Rohrberg resigns at Newsome after 11 seasons
After 30 seasons as a high school head coach, Rohrberg said he made the decision after he felt he no longer saw “eye-to-eye” with Newsome administration on the future of the school’s baseball program.
By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
LITHIA – Dick Rohrberg has informed 813Preps that he resigned as the head baseball coach at Newsome High last month ending his 11-year tenure with the Wolves program.
Rohrberg, a 30-year veteran head coach in the Tampa Bay-area, said he made the decision and informed the school in late August after a series of meetings with administration that led him to believe they were not on the same page moving forward.
“The administration and I did not see eye-to-eye on how to run a baseball program, so I felt that it was the best decision to step down and do something else,” he said.
Rohrberg added: “I wish the program and all of the Newsome players much success.”
A native of Western New York, Rohrberg played collegiately for four years at the University of Dayton (Ohio), was a graduate assistant at the University of South Florida while earning his master’s degree, was an assistant coach at Dayton, and was the associate head coach at Coastal Carolina University, before moving back to Tampa. Rohrberg coached at Robinson for one season, before spending 12 years as the head coach at Chamberlain – leading the program to two district titles, four region tournament appearances and one final four berth. He then spent six seasons at Sunlake winning a district title and reaching the state final four once, before taking over the program at Newsome in 2014.
Rohrberg along with Durant head coach Butch Valdes (left) during a Saladino Tournament game last spring.
“I truly admired the ‘old school’ method of coaching that he brought to the game,” Durant head coach Butch Valdes said. “The (Newsome) players were well-behaved on the field and respected the game. Most importantly, what was a rivalry turned into a great friendship. He’s a great family man, coach and friend!”
“It’s unfortunate to see the news about Coach Rohrberg,” Strawberry Crest head coach Eric Beattie said. “He respected and cared about his players. He ran great programs for three decades and he deserved a proper send off by his competitors and players that he served so well for so long. ”
During his tenure leading the Wolves, Rohrberg posted a 174-89 record, including three district titles and seven region appearances in 10 full seasons (excluding the COVID-19-shortened 2020 spring).
Newsome went 21-9 last season (it’s second-straight 21-win season), winning a district title over Plant City, and claimed a region quarterfinal series win over Strawberry Crest, before falling in the region semifinals to Venice.
Of the 2025 team, Rohrberg said he was immensely proud that 11-of-12 seniors earned the opportunity to play college baseball, while the baseball program also won highest GPA award in the Hillsborough County Public School District for the third-straight year.
“We’ve had a ton of kids go play college baseball, we won the academic award from the school district again last year,” Rohrberg said, “that really shows you the kind of kids we have had. They work incredibly hard … and I’m incredibly proud of all of them.”
At the time of his resignation, Rohrberg led all head baseball coaches in Hillsborough County in overall tenure at 30 years, Alonso’s Landy Faedo now assumes that spot beginning his 28th overall year (four at Leto and 24 at Alonso), while Tampa Prep’s AJ Hendrix is the longest-serving head coach at one school, entering his 26thyear leading the Terrapins this upcoming fall and spring.
Rohrberg expressed an interest in returning to the high school coaching ranks in some capacity, and said he will be exploring those options in the near future.
