Hylton's Sorrentino is new head football coach at Mountain View

WOODBRIDGE, VA — When he first heard Mountain View High School was looking for a new head football coach, Lou Sorrentino hesitated about putting his name in for the job.

But the more he thought it, the more it made sense to him to at least apply.

He lived less than 15 minutes away from the Stafford County school, which would give him a chance to be closer to home, where both his children attend Stafford High School and wife teaches in the schools system. He also was intrigued by the challenge of turning another program into a perennial winner. He’d done it once in Culpeper and saw a chance to do it now at Mountain View.

Then came an omen the day before his interview for the opening earlier this month when his car broke down on Interstate 95 as he made his usual 45-minute morning drive in rush hour to Hylton High School.

“I chuckled over that, wondering if someone was trying to tell me something,” Sorrentino said.

Sorrentino forged ahead and last Tuesday night was officially approved by the school board as Mountain View’s football coach. After eight seasons at Hylton, where he posted a 70-24 record, won a state title and made five playoff appearances, he will oversee a team that’s gone 13-37 since the school opened in 2005. He replaces Eric Cooke, who stepped down after last season.

“There are good people at Hylton and it will have a special place in my heart,” said Sorrentino, who in 20 years as a head coach has a 166-62 overall record.

“But being at Hylton was not a climb to the top. Going to Mountain View is a great challenge … The challenge for me is to take over a program that you can make that climb with to the top.”

When Sorrentino arrived as only the Bulldogs’ second head football coach in the school’s history in 2002, Hylton was already an established state power. Under Bill Brown, the Bulldogs had won back to back Division 6 state titles in 1998 and 1999 and four straight Northwest Region titles.

But after Brown stepped down to pursue a job in administration following the 2001 season, Hylton, led by Brown and then activities director Jim Qualls, looked for someone who they felt could carry on the Bulldogs’ winning tradition.

Sorrentino fit the bill. In 10 years at Culpeper, Sorrentino turned the Blue Devils around, going 84-29 and winning the 1999 Division 5 state title with a 14-0 record.

In his first four seasons at Hylton, Sorrentino went 47-6, winning the Division 6 state title his first year along with four regional titles.

But since 2006, the Bulldogs had gone 23-18 and made the playoffs only once (in 2008). In 2007, Hylton went 3-7, which was its first losing season since the Bulldogs fielded their first varsity team in 19.

In the meantime, programs like Osbourn (2006 Division 6 state champions and 2008 state finalist), Potomac (2007 Division 5 state finalist), Battlefield (2009 Division 6 state semifinalist) and Woodbridge (2007 Division 6 state finalist) had moved to the forefront.

“I never felt like we had a monopoly,” Sorrentino said. “Even when we won the state title, our toughest challenges were in our own back yard. There has always been good football in Prince William County.”

But Sorrentino understood the high expectations people associated each year with Hylton.

“There’s a huge amount of pressure to do well,” Sorrentino said. “I’m proud of what we accomplished. I’m not going to look back.”

Sorrentino said he told his players Tuesday he was resigning as Hylton’s head coach, but he said they weren’t surprised, having heard rumors about his possible departure.

“I told them a program is never about one player or one coach,” Sorrentino said

Sorrentino did apply for the North Stafford head coaching job after the 2007 season, but the job went to Joe Mangano, who was at Gar-Field at the time.

“That was more of an afterthought,” Sorrentino said. “I wanted to check it out. But in turning 50, I got a lot more serious in my interest this time around."

Sorrentino said he liked what he heard from Mountain View when he interviewed.

“From the beginning, they had all the right answers to all my questions,” Sorrentino said.

Sports Editor David Fawcett is a staff writer at Media General's News & Messenger.