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In the 13 years of coaching the best D-line I ever had was about... DE - 6'0" 200lbs NT - 6'1" 262lbs DE - 6'1" 210lbs We ran a 3-4 and slanted the DL. So we didn't necessarily have to be as big. And we played 8A football. Three of the teams in our district made it to the state finals at some point. (Miramar, Flanagan, Cypress Bay) Both DE's had back-to-back double-digit seasons for sacks. The NT signed with Western Illinois (1AA). One year we had the #1 defense in the entire county. The 2 DE's were absolutely relentless and very polished technicians. I've coached Corners who signed with P5 teams. But one of the best HIGH SCHOOL CB's I ever coached was a (maybe) 5'7" 150lb kid who was gonna quit football and focus on lacrosse until he met me. Ultra competitive kid. Straight dawg. One of the toughest kids I've ever coached. I was told by the HC that he was "too small" and "got bombed all the time last season". I got there, installed a different scheme, the kid went from being an afterthought to finishing his Senior season with 8 interceptions. (and he dropped at least 3) In the arguably the toughest 8A district in the state at that time. I was told NOT to put this kid out there. He turned out to be our best cover guy. I actually used his LOOKS to bait OC's into throwing his way cause I knew he'd likely pick it off. https://www.hudl.com/video/3/3116944/5721c0b590eead5d90c4cdc7 Point I'm trying to make is, you can always find a spot for a kid if he's high motor, high effort. I don't give a damn if he's only 6'0" 230lbs. The mistake some HS coaches make is that they act like they're fielding a team to win COLLEGE games. Your job is to win HIGH SCHOOL games. And quite frankly, some of the best HIGH SCHOOL players aren't the most physically gifted. Now, you may not win a state title with a roster full of kids like that, cause at some point you'll run into a team like STA and their overall team talent will overwhelm you. But, having a team with a couple guys like that is always valuable IMO. You can win a lot of games with kids like that.

So what happen in a nutshell is this: Private and Charter schools are left in to choose on their own pretty much with exceptions I mention in a moment. All three counties have a county AD/conference of schools that usually coordinate things together, etc. Palm Beach made the move first and opted all their schools out. Broward with the BCAA went the same route except their two private schools that are members which is Cardinal Gibbons and Aquinas which they are opting in. Miami-Dade with the GMAC (which includes Columbus as the only private school member, no charters are members), they left the decision in the hands of each school. What it came down to is that Columbus and Booker T. wanted more guaranteed games. Its crazy to say that given that the FHSAA is allowing teams to play regular season games through December 19, especially if a team gets knocked out of the playoffs. Hopefully that helps some.

Northwestern has been practicing all summer so no reason not to opt in. I'm sure they are ready to play

Well hat tip my colleague Adam Lichtenstein at the Sun-Sentinel for getting the scoop on what Miami-Dade is doing. Most of their schools are opting out. Only five schools are in including only two of the four defending champs are opting in. Other schools opting in include Homestead, Edison and Miami Palmetto.

Your assertion that kids cannot get to 300lbs in HS and play very good football is not correct. Some can and do, with fairly low body fat and have strength that probably do not understand; but most 300lb kids in HS are just overweight and not the type of kids DI schools are interested in, so there is a lot of validity in why you espouse as a general statement. But some of the big schools have many 300 pounders, especially those schools that bring in kids from all over, and they have very big, very talented O Lines. Last year, all of the kids on IMG and STA O-Lines were over 300lbs. They all had good feet and could move; which is why were recruited by Power 5 schools. There is a big difference in having one or two legitimate big kids and having 20-25 Bigs as do IMG and STA have on their rosters, and this year they have just as many on each of those squads. It's just that some kids are big, can move their feet and are strong, with some benching 450lbs+, squat 600lbs+, and power clean over 350lbs+. So, though I am for a tough 200 pounder playing with a lot of heart, they too will get pushed around when they play against the better teams.

I was busy that night but did get to see West Orange a few weeks later. They were not as happy that night

Skyway, you make some good points. But in many respects, it's no different now than it's always been. There's just a new (perhaps more public) factor in play with Covid. School administrators, AD's, and County athletic department officials have always varied. Some are rule sticklers, some choose to follow what they believe to be the spirit of the rules, some look the other way when negative issues arise. That's been the case with eligibility, whether a kid lives in the right district, whether a family made a full and complete move, whether and when a team can practice, etc. etc. etc. Covid is going to be no different. Some schools will be very diligent and shut down operations with the first hint of a positive test. At the other end of the spectrum, there no doubt will be schools that turn a blind eye to to a list of players who have tested positive (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil). And some kids will be unfairly punished by the decisions that adults make and others will be the improper recipients of wrongful actions taken, or not taken, by the adults in their life. Welcome to life.

Regardless of what happens, any team that wins a "state championship" in 2020 is going to have a big COVID-19 asterisk next to their name. More importantly, from now until the end of time, any time someone comes onto this message board and mentions that a particular team won the 2020 state championship , ColumbiaFan and his heirs will be around to remind the readers that the team's not worthy of being called a state champion because many of the south Florida teams did not participate in the playoffs.

Exactly so they need to go ahead and announce the season opener and start playing games.

I left you a message @ColumbiaHighFan2017class.

I'd like to add that it's hard to find quality O-line coaching down here.

Maybe because in a postseason they don't get to control what county a team is from If your playing as a independent the individual school can schedule where they never leave their county if they choose to which is sometimes easier because the counties control certain aspects that may not be guaranteed in a postseason game involving other counties Besides I still stand by the fact that a postseason right now is crazy when we still have no Championship site and no plan but whatever I didn't expect the FHSAA to think logically after their previous meetings and what amounted to clear cut questionable leadership by the FHSAA and poor motivation for much of the decision making

reached out to APK football on Twitter... streaming answer soon I'll say it again... Apopka is my #2 favorite program. Worked there for my first internship in urban planning. Go Panthers/Darters for life

Only paid $10 for a 1 month subscription. Possibly the upcoming games, within the subscription timeframe, will be better.

If you had only knew I was on the sideline it might not have been

DP-APOPKA SINCE 2009 - Winner/Score 2019: APOPKA 21-13 2018: APOPKA 38-7 2017: APOPKA 21-14 (DP was state champion) 2016: APOPKA 15-14 2015: APOPKA 22-20 2014: NO GAME 2013: NO GAME 2012: DP 35-17........ then, APOPKA 38-19 (FINAL FOUR) 2011: DP 32-21 2010: NO GAME 2009: APOPKA 58-52, 5 OT (ROUND 2) Apopka is 7-2 in this time span against DP. For reference, DP is 121-25 during this time span (across all games)... Apopka accounts for 28% of DP's losses since 2009. Darter, you'll like this one. When Hendrickson ran that long bruising TD in the final four in 2012, my friend looked at me and said "that kid's going to the NFL". I'm pretty sure the guy was wayyyy off the radar.

I agree. It likely does not matter how much weight a 6'2" or less hs o-lineman packs on, it is probably not going to make a difference when it comes to getting him a college scholarship. It might sound cool for a parent or coach to talk about their 300-pound lineman, but like you say, their advancement will be limited unless they have the frame to accompany the weight. When it comes to the 6'4" and above kids, I find it is easier to put weight on a kid with a naturally big frame than take it off. If a kid is 6'4" 280 in hs, he is not likely to have a difficult time putting on 20-40 pounds. I can't think of many 280-pound hs kids I've known who complain about not be able to put on weight because their metabolism is so fast. If a kid is obese throughout hs, his body has gotten used to being in that state and may revolt when asked to exist at a much lesser weight. If he does not stay on top of things, he will easily balloon back up. Many of us have probably experienced this phenomenon ourselves!

FHSAA catering to the Panhandle region in 1A has to stop when they have not been competitive in a state game in the last four years. To make 1A competitive and exciting they need to do an emergency nonpolitical and non-catering redesign of the regional lines. The regional line for the north and south should across Gainesville not Madison that is about 20 mins from the Georgia Line. The way FHSAA set up the regional lines in 1A guarantees/predetermines that the Panhandle region will have one of their pee-wee league teams in the state finals. Therefore the Gainesville schools, Jacksonville schools, central area schools, Pahokee, Madison County etc....Must battle each other to meet the panhandle youth league team representative for the North region. After Madison Scored 56 in the 3rd Qtr, My brother and I left the game totally upset at the FHSAA when you can see the openly predetermine catering to the panhandle teams. I wish I would have went to last week's game in which my brother called it a classic and the unofficial state title game between Madison and Pahokee. Just as FHSAA continues to target the Miami Schools (where I am from but live in T-town Go West! Will be in D-town Wednesday as Miami Take it over) they just totally nipple feed the small schools in the panhandle when you look at all the classifications regional lines. I am not a Fla High School football historian but when was last time a team scored 70 in the state finals (I remember Venice beat someone real bad a long time ago).