FREEPORT — From his days as a three-sport Freeport athlete to being promoted to head coach and athletic director, Shaun Arntz has bled Bulldogs orange and blue for the past 20-plus years.
He’d be the first to tell you that loyalty will never change, but on Friday he announced on X that he has stepped down as Freeport athletic director and head football coach.
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“Serving my alma mater as head football coach and athletic director for nine years has been the highest honor,” read his post.
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The Freeport football program started off 4-0 last year and secured a No. 6 seed in the Region 1-2A playoffs before losing 42-3 to South Walton to finish 5-5. Come the offseason, talk centered around the new, state-of-the-art football stadium set to break ground soon.
Now the focus shifts to finding a successor for Arntz, who served as an assistant coach at Freeport for nine years before replacing Freeport legend Jim Anderson in March of 2017 as head coach and AD.
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Under Arntz, Freeport went 41-50 without a playoff victory. The Bulldogs finished .500 or better in five of his seasons, but they also struggled in Walton county rivalry games. That’ll be a challenge for the next head coach, who’ll have to navigate a brutal District 1-2A with Walton, Pensacola Catholic.
Behind the scenes, Arntz thrived in his AD role amidst Freeport’s massive growth. The care and attention he gave to every program led to long nights and weeks, but he talked about how much he cherrished that role and felt the support from administration. He also inherited a football program that employed just four assistant coaches and has now expanded to 10. He will remain on staff through the transition of finding his successor.
“Exciting times are ahead for our school and football program,” he said. “Though I won’t be there directly, I’ll always be a Bulldog and wish FHS nothing but success. Our kids and community deserve the best.”
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Shaun Arntz steps down as Freeport AD, head football coach
