99 Struggling HS Teams in Florida

[OldSchoolLion]

This is one list you don't want to make.  All have won 17 or fewer games over the past 5 seasons.  Interestingly, the highest proportion of such teams is in 8A.  And 12/20 8A teams are in south FL.  I heard some talk this past season about parity in 8A.  That may be true in the upper echelon of 8A.  But there is a huge disparity between the "rich" and the "poor" in that class.  

We have a high proportion of really good teams in FL.  But what some fail to recognize is that we have a relatively high proportion of really weak teams(at least by Florida standards).  We have some 1A schools that I am confident could put a running clock on some much larger schools on this list.

Some of these teams may simply be having a bad stretch.  But a number of these teams have deeply ingrained  "cultures of losing" that have developed over many years and that are going to be extremely difficult to get turned around.  Telling them to simply "try harder" is likely not going to be enough.  And with a number of newer schools slated to come on line in future years,  the number of struggling programs in Florida may increase.  ...especially if we put them in the larger classes without an opportunity to allow the program to get traction.

 

8A-20 teams

Ferguson 16-32 over 5 years

Dr Krop 16-34 over 5 years

Miami Beach 16-37 over 5 years 

Riverview  16-35 over 5 years 

Coral Reef  16-34 over 5 years

Lake Worth 14-35 over 5 years

Hialeah Gardens  14-35 over 5 years

Spanish River 14-37 over 5 years 

Freedom/Orlando 13-38 over 5 years 

University/Orlando 13-38 over 5 years

JI Leonard 13-40 over 5 years

Colonial 12-35 over 5 years

Haines City  11-37 over 5 years

South Plantation 11-40 over 5 years

Cypress Creek 11-41 over 5 years

Winter Springs 10-41 over 5 years

Evans 10-42 over 5 years

Coral Park 10-42 over 5 years

Varela 10-38 in 5 years

Jupiter 5-44 over 5 years

 

7A-15 teams 

Celebration 16-34 over 5 years

South Broward 15-34 over 5 years

Lakewood Ranch 15-31 over 5 years

West Port 15-33 over 5 years

Ely 14-33 over 5 years

Hollywood Hills 14-34 over 5 years

Creekside  12-40 over 5 years  12-40 over 5 years

Lake Howell 12-38 over 5 years

North Port 11-40 over 5 years

Seminole 10-39 over 5 years

Mourning 4-43 over 5 years

Strawberry Crest 4-46 over 5 years     

Windermere 2-17 over 2 years

Westland 1-49 over 5 years

Leto 1-47 over 5 years

 

6A-19 teams

Okeechobee 17-34 over 5 years

Island Coast 17-36 over 5 years

Englewood 16-39 over 5 years

Pasco 16-34 over 5 years

King 14-39 over 5 years

Estero 14-37 over 5 years 

Leesburg 14-36 over 5 years

Ida Baker 14-36 over 5 years

Middleburg 14-41 over 5 years

Hialeah Miami Lakes 12-35 over 5 years

Bayside(1998) 12-40 over 5 years

Fort Walton Beach 11-41 over 5 years

Seabreeze 11-43 over 5 years

East Lee County 10-38 over 5 years

Dixie Hollins 10-39 over 5 years

Pensacola Washington 10-40 over 5 years

Pine Ridge 9-40 over 5 years

Lake Region 8-42 over 5 years

Northeast 4-44 over 5 years

 

5A-18 teams

Stranahan 17-33 over 5 years

Lecanto 17-33 over 5 years

Gibbs 17-34 over 5 years

Westside 16-32 over 5 years

Anclote 16-33 over 5 years

Paxon 15-39 over 5 years

Southeast 15-35 over 5 years

Mariner 15-34 over 5 years 

Cypress Lake 15-33 over 5 years

Parker 14-41 over 5 years

Stanton 14-39 over 5 years

Fivay 14-35 over 5 years

Belleview 14-35 over 5 years

Brooksville Central 13-36 over 5 years

Weeki Wachee 12-38 over 5 years

Port St Lucie 12-34 over 5 years

Gulf 11-40 over 5 years

Dunedin 2-47 over 5 years

 

4A-12 teams

Mulberry 14-30 over 5 years

Tenoroc 13-36 over 5 years

Umatilla 13-37 over 5 years

Fernandina Beach 13-36 over 5 years

North Bay Haven Academy 12-34 over 5 years

Rutherford 11-38 over 5 years

Gateway Charter 11-41 over 5 years

Gadsden County 10-40 over 5 years

Interlachen 10-39 over 5 years

Jackson 8-39 over 5 years

Wolfson 5-44 over 5 years

Cypress Creek 3-17 over 5 years

 

3A

St John Paul II 16-32 over 5 years

 

2A-7 teams

Cornerstone Charter 15-36 over 5 years

Warner Christian 13-38 over 5 years

Village Academy 12-38 over 5 years

Munroe 11-42 over 5 years

Merritt Island Christian 11-35 over 5 years

Marco Island Academy 11-34 over 5 years

North FL Ed 6-22 over 3 years

 

1A

Bell 16-35 over 5 years

Franklin County 14-36 over 5 years

Bronson 7-41 over 5 years

 

Independent

Cocoa Beach 17-34 over 5 years

Coral Glades(2004) 13-36 over 5 years

Pembroke Pines Charter 9-40 over 5 years

Poinciana 6-44 over 5 years

International School of Broward 2-32 over 4 years

 

[OldSchoolLion]

14 teams on the list above have played for a state title(s) in the past.

Dixie Hollins

Dunedin

Ely

Evans

Fort Walton Beach

Haines City

Hialeah Miami Lakes

Hollywood Hills 

Miami Beach

Pasco

Rutherford

Southeast

Warner Christian

Wolfson

[peezy28]

This is just horrible

Pasco 16-34 over 5 years

This team was dominating their county and making Deep playoff runs then got hit with the Transfer Bug and could no longer field a competitive team. 

[peezy28]

4 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

13 teams on the list above have played for a state title(s) in the past.

Dixie Hollins

Ely

Evans

Fort Walton Beach

Haines City

Hialeah Miami Lakes

Hollywood Hills 

Miami Beach

Pasco

Rutherford

Southeast

Warner Christian

Wolfson

Um... excuse me... 14 the Got damn Dunedin Falcons played for 2 count em 2 state titles.  Get that info right sir (granted it was 1986 and 1987 but STILLL) #DONTDISRESPECTTHEFALCONS!

 

LOL

[OldSchoolLion]

1 minute ago, peezy28 said:

Um... excuse me... 14 the Got damn Dunedin Falcons played for 2 count em 2 state titles.  Get that info right sir (granted it was 1986 and 1987 but STILLL) #DONTDISRESPECTTHEFALCONS!

 

LOL

Livin in the past LMAO

[peezy28]

6 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Livin in the past LMAO

Nah your just disrespecting the past LOL

[OldSchoolLion]

4 minutes ago, peezy28 said:

Nah your just disrespecting the past LOL

 

[OldSchoolLion]

Last year, Fort Myers Riverdale had a huge breakout season.  Which one of these teams above will surprise all with have a breakout season this year and make the playoffs?  

[Hwy17]

I get why some long standing programs go in cycles; programs like Southeast, Haines City, Pasco, etc.  I believe they can and will return to being strong again.  It just seems like some schools never get any better.   Is it apathy?  Are they content on loosing? Is football just not important? One thing I like to take note of is their competitiveness in other sports.  If they are competitive in sports like baseball and basketball, then its usually a sign of something else besides lack of talent.  

[Coach]

I know in the area where I live, student population can make or break a school. Teams like Liberty, Toho, Poinciana, Celebration and Cypress Creek have high Hispanic populations and football isn't a very important part of the culture so a lot of those students play other sports. I mean, Poinciana won a state basketball championship not long ago so they have athletes, but most don't want to play for programs that are historically bad. 

[Perspective]

50 minutes ago, Coach said:

I know in the area where I live, student population can make or break a school. Teams like Liberty, Toho, Poinciana, Celebration and Cypress Creek have high Hispanic populations and football isn't a very important part of the culture so a lot of those students play other sports. I mean, Poinciana won a state basketball championship not long ago so they have athletes, but most don't want to play for programs that are historically bad. 

You could have left out the first three lines and just kept in the last part and you would have been spot on.  

And here's the thing:  with the relatively free transfer rules now in place, a kid interested in football  doesn't have to attend the school with the historically bad football program, meaning those historically bad programs are going to stay historically bad.   Gone are the days when a couple of good players who happened to live in a particular district could rise up and change a school's program for the better.  

[Hwy17]

25 minutes ago, Perspective said:

You could have left out the first three lines and just kept in the last part and you would have been spot on.  

And here's the thing:  with the relatively free transfer rules now in place, a kid interested in football  doesn't have to attend the school with the historically bad football program, meaning those historically bad programs are going to stay historically bad.   Gone are the days when a couple of good players who happened to live in a particular district could rise up and change a school's program for the better.  

So, this past Friday saw Sarasota high blanked Bayshore 51-0.  Both are traditionally weak programs.  I've felt that Bayshore is a program on the rise.   Bayshore won last year's game 24-0. This past Friday also saw Braden River lose to Largo.  In recent years Braden River has been a strong program.   A good friend of mine told me that Sarasota got quite a few transfers who were at Braden River last year.  Whether true or not, I do not know.  Makes me go hmmm though. 

[Perspective]

From my perspective, it's possible for a historically bad school to get good or for a team that has a lot of good history, but that has fallen on hard times of late, to get good again.   In order for that to happen, it will have to take some combination of the following:  a new coach with a lot of juice (i.e., someone with a lot a history in and support from the community, someone who played at that school, someone who went on to have a successful college and/or pro career, etc.) and/or one or more coaches who are willing to push, if not overlook, the rules regarding recruiting/transfers.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you're going to bend the rules, do it when you're program is down because folks won't really care, and then clean it up as you start to get good.   And understand I'm not advocating that anyone do these things; it's just my realistic thought process into how it could/may happen.  I don't know if Sarasota fits into this narrative or not. 

[LakelandGator]

6 hours ago, Hwy17 said:

I get why some long standing programs go in cycles; programs like Southeast, Haines City, Pasco, etc.  I believe they can and will return to being strong again.  It just seems like some schools never get any better.   Is it apathy?  Are they content on loosing? Is football just not important? One thing I like to take note of is their competitiveness in other sports.  If they are competitive in sports like baseball and basketball, then its usually a sign of something else besides lack of talent.  

HC hasn't been the same since Ridge Community opened and it may never be the same again.

The area still has very good talent, but they attend RC, Osceola, and are now headed back to Auburndale with the new, young "aggressive" staff they have in place.

 

 

 

[Big Ray]

Any program can be turned around in my opinion. Daytona Beach Mainland has made the playoffs 25 years in a row and 26 of the last 27 years. if you go back 3 years before their first playoff appearance, they were 4-36 in a 4 years span.

[Jambun82]

3 hours ago, Big Ray said:

Any program can be turned around in my opinion. Daytona Beach Mainland has made the playoffs 25 years in a row and 26 of the last 27 years. if you go back 3 years before their first playoff appearance, they were 4-36 in a 4 years span.

The instance of Daytona Beach Mainland was that the talent was always there, but there was a lot of apathy, and most of the kids in that area had to work. When Doug Stanley became the Head Coach in 1989, he was able to go into the community, talk to employers, and get the talented kids to play football. Mainland was a sleeping giant until that point. Dan in Daytona would be able to expound on this point.

[gatorman-uf]

Many years ago I suggested it and still stand by it, but teams should move up or down, not based on their enrollment, but on their on-field/court success. As your team improves, then you play tougher competition by moving up a classification, as your team struggles, you move down a classification.  There is little reason in today's age that teams that powerhouse teams should be in districts with the chronically failing. If we want programs to grow, they have to feel like they have a chance to win or otherwise we are setting them up for failure.  In football, they could do it in 2 year cycles. In other sports, one year cycles.

There is little reason for Chaminade-Madonna and Trinity Christian to be in 3A move them up until they find a level in which we aren't already penciling them into the state finals. Move the top 10 teams in 7A up to 8A, move the worst 10 in 8A down. Repeat the process for 3A-8A. 

If you are a brand new school who should be in 8A, we are starting you in 3A.
 

[Perspective]

8 hours ago, gatorman-uf said:

Many years ago I suggested it and still stand by it, but teams should move up or down, not based on their enrollment, but on their on-field/court success. As your team improves, then you play tougher competition by moving up a classification, as your team struggles, you move down a classification.  There is little reason in today's age that teams that powerhouse teams should be in districts with the chronically failing. If we want programs to grow, they have to feel like they have a chance to win or otherwise we are setting them up for failure.  In football, they could do it in 2 year cycles. In other sports, one year cycles.


 

And just for kicks, we'll call it the Premier League. 

[Perspective]

14 hours ago, Big Ray said:

Any program can be turned around in my opinion. Daytona Beach Mainland has made the playoffs 25 years in a row and 26 of the last 27 years. if you go back 3 years before their first playoff appearance, they were 4-36 in a 4 years span.

I understand your point, but consider this:  when Mainland got good, it was on the backs of the kids who were zoned to go there (and probably some good coaching).   Those kids had little or no choice where they went to high school.   Today, what are the chances that those same kids would end up at Mainland?  Isn't it more likely that -- even if they started out in the 9th grade at Mainland -- they would (eventually) end up at another school?   That's my point:  a school like Mainland who's experiencing the inevitable downturns that a public school experiences, might not ever have the chance to rebuild again, because the building blocks will opt to play down the road at the school that's already good. 

[Hwy17]

1 hour ago, Perspective said:

I understand your point, but consider this:  when Mainland got good, it was on the backs of the kids who were zoned to go there (and probably some good coaching).   Those kids had little or no choice where they went to high school.   Today, what are the chances that those same kids would end up at Mainland?  Isn't it more likely that -- even if they started out in the 9th grade at Mainland -- they would (eventually) end up at another school?   That's my point:  a school like Mainland who's experiencing the inevitable downturns that a public school experiences, might not ever have the chance to rebuild again, because the building blocks will opt to play down the road at the school that's already good. 

Couldn't agree more!