Ray Icaza

Our program was blessed with stability and continuity under the leadership of Coach Nichols including his staff until his retirement last year. Happy to say in my humble opinion we selected his replacement within our own ranks and he has successfully maintained that level of excellence with a stable group of excellent assistant coaches. Kudos to Coach Pinellas and I anxiously look forward to the next edition of Kowboy Football vs Edgewater on May 20th for the spring game this time on our home field.

Agree 100% on staying close to local news; here in Kissimmee it's the Osceola News Gazette which provides online publication free of charge as well as ink on paper. It is a bi-weekly although the digital side updates on news daily. The Orlando Sentinel I do have a subscription, but it is owned by the Chicago Tribune so it doesn't let me access those other publications you referenced. Considering the option you suggested.

I used to look at many of these publications online on Saturday morning to follow HS teams and players throughout the state. But now, most want annual subscription fee and I only utilize them for the 3-4 months of football season. The deal you got which gives you access to multiple regions seems like a fair price.

Thanks Dan, reason still seems to be clear as MUD to me after reading the article.

The only point I disagree with is the mascots; Ascenders is a crappy one, but I think a Dreadnaught is an awesome one.

Who really believes any HS football team to be a mythical national champion without having to participate in a playoff format that is won or lost on the field and not on paper.

Lake Gibson is a team we have scheduled pretty regular in the recent past, although we don't have them this year. Just read in the Lakeland Ledger where Coach Barefield is no longer there with a sudden departure; the article was for Subscribers Only which I am not so didn't know the details of this recent news. Can anyone shed any light on what the circumstances were?

We have differing opinions on where to draw the line on poaching players from other teams and I have made my views perfectly clear so no need to elaborate further. Clearly you have done the same so others looking at this scenario in particular will need to make their judgement on whether a line was crossed or not.

Actually, Will Carter played for Riverview last year and at least against us in the 2020 playoffs was the most effective of the 2 due to his running ability. So no, he didn't transfer in from IMG.

Guess you exposed my stupidity as I never imagined that OHS, Venice, Lakeland (or insert whoever) goal was to beat the likes of IMG, Mater Dei, Saint Frances, Don Bosco, etc... as they recruit nationwide. So forgive me for believing that rule breaking for that end is unacceptable.

You are correct, Osceola does get transfers almost every year that help the team. Usually it's a handful, not huge numbers but regardless they add quality and depth. As I have laid out from our previous year, we also lost a handful to other teams in our area. Our backup QB became the starter at an 8A school in Orange county and upgraded their offensive passing game while giving himself exposure to the end result of receiving a college scholarship. We also lost a starter at DE from the 2020 state finalist team who was only a sophomore. His father envisioned his role at LB and because we were well positioned there we wanted him to continue playing DE. Therefore the father transferred him to the same 8A school in Orange county and he became their MLB and one of their leading tacklers. Same year we lost 2 RB's with significant playing experience to Orange county schools as we were transitioning to more passing and didn't need as many RB's; they both became starters for those 2 schools. These kids and their families made these decisions in what they felt was in their best interest for full participation. We were OK with that, just like we were OK with the kids we received who also made these choices on their own for their personal reasons. That is a far cry from recruiting and taking the top players from the surrounding teams by nefarious means as was clearly the case with the admission made on the QB going to the Dreadnaughts.

Transfers that improve any team are a sign of the times. Some top quality players transfer to play for winning programs and get better exposure. Other good players that are backups or become backups transfer to other teams for playing time and also some recognition by getting on the field. This is all understandable and allowed. However, to openly boast that your school won a recruiting battle for a missing piece (QB) on the offensive side against another rival involved in the same recruiting effort seems to enforce the notion that all top schools cheat. Then to take it a step further and tell Venice they will have to "TAKE" some of the better players from other schools clearly violating the rules is not good advice no matter how important winning is. Maybe some forum members will admire your honesty, all the while giving your program a black eye.

Actually, Damon Wilson an edge rusher (DE) and possibly your best overall player from last years team returns also.

That was my point, someone said they were playing in CA then it fell thru so obviously if they were open to it they must have made the cost calculation. Much cheaper to travel distances in FL and not focus on just local.

I guess if you can negotiate that, then certainly take advantage of it. For whatever reason, we haven't been so fortunate knowing it certainly is an advantage. So far in our area the marquee teams are certainly scheduling aggressively; I even noticed Edgewater has got Don Bosco Prep on opening week at home.

That is "PART" of the challenge and most top tier teams have to deal with some of that. But if Venice would be willing to travel to CA for a game, then local-ish teams should not be that big a factor. Looks like Lakeland has posted their schedule on their twitter feed and as they seem to manage quite often, they have 6 home games and only 4 away from the friendly confines of Bryant Stadium.

That is why I said in the thread for the 2022 Kowboy Schedule, that is one of the toughest jobs as you wish you could have played this team or that team or bye week at the end prior to playoffs or home and away every other week, or less distance to an opponent or myriad of other issues. It is usually imperfect but designed for the overall effect you want to achieve. Proud that our coach has it behind him and structured with the competitive balance he wanted to achieve. Coach Peacock will get it done, but it may not be exactly like he would prefer it to be. Just the nature of the beast.

Just for clarification, week #3 is on Sept. 9th not the 18th. Thus week #4 is 09/16.

Teams that have 8 or 9 teams per district have little leeway in structuring the schedule to benefit the team they are fielding that particular year. My feeling aligns more with (I think Hwy17) the idea of 3 districts per region so you have approximately half your schedule filled with the flexibility of a team with a strong returning cast to schedule "UP" to prepare for a potential playoff run while those in the rebuild can schedule the balance of games "DOWN" to ensure some success.

As Tigerskin said in this thread, I don't know him either and will give him the benefit of doubt as opposed to calling him a "CLOWN" when you don't probably know him either. He played his high school football at Madison and I understand his elderly parents still live there requiring more attention health wise. Seems like laudable reasons to make the move and take that job. Sad to see the hate some people have for those who have actually proven success; his record at Dunnellon was 70-24 with 7 straight years of qualifying for the playoffs.

They could lose 1 or they could lose 3 or they could win them all. We had all the pieces back on Defense last year and that unit is pretty intact for their final year, so that is a proven group. QB play is always important and I think Gunner will do a very good job unless someone else beats him out. That said, we will run the ball much more effectively this year than last with all key OL returning but 1 which will make the play action pass more deadly with the talent at receiver all returning. Success in running the ball is key and last year the OL was a huge question mark with only 1 starter returning. That is not the case now so expectations are extremely high.

That we have my friend.

Too early to say who will be the biggest challenge as between now and the new school year more player movement will take place with some of these top flight teams. But at this stage in the game I would think Seminole, Rockledge, Lakeland and Mainland to be bigger threats than Treasure Coast. Just my take. As far as the 5 consecutive away games, 2 are district games with St. Cloud and Celebration so they are basically local in nature; hardly any travel time. The group we have returning will definitely be up to the challenge. As others have pointed out, scheduling is tough to do and for our team we have had years with only 4 home games out of the 10 regular season games so we are excited for the teams we have to play.

Just read in our local sports page that Coach Mike Coe has hired Coach Mike Granato, the HC at West Orange as an assistant coach for the Coffee High, GA. were he will earn more money. Seems like they go back aways working together. So another Central Florida school in search of a new HC.

2022 KOWBOY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Just noticed that Coach Pinellas posted this on the Kowboy FB page. So looks like they were able to finalize the game with Rockledge for week 5 to compliment a very strong lineup from Spring Game and KOC thru the upcoming season other than the mandatory District lineup.