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Both my boys wrestle and play football.  I am very familiar with the home schooled wrestlers who are free agents wrestling for the various power programs in the state.  I can say with great certainty that nearly 100% will not earn a college scholarship in wrestling because wrestling is literally the hardest sport to earn a full ride in.  There are only 10 collegiate weight classes compared to 14 in high school.  You could be the state champ at your weight class but to wrestle at the next level, you will also have to be better than other kids at a weight class above and below you.  Additionally, there are only 70 D1 wrestling schools and not a single D3, D2 or D1 team in Florida.  Finally, Pennsylvania is so far above every other state in wrestling that they will take half of the scholarships, leaving crumbs for everyone else. 
Last note, wrestling also has very poor NIL prospects.  So kids that are sacrificing their HS experience to wrestle three hours away are doing it for only high school glory, nothing else.  After wrestling is over, what can they do with their shitty education?  The kids I know that are home school athletes pretty much just train all day.  I wonder when they even go to school at home? 

south dade has been a top team for well over 20 years!  lake gibson gets all the transfers in central florida it wants, read a wrestling message board and see the truth behind that.  there are kids that transfer from brandon and go to lake gibson and win big, has happened 2 or 3 times in the last few seasons.  south dade long time hc just retired and his long time assistant, who wrestled for him, is taking over.  could be a new power house in the state.  jesuit is alwasy good and has been for a long time, dating back 15 plus years.  brandon is not near what they were when cozart was in charge(even though his son is hc and he is still coming in working with kids, sitting in the corner, coaching offseason kids).  

This aint your daddy's Brandon wrestling team anymore. Brandon has fallen off the globe from what they were when we were in HS. But now you have top teams like South Dade, Lake Gibson, Somerset Academy, and Tampa Jesuit that pretty much dominate the sport in the state of florida. Somerset is a school that takes full advantage of the situation that I explained earlier. They also have a lot of kids that go there and wrestle in grades 6 through 8th and then transfer to South Dade for freshman year or stay at Somerset. They even had a kid the past few years that would play football for Western HS and wrestle for Somerset. It is what it is....The system is F'ed and there aint no going back. 

Sounds like your intentions are genuine, but your argument is weak.  NO ONE is telling any student he or she can't transfer to a better school be it for academics or athletics and here is where your argument falls apart.  We have "SCHOOL CHOICE" for that very reason, but that doesn't include coaches, their agents, parents or others actively trying to recruit an athlete simply because he can help their program win offering them any number of perks.   Osceola is a relatively low income county compared to the surrounding Orange, Seminole, Brevard and Volusia thus a Title 1 school.  However, the administration, faculty, coaches and support staff do a very good job with the kids they are handed be it on the education front or athletics.  We just had a DB transfer to Lakeland HS and my guess is he and his parents have their reasons for doing so that they deem beneficial for his senior year.  We had a RB transfer in from Toho probably with a similar scenario.  That I have no problem with and the way the program is supposed to work.  TFA and the kids (30 as others have pointed out) that went there is an abomination that can only be chalked up to recruiting which is illegal and thankfully has consequences for ALL!!

The dudes name is Steven Moffett. Been around for a while (winter park, leesburg, TFA). Runs the 7v7 team 24K. Recruits kids from there and though various trainers and street agents around CFLA.

IMG openly recruits on a national level and is fine playing a national schedule with no interest in the FHSAA playoffs.  The same cannot be said about the First Academy as they want to openly recruit, play a national schedule but also desperately want a state championship in the FHSAA.  Their appeal to lift the suspension for this season was just rejected by the FHSAA board 10-0 which I applaud them for.  A Christian school that cloaks itself in righteousness and virtue should not be rewarded for cheating to win.  

Hopefully this will make sense.

To put your situation in TX terms, the Palm Harbor area of Pinellas would likely be its own independent school district (PHISD). 

That is a huge distinguishing factor that separates TX schools from FL. In this setup, PHISD sets forth policies and infrastructure in a way that reflects their community’s values. 
Because they are an affluent area, ~3% property taxes bring in an immense amount of money. That allows them to attract and retain high caliber teachers/coaches/administrators by paying them well and providing them with the resources they need (one of the noteworthy things about TX is that teachers do not complain about pay and there are FAR more young people going into education because it is a viable career due to the pay).
The other benefit of this is that when PHISD pays well, similar districts like “South Tampa ISD” or “Venice ISD” must follow suit to compete for high quality workers. For less affluent/city areas that may not have the high residential property tax revenue, this is taken care of because skyscrapers and commercial real estate are taxed at the same rate (which is why TX oil towns have great school districts…an Odessa oil tank is taxed just like a Highland Park mansion).
So PHISD can pay staff competitively at their discretion. They can also pass municipal bonds for capital projects that reflect their community’s values. They want an 8,000 seat stadium, new fine arts building, turf installation on practice fields, baseball and softball fields (happens more than you think in TX), put it to a vote and get the community to agree to it. The smaller scale of the district allows you to get things done that are important to that community, not be held back by the differing interests across the county as it is in FL. 
 
The smaller school districts make districts compete and race to the top, instead of what we do in FL which is to do legislative gymnastics to get by paying teachers/fund schools minimally because there is no incentive to with no competition for personnel and families. Districts complete for families to live in their district just like they compete for teachers and staff.
In your example where Palm Harbor has support but others do not, the TX model would make it so that that area is not bound by the other areas. It really is a great setup by can’t happen in FL due to state law mandating each county be its own school district. 

texas-
oil money, bond money, independent school districts, very high property taxes, middle school football(pop warner is before 6th grade football in most parts), all coaches are in the school district, UIL(the governing body of both athletics and academics) does not allow for off campus coaches, unless you are retired by the state of texas education.
the indy school districts all pay the same state level teacher pay.  its their bonus/supplement that their school boards can approve.  so the 100k FB coach that doesnt teach, hes probably making 35k in a school board supplment.  
oil money is there, but in the forms of a bond.  high property taxes, independent school dist personnnel ask the county to raise the property taxes for their zone, it goes to vote every year and it gets passed.  things like road construction, proper drainage in local areas, sidewalks, snow plows, are very scarce/poorly maintained.  but most of those school dist have a huge stadium with turf!  
Football is the life of the communitiy, all over the state.  6 man, 8 man, 11 man.  an entire community shuts down and goes to the home game.  have seen some real interesting things go on during the times ive been out in west texas.  mojo football, just like the movie, is 100% real.  coaches getting fired for losing in the state title game.  
be careful what you wish for, however.  you get local school board involved in paying coaches more money, dont you dare go 6-4 and not make playoffs.  why did we pay you an extra 20k?  not to lose to that bad school.
 

texas-
oil money, bond money, independent school districts, very high property taxes, middle school football(pop warner is before 6th grade football in most parts), all coaches are in the school district, UIL(the governing body of both athletics and academics) does not allow for off campus coaches, unless you are retired by the state of texas education.
the indy school districts all pay the same state level teacher pay.  its their bonus/supplement that their school boards can approve.  so the 100k FB coach that doesnt teach, hes probably making 35k in a school board supplment.  
oil money is there, but in the forms of a bond.  high property taxes, independent school dist personnnel ask the county to raise the property taxes for their zone, it goes to vote every year and it gets passed.  things like road construction, proper drainage in local areas, sidewalks, snow plows, are very scarce/poorly maintained.  but most of those school dist have a huge stadium with turf!  
Football is the life of the communitiy, all over the state.  6 man, 8 man, 11 man.  an entire community shuts down and goes to the home game.  have seen some real interesting things go on during the times ive been out in west texas.  mojo football, just like the movie, is 100% real.  coaches getting fired for losing in the state title game.  
be careful what you wish for, however.  you get local school board involved in paying coaches more money, dont you dare go 6-4 and not make playoffs.  why did we pay you an extra 20k?  not to lose to that bad school.
 

Not sure if anyone saw this article (it was in a variety of publications) on the point differentials between Metro/Suburban v the 'traditional' playoff system that we currently, and previously, have.  I'm sure I'm gonna stir the pot on this again, but I think the data is worth some discussion.
TL;DR: MASSIVE average point differential change comparing the two systems; a.k.a. less competitive state title games.
Metro/Suburban system average winning point margin
2022: 11.86
2023: 14.75
Traditional system average winning point margin
2021: 19.7
2024: 26
Also, as a thought experiment, I took out Chaminade-Madonna's games since they are massive outliers in the data.  That makes each one:
M/S 2022: 8.71
M/S 2023: 8.86
Trad 2021: 19.5
Trad 2024: 24.5
Long story short, we had 2 years of just over 1 score games and now back to 3-4 score games.
Another thing I looked at was how many game were a running clock at the end of the game.
M/S 2022-2023: 1
Trad 2021 & 2024: 4
Shutouts
M/S 2022-2023: 1
Trad 2021& 2024: 3
 
So, if you like competitive games, no running clocks, no shutouts, it's blatantly obvious which is better.
Is Metro/Suburban perfect?  No, nothing ever will be.  Plus I always think I spelled suburban wrong.  Did it lead to better football?  Sure looks like it.
As someone who has been involved with both Metro and Suburban teams that made it to state titles, it just makes sense from a football perspective.  How does it not make sense?  Well the article discusses it and if I spell it out that'll for sure get under some folk's skin, even if it is the truth.
 
No matter what, I think we can all agree that a system where we have no idea how the points are figured is unacceptable and has to change.

Thanks for pointing out that there is no correlation between higher taxes and interest in high school football.  If that were the case, New Jersey would be known for having the most passionate supporters of high school football.
My point was in response to PinellasFB's observation of an athletic facility in Texas, i.e. a willingness to support the construction of football stadiums, practice facilities, gymnasiums, natatoriums and so on through higher taxes and/or personal financial contributions suggests a more passionate and supportive fan base.  I am not advocating for higher taxes of any type.
 

Having lived in Texas for 5 years, I can attest that there are some meaningful differences from Florida.  To begin with, property taxes are significantly higher, so there is more money available for public school kinds of things.  My wife's pay and benefits as a public-school teacher there were very good.  Some would argue that you get what you pay for.
In terms of football culture, it is definitely a different level in terms of community support.  In larger cities, a school district may have 8-12 high schools, but every high school does not have its own stadium.  The school district may have 2-3 multi-use stadiums seating 10-15,000 and shared on Thursday-Saturday nights.  Attendance for a regular season game may be 8-10,000, and I attended one regional playoff game in the University of Texas stadium with 40,000 in attendance.  In small communities with one high school, the sky is the limit with what financial resources that particular community might have.  The bands, dance teams, and cheerleaders dwarf in size what I have seen in Florida.  
I will say that in the panhandle, I have seen excellent game-day atmospheres at Niceville, Choctaw, Crestview, Pace, Tate, and Navarre.  I think this is because these are primarily "one community, one high school" types of settings.  On a larger level, you cannot just infuse "culture" into a state such as Florida by waving a magic wand.  I'm afraid I don't have the single answer to improve the status of high school football in Florida.  

You rightfully list the wrong-headed ideas/policies they have tried over the years and I agree that the Metro/Suburban was a step in the right direction and needed some tweaking.  What I disagree with is that these folks are "Totally Blind & Ignorant" as you claim.  I tend to fall in the DR. D camp that they, just like most on this board are "HOMERS" and are settling on ideas that either help or don't hurt their team.  If they stick to implementing the OPEN DIVISION in 2025 that will be a step in the right direction.  I may be the one that is totally blind and ignorant for having hope. 

Now that _hit is funny....
They are totally blind and ignorant.
We go from a system that if you were somewhat good at math and could see schedules you could figure out if you were going to make the playoffs 
to
metro suburban and it wasnt bad, look at the finals scores.  already stated here.
to
hiding the facts that teams got in that shouldnt have, and teams didnt get in that should have.
and move finals to the southern part of the state.  seriously, drive from penscola to miami.
that will never get right, from the awesome venue in daytona with no parking and 1 lane road to this.
finals should be in raymond james/the new usf stadium, back to citrus bowl or the scocer field,  ucf stadium, somehwere in central fla that can house 10k fans, easily accessable and parking isnt a  problem.
blind is an understatement.

Now that _hit is funny....
They are totally blind and ignorant.
We go from a system that if you were somewhat good at math and could see schedules you could figure out if you were going to make the playoffs 
to
metro suburban and it wasnt bad, look at the finals scores.  already stated here.
to
hiding the facts that teams got in that shouldnt have, and teams didnt get in that should have.
and move finals to the southern part of the state.  seriously, drive from penscola to miami.
that will never get right, from the awesome venue in daytona with no parking and 1 lane road to this.
finals should be in raymond james/the new usf stadium, back to citrus bowl or the scocer field,  ucf stadium, somehwere in central fla that can house 10k fans, easily accessable and parking isnt a  problem.
blind is an understatement.

Now that _hit is funny....
They are totally blind and ignorant.
We go from a system that if you were somewhat good at math and could see schedules you could figure out if you were going to make the playoffs 
to
metro suburban and it wasnt bad, look at the finals scores.  already stated here.
to
hiding the facts that teams got in that shouldnt have, and teams didnt get in that should have.
and move finals to the southern part of the state.  seriously, drive from penscola to miami.
that will never get right, from the awesome venue in daytona with no parking and 1 lane road to this.
finals should be in raymond james/the new usf stadium, back to citrus bowl or the scocer field,  ucf stadium, somehwere in central fla that can house 10k fans, easily accessable and parking isnt a  problem.
blind is an understatement.

While the rankings for 7A and 6A changed, it didn't affect the matchups in the semis because the final four's relative rankings didn't change. In the case of 5A they did; hence, the change in opponent.
But, it's clear that the FHSAA violated its own rule in reranking the teams to account for playoff games. With that in mind, it begs the question: what else have they done contrary to what they were supposed to do? That question, unfortunately, will never be answered. 

Feel sorry for ya TN. You’re a hypocrite. Knew you wouldn’t answer my question cause it would convict you. Your judgements & assumptions come from the chip on your shoulder & as much hate as you “accuse” me of. You’re the type of person that if peeps don’t agree with you they’re haters. That hate comes out strong when your love for your school is attacked. You live in a very narrow & near sighted world! I’ve followed you for years & your the same person today as you were years ago….This is your world, don’t say anything negative bout it……Tighten your belt up TN……

I can tell you, without hesitation, that I have an equal amount of disdain for any and all schools that bend and break the rules in order to give themselves a competitive advantage on the field or court.  I don't care whether those schools are in south Florida, southwest Florida or central Florida. 

Pretty much.  It serves no purpose to potentially have a title vacated if the Bulls run the table if the documented information clearly demonstrates what the punishment should be.

Touché 

check out south sumter, gainesville east side, dunellon.
3a-5 district.
sumter beat east side 21-7 on last thursday,
all 3 finish 2-1.
sumter technically was 2nd as it lost to dunellon, east side is 3rd. dunellon is 1st.
max preps has sumter at 9 and east side at 11 in 3a.
fhsaa doesnt see it that way and east side, likely to their 7-3 record vs 4-6 sumter(with a higher strength of schedule), east side is in, south sumter is out, dunellon is in too.
so 3 or 4 of these very similar situations in the brackets,
all at different classes.  
its clearly a computer glitch....
fhsaa got some splanin to do to some schools....
1 time is an oversight, a mistake, 2 times, defintely should look into it, 3 times and i bet some beach front property I own there are more, is a problem.

Yup the FHSAA had a discussion with Astronaut AD

I think I mentioned this above, or on another strand,
astronaut is one, they beat villages charter thursday night for distrcit runner up spot.  better record, strength of schedule higher, had a higher ranking on the previous max preps and then the new rankings, they are lower?  which makes no sense to anyone.
saint cloud was another one I saw on twitter that was the exact same thing, like to the letter.
i think pace was another one,
im sure if there was some digging done, you would find alot of these same things.
its clearly a computer flaw in the rankings, villages jumped 2 spots above astronaut and pushe them out. same with saint cloud.
look on the astronaut twitter page, more details there, lol.

I think I mentioned this above, or on another strand,
astronaut is one, they beat villages charter thursday night for distrcit runner up spot.  better record, strength of schedule higher, had a higher ranking on the previous max preps and then the new rankings, they are lower?  which makes no sense to anyone.
saint cloud was another one I saw on twitter that was the exact same thing, like to the letter.
i think pace was another one,
im sure if there was some digging done, you would find alot of these same things.
its clearly a computer flaw in the rankings, villages jumped 2 spots above astronaut and pushe them out. same with saint cloud.
look on the astronaut twitter page, more details there, lol.