Coach

In my neck of the woods I can say that Harmony lost like 30 seniors to graduation last year from a roster of about 55-60. Lot's of turnover there this year. A few kids transferred out and they lost some pretty talented coaches. It's going to be a long year for the Longhorns.

CCC Cocoa Madison County Berkeley Vero Beach Deland Oakleaf Edgewater Braden River Vanguard

Regardless of scheduling, winning that many games in a row is not easy. Getting kids up for every game and every opponent week in and week out is tough. That's why a lot of teams don't win 56 games in a row. They still have to go out and win every Friday, which they've done for a while now.

As a UCF Alum, I'm all about them claiming a stake in the National Championship because they caught lightning in a bottle. The problem with scheduling is that Power 5 teams won't schedule UCF. That Stanford game was scheduled years ago and they just played it. Can you see a team at the higher end of the SEC or ACC scheduling UCF? Not a chance. It's a tough spot for UCF because when they lose a game, they were over-rated and had no reason to be there but then they win and it's "That Pac-12 team was soft. Pitt is at the bottom of the ACC." Or, from the other side of it - beating UCF doesn't do much for a Power 5 school other than a win over a ranked opponent. But, say a team like Oklahoma or Florida schedules them and UCF wins? Then they get legitimized and it hurts the Power 5 system in general. I get the fact that people don't like that they proclaimed themselves National Champions. But, people disrespect the dominance they've shown over the last 3 years and try to sweep it under the rug. As football fans, which we are, that's just being boneheaded.

Around where I live people still turn out in droves for St. Cloud/Osceola even though the rivalry has been lopsided for years.

Totally. I've always pulled double duty as JV HC and a Varsity assistant and I'm the one who advocates going for two. Maybe I'm just too aggressive but I think it puts other teams in a bind, especially if you're good near the goal line, because it changes the way they have to call plays. Plus, if you go 1/2 you still have 14 points.At least that's how I look at it.

I was a JV Head Coach for a long time and I would go for two every time we scored for the sheer fact that we didn't have kids who could field goal block or a kid who could consistently kick. On our varsity team, we run a swinging gate so the defense dictates how we attack them. My personal philosophy is to go for two with your regular offense as often as possible. But, that's just me...

Flagler Palm Coast (2-0) at Spruce Creek (1-0)No. 12 American Heritage (Plantation) (2-1) at No. 15 Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1-2)No. 21 Booker T. Washington (2-1) at No. 10 Columbus (2-1)IMG Academy (2-0) at St. Joseph's, Pa. (1-1)Trinity Catholic (3-0) at South Sumter (3-0)No. 23 Miami Carol City (1-2) at No. 6 Chaminade-Madonna (3-0)St. Augustine (2-0) at Bolles (1-1)NSU University School (2-1) at No. 17 Western (2-0)No. 20 Seminole (Sanford) (2-0) at DeLand (1-0)Dunnellon (3-0) at No. 11 Vanguard (3-0)Gulf Breeze (1-2) at Washington (Pensacola) (2-0)No. 13 Mandarin (2-0) at Bartram Trail (3-0)Lake Gibson (3-0) at Auburndale (3-0)Palmetto (3-0) at Port Charlotte (3-0)Raines (1-1) at Robert E. Lee (1-1) (Saturday)

I totally agree. I was using Hillsborough as more of an example as to why certain teams don't go independent since it may be out of their control. Any team that struggles that much needs to be out of a district. It's not fair to the kids to line them up against teams that could steamroll them week after week...

Some times it's not up to the schools. I think in Hillsborough County the County AD makes all of those decisions - which is why a school like Leto is still in a district. So, as coaches it's easy to know when it's time to move. But, sometimes those decisions are out of their (or even a school's) control.

The biggest issue is that the districts cancelled school. When they do that, they cancel all activities associated with the district (including practices). I’m in Central Florida and it’s not bad here at all but it’s a tall order to get back to school on Thursday (at the earliest) and try to play a game Friday or Saturday. It becomes a bigger headache if there’s a team from another county who can’t play when you can. No coach likes the Monday game (especially with District games getting ready to start). It sucks for the kids most of all because they lose out on a game if the one they miss isn’t rescheduled.

No. 5 Armwood (1-0) at North Gwinett, Ga. (1-0)No. 10 Columbus (1-0) at Osceola (Kissimmee) (1-0)No. 23 Booker T. Washington (1-0) vs. Miami Central (0-1)No. 21 Cocoa (1-0) vs. Hoover, Ala. (1-0) at The Freedom BowlLincoln (1-0) at No. 19 Rockledge (1-0)Bergen Catholic, N.J. (0-0) at No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas (1-0)Miramar (1-0) at Dillard (1-0)Crestview (1-0) at Escambia (1-0)Fort Myers (1-0) at Charlotte (1-0)

I know in the area where I live, student population can make or break a school. Teams like Liberty, Toho, Poinciana, Celebration and Cypress Creek have high Hispanic populations and football isn't a very important part of the culture so a lot of those students play other sports. I mean, Poinciana won a state basketball championship not long ago so they have athletes, but most don't want to play for programs that are historically bad.

I totally agree about private schools, but I'm not sure that's fair to say about teams struggling to win five games. There are a lot of factors out there that coaches have absolutely no control over - not the least of which is the transfer rule in the state. Now, teams that are constantly throwing out 2-8, 1-9 seasons might be a little different but 4-5 wins shouldn't get you sent to the independents lol.

St. Frances, Md. vs. Miami Central at Traz Powell (Saturday) St. Thomas Aquinas at De La Salle, Calif. Deerfield Beach vs. Miami Carol City at Traz Powell (Saturday) IMG Academy at Venice Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) at Columbia Plant at Armwood Jones at Raines American Heritage (Delray) at Vero Beach Cardinal Gibbons vs. Miami Northwestern at Traz Powell Lakeland at Manatee

Coach D left some really big shoes to fill, especially for someone who hasn't been coaching for a while. I can definitely see Apopka having a year in which they just barely make the playoffs. I think they are too talented in general not to make it, but I could be wrong. I agree that they are certainly not a Top-10 team right now.

I understand the being set in your ways part and instilling discipline into a new program because it obviously sounds like it was needed. But if kids are in college classes and have work, it's on the coach to adjust his schedule - not on the kids. Some kids need work to help pay bills, buy food, etc at home. To tell a kid who may be in that situation to make a choice is absurd. I'm not saying that was the case, but I've been coaching long enough to know that some kids are in that situation. As for the kicker and "giving him a choice," that seems a lot like the guy just being a jerk. He's not coaching in some D-1, FBS powerhouse. He's working with a high school kid who forgot his cleats. To tell him he can get the cleats but not play or leave is just petty.

If the kids have had at least one practice with the team since July 31st, aren't they not allowed to transfer at this point? It sucks for the kids. I'd agree that they'd have to promote from within at this point.

This transfer thing is absolutely absurd. The biggest reason is that I feel it destroys what a team is supposed to be. I work and coach at a school that is great academically and okay athletically. We’re usually ok in football but good in other sports like weightlifting and track. We’ve had kids leave in the summer to play football at other schools then transfer back after the season to lift with our coach or run on the track team. I don’t know how that can happen or any reason why it should happen. I understand that some people do transfer for the “right” reasons. People move, parents get jobs, etc. But this is crazy to me. One of the worst parts is that the mentality created by things like we’re seeing is that you can just hop around between places and kids are going to learn the hard way that the real world doesn’t work like that.

As a coach, you get way more benefits from Day One. You’re guaranteed six games as opposed to one the second day. As others have said, sometimes it’s just not worth it to rally the troops for what could be one game.

I think that a Spring Game is a must if you're going to give kids spring practice. It's hard to go out there and give them practices for 20 days if there's no game at the end of the month. Do I think the game itself is valuable? Maybe if you have a new coaching staff or a new group of kids at valuable positions. Overall, I'd say probably not. Most have altered rules or are in a jamboree format. As a coach, I do love having that time to help prepare kids too. I wouldn't trade those at all.

I’m a teacher and a coach. I use Remind and leave the two-way option on because I don’t answer my email after I leave work. Sometimes kids have a quick question so I am able to respond and that’s that. I don’t use it to just “chat” with my students. Same with my players. We have a Remind group and it is just a way to keep everyone organized. I have the two-way feature on but don’t use it just to chat.

I think the problem with this becomes teams not wanting to lose the gate money. Disney will take a cut. So, if I am an Osceola, Dr. Phillips, Mainland, etc, why would I want to go to a smaller venue and get less money when I can play a home and home with a team and make more for the program? I'd have to imagine that's got to be at least part of the reason Florida v Florida isn't likely unless it's like a school from Miami vs. Jacksonville or something like that.

I know Osceola County doesn't let you have both jobs at once. Regardless, Baker County got themselves a pretty good football coach. That guy had Viera humming before he left.

Ah. Thanks. Learn something new every day...