THE WEEKLY KICKOFF: Your weekly update on the happenings at Florida HS Football – July 28, 2025

Happy Football New Year and welcome to a fresh edition of The Weekly Kickoff, your inside look at what’s ahead on FloridaHSFootball.com. It’s been a minute since I last published one of these updates, largely due to a packed schedule, but I’m committing to bringing this back each Monday throughout the 2025–2026 school year.

There’s a lot to talk about, so let’s dive in as we head into Year No. 16 of high school football coverage on FloridaHSFootball.com.

IN THIS WEEKLY KICKOFF

• The Pivot Toward Video Content
• New Regional Setup This Year
• Blitz Shows Returning Next Week
• Florida Power Rankings Index – Version 2.0
• Primers and Content Ideas
• Season Ticket Memberships

THE PIVOT TOWARD VIDEO CONTENT

FloridaHSFootball.com is making a strategic pivot toward more video content during the 2025–2026 school year. That doesn’t mean written content is going away — instead, it will become more streamlined and focused around our new regional structure (more on that shortly).

We’ve seen strong growth on our YouTube Channel (@FloridaHSFootball), and we want to build on that momentum. Our YouTube channel will be the primary hub for video and LIVE streaming, and we invite you to subscribe here!

NEW REGIONAL SETUP THIS YEAR

As part of our content refresh, we’re transitioning to eight geographically defined regions across Florida — for both football and flag football — to provide better structure and localize our coverage.

Each piece of content will be titled and tagged by region for easier navigation. Scoreboards will also be consolidated by region, in addition to continuing classification-based scoreboards — all powered by ScoreStream’s live, real-time score updates.

Here are the eight regions and their counties:

• Panhandle – Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Taylor, Wakulla, Walton, Washington
• North Central Florida – Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Marion, Sumter, Suwannee, Union
• Northeast Florida – Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns
• Central Florida – Flagler, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia
• Tampa Bay – Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk
• Southwest Florida – Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, Sarasota
• Space & Treasure Coast – Brevard, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, St. Lucie
• South Florida – Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach

THE BLITZ SHOWS RETURNING

The Blitz Shows are back next week — now covering all eight regions instead of the previous four-show format. This aligns with our regional setup and helps ensure consistent coverage of both football and girls flag football throughout the school year.

Broadcast Schedule

• Tuesdays (South of I-4):
  • 7:00 – 7:35 PM: Southwest Florida Blitz
  • 7:45 – 8:20 PM: Space & Treasure Coast Blitz
  • 8:30 – 9:05 PM: South Florida Blitz
  • 9:15 – 9:50 PM: Tampa Bay Blitz
• Wednesdays (North of I-4):
  • 7:00 – 7:35 PM: North Central Blitz
  • 7:45 – 8:20 PM: Northeast Florida Blitz
  • 8:30 – 9:05 PM: Central Florida Blitz
  • 9:15 – 9:50 PM: Panhandle Blitz (8:15–8:50 PM CT)

We’ve developed a fresh graphics package for The Blitz Shows that we think you’re going to love!

FLORIDA POWER RANKINGS INDEX – VERSION 2.0

Coming this week: the debut of FPRI Version 2.0 — a major upgrade from the first version tested during the girls flag football season this spring.

Why Version 2.0?

While Version 1.0 showed promise, some weaknesses appeared during the playoffs — especially around strength of schedule and how much past-season data should influence early-season rankings.

This led us to adopt the Opponent Strength Index (OSI) — a public formula developed by a coach in New Jersey and used by the NJSIAA. I tested OSI extensively — including with IMG Academy National — and the results were fantastic.

How OSI Works:

• A win earns 100% of an opponent’s OSI value
• A tie earns 75% (though ties are rare)
• A loss still earns 50% of the opponent’s value

The OSI fluctuates weekly, and when combined with other proprietary performance metrics, it gives us a deeper, fairer look at team strength.

Importantly, margin of victory is capped at 35 points, aligning with the running clock threshold — so blowouts won’t artificially boost rankings.

What You’ll See:

• Top 10 rankings for every classification (Free)
• Expanded rankings by classification and region (Premium)
• Game forecasts and district projections for all teams (Premium)
• Weekly OSI values included in FPRI outputs

We believe this will be Florida’s most accurate, forward-thinking ranking system yet.

PRIMERS AND CONTENT IDEAS

We’ve published a statewide season primer to kick things off, and regional primers are coming soon — featuring both top contenders and sleepers to watch in each region.

Have a story idea or topic you’d love to see? Submit it via DM on X at @FlaHSFootball, Instagram at @floridahsfootball or via email at joshua.wilson@floridahsfootball.com

SEASON TICKET MEMBERSHIPS

If you’re not already subscribed, now’s the time to join our Season Ticket Membership program:

Available Plans

• Premium Season Ticket – $59.99/year
• Monthly Premium Season Ticket – $7.99/month

🎉 LIMITED-TIME OFFER:
Now through August 31, get the Premium Season Ticket for just $44.99 — a 25% savings!
Use code FOOTBALL25 at checkout.

👉 Click here to subscribe and compare membership benefits