OldSchoolLion

Location: Tommy Roberts Memorial Stadium, Key West Friday August 17th 7:00pm Marina HS, CA vs South Broward HS, FL    Location: Celebration High School Thursday August 23rd 3:00pm Monarch HS, CO vs Dixie Hollins HS, FL    Location: Windermere Prep School Thursday August 23rd 4:30pm Lakewood HS, CA vs Windermere Prep School, FL    Location: Oak Ridge High School Thursday August 23rd 8:00pm Pomona HS, CO vs Oak Ridge HS, FL    Location: West Orange High School Friday August 24th 7:00pm Regis HS, CO vs Barron Collier HS, FL    Location: Windermere High School  Thursday August 30th 7:00pm Greeley West HS, CO vs Coconut Creek HS, FL    Location: Celebration High School  Thursday August 30th 7:00pm Fairview HS, CO vs Maynard Evans HS, FL - VARSITY GAME   Location: University High School  Thursday August 30th 6:00pm Ralston Valley HS, CO vs University HS, FL   Location: West Orange High School Thursday August 30th 5:30pm Columbine HS, CO vs University Orange City HS, FL   Location: University High School  Friday August 31st 7:00pm Dakota Ridge HS, CO vs Hernando HS, FL    Location: East Ridge High School  Thursday September 6th 7:30pm Redondo Union HS, CA vs East Ridge HS, FL

Yeah they've got some dudes. 
Check out Jammie Robinson's film.
https://www.hudl.com/profile/5463639/Jammie-Robinson

Ramone Russell had a heck of a leg. He nailed about a 48 yarder to open the scoring against Edgewater. It's a pity his career seems to have ended in high school.
If I remember correctly, I am not sure that Killian got the ball past the half way line in the entire first half despite Washington's best efforts. 
Also, Chris Strothers, CC's undersized running back reeled off some decent rushing yards in this game. Chris came up to UCF, but never really got the opportunity to showcase his talents. 

Richard pettus Villages
Scott Perry lake mary
Earl Garcia Hillsborough
Charlie tate Winter haven
 

Carol City 3, Killian 0. I was at the Orange Bowl that night. The prior night I watched Edgewater dispatch unbeaten Deerfield Beach to book their Gainsville ticket. 

Tim Shifflet, Winter Park; Matt Hedrick, Bishop Moore; Jim Buckridge, Timber Creek are three. And from Tampa Plant, Robert Weiner. 
All winning coaches, some with better records than others probably reflecting the talent at their disposal. 

Lakeland- Bill Castle
Palm Bay- Dan Burke
Apopka- Rick Darlington
Those were easy to name, but nothing is ever easy with them on the sideline....

Buchholz 
 
 
 
I'll post more as i find them 
 
 

That's right.  Some people saw a buck to be made and moved in on the high school game.  College football wasn't enough for them to exploit.  Next it will be the grade schoolers.   They could care less about the hardcore fan unless that fan is a potential consumer to whom they can market something.     
Young folks today would be blown away if they saw how obscure hs football was 40 years ago.  A coach might struggle to get game film.  You might not know your playoff opponent got a new coach until you ran into them again.   No flashy uniforms or TV games.  It was a subculture with a unique feel.  Sure it's great to watch the games on TV now, but it is coming at a heavy cost we don't always recognize, ie turning young kids into rock stars instead of letting them be kids. 
  

That's right.  Some people saw a buck to be made and moved in on the high school game.  College football wasn't enough for them to exploit.  Next it will be the grade schoolers.   They could care less about the hardcore fan unless that fan is a potential consumer to whom they can market something.     
Young folks today would be blown away if they saw how obscure hs football was 40 years ago.  A coach might struggle to get game film.  You might not know your playoff opponent got a new coach until you ran into them again.   No flashy uniforms or TV games.  It was a subculture with a unique feel.  Sure it's great to watch the games on TV now, but it is coming at a heavy cost we don't always recognize, ie turning young kids into rock stars instead of letting them be kids. 
  

Merv Ward was a coaching legend in Southwest Florida.  He coached the Naples Lely Trojans for 11 full seasons and parts of two more from 1985-2002, winning 4 district titles.  He arrived as an assistant from Michigan in 1984, and three years later, he'd taken a mediocre Lely program to the area's first state title game.   
In 1987, he led a senior-laden Trojans team to the Class 3A championship game, earning the berth with upset wins over powerhouses Glades Central(26-20 in 2OT in the Muck) and Cocoa High(7-6).  Lely fell at home to Live Oak-Suwannee, 35-7, but it served as the model for coaches struggling to find success across the region.  'We beat teams we had absolutely no business beating,' said Paul Ruby, a senior offensive lineman on that team. 'I think when we did that, although we lost, it just kind of made football seem more important in this area.'
'You went back and told your kids, 'Look, if they can do it, it's certainly within the realm that we can do it,'' said John Weber, legendary Immokalee coach who, along with the late Sam Sirianni of Fort Myers High, is often mentioned in the same breath as Ward. 'He was a great competitor, but I think he was just a teddy bear. He was old school, certainly, and I think he was the first guy that really put football in perspective around here.'  
Paul Seitz, a former assistant coach, said of Ward, 'It's hard to explain, but he was about so much more than coaching. He won an awful lot of games and the district titles, but it was never about winning. It was about doing the right thing. He played every kid who came out there to practice, and his biggest thing, he wanted to make it through a year without anybody quitting. You always have kids that aren't very good, but if they came out there for him, he found a way to make it work.'
By all accounts, Ward did it with a mix of intensity and encouragement, his right-to-the-point words often passing through a trademark wad of tobacco.  A native of East Palestine, Ohio, Ward played fullback and nose guard at Bowling Green and often drew comparisons to one of his idols, Ohio State legend Woody Hayes.  Ward passed away in 2008.
 

Some legends in that list.
To name a few I know of that will be hard to replace if ever.
Monsignor Pace-Joe Zaccheo
St Thomas Aquinas-George Smith
Cocoa-John Wilkinson
Mainland-John Maronto
Rockledge-Chuck Wood
Manatee-Joe Kinnan
Bolles-Corky Rogers

Football teams can have such vastly different offensive schemes and overall strengths/weaknesses..comparing some in rankings is apples to oranges.  I don't care what a team has to offer in terms of individual talent, or where they are ranked, if they play Cocoa or Osceola and cannot stop the run, they have a good chance of losing.   
Back in the mid 2000's, Drew Weatherford and Caz Piurowski, who both eventually went to FSU,  were an incredible passing tandem at Land O Lakes High.  Caz was 6'7" and an amazing athlete and Weatherford was a very accurate passer for a hs qb.  As a team, LOL was not that spectacular, but if you could not stop those two, you were in big trouble and were forced to win in a shootout.  State finalist Lake Gibson had to put up 44 points to beat them.  
Basketball is a little easier to predict.  If a team has (3) 7-footers, they are going to be tough to beat, no matter what scheme the other team brings.     

I learned from doing a similar exercise in the past that one can use the overall populations and get very similar results.  When one crunches the numbers, it does not make a huge difference.  Yes, FL has a greater relative population of older folks, but the difference in percentage of 18-and-under in FL versus other states is not that great.  The number of hs students in FL dwarfs that of most states.
Florida was between #10-15 on the per capita list.  Should not be a big surprise, since Florida has not historically produced a large number of high-caliber qb's relative to certain other states.  

DeLand has as much athletic talent as any small city in Florida. But they need strong willed personalities at the Head Coaching position. Fred Goldsmith, Howie Decristofolo, Wade Rollinson, and Kevin Pettis have proved this true. Keep the kids happy and at home. Play the best athletes. Run a discipline program that can relate to all players. And control pressure coming from off campus... Guaranteed Winner.

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
 

If that poll included Ocala, Vanguard might have been #1 and not Columbia.  I'm sure that would not have gone over well with certain parties.

Merv Ward was a coaching legend in Southwest Florida.  He coached the Naples Lely Trojans for 11 full seasons and parts of two more from 1985-2002, winning 4 district titles.  He arrived as an assistant from Michigan in 1984, and three years later, he'd taken a mediocre Lely program to the area's first state title game.   
In 1987, he led a senior-laden Trojans team to the Class 3A championship game, earning the berth with upset wins over powerhouses Glades Central(26-20 in 2OT in the Muck) and Cocoa High(7-6).  Lely fell at home to Live Oak-Suwannee, 35-7, but it served as the model for coaches struggling to find success across the region.  'We beat teams we had absolutely no business beating,' said Paul Ruby, a senior offensive lineman on that team. 'I think when we did that, although we lost, it just kind of made football seem more important in this area.'
'You went back and told your kids, 'Look, if they can do it, it's certainly within the realm that we can do it,'' said John Weber, legendary Immokalee coach who, along with the late Sam Sirianni of Fort Myers High, is often mentioned in the same breath as Ward. 'He was a great competitor, but I think he was just a teddy bear. He was old school, certainly, and I think he was the first guy that really put football in perspective around here.'  
Paul Seitz, a former assistant coach, said of Ward, 'It's hard to explain, but he was about so much more than coaching. He won an awful lot of games and the district titles, but it was never about winning. It was about doing the right thing. He played every kid who came out there to practice, and his biggest thing, he wanted to make it through a year without anybody quitting. You always have kids that aren't very good, but if they came out there for him, he found a way to make it work.'
By all accounts, Ward did it with a mix of intensity and encouragement, his right-to-the-point words often passing through a trademark wad of tobacco.  A native of East Palestine, Ohio, Ward played fullback and nose guard at Bowling Green and often drew comparisons to one of his idols, Ohio State legend Woody Hayes.  Ward passed away in 2008.
 

Merv Ward was a coaching legend in Southwest Florida.  He coached the Naples Lely Trojans for 11 full seasons and parts of two more from 1985-2002, winning 4 district titles.  He arrived as an assistant from Michigan in 1984, and three years later, he'd taken a mediocre Lely program to the area's first state title game.   
In 1987, he led a senior-laden Trojans team to the Class 3A championship game, earning the berth with upset wins over powerhouses Glades Central(26-20 in 2OT in the Muck) and Cocoa High(7-6).  Lely fell at home to Live Oak-Suwannee, 35-7, but it served as the model for coaches struggling to find success across the region.  'We beat teams we had absolutely no business beating,' said Paul Ruby, a senior offensive lineman on that team. 'I think when we did that, although we lost, it just kind of made football seem more important in this area.'
'You went back and told your kids, 'Look, if they can do it, it's certainly within the realm that we can do it,'' said John Weber, legendary Immokalee coach who, along with the late Sam Sirianni of Fort Myers High, is often mentioned in the same breath as Ward. 'He was a great competitor, but I think he was just a teddy bear. He was old school, certainly, and I think he was the first guy that really put football in perspective around here.'  
Paul Seitz, a former assistant coach, said of Ward, 'It's hard to explain, but he was about so much more than coaching. He won an awful lot of games and the district titles, but it was never about winning. It was about doing the right thing. He played every kid who came out there to practice, and his biggest thing, he wanted to make it through a year without anybody quitting. You always have kids that aren't very good, but if they came out there for him, he found a way to make it work.'
By all accounts, Ward did it with a mix of intensity and encouragement, his right-to-the-point words often passing through a trademark wad of tobacco.  A native of East Palestine, Ohio, Ward played fullback and nose guard at Bowling Green and often drew comparisons to one of his idols, Ohio State legend Woody Hayes.  Ward passed away in 2008.
 

On Thursday, August 16th, I guess we're going to see how good Buchholz really is. My Celtics will travel up to Citizen field for a KO Classic. It seems that we do a KO Classic with the Bobcats quite a bit and the scores are always very close. Although I'll be out of town and won't make it to the game, I'm anxious to see how Trinity Catholic, under new HC Andrew Thomas, does. The last 3 seasons the Celtics have been somewhat of a disappointment and nowhere near the team they used to be when they were playing Pahokee and University in championship games.

If that poll included Ocala, Vanguard might have been #1 and not Columbia.  I'm sure that would not have gone over well with certain parties.

Fun fact tho:
Palm Bay
Lincoln 
Dwyer
Pahokee 
Palm Beach Gardens 
Venice 
All were at States in the early and mid 2000s.....Vero has claimed victories against these teams in spring koc and regular season games, all they have to do now is beat Venice and they got em all

Dr. Phillips, Brenden Cyr, Junior, 6’5, 205. Started the first half of last season for West Orange as a sophomore. 
https://www.hudl.com/profile/7814325/Cyr-Brenden
Canaan Mobley, a sophomore, is also in the mix. He is more of a dual threat and scored in the spring game.

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.