2025 JAGUARS GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL ALL-PREP 25 COACH OF THE YEAR PROFILE: John Staples, Bradford

With the 2025 Florida Girls Flag Football season now in the books, there is some post-season recognition to come for those from around the state over the coming weeks. One of those recognitions is something big that started four years ago in partnership with the Jacksonville Jaguars with their Jaguars PREP outreach of the Jacksonville Jaguars Community Foundation and FloridaHSFootball.com in helping select the Jaguars All-PREP 25 Team with 25 of the top athletes selected this year from across 17 different programs in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ market. This marks the biggest representation of schools which coincides with the growth the sport has had over the last few seasons. We will profile each of the 25 athletes and their accomplishments for the season along with Coach of the Year and the Player of the Year for 2025.

For the Coach of the Year they received a $2,500 grant check from the Jacksonville Jaguars Community Foundation for use for the flag football program along with a pair of customized cleats that will forever cement coach as Coach of the Year!

Congratulations to this year’s Coach of the Year, John Staples of the Bradford Tornadoes for being the 2025 Jaguars All-PREP Coach of the Year!

HEAD COACH JOHN STAPLES

SCHOOL: Bradford (Starke)

WHY COACH WAS CHOOSEN: John Staples is no stranger to high school athletics in the Sunshine State. A former standout student-athlete himself, Staples excelled in both football and baseball at Merritt Island High School, where he led the football team to a state championship and earned All-State honors as a quarterback in 1978 under legendary coach Gerald Odom. In addition to his football accolades, he was a star pitcher and still holds Merritt Island’s school record for strikeouts.

With over 40 years of coaching experience—including a 345-win career as a head baseball coach and decades as a football assistant at multiple schools across the state—Staples brings a deep understanding of what it takes to build winning programs and develop student-athletes. He has translated that success into the flag football world as well.

As the head coach of Bradford’s flag football program for three of the last four seasons—temporarily stepping away only in 2024 —Staples completely transformed the Tornadoes. When he took over, the team had not scored a single point the previous season. Under his leadership, Bradford quickly became a state championship contender, capturing district titles in 2023 and this year, earning the program’s first two playoff victories, and advancing to its first-ever regional final. His current record at Bradford stands at 33–8.

Coach Staples’ legacy is defined by turning teams into winners—and at Bradford, he has quickly built one of the region’s most respected flag football programs.