Perspective

Let me rewrite that sentence for you: "Then the state legislature started to get involved and passed legislation that forced the FHSAA to change its policies to allow kids to transfer to whatever school they want (as long as it's not at capacity and they provide their own transportation)." Had the FHSAA not changed their policies to be consistent with the newly-enacted legislation, the FHSAA would have lost their funding from the state. So, I've got a pretty clear picture in my mind of a bunch of folks sitting around in Gainesville saying to each other "So, what do you want to do? Come up with new policies that match the new law or all go out and try to find new jobs?" I know how that one turned out.

With all due respect, I call B.S. on this. That may be how the legislators from Lakeland framed it to get support from their colleagues, but it was all about football . . . and pulling the teeth out of the FHSAA's mouth in retaliation for the FHSAA declaring a group of athletes ineligible for a season (in accordance with existing rules).

Is having a mega screen TV at the stadium "recruiting"? No. Does winning state championships amount to "recruiting"? No. When a 16 year-old contacts his buddy from youth football and says to him "bro, we need a player just like you! The kid we have there now isn't very good. You'll start right away!", is that recruiting? Yes.

Lazy reporters.

ColumbiaFan, I know that Jacksonville transfers (especially into public schools) is a topic near and dear to your heart. But, I don't know if the media should be blamed for not reporting it, as if it's some kind of conspiracy between the media and the schools in Duval Co. In the Tampa Bay area, we've gone from two daily publications to one and home delivery has gone from 7 days a week to 2. During football season, the newspapers used to have stories on virtually every game in the area. Now, they tend to pick out two or three games, cover only those games, and nothing is said about all the others (not even scores). We see absolutely zero coverage of high school football during the off-season. Occasionally, one of the beat writers will retweet something, but that's about it. And the TV stations are really no better. During the season, one of the stations does a "high school windup" in the last 5-10 minutes of it's 11:00 newscast on Friday nights, but as with the print media, they focus on 4-5 games, if that, show a handful of highlights, and give a handful of scores. I mention all of this because the media, and the media's coverage of high school football, in particular, and high school sports, in general, has changed (and by "changed," I mean "decreased") considerably over the years as the whole media landscape has changed because of the Internet. Personally, I don't like it, but I reluctantly understand it. My point is this: the media has fewer and fewer resources and they are unlikely to devote those resources to someone whose main job it is to keep track of high school kids jumping from one ship to another. Fortunately, as represented by the several posts you have included on this thread, there are some people in some areas (like South Florida) that do track transfers and who post the information. (By the way, as an aside, and based on what I've seen in this thread, is Hallandale even going to be able to field a team this year? Seems like every other kid I've seen is transferring from Hallandale to another school.). Bottom line: if there were tens of thousands of people in a metro area who were interested in the fact that some 11th grade kid announced on his Twitter feed that he was transferring from one school to another, the media would report it. But there aren't, so they don't.

Have your JV schedule the easy team for the Varsity's otherwise open week. Then, since varsity's not playing, drop all your varsity players down to JV that week so they can get their game in.

Yeah, apparently colleges and universities figured out that they can't pack 60,000 people into a lab room on Saturday to watch a kid pour a solution into a beaker.

Happy Father's Day to all the guys out their who are fortunate enough to have kids and for all those coaches out there that fill that role and become father figures for their players that don't have a real dad in their life.

For those kids in high school who were born with athletic talent and/or who work hard enough to produce success on the football field, the real goal should be to put themselves in a position to have someone else pay for their college education, while playing a game they enjoy playing with other guys who will be their brothers for life. Success on the field in college and a chance to play professional football would simply be the gravy on top.

Jesuit went 14-1 last season, losing a heart-breaker to American Heritage 16-13 in the State Semi-finals. The Tigers return their top WR's, including Junior Vandeross, who just committed to play college ball at Toledo. Kid had 11 catches for 242 yards and 2 TD's in the Regional finals game against Jones. Jesuit's top RB, Joquez Smith also returns. He rushed for 1226 yards and 18 TD's last year. They also bring back the leading tackler on defense (and 3 of the top 4), including Troy Bowles at LB. Jesuit over-performed last season, largely on the strength of the right arm of QB Joe Pesansky, who threw for almost 3,000 yards and 35TD's. The Pesansky family moved down to Tampa last summer (Joe's younger brother also started on defense as a freshman) and, in a move that ruffled the feathers of a few area Jesuit alums, Joe was able to transfer into Jesuit as a senior. He rewarded that decision with an outstanding season. Pesansky's backup last year was Luke Knight, a freshman who got a little mop-up action, but is largely game-day untested. He should be able to gain experience over the course of the season by handing the ball off to Smith or throwing short passes to Vandeross, French and Co., who will have the speed and quickness to turn 5-yard outs into 75-yard TD's. But, he'll just be a sophomore this next season. Assuming no one transfers in this season, I suspect the talent around him will make him look good this season and then his own talent will carry him - and the team - the next two years. Offensive line is a bit of a question mark for me, but only because I'm not as familiar with the guys in the trenches as I am the skill guys. They'll have good depth and a multitude of good coaches. I expect them to make another deep run in 2021.

Two good teams in a district makes for a "good district." Three good teams in a district makes for an "elite district." Many years, there are no elite districts. Some years it's hard to find more than a handful of good districts.

Yes.

Here's the way I look at it. Remember when Tiger Woods was in his prime? You could either bet on Tiger or the field (i.e., everybody else). Tiger didn't win every tournament, but if you could only bet on one golfer before the tournament started, most people would bet on Tiger. Until STA gets knocked off their throne, I'm guessing most of the people of this board would bet on them over any other team in 7A and likely would bet on STA over the field of all other teams in 7A.

Yes it is . . . but something tells me not every kid is paying that.

Updates? Why? It's not November yet. The FHSAA has plennnnnnnty of time.

It started in the late 1970's as a tennis academy. I believe it has always had a "boarding school" element. This is from the IMG Academy website: "IMG Academy is the world’s most prestigious sports, performance and educational institution. Established in 1978 with a pioneering concept known as the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, IMG Academy has since grown to become a global phenomenon." From MaxPreps, it appears that IMG's first football season was in 2013-14. They went 8-2 under head coach Chris Weinke. Oh, by the way, just in case you were wondering, here's what the website says about their tuition: "For academic year 2021-2022, tuition ranges from $64,400 to $84,400 per year depending on age, boarding and grade of student-athlete."

First, we know, we know . . . Lee gets more transfers than most private schools in Duval. Second, in answer to your last question, it's human nature. Think back to grade school P.E. If a kid got a false start in a race, but you still smoked him, did you really care that he cheated? If a kid took five steps after he stopped dribbling, but still missed the layup, did you really care that he traveled? Or even in class, if a kid cheated on a test, but you still aced it, did you really care that he got a 70 instead of failing it? In short, it's just human nature to ignore violations that don't impact you or someone you care about. I've said for years that if a coach or team is going to cheat, they should do it when they're not any good, because then no one will care. Seriously, if a high school team in your area holds a frickin' Friday Night Lights recruiting fair for all 8th graders in the county, but then goes 0-10 the next season, do you really care? Arguably, you should, because that team may just be building from the ground up and kick your butt in 3-4 years when all the kids they recruited are seniors. But, that's just not human nature. We all tend to let things slide when they don't adversely affect us. So, of course coaches and teams that break the rules should be punished equally, regardless of their success on the field. But very few schools are going to turn in a coach or school that is out there actively recruiting when the team sucks. More likely than not, they'll just laugh at the cheaters ("They're so bad, they're cheating and still can't win a game!"). But all that changes when we start talking about the top dogs -- in part because, often times, those teams are having success at your team's expense. I can guarantee you that every coach, player and fan of a team that finished runner-up in a state title game is looking across the field wondering if any of the kids on the winning team were illegally recruited and, if so, whether any of those kids made a difference in the outcome of the game. In short, if you beat me fair and square, I'll respect you. If you have to cheat to beat me, I'll detest you. Again, it's just human nature.

Remember, however, that IMG's football program was created before the transfer rules changed (not that it really matters, given that IMG is private). I don't hate IMG for being honest about their program. I don't hate them at all. But, I don't like the fact that they agreed to play by certain rules and then turned around and (somewhat openly) built their program by doing exactly what they agreed they wouldn't do. My post was probably too long as it was, but I meant to include a sentence or two that addressed the point you just made when I made reference to The Field of Dreams. Because IMG did have initial success, they were able to attract players from across the county. These kids filled the gaps that existed the first few years when IMG had a group of 3-5star skill players, but very little, if any, depth. Now, many families are willing to pay full freight for their kids to attend IMG to get the training and visibility that goes along with being a part of the program (whether the kid ends up playing on the National team or the White team). But, that does not change my perception that the ultra successful program that exists today was built on false foundation by a program that openly recruited in violation of the rules while the organization in charge turned a blind eye. HornetFan, if you've read my posts over the last couple of years, you will know that I recognize there is a distinction between "recruiting" and "attracting." Successful programs attract kids. The transfer rules in place now make that even easier. The rich get richer (or at least stay rich), while it becomes darn near impossible for a school to slowly build up its program into a successful one. But, those are the rules. On the other hand, a concerted effort by a school to reach out to specific players that are not already enrolled at that school for the purpose of trying to convince those specific players to attend that school instead is recruiting and, last time I checked, still illegal. My bottom line is simple: either change the rules or enforce them.

I don’t hate IMG. But I don’t necessarily “like” them either. I respect what they have been able to accomplish, but I do not respect the way they have gone about building their program. IMG set out to be a national football power and they have succeeded. In many ways, it was a ‘go big or go home, shoot for the moon’ mentality. To their credit, they have done what they sought out to do. From the beginning, they poured a lot of money into a football program that did not previously exist. They spent big bucks on facilities (field, locker room, weight room, etc.) and coaches. To some extent, IMG took The Field of Dreams approach: if we build it, the kids will come. Not a bad investment strategy. But it was clear from the start that IMG did not want the development process to be a long-term deal. Instead, they wanted to have immediate success, as that was the only way the business model would work. And the only way to have immediate success on the field was to ‘attract’ D-1 talent. So, they set out to bring in the best players they could – from neighboring counties, across the state and across the nation. In the process, they made a lot of enemies among area high school coaches when they started poaching their players. That is why a number of coaches in central and southwest Florida would not play IMG in IMG’s early years (and still will not play them to this day). IMG is a unicorn – at least in Florida. They’re a combination of a private/prep school and an all-star team. They need to be playing other similar schools, but there really aren’t any such schools in Florida. A few teams, like STA, may check one of those boxes, but not both. Accordingly, IMG has to play a national schedule; but that gets really expensive. So, they try to fill in as many state schools as possible, especially those who may have some talented underclassmen. And they do their best to be the good hosts, showing off their first-class facilities along the way, before blowing their opponents out once the games start. Here’s my problem with IMG. When they first got started, in order to play both quality in-state opponents and out-of-state opponents, they had to be affiliated with a governing organization within this state. Therefore, IMG joined the FHSAA. From the start, they have elected to be an “independent,” meaning that they do not get to play in a state championship series. However (and this is where the rubber meets the road), IMG also agreed, by becoming a member, to play by FHSAA rules. One of those rules says you cannot recruit. And from the beginning, IMG has recruited. They don’t publicly acknowledge or talk openly about their recruiting, but they do recruit. Everyone knows it (including the FHSAA). Former players have posted about it on social media. IMG recruits top-notch talent from across the country. People go on message boards (including this one) and talk openly about it – many assuming that IMG is allowed to do it. I can’t tell you how many conversations I have had over the years with people who think that IMG is somehow exempt from the “No Recruiting” rules. Many of these same people also think that private schools are exempt, too. They are not. Each and every school that is a member of the FHSAA is prohibited from recruiting. As impressed as I may be with what IMG has built in a short amount of time, I have a certain amount of disdain for the way in which they did it . . . and continue to do it. Knowing how much clout they have and the somewhat cozy relationship they have the FHSAA, I would be more impressed with, and more accepting of, IMG’s success if they simply lobbied the FHSAA for a new, special, classification of membership that allows for recruiting – even if IMG were the only member in that new, special classification. But, to my knowledge, that has not happened . . . perhaps because the lines would get blurred and it would be so difficult to distinguish between the efforts being made to attract players for IMG’s national team (where recruiting would presumably be allowed) and the efforts being made to field IMG’s White team (which would still be covered by FHSAA’s prohibition on recruiting). By the way, if someone can show me the language in the FHSAA handbook/policy manual that permits IMG to actively recruit players, I’ll be happy to step down from my soapbox. Until then, I won’t be a hater, but I won’t be a ‘respecter’ either.

So, Broward's struggling a little when it comes to winning state championships . . . ? Pinellas County: "Hold my beer."

You are correct. Thanks, Coach.

Wait, so even entire schools can transfer now?!?!

OVERRULED!!

. . . while a race is going on.