Meet Pete Shinnick, first UWF football coach

A glance at Pete Shinnick’s resume documents the talents one would expect to find – coach, educator, mentor. Perhaps another term should be added: architect.

In 1999, Shinnick laid the foundation for a football program at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke that had been dormant for a half century. He built a framework for a successful team and decorated the UNCP athletic department with wins.

Thursday, he accepted the task of trying to take another football program from the blueprints to a reality. Shinnick was introduced as the first head football coach in the history of the University of West Florida.

“It is an honor to be here today,” said Shinnick. “The more I learned about the vision for football here at the University of West Florida, how it would be incorporated into the other sports, the success of the other teams, the number of conference and national championships we have won, it continued to get me excited about the opportunity.”

UWF has won national titles in baseball, softball, golf and tennis. In addition the Argonauts have won 72 conference championships. To add to that number, West Florida will have to do in the Gulf South Conference, arguably the toughest football league in NCAA Division II. In recent years, Valdosta State and Delta State have won national champions along with North Alabama and West Alabama in the past. Both Jacksonville (Ala.) State and Troy won Division II crowns while members of the GSC.

To build the inaugural team that will take the field in 2016, Shinnick will need players. The timing of his hiring, one day after national signing day, will give him the advantage of have two complete signing classes before the Argonauts kickoff. Shinnick already knows where to begin.

“We are going to start locally,” he said. “When we were at Azuza (Pacific), we had the Azuza area code, at Pembroke it was the 910 area coach and now it is going to be the 850.”

The location of where he will try to convince young men to play college football is not lost on Shinnick either.

“We are in a different setup here,” Shinnick said. Pembroke has about 2,500 students, a Wal-Mart and a McDonalds; Pensacola has a few more things.”

One new thing Pensacola has is a coach with a track record of winning. In his 14 seasons as a head coach, he is 103-46. Only two of his teams posted a losing record, the first UNCP team and his 2001 Azuza Pacific team finished 4-5. His second team at Pembroke finished 9-1 and qualified for the Division II playoffs and last year’s team went 9-2 and was ranked as high as eighth nationally.

Apart from his head coaching experience, Shinnick has been an assistant coach at the Football Bowl Subdivision level at Arkansas, Clemson and Oregon State.

Football runs in Shinnick’s blood, who will now concentrate on moving his wife Traci and children Anna, Rachel, Benjamin and Elijah to Pensacola. His father Don spent 13 years with the Baltimore Colts and upon his retirement spent time as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bears, St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots.

Shinnick played at Colorado in the late 80s for the legendary Bill McCartney.

For UWF athletic director, Dave Scott, it was easy to hire someone with that experience and lineage.

“During the interview process, I was able to check off every box on Pete,” Scott said. “You don’t often get a chance to get someone who has done it before (build a program from scratch).”

West Florida has been planning to add football for years, but Thursday was the day it seemed to become a reality.

“I’ve only waited five years, four months and 32 days – not that I’ve counted,” UWF president Dr. Judy Bense said. “The big question I’ve been asked was are we going to do it; the one asked more was when. I’m very happy its today.”
According to one former Gulf South Conference coach, UWF should be competitive early.

“I’ve always said that if West Florida gets football, they will be good and they will be good fast,” former North Alabama and current Akron coach Terry Bowden said. “If they keep the players from their area, they are going to beat people.”

Despite some inquiries by alumni, this will be the only Division in which the Argonauts want to compete.

“There are some athletic universities getting worried,” Bense said. “But we will be Division II, not Division I, we will stay here and keep kicking their butts.”

Now, Shinnick needs to assemble a coaching staff. He plans to call the plays himself using a read-option scheme. In the past two seasons, UNCP’s quarterback Luke Chandler and running back Trent Daniels have been nominated for the Harlon Hill Award which goes to the best player in Division II.

Defensively, he is willing to use any scheme a coordinator wants to employ.

Even though he fielded questions about his coaching philosophy, Shinnick did not seem too concerned about schemes Thursday because he knows he has two years. He was more intent on his personal philosophy.

“I love what Division II has to offer,” he said. “It’s been a model that has fit me and my philosophy my entire life. What we want to do here is to be mentors for the young men who come and be a part of this program.”

He plans on beginning the recruiting process as soon as his move from North Carolina is complete. Still, he knows he has time to build UWF football the right way.

Shinnick has done it before.