OldSchoolLion

yes

...found this Vero defeated Columbia (Lake City) 31-26 to reach the state semifinals. Andy Wilson threw three touchdown passes, Chauncey Stovall had 278 all-purpose yards, Rob Campbell kicked 53-yard field goal and the defense made two stands in the last six minutes.

To my knowledge, only one public high school coach in the history of the FHSAA has ever led the same high school program to at least one playoff win in 15 straight seasons. Who is he and what team did he coach?

I believe John Wilkinson of Cocoa has the record with 11 straight semi appearances. Will be interesting to see if the new coach can keep Cocoa's streak of semi appearances alive.

But you still aren't old enough to remember Columbia winning their last state title, unless you got a real good memory.

It is Mark Guandolo! He led Class 2A Chaminade-Madonna to 6 straight semi appearances between 2001-2006, and three of those seasons he ended up in the title game. Those were the years that Class 2A was brutal...American Heritage/Plantation, Bolles, Clewiston, Gulliver, Madison County, Monsignor Pace, Pahokee. Coach Guandolo later coached at Cypress Bay. He had a long, successful coaching career in south Florida.

1980-1985, John Ensor led Class A Baker to 6 straight semi's, and in 5 of those years they made the finals. Turns out there are more than 4 coaches who did it. There is at least one more..a well-known south Florida coach who coached his team more than 10 years ago. So far we have .. George Smith/St Thomas Aquinas John Wilkinson/Cocoa Mike Hayde/Fort Meade Byron Walker/Glades Day John Ensor Baker

It's ironic that Venice's mascot is the "Indians." The action by the fan below is a lot more powerful statement than liking a tweet. By having a mascot called the "Indians," a school invites this type of thing. Would Venice High or Vero expel a kid for coming to their game like this? Is it any wonder people struggle with drawing a line between what is/is not offensive? Bottom line, stuff like that in the picture reinforces stereotypes, sometimes subconsciously. Studies have shown it. Firing a guy who allegedly demonstrated insensitivity to another man's skin color..and your mascot reinforces a stereotype based on skin color? ...hmmm

Flo..I say this with the utmost respect. You are right. Nobody will ever completely understand the way you personally experience the world, because nobody can crawl inside your brain. Likewise, without intimate knowledge, none of us can completely understand the intentions of another. By claiming we do without such knowledge, we are acting in a prejudicial manner. "prejudice"=preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. I DO understand in a first-hand way what it is like to have a career ruined because of the prejudicial thoughts of others. It's one thing to punish me, but my family was impacted in ways the "persecutors" probably never imagined. As evil as they acted, I find it hard to believe they would have been happy to see my family suffer in the way that it did. But am sure they were not thinking of them at the time. We all need to keep in mind that behind every man who gets fired is a bunch of people who probably rely on his ability to earn a living. Are we that certain that a man's actions are so heinous that an entire family should suffer? IMO, we fire people too easily, just as we put people in jail too easily. Reminds me of some words in a famous book, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

So sorry, Byron Walker did do more than 5 in a row(1982-1988) with Glades Day My bad! Very good badbird. That means there are actually 5 coaches who did it, not four. Still one to go! Like Smith and Walker, this fellow coached in the southern part of the state.

It is George Smith! Between 2004 and 2010, he led the Raiders to 7 straight state semis. In 6 of those seasons, the Raiders made it to the finals. Only Manatee in 2009 kept that from being 7 straight finals. Good job Bocefous!

Great guess. He did 5 semis in a row with Pahokee, but not more than 5 in a row.

Nice guess, but no. You are in the right neck of the woods, though. Think of some of the great coaches.

I share this to show how things have changed over time concerning the number of teams across all classes making the FHSAA playoffs. The 1990's were a time a time of big change. As a specific example, I have included the number of Miami-Dade teams across all classes who made the playoffs in a specific year. The $64million question...have the changes in classes/regions/districts accomplished what they were intended to do? And does the current format provide for a better experience for players, coaches and fans? 1973 28 teams (2 Miami-Dade teams) 1978 56 teams (4 Miami-Dade teams) 1983 56 teams (6 Miami-Dade teams) 1988 56 teams (5 Miami-Dade teams) 1993 128 teams (7 Miami-Dade teams) 1998 160 teams (14 Miami-Dade teams) 2003 192 teams (16 Miami-Dade teams) 2008 192 teams (17 Miami-Dade teams) 2013 192 teams (16 Miami-Dade teams)

...taking a step back and looking at this from a high level. We have a district in 6A with representation from Hillsborough, Polk, Pasco and Highlands County. Something is terribly wrong with our system when Hillsborough High, smack dab in one of the biggest school districts in the state, can't line out its district schedule with teams from the same county. Back in ancient times, districts made much more "geographical sense." District titles were coveted and helped build rivalries. How we can expect fans to get excited when, instead of playing the school down the street, we're playing a district game against a school whose mascot the fans don't even know? That may sound funny, but it's a good litmus test.

"Wouldn't have a chance."...disagree. Below are Florida's top 15 public school teams, according to Maxpreps. I did not see them play last year, but based on the scores I saw and competition they played, last year's Lowndes team could give some of these teams all they could handle, if not beat them. As far as being "complete" teams, even some of our better teams in Florida are lacking. I've mentioned in another post, if you matched Georgia's best public schools versus comparably-sized schools in Florida, it would be much closer than many think. If you spent a season watching Georgia's top teams, as I have, you would be blown away. In terms of individual talent, FL gets the nod. But in terms of teams and team play, it is not that far apart. Venice Northwestern Central Armwood Dr Phillips St Augustine Raines Cocoa Wekiva Bartram Trail Carol City Immokalee Madison County Plant Riverview

Many of you have likely heard of the recent passing of former NFL'er Dwight Clark. Below is a brief video featuring Joe Montana talking about the iconic play for which this man became famous. ....36 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14CKs0rY0jE

Corky Rogers, no, but John Wilkinson yes! Beginning in 2007, Coach Wilkinson led the Cocoa Tigers to a state semi. The following three years they won state titles. Then began a series of state semi battles against Miami Booker T Washington. Coach Wilkinson just left Cocoa to become the HC at New Smyrna Beach. In his 13 seasons there, Cocoa was 143-27 and won a total of 4 state titles. I figured you might get this one Cocoa2010.

Coach Mike Hayde is one of them! From 1998 to 2008 he was Head Coach of the Fort Meade Miners and compiled a career coaching record of 117 - 35. He was named a Florida High School Coach of the Year in 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2008. He led his team to 7 straight state semi's, and in 6 of those seasons his teams advanced to the state final. Unfortunately, the Miners ran into some very some teams (3 straight state final losses to N FL Christian) and they won just one Class 1A title. Coach Hayde later coached several positions at Webber International University and is now a Running Backs Coach at Warner University in Lake Wales. Good job Hwy17. Considering Hwy 17 runs through Fort Meade, it makes sense you would get this one.

Only 4 coaches in the history of the FHSAA have ever taken a football team at the same high school to a state semi or beyond more than 5 seasons in row. What are their names and what team did each one coach at the time he achieved this great feat? Discliamer; This is just one way of measuring "greatest coaching tenure." It is a very rare accomplishment and it's probably safe to say only an elite-level coach could pull it off.

just having fun, Dan. you know i luv mainland, one of the most consistent programs in the state

Is that quilt the black and orange one that Chris Rainey autographed for you?

...published by "Florida Kids Count." Florida's children... -rank 40th in the nation when it comes to their health, education and economic well-being -close to a million are living in poverty -41% of children live in homes/apartments their families can barely afford. -more than 73,000 Florida school children are homeless. -this generation of Floridians has already reached minority-majority status, meaning that, collectively, there are more kids who are Hispanic, black, Asian-American or other minorities than kids who are non-Hispanic white. Some of our challenges in hs football are a microcosm of problems on a bigger scale. If we truly care about the kids, we owe it to them to educate ourselves about the issues, even if it means getting uncomfortable with the subject matter. That's why I share some of this information. guys...simply to raise awareness. It's so ironic that in Florida we have all this talent and success, yet we have football players going to bed hungry at night.

The vast majority of Texas school districts LOSE money on football-big money. Here are actual figures from several years ago. Football expenses and revenue for area school districts School districts budget for football every year. Few earn money back. Here’s how area districts stack up. District Revenue total Expense total Net Per school per year revenue Per school per year expenses Per school per year net Revenue rank Expense rank Net rank Highland Park $2,808,918.00 $1,995,626.00 $813,292.00 $561,783.60 $399,125.20 $162,658.40 1 2 1 Coppell $1,336,028.97 $920,488.03 $415,540.94 $267,205.79 $184,097.61 $83,108.19 3 23 2 HEB $2,162,687.15 $1,818,896.15 $343,791.00 $216,268.72 $181,889.62 $34,379.1 5 24 3 Carroll $1,370,459.99 $1,503,172.60 $-132,712.61 $274,091.99 $300,634.52 $-26,542.52 2 5 4 GCISD $1,415,029.24 $1,777,861.32 $-362,832.08 $141,502.92 $177,786.13 $-36,283.21 7 25 5 Keller $1,653,110.00 $2,591,277.24 $-938,167.24 $94,463.43 $148,072.99 $-53,609.56 15 29 6 Denton $1,352,931.21 $2,213,294.02 $-860,362.81 $90,195.41 $147,552.93 $-57,357.52067 19 30 7 Garland $2,091,269.02 $5,263,956.00 $-3,172,686.98 $59,750.54343 $150,398.74 $-90,648.20 25 28 8 Northwest $1,025,703.20 $1,598,936.02 $-573,232.82 $170,950.53 $266,489.34 $-95,538.80 6 9 9 Ennis $613,870.00 $1,099,652.00 $-485,782.00 $122,774 $219,930.40 $-97,156.40 10 12 10 Dallas $2,380,502.00 $13,302,387.00 $-10,921,885.00 $21,640.93 $120,930.79 $-99,289.86 31 31 11 Lake Dallas $222,788.00 $669,521.00 $-446,733.00 $55,697 $167,380.25 $-111,683.25 27 26 12 Celina $657,745.91 $1,237,300.52 $-579,554.61 $131,549.18 $247,460.10 $-115,910.92 8 10 13 Grand Prairie $715,772.91 $1,887,271.00 $-1,171,498.09 $71,577.29 $188,727.10 $-117,149.81 23 22 14 Mesquite $2,081,144.46 $5,071,945.00 $-2,990,800.54 $83,245.78 $202,877.80 $-119,632.02 20 19 15 Richardson $1,857,302.17 $4,302,747.67 $-2,445,445.50 $92,865.11 $215,137.38 $-122,272.28 16 15 16 Wylie $990,897.60 $2,226,793.46 $-1,235,895.86 $99,089.76 $222,679.35 $-123,589.59 12 11 17 Red Oak $333,497.56 $965,455.32 $-631,957.76 $66,699.51 $193,091.06 $-126,391.55 24 21 18 Irving $1,121,208.70 $3,047,625.68 $-1,926,416.98 $74,747.25 $203,175.05 $-128,427.80 22 18 19 Arlington $2,731,643.79 $6,591,345.35 $-3,859,701.56 $91,054.79 $219,711.51 $-128,656.72 17 13 20 Lewisville $1,594,564.94 $4,186,704.04 $-2,592,139.10 $79,728.25 $209,335.20 $-129,606.96 21 17 21 Lancaster $46,588.00 $321,516.00 $-274,928.00 $23,294 $160,758 $-137,464 30 27 22 Frisco $1,367,330.21 $4,944,704.01 $-3,577,373.80 $59,449.14 $214,987.13 $-155,537.99 26 16 23 Forney $145,940.00 $779,691.00 $-633,751.00 $36,576.44 $195,411.28 $-158,834.84 29 20 24 CFB $1,034,945.00 $4,307,970.00 $-3,273,025.00 $51,747.25 $215,398.5 $-163,651.25 28 14 25 Lovejoy $291,942.09 $809,166.22 $-517,224.13 $97,314.03 $269,722.07 $-172,408.04 14 8 26 Midlothian $565,024.81 $1,439,923.29 $-874,898.48 $113,004.96 $287,984.66 $-174,979.70 11 7 27 Plano $3,643,635.59 $6,635,665.16 $-2,992,029.57 $242,909.04 $442,377.68 $-199,468.64 4 1 28 McKinney $1,365,054.59 $4,498,394.81 $-3,133,340.22 $91,003.63933 $299,892.99 $-208,889.35 18 6 29 Rockwall $984,586.97 $3,134,068.90 $-2,149,481.93 $98,458.70 $313,406.89 $-214,948.19 13 4 30 DeSoto $640,684.40 $1,721,287.12 $-1,080,602.72 $128,136.88 $344,257.42 $-216,120.54 9 3 31