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It is clear there is a rise in these "Academies" that purport themselves to be almighty in the hopes of persuading teenagers to sign up. That they pose as actual schools as well represents an attack on public education. Actually, it is an attack on private education as well in a sense. Schools that have been around for decades and have been held to the highest of standards and placed under significant scrutiny are now being challenged by new "schools" that are ran, often, by novices. American Collegiate Academy in Clearwater, Florida is an example. The school director, who is the person who created and served as the director of the athletics program, does not appear to have a college degree and is currently an UNDERGRAD at the University of Tampa. There is an attempt made to portray him as having a degree from Columbia, but a little digging reveals that he merely holds a certificate from a six course, online-only "Sports Industry Essentials" program. linkedin profile for school director, ACA The extension program certificate in sports from Columbia I think a lot of self-described "free market champions" are inclined to support these kinds of schools popping up because they only see an increase in competition. "What could hurt?", they ask. Lost in all of that is the fact that, quite frequently, the people in charge of running schools are not the least bit qualified to run a school. Should any parent want to send their kids to a "Collegiate Academy", whose vision includes rhetoric about " ...in order that they may be better prepared for the rigor of “higher education.” ", when the SCHOOL DIRECTOR himself has not yet earned a bachelor's degree? I'm certain he has a wonderful smile and an AMAZING handshake. So, he's probably really persuasive for some folks.

Silas is at Steinbrenner. Hope all are having a safe and healthy off season

I would think that Randazzo will have to travel out-of-state a few times to complete the 'away' end of the home-and-home series with some of the teams they hosted this past year.

Here is a chart showing the 2019 weekly power rating performance of our state's FBS teams. What's interesting to note are the trend lines. While schools like Florida, USF and FIU remained static throughout the season, the others display "cross-over" points. For example, the data shows that even though UCF blew out FAU at the beginning of the year, if they were to play again at the end of the season, the game should be much, much closer with FAU possibly winning. The same is true for Miami and FSU. The reverse happens with Florida and Miami. It shows that despite their first game being close, if the Gators and 'Canes played again at year's end, the Gators would have probably hammered them.

Whoa how do you leave an elite academic institution like Jesuit for a garbage ghetto school like Gaither? Talk about having your priorities out of whack. my kid goes to Gaither and it sucks. Our old address is zoned for it so we let him go. We are pulling him out at the end of the year. He only goes because it’s close to my job and my little ones school. Not worth it

3 Cocoa grads make the NFL 2019 all rookie team. OT JAWAAN TAYLOR, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS Taylor was the only rookie tackle in the NFL this season to play 500 or more offensive snaps and record a pass-blocking grade higher than 60.0. It was not an outstanding season for rookie tackles, but Taylor had a decent start to his career on the right side of the Jaguars’ offensive line. His 63.8 overall grade ranked 22nd out of 38 qualifying right tackles, and he was one of 20 players at the position to allow a pressure rate lower than 6.0%. In a disappointing season for the Jaguars’ line as a whole, Taylor’s solid play as a rookie was a silver lining. CB JAMEL DEAN, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS The first significant game action that Dean saw this season in Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks was one of the worst cornerback performances of the season. He allowed nine receptions for 155 yards in that outing alone. Since then, he’s been one of the best cornerbacks in the league. Among all cornerbacks with 25 or more targets since Week 10, Dean’s passer rating allowed of 29.1 was the lowest in the NFL by over 10 points, and his forced incompletion rate of 30.3% also led the position group. That strong finish to the season gives plenty of reason to be optimistic about his pairing with Carlton Davis in 2020. CB CHAUNCEY GARDNER-JOHNSON, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS Gardner-Johnson has been a bit of a Swiss Army knife for the Saints' defense, playing 50 or more snaps as a slot cornerback, box safety free safety and edge defender. Most of his time has been spent at slot corner, with 268 snaps, and his play there is the biggest reason for his inclusion on this list. Among all defenders with 25 or more slot targets, Gardner-Johnson’s 77.3 coverage grade ranks fourth. His 29.6% forced incompletion rate on those slot targets is the best in the league. The slot receiver is becoming a bigger and bigger part of NFL offenses, and Gardner-Johnson is proving his worth by taking those passes away. https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-pff-2019-all-rookie-team

Good read on the former Cocoa Tiger and Florida Gator. https://www.nola.com/sports/saints/article_dc4cd7dc-267e-11ea-9ad8-632e693dc659.html

Kerwin Bell Mayo/UF currently looking for a job as staff was fired from USF

I'd be interested in going through the years and comparing. 2010 STA on paper one of their best teams ever. That being said, MC seemed to struggle vs option teams back then and I would be kidding myself if I said MC wouldn’t give STA a game. *Playoff difficulty very slight edge MC only because South Dade>>>Cooper City. Both Miami and Creek sucked. BA beat Cypress bay 36-17 that year. Manatee and Plant vs MNW and DP would be a VERY interesting debate (back then I would have said Manatee/Plant no doubt), looking back ehhh I think it's pretty close. STA: beat Camden County GA 42-28 (home), beat Cypress Bay 60-14 (away) *playoff wins: Coconut Creek (59-0), Cooper City (49-7), Boyd Anderson (47-6), Manatee (31-7), Plant (30-7) Central: Lost Camden Co GA 42-45 (away), beat Cypress Bay 30-27 (away?) *playoff wins: Miami (55-0), MNW (42-27), South Dade (38-7), Cypress Bay (30-27), DP (42-27) 2010: Edge STA (MC was NASTY though) I'll try and do 2011 and 2012 tomorrow.

Yep; that's the blessing. The curse is having very little, if any, control over what non-district teams end up on your schedule. This curse gets magnified now that power rankings are used to determine which non-district winners make it into the playoffs and seeding for all the teams that make it (which, of course, determines home field advantage). Also, I suspect it helps to be in an area that may have 100 schools within an hour or so drive (like Tampa, Orlando and South Florida) versus being in a rural area, relatively speaking.

Madison SOS

Jeff Webb, Baker and Walton

I think it’s Carl Madison at Tate and Pine Forest

Northwestern

If there are 10-15 national academies that only play each other, so be it. But to stop the rise of this crap, normal academic institutions have to stop playing sports academies.

I could be wrong on that but I thought I remembered seeing him on another team state championship when I did prior research but I can't seem to remember where I would have saw it I did notice though that many of the panhandle coaches either coached their entire career at one school or they spent their career bouncing around schools in the panhandle I didn't see many coaches who coached in other parts of the state which I found interesting, I suppose once they moved out there for the job they didn't want to leave that general area and stayed coaching somewhere in the panhandle for the rest of their careers

Al Werneke was the first coach to win multiple state football titles at different schools, repeating at Glades Central High School in Belle Glade in 1971-72 and then again at Titusville High School in 1982-83. He also had one runner-up team at Titusville in 1980, and made six final four appearances. At the time of his death, he was ranked No. 4 on the all-time wins list.

The guy is at a school named American Collegiate Academy. One would think preparing kids to get to college and get a degree is a focal point. And the director himself has yet to get a college degree. How, exactly, can they actually sell themselves as superior to most any school? How do we determine if they have, in fact, done things "properly"? They appear to be operating (like most all charter or private schools) free of much of any oversight.

Here are the best programs to have not reached a state title game this century, sorted by their W-L Pct. vs. Florida Competition (2000-2019). Out of State contests are not included. School W L Pct Vero Beach 168 51 0.767 Jesuit (Tampa) 178 58 0.754 Hillsborough (Tampa) 160 63 0.717 Columbia (Lake City) 164 65 0.716 Fletcher (Neptune Beach) 159 66 0.707 Largo 159 66 0.707 Fort Myers 161 67 0.706 Charlotte (Punta Gorda) 161 69 0.700 Lafayette (Mayo) 151 66 0.696 Countryside (Clearwater) 149 66 0.693 Hardee (Wauchula) 153 68 0.692 Dunnellon 147 68 0.684 Dixie County (Cross City) 150 70 0.682 First Baptist (Naples) 77 36 0.681 First Academy (Orlando) 151 71 0.680 South Fort Myers 112 56 0.667 Park Vista (Lake Worth) 109 55 0.665 Calvary Christian (Fort Lauderdale) 104 53 0.662 Merritt Island 149 77 0.659 Lake Wales 147 77 0.656 Winter Park 145 78 0.650 Fleming Island (Orange Park) 120 65 0.649 Winter Haven 143 78 0.647 Plantation 140 77 0.645 Pace 139 78 0.641

No you are not dumb; I understand the error. But based on the title, it was teams that have not reached a title game. Edgewater, is probably the best team in past 20 years to not win a title having reached the title game four times (all losing efforts) and the semis two additional times.

Ok I'm dumb, thought this was teams that haven't won titles.

Same coaches. But players are the best recruiters and people are buying into the programs' cultures. Also Viera lost their receivers coach who was also a former Cocoa coach and player under Wilkerson.

I'm just saying Rockledge is getting all the transfers now. They already have 5 transfers

No real surprises honestly, it looks like it is spread out among numerous classifications and regions of Florida. I wonder what state title team since 2000 has the worst winning percentage over the same period as above. My guess would Nease or Jupiter Christian or Jefferson County.

Rockledge the new Cocoa? Rockledge has a way tougher road to get to or win states. They should go back to Cocoa

Not a good time for Viera to lose players. They are going to play Atlanta Westlake in the Cam Newton Classic and Westlake has been getting transfers and returns 16 starters

Miami Northwestern (If Columbia wins this round give them the UCF fake title)Lakeland St Thomas Aquinas Edgewater

On the flip side, here are the worst winning percentages by division from 2000-2019. Same rules apply. NCAA D1 FBS (P5) CONF W L Pct Kansas BIG12 78 162 0.325 Duke ACC 82 161 0.337 Vanderbilt SEC 87 155 0.360 Indiana BIG10 88 152 0.367 Illinois BIG10 91 151 0.376 Colorado PAC12 102 147 0.410 Iowa St BIG12 106 142 0.427 Syracuse ACC 104 139 0.428 Kentucky SEC 107 138 0.437 Rutgers BIG10 107 138 0.437 NCAA D1 FBS (G5) CONF W L Pct New Mexico St IND 66 176 0.273 Eastern Michigan MAC 67 172 0.280 UNLV MWC 76 166 0.314 Army IND 80 162 0.331 UTEP CUSA 82 160 0.339 Buffalo MAC 83 158 0.344 Kent St MAC 83 155 0.349 Tulane AAC 86 156 0.355 Louisiana-Monroe SBC 85 153 0.357 Akron MAC 88 153 0.365 NCAA D1 FCS CONF W L Pct VMI SoC 49 176 0.218 Mississippi Valley St SWAC 49 169 0.225 Valparaiso (IN) PL 60 162 0.270 Rhode Island CAA 63 163 0.279 Columbia (NY) IVY 56 144 0.280 Idaho BSC 68 170 0.286 Moved down from FBS to FCS 2018 St Francis (PA) NEC 63 154 0.290 Indiana St MVFC 67 161 0.294 Austin Peay (TN) OVC 68 159 0.300 Texas Southern SWAC 67 153 0.305 NCAA D2 CONF W L Pct Minnesota-Crookston NSC 29 188 0.134 Savannah St (GA) SIAC 37 176 0.174 moved from D2 to FCS in 2001; moved back to D2 2019 Lock Haven (PA) PSAC 39 179 0.179 Lincoln (MO) MIAA 38 169 0.184 Livingstone (NC) CIAA 40 158 0.202 Moved up from NAIA to D2 in 2002. Pace (NY) NE-10 44 158 0.218 Kentucky Wesleyan GMAC 48 160 0.231 Moved down D2 to NAIA 2004; back up to D2 in 2006 New Mexico Highlands RMC 53 163 0.245 St Anselm (NH) NE-10 51 154 0.249 Clark Atlanta (GA) SIAC 50 150 0.250 NCAA D3 CONF W L Pct Hiram (OH) NCAC 31 169 0.155 Iowa Wesleyan UMAC 38 169 0.184 Moved from NAIA to D3 in 2013 North Park (IL) CCIW 37 163 0.185 Wilmington (OH) OAC 40 160 0.200 Whittier (CA) SCIAC 37 144 0.204 Lawrence (WI) Midwest 42 156 0.212 Hamilton (NY) NESCAC 35 128 0.215 Kenyon (OH) NCAC 44 156 0.220 Lewis & Clark (OR) NWC 40 135 0.229 FDU-Florham (NJ) NJAC 46 154 0.230 NAIA CONF W L Pct Culver-Stockton (MO) HAAC 48 168 0.222 Mayville St (ND) NSAA 46 157 0.227 Montana St-Northern FC 57 153 0.271 SW Assemblies of God (TX) SAC 62 138 0.310 Central Methodist (MO) HAAC 68 145 0.319 Dakota St (SD) NSAA 66 138 0.324 Union (KY) MSC 69 141 0.329 Trinity International (IL) MSFA 71 144 0.330 Panhandle St (OK) SAC 70 139 0.335 Moved from D2 to NAIA in 2017 St Mary (KS) KCAC 69 134 0.340

Certainly in football, you have two separate trends impacting participation rates. First, there is the CTE matter which figures to lead to a decline. Then, there is the "Super team" phenomenon. The top players are congregating at fewer schools. This makes those teams who lose those players unable to compete, which is not merely "not fun", but also leads to even more danger for players. A QB or RB trying to play behind an OL that is getting thoroughly mauled is at much greater risk for serious injury, for example. Players who are not good enough to be desired by one of the handful of elite powers are going to start giving up the sport entirely. Now, there is always the option to follow what we see at colleges. There can be "club" type of sports programs. This allows for teamwork and the general benefits of extracurricular activities to still exist, without schools having to invest as much money for things like traveling to away games, more sophisticated resources etc. The other sports already see a significant-typically greater-influence of specialty academies and/or AAU teams. Many college and pro scouts in basketball actually skip over talking to HS coaches and instead seek out the AAU coach and handlers. I think schools, public schools anyway, are going to see the handwriting on the wall and let the specialty sports academies do their thing for aspiring pro athletes. This will allow them to fully focus on academics. And you won't see kids transferring around. They can just sign on to whatever academy independent of where they attend high school.

no poll human or computer agrees with you

At least two Tampa Jesuit players, including the starting QB and a college-prospect DB, have transferred to Gaither. And from what I hear, there may be more on the way. Is Gaither becoming the next Armwood? Speaking of Armwood, they've already lost one of their D1 prospect WR's (Agiye Hall) to IMG and reports have their other D1 prospect WR (Charles Montgomery) returning to Bloomingdale for his senior season. And the rumor on the street now is that Armwood's QB for the last two years, Cam'ron Ransom, may be heading east on I-4 to play his senior season at Lakeland. Is Armwood becoming the next Gaither? #WildWildWest

But can we all agree that, at least for this season, there was at least one "Elite" team in the SEC?

I was at the Gaither/Chamberlain game. Worst officiated game I've ever seen. The refs literally did not call a single penalty the entire night. It was if they weren't even there! After a strong season, the Chambo defense failed to show up against the Cowboys. Perhaps Chamberlain has a lot of underclassmen on their squad; but I couldn't find a program anywhere to confirm this. I guess that's to be expected with these neutral site games.

are you rooting for IMG?

UCF would still beat FAU by 2 touchdowns at least even if they played this weekend.

Very good young coach, with a lot to work with coming up

Miami Northwestern Miami Washington Lakewood Niceville Miami Central Lakeland Armwood Gaither St Thomas Aquinas Cardinal Gibbons Jones Rockledge Edgewater Atlantic Delray Chaminade Madonna Apopka

Hey Peezy! Nah, just plain ol' Excel. I'm in the Geritol club, remember? I can't keep up with all you whippersnappers and your new technology. LOL Actually, I have heard of it but I've never even seen it in action, let alone use it. Happy New Year! You were missed at the state championships.

He was the first Head Coach of Varsity Football at Trinity Catholic HS in 2002 the school's 2nd year in existence. . 2002 4-6 HC Kerwin Bell 2003 6-5 HC Kerwin Bell District Runner-Up 2004 8-3 HC Kerwin Bell District Champions 2005 14-0 HC Kerwin Bell District Champions,Regional Champions,State Champions 2006 13-1 HC Kerwin Bell District Champions,Regional Champions,State Runner-Up He was mostly responsible for mentoring QB John Brantley, Jr and helping him to become one of the best high school QBs in Florida. Bell also was able to bring very reliable and experienced assistants on board. I think that I was in the stands for every game that he coached. He was a disciplinarian who ran his teams like a military platoon and I got to the games very early just to watch how his teams marched on to the field and went through their warmups. Everyone wished that he had remained at Trinity. But, he had the opportunity to coach a college team and he made that a success also.

And let us know when and where the games are being played . . . I may want to try and catch one of the games.

You could just tell him that he's at the top ranked high school in the Tampa Metro Area and the 36th ranked high school in the state of Florida (according to U.S. News & World Report's 2019 rankings) and that, in the long run, his education will be more important than his brief football career. And you can tell him that if he's D1 material, the college coaches will still see that and the scholarship will still be waiting for him. There are many more things that you can tell him, but if you're just moving around from school to school based solely on a football coach and/or a football program, I suspect you'll tell him what he wants to hear to justify your actions.

I may be able to answer a few of these questions: 1. Yes, this morning Coach Weiner announced to the Plant family of players, coaches and parents that he would be leaving Plant to take a job with a yet-to-be-name D1 school. Although no announcement has been made by the university or Coach Weiner, I would expect him to step into some combination of OC/QB coach role. 2. Yes, the kids are disappointed and some may even be angry. They're 16 and 17 year old boys. That's the way teenage boys typically react to news like this. Their pain is real, but it will fade quickly for most and they'll move on with the next guy. Life lessons, right? 3. No word as of yet on his replacement. I don't know if it will be someone from the current staff or someone from the outside. Question: would an alum who is currently coaching elsewhere be considered an "insider" or an "outsider?" Food for thought. 4. Poaching season is officially open . . . at least that's my take based on what I've already heard from a few other parents who have kids in the program. I guess it's understandable that coaches and folks who fall into the category of 'representative of a school's athletic interests' would try to strike while the iron is hot and take advantage of this brief period of uncertainty. But, to paraphrase an old expression: "when you come at the king, you best not miss." A couple of folks have already told me they're keeping records of their calls and text messages -- implying that if they decide to stay, they'll have ample evidence of the recruiting attempts by other schools. And they won't be afraid to share the information. 5. That said, because of the uncertainty (and the tough year Plant had both on and off the field in 2019), it won't surprise me if a couple of players decide to go elsewhere. It's happened before and it'll happen again. And I suspect a new kid or two will show up in the locker room some time before the 2020 season starts, as well. I don't foresee a mass exodus. Contrary to what some folks may want to believe, the overwhelming majority of players on the team over the past decade have been kids who grew up in the Plant district, went to the feeder middle schools or area private schools and who, if they didn't play football, would have attended Plant anyway. However, depending on who the next coach is, I don't see kids transferring to Plant in hopes of becoming the next Plant QB under Weiner's tutelage. Here's my one certainty: things will continue to be interesting over the next few months.

Yep, that's the Throwing Mayoan.

James Franklin Penn State head coach just said if all I care about is wins I would be coaching in the NFL. Winning is important but in my opinion in high school football winning is down on the list of what is important. Everybody wants to win and everybody is trying to win but if winning a football game is the best moment of your life then your football coaches failed you.

Ok? There are a heckuva lotta teams that wouldve gone undefeated with Bartram Trail and Seminole's schedules. Not a single marquee win between them And Steinbrenner? Who managed to dodge the top 6 or 7 teams in its own county on its schedule and lost to the only one of Hillsborough's top 10 it did play? Give me a break And Steinbrenner beat Osceola, who beat Columbus, who beat Apopka, who beat Steinbrenner,.......and in circles we go in the pool of 8A teams that do not belong anywhere near the discussion of the states elite

But no room for a disabled Army Vet in a wheel chair. I knew none of you would respond to my post.

You're never going to see me trying to dime some team out for cheating. But if you don't think some form of cheating is going on at most of the traditional powerhouse schools, then you're naïve.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/28397320/incoming-georgia-tech-freshman-bryce-gowdy-dies