years, also spending 9 years in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Bucs. He also had the opportunity to coach in 2 Super Bowls.
“I have learned so much about this game from being around some great people,” Casullo said. “From my dad to Coach George Smith at St. Thomas Aquinas, there aren’t two more established and better teachers of this sport.”
While Casullo has been working with recruiting and placing athletes into college for years, his relationships with college coaches across the country is unmatched – and that will be a huge plus moving forward at a program that is looking to get back into the mix for state titles.
Since leaving Mater Academy, Casullo has been working with athletes, helping them to advance their own careers at the collegiate level.
During Casullo’s overall tenure (15 years) with St. Thomas Aquinas, the Raiders won 5 state titles and 2 national championships.
Casullo, who won two state championships as head coach, hopes to bring that success to a Lightning program that has enjoyed success with Mark Guandolo, who while is not coaching at the school, is still there and will be around to help Casullo with this transition.
“I have a lot of respect for Mark and what he has done for south Florida high school football,” Casullo explained. “He has been very supportive and optimistic in our many conversations. A goal of mine has always been to win a state championship with my son – like he did with his.”
“Cypress Bay, as everyone knows, is a first class school with a great principal (Kassandra Fried) and Athletic Director (Scott Selvidge) who would like to see Cypress Bay back as a contender in 8A, Casullo added.
Casullo worked with the Weston Warriors in 2019 and saw the potential in a great Weston community – and that advantage of knowing and working with the youth programs is major in today’s high school football success.
“I am really looking forward to this tremendous opportunity,” he pointed out.
Cypress Bay, which finished 5-5 this past season, is in a district that includes Western, Flanagan, Piper and West Broward.