Who Is This Famous FL HS Coach? John Sprague/Sarasota Riverview

[OldSchoolLion]

This coach, now retired, spent 30 years at the same school.  He is one of the most successful coaches to never win a state title.  Some of his teams of the late 80's and 90's were real powerhouses. During those 30 years, his teams accomplished the following:

230 wins

11 district titles

6 region titles

2 state title game appearances (one title game loss came against a nationally-ranked team)

15 playoff appearances 

Who is this famous man and where did he coach? 

[OldSchoolLion]

Here are some great ones who never won a title.  The answer just might be on this list.

 

Danny Green-Baker

Rich Stuart -Belen

Ron Ream-Benjamin

Mickey Lindsey-Cantonment Pace

Sam Budnyk-Cardinal Newman

Billy Turner-Chamberlain

Chris Merritt-Columbus

Earl Garcia-Hillsborough

Rod Shafer-Lake Wales

Jim Kroll-Miami Palmetto

Bill Munsey-Pine Crest

Al Sutton-Riviera Beach Suncoast

Steve Hardin-Rutherford

John Sprague-Sarasota Riverview

Don Drinkhahn-South Dade

Inman Sherman-South Sumter

Phillip Yancey-Vanguard

Larry Gergley-Winter Park

[DisabledAccount]

4 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Here are some great ones who never won a title.  The answer just might be on this list.

 

Danny Green-Baker

Rich Stuart -Belen

Ron Ream-Benjamin

Mickey Lindsey-Cantonment Pace

Sam Budnyk-Cardinal Newman

Billy Turner-Chamberlain

Chris Merritt-Columbus

Earl Garcia-Hillsborough

Rod Shafer-Lake Wales

Jim Kroll-Miami Palmetto

Bill Munsey-Pine Crest

Al Sutton-Riviera Beach Suncoast

Steve Hardin-Rutherford

John Sprague-Sarasota Riverview

Don Drinkhahn-South Dade

Inman Sherman-South Sumter

Phillip Yancey-Vanguard

Larry Gergley-Winter Park

Danny Green would have qualified for several on the criteria but never spent 30 years at one school

 

I'm going with the coach from Hillsborough as he was there a long time and even though I'm not sure how many exact wins he finished with I seem to remember 2 title appearances

[DisabledAccount]

Nm

[OldSchoolLion]

1 hour ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

Danny Green would have qualified for several on the criteria but never spent 30 years at one school

 

I'm going with the coach from Hillsborough as he was there a long time and even though I'm not sure how many exact wins he finished with I seem to remember 2 title appearances

Bravo for trying, but it is not Earl Garcia.  Garcia's teams only appeared once in a title game...and they made well over 15 playoff appearances.

[FL_HS_football]

Sprague would be a good guess......having lost nationally ranked to Pine Forest in the 88 state title game

[OldSchoolLion]

24 minutes ago, FL_HS_football said:

Sprague would be a good guess......having lost nationally ranked to Pine Forest in the 88 state title game

Great guess!  Riverview was a very tough team in the late 80's and 90's under legendary coach John Sprague.  Between 1988-1999, they were 15-10 in playoff games. They lost those 10 playoff games by a combined total of 44 points.  9 of those 10 losses were decided by a TD or less.  Talk about a tough out!  Riverview appeared twice in the 5A finals (1988 and 1990), and made it to the third round three times.  In 1996, they were knocked out in the third round by Pensacola 10-7.

[FL_HS_football]

Had an opportunity to talk to him several times in the early 80's when he would come into the old Southgate PO in Sarasota to mail game film. Was way more talkative than Joe Kinnan.........Joe was very hard to pull into a conversation beyond the customary pleasantries. There was a 20+ year period where Charlie Cleland/Tom Whitehurst -Sarasota HS, Paul Maechtle - Southeast, John Sprague - Riverview, and Joe Kinnan turned the Sarasota/Manatee county area into a real powerhouse of HS football.

[Wavebb]

" Take the ground"  Sprague was a cool guy.  Delivered papers before school and had a T-shirt shop in the Mall ( South Gate ) off 41.  Good friend of our coach, Sam Sirianni.