OldSchoolLion

In 1999, a sixth class was added and a number of teams left 5A and went to 4A...St Thomas Aquinas, Escambia, Pine Forest, Southeast(they actually dropped from 6A, where they were a finalist in 1998), Fort Myers(played STA in 5A second round in 1998), Estero(5A finalist in 1998), Merritt Island. In 1999, STA played Escambia in the 4A final and in 2000, STA played Pine Forest in the 4A final. STA was a 5A finalist in 1996 and 1997. Those changes in 1999 opened up 5A and made easier playoff paths for some teams. There are numerous examples of something like this happening over the years, whereby a bunch of teams shifted from one class to another and substantially weakened the class they left.

I considered currently recruited qb seniors with substantial recruiting attention to make these determinations. Although Florida has quite a few qb recruits, relatively few have been aggressively pursued by Power 5 schools. The Pacific Coast states (WA, OR, CA and HI) produced 22% of the recruits. The number of recruits in Washington was surprising. In terms of sheer numbers,the states that produce the most highly recruited qb's are: 1. California-33 recruits 2. Texas-31 recruits 3. Florida-18 recruits 4. Georgia-15 recruits 5. Washington-12 recruits 6. Tennessee-11 recruits 7. Alabama-9 recruits 8. Arizona-8 recruits . Per capita, the states that produce the most highly recruited qb's are: 1. Alabama 2. Washington 3. Tennessee 4. Mississippi 5. Louisiana 6. Georgia 7. Oregon 8. South Carolina

Below are 103 head coaches who left their roles over the past 20 years after spending 10 or more years as head coach at a school. Many of these coaches spent 20 or more years at that school. Unless noted, they are no longer actively coaching hs football in FL. There could well be some I missed. Feel free to add to the list. What does it mean? Well, it is getting harder and harder to find coaches today who have at least 10 years invested at their present school. There are only about 20 active hs coaches in Florida who have been head coach for more than 15 years at their current school. We have lost a LOT of great coaching experience over the past 20 years. Look at some of these names! It really hits you to see them in one place. Please share if you have any comments related to how the departure of one of these coaches impacted a program? How much have these coaching departures affected the current landscape in hs football? That's extremely difficult to say. I do think it is one of a number of factors that must be considered in any discussion of "why" things are so different compared to 20+ years ago. And if the average coaching experience/tenure of our coaches continues to decline over time, it could have a negative impact on the talent the state produces. Southeast FL-18 teams American Heritage (Plantation)-Byron Walker-now coach at Archbishop McCarthy Belen Jesuit-Richard Stuart Benjamin-Ron Ream Cardinal Gibbons-Michael Morrill-17 seasons Cardinal Newman-Sam Budnyk Carol City-Walt Frazier Columbus-Chris Merritt Coral Gables-Joe Montoya *Ida Baker-Brian Conn-12 seasons-current coach at South Fort Myers Jupiter-Charlie Persson *Jupiter Christian-Bill Powers-10 seasons *Marathon-Lance Martin-12 seasons Monsignor Pace-Joe Zaccheo Palmetto(Miami)-Jim Kroll Pine Crest-Keith Flynn Plantation-Frank Hepler St Thomas Aquinas-George Smith South Dade-Don Drinkhahn Southwest FL-5 teams Barron Collier-Dave Tanner Clewiston-Al Morrell Fort Myers-Sam Sirianni Immokalee-John Weber *South Fort Myers-Grant Redhead-moved to Ohio to coach East Central FL-20 teams Apopka-Rick Darlington Astronaut-Randy Hallock Boone-Phil Ziglar-23 seasons Cocoa-John Wilkinson-13 seasons-current coach at New Smyrna Beach Edgewater-Bill Gierke-current coach at Orangewood Christian *East Ridge-Bud O'Hara-11 seasons-current asst coach at Lake Highland Prep Evans-Bill Gierke-now coach at Orangewood Christian Lake Brantley-George Clayton-19 seasons *Lake Highland Prep-Tim Borcky-17 seasons Mainland-John Maronto *Martin County-Chuck Kenyon-11 season-current coach at Sebastian River Melbourne Central Catholic-Mike Riazzi-25 seasons *Merritt Island-Jeff McLean-11 seasons *Robinson-Michael DePue-10 seasons Rockledge-Chuck Wood Seabreeze-Marc Beach-20 seasons-moved to Georgia *Sebastian River-Randy Bethel-16 seasons-current asst coach at Vero Beach Vero Beach-Billy Livings *Warner Christian-Andy Price-13 seasons-current coach at Spruce Creek Winter Park-Larry Gergley-26 seasons West Central FL-24 teams Armwood-Sean Callahan Cardinal Mooney-Michael Dowling-28 seasons Chamberlain-Billy Turner-30 seasons-passed away in 2017 Clearwater-Tom Bostic Crystal River-Earl Bramlett *Dixie Hollins-Mike Morey-15 seasons *Dunedin-Mark Everett-11 seasons Fort Meade-Mike Hayde-left hs coaching to coach at Warner U Kathleen-Irving Strickland-11 seasons Lake Gibson-Keith DeMyer Lake Wales-Rod Shafer-left high school coaching to coach at Warner U Land O' Lakes-John Benedetto-32 seasons at Land O' Lakes-passed away in 2013 Largo-Rick Rodriguez-15 seasons at Largo Manatee-Joe Kinnan North Marion-Craig Damon-13 seasons-works at FHSAA Riverview(Sarasota)-John Sprague *Seminole(Pinellas)-Sam Roper-28 seasons South Sumter-Inman Sherman Southeast-Paul Maechtle-current coach at Cardinal Mooney Tampa Catholic-Bob Henriquez Tampa Jesuit-Dominick Ciao-current coach at Berkeley Prep Vanguard-Phillip Yancey *Wesley Chapel-John Castelamare-11 seasons Zephyrhills-Tom Fisher-20 seasons Northeast FL-11 teams Bishop Kenny-Mark Thorson Bolles-Corky Rogers Buchholz-Jay Godwin-14 seasons Fletcher-Joseph Reynolds-20 seasons Jackson(Jacksonville)-Kevin Sullivan-11 seasons Palatka-Jim McCool-21 seasons *Ribault-Anthony Flynn *Ridgeview-Tom MacPherson-15 seasons-current coach at Orange Park St Augustine-Joey Wiles Union County-Robby Pruitt-left FL to coach in Georgia White (Jacksonville)-Daniel Disch-16 seasons-coaching in German Football League Northwest FL-25 teams *Arnold-James Hale-13 seasons Baker-Jeff Webb Blountstown-Greg Jordan-current coach at Port St Joes *Cottondale-Mike Melvin-16 seasons Crestview-Matt Brunson-current coach at Baker Dixie County-Brent Wilkerson-18 seasons *FAMU-Ira Reynolds-13 seasons-current asst coach at Rickards FAMU-Harry Jacobs Fort Walton Beach-Mike Owens-15 seasons Godby-Shelton Crews *Jay-Elijah Bell-21 seasons *Liberty County-Grant Grantham-11 seasons Lincoln-David Wilson Madison County-Frankie Carroll-moved to Georgia Milton-Carl Madison Niceville-Frank Sorrells North FL Christian-Tim Cokely-coaching in Georgia Pace-Mickey Lindsey Pensacola-Mike Bennett-current coach at Escambia *Pensacola Catholic-Greg Seibert-12 seasons-left to coach in Alabama *Pensacola Washington-Chet Bergalowski Pine Forest-Jerry Pollard Port St Joe-John Palmer Rutherford-Steve Hardin Wakulla-JD Jones

This video blew me away and I think you will find the 5-minute investment worth it for the inspiration it shares. It is not directly related to football, but is a success story about education of our youth and helping the underprivileged to find a way out of poverty beyond athletic scholarships . Maybe if kids had hope like these kids, they could focus more on their studies, since there is a way out beyond athletics. I read that Harris Rosen created a place like this in Haiti as well.

...concerning Deland. Junior Avantae Williams, a 4-star safety committed to the Canes started his career at Deland. He transferred to Mainland and then IMG. He is now back at Deland. LB and USF commit Demaurez Bellamy followed him from Deland and there was talk of others coming as well this past spring. Dominic Mamarelli is one of the top juniors in the state. The 4-star TE is a UM commit.

When you get married and are compelled to constantly get the last word in, trust me, you will be more than just confused. Some of us have personal experience with frying pans and sleepless nights on the couch..not to mention temporary suspension of certain fringe benefits associated with married life. I am now perfectly trained, though, and do not have such issues.

You are so busy dissecting my message you completely missed the message. But I am sure you will next try to demonstrate to me how you better understood the intent of my message than even I did. I have no more energy to explain, so let's move on please. Good luck with married life, my friend. As married men on the board will attest to, the opposite gender has a unique way of communicating that can cause us dumb males much grief, until we eventually figure it out. Listen for the message, and not just the words.

ColumbiaFan, it would be nice to hear you speak of teams in the Jacksonville area whose hard work is clearly paying off, if not in spectacular fashion, at least in terms of progress. Your comments now and in the past make it sound as Jacksonville is a hopeless place and, as a coach, I may as well not even try that hard...just wait for the winds to shift in my favor. If one wishes to be publicly respected for developing rankings, it is important to be perceived as one with minimal bias. One must choose what they want to be...a home-town homer or an objective evaluator of talent. One cannot be both successfully. If you truly believe Fletcher has troublemakers in their ranks, fair enough. But by publicly stating such things, I have now lost faith in your ability to objectively evaluate them in the future. The fact that you went out of your way to mention the fight publicly tells the world you have an axe to grind, regardless of your intention.

The combined scores of those STA vs FM games was an amazing 172-37. Talk about head games for Fort Myers. STA was vulnerable in the 80's. Something changed drastically in the 90's.

It appears to me that Lee has a head coach who has invested 7 years in the program and has had 4 winning seasons in a row. That sounds like potential for more than a flash in the pan. I joke a lot, but seriously in this case, please consider the hard work of the coaching staff and players at Lee. Attributing their success to transfers is not showing consideration for such things.

...so, Lee is a flash in the pan, Fletcher is troublemakers....anyone else to disparage this fine Saturday morning.

You better watch out for Fletcher in regular season. They are going to have quite the passing tandem. Jeremiah Payton is a 4-star WR and UM commit. And Devon Lingle, one of the top junior QB's in the state, is a 3-star recruit who already has multiple FBS offers.

Gosh you sure are harsh on those teams up your way. By the way, would have been nice to have a picture with all of the district title trophies in the background

...some random thoughts related to the changes between 2000 and 2018. Notice I say "may" a lot below. Some of these may be more valid than others. Coaching changes-A number of well-known, successful coaches with many years at a certain school retired in the 2000's. Some teams experienced drop-offs upon their retirements. The Economy-No doubt the Great Recession of the late 2000's had far-reaching impacts that in some ways may have had affected certain schools, ie people moving due to job and/or home loss Classification changes-from 5 to 6 in 1999, 6 to 7 in 2003, and 7 to 8 in 2005. We added 3 classes in 7 years. That is a lot of change in a very short period of time. Consolidation of talent in metro areas-seems like less teams from rural areas are making the rankings nowadays as teams in metro areas are able to benefit from transfers and more easily build "super teams" ; within metro areas, ie Miami-Dade, the talent is concentrated in lesser schools Rise of the private schools in south FL-Chaminade and AH Delray came out of nowhere in 2000. STA showed vulnerability in some years prior to 2004. They definitely stepped things up a notch beginning in 2004. The Dillard's and Ely's of the world may have been impacted. Polk County-Was really strong in the 90's and early 2000's. Population growth/new schools may have caused some changes in competitiveness of certain teams. Teams moving up/down in class may have had impacts. Palm Beach/Hendry County-Population moves due to economy may have impacted certain schools, ie Clewiston, Pahokee, etc Space Coast-Lots of population growth and some new schools may have diluted talent at certain schools, ie Palm Bay.

It's interesting. A number of good teams seemed to drop off in the mid 2000's...Palm Bay, South Sumter, Edgewater, Lake Wales, Lake Gibson, Jesuit, Booker, Pahokee, Killian, Southridge, Monsignor Pace, Dillard, Ely, Chaminade, etc. Many have never recovered. Maybe it is coincidental, but it seems like a lot to be simply random.

Between 1991-2002, St Thomas Aquinas knocked 14 southwest Florida teams out of the playoffs. That included 6 victories over Fort Myers alone. Knowing your deep-seated dislike for STA and the rivalry that exists between STA and the southwest FL schools, I think you should adopt them and defend their honor until we can find somebody to do so. Those SW schools do not have many state titles, but you are a master of making teams without state titles look good

Am working my way though about 75 teams that rarely get discussed on this board, but deserve some recognition. Hope you enjoy. Atlantic-In 1996, the Sharks of Port Orange won their only playoff game in school history, a 10-7 victory over 4A South Lake. Boone-For over 35 years, the Braves of Orlando never won a playoff game. They snapped that streak in 2005, beating Sarasota in a 21-20 OT victory. In 2006-2008, under coach Phil Ziglar, they made successive deep playoff runs. That run included a 2007 6A final appearance, their only one in school history. Unfortunately for the Braves, they ran into a powerhouse Northwestern squad that beat them 41-0. Deland-In 2009, the Bulldogs made their only deep playoff run in school history, reaching the 6A final, where they lost to Miramar 42-20. They won 4 playoff games on the road to get there, including road wins against Apopka and Mainland. Fort Pierce Central-The Cobras have won a number of playoff games over the years, but their teams of 1970 and 1971 were the most famous. They made the title game each year and won the 4A title in 71, beating Tampa Robinson 29-13 in Fort Pierce under Coach Calvin Triplett. The Cobras have never gotten close to returning to a title game since. Leesburg-In 1969, the Yellow Jackets of Leesburg made it to the Class A final in Tampa, where they lost 27-6 to Blake. They have only won 2 playoff games since. Lyman-In 2005, the Greyhounds won their only playoff game in school history, a 21-14 OT victory over 5A Melbourne. Melbourne-In 1965 and 1966, under famous coach Byrd Whigham, the Bulldogs of Melbourne made their only deep playoff runs in school history. In 1965, Melbourne lost the 2A title at the Orange Bowl, losing 44-12 to Miami High. In 1966, they returned to south Florida and won the 2A title by upsetting Fort Lauderdale High 31-12. Osceola/Seminole-In 1993, the Warriors of Pinellas County won their only playoff game in school history, a 35-3 victory over 3A Zephyrhills. St Cloud-In 1980, the Bulldogs won their only playoff game in school history, a 20-8 victory over 3A Tarpon Springs. Tavares-In 2004, the Bulldogs of Lake County won their only playoff game in school history, a 44-14 win over 2A West Nassau. At that time, West Nassau was looking for its first playoff victory in 25 years.

Those two took turns knocking each other out of the playoffs back then. Palm Bay had Reggie Nelson, Joe Cohen, and the "X" Man, Xavier Carter back in those days. When Palm Bay moved up to 5A, they didn't have as much luck. They came to Lakeland after they made the switch and it was just ugly.

The 2003 final matchups were great and most of the games were fairly close. Most of the teams had to work their way through the playoffs and really earn a trip to the final. Miami Edison had some nasty teams back then and were loaded with D1 talent. They beat both St Thomas and Chaminade. In the 2003 state semis, an outmatched(on paper) Naples roster destroyed Edison 41-0. That was a real shocker. The 3A matchup between Bolles and Pace was highly anticipated and had one of the most exciting endings of modern times. The 2A matchup between Chaminade and Madison County was also highly anticipated. Some felt these teams in the lower classes were some of the best teams in the state, regardless of classification. Imagine a 2A game today attracting statewide attention.

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/ryan-thomas/JoaQjl9AEea-8KA2nzwbTA/videos.htm Not that Cocoa needs a great passer 158 passing yards total in the last 5 title games. But with that running game, a guy with an arm could really burn a defense on occasion.

By the way, didn't mean to imply there should be love for Jefferson...was just asking. Did Largo have a spring game?

No love for Jefferson or Largo? Largo has one of the top rb's in the state and several other FBS recruits. I recognize they have been underperformers in the past, but still wonder if not top 15.

My bad...I was relating 2002 results. Duh on my part...I was at that Lake Gibson vs Columbia game. It's good you were not there. It would have traumatized you as a child.

Please note where your beloved Tigers are. Still think they never got the recognition they deserved? They got beat in the regional finals that year by Lincoln. I guess this was a good poll because they were ahead of you in the rankings.

In addition to Madison County and Chaminade, back then 2A had Clewiston and Immokalee. All of them were very good and could compete reasonably well with the bigger schools. It was a very tough class and they took turns beating each other up..