Who Is This Famous Coach? JD Jones/Wakulla

[OldSchoolLion]

Who is this famous coach and at what high school did he coach?

• Won over 200 FL hs football games
• Coached at one school for over 25 years
• Led his team to 14 playoff appearances spanning 4 decades
• Led his team to back-to-back state title game appearances
• Has a stadium named after him

[gatorman-uf]

Al Morrell - Clewiston?

[OldSchoolLion]

30 minutes ago, gatorman-uf said:

Al Morrell - Clewiston?

Al Morrell is a GREAT guess, but just misses the mark. 

Won 200+ games-check.

Coached exactly 25 years at Clewiston...not over.  

Led Clewiston to 16 playoff appearances spanning 4 decades.

Led Clewiston to back-to-back state title game appearances-check.

Al Morrell Stadium...where?

[gatorman-uf]

10 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Al Morrell Stadium...where?

It is Al Morrell Track and the field house has his name, but the stadium is Cane Field... my bad

[Jambun82]

2 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Who is this famous coach and at what high school did he coach?

• Won over 200 FL hs football games
• Coached at one school for over 25 years
• Led his team to 14 playoff appearances spanning over 4 decades
• Led his team to back-to-back state title game appearances
• Has a stadium named after him

Was this coach ONLY a head coach at one school during his career, or was he a head coach at more than one school?

[gatorman-uf]

While this has nothing to do with the current topic, I wish the FHSAA would update the record books. I think it a shame that the football book has not been updated since  2015. The book made it easier to look at success overtime, shame the FHSAA has given up on it.

[Hwy17]

18 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Who is this famous coach and at what high school did he coach?

• Won over 200 FL hs football games
• Coached at one school for over 25 years
• Led his team to 14 playoff appearances spanning over 4 decades
• Led his team to back-to-back state title game appearances
• Has a stadium named after him

With only 14 playoff appearances, I'm lead to believe that he spent much of his coaching career when only district champs made the playoffs. 

[Perspective]

My first thought was Billy Turner (Hillsborough/Chamberlain), but I think he only made it to the big dance once. 

All of the others that I can think of who have a stadium named after them won at least one state title.  And based on the way the question is worded, it leads me to believe the coach in question made it to the title game twice in a row, but came up short both times.  

Hmmm, may have to do a little digging. 

[Hwy17]

19 minutes ago, Perspective said:

My first thought was Billy Turner (Hillsborough/Chamberlain), but I think he only made it to the big dance once. 

All of the others that I can think of who have a stadium named after them won at least one state title.  And based on the way the question is worded, it leads me to believe the coach in question made it to the title game twice in a row, but came up short both times.  

Hmmm, may have to do a little digging. 

I was thinking Billy Turner as well but he only got to the finals once. Then I figured it would be Jim Powell (Venice) but he didn't quite have 200 wins.

[Perspective]

11 minutes ago, Hwy17 said:

I was thinking Billy Turner as well but he only got to the finals once. Then I figured it would be Jim Powell (Venice) but he didn't quite have 200 wins.

Or have back-to-back title games (best I can tell).  

[imjustafan2]

Corky Rogers.

[Perspective]

28 minutes ago, imjustafan2 said:

Corky Rogers.

If the third and fourth lines were combined into one and it said that this coach "led his team to 14 state title game appearances", you might be right. 

[badbird]

nm

[Hwy17]

I'm going to guess, Larry Gergley

[OldSchoolLion]

1 hour ago, Hwy17 said:

I'm going to guess, Larry Gergley

Good guess!  ...but no.

• Won over 200 FL hs football games-CHECK
• Coached at one school for over 25 years-CHECK
• Led his team to 14 playoff appearances spanning over 4 decades-CHECK
• Led his team to back-to-back state title game appearances-NO..never made a state final appearance

[OldSchoolLion]

Glad to see ya'll are having fun with this one.  Let's see who gets it!

[Jambun82]

What about Gerald Odom?

[Hwy17]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Good guess!  ...but no.

• Won over 200 FL hs football games-CHECK
• Coached at one school for over 25 years-CHECK
• Led his team to 14 playoff appearances spanning over 4 decades-CHECK
• Led his team to back-to-back state title game appearances-NO..never made a state final appearance

Somebody mentioned in a previous thread; Gene Cox.

[OldSchoolLion]

1 hour ago, Hwy17 said:

Somebody mentioned in a previous thread; Gene Cox.

Another GREAT guess...but no

He meets all of the criteria except one.  His Leon teams appeared in playoff games over three decades, not four.  

[OldSchoolLion]

2 hours ago, Jambun82 said:

What about Gerald Odom?

He did win 200+ games and appeared in back-to-back state title games, but does not meet all of the criteria. 

[OldSchoolLion]

So, it is NOT any of the following coaches, all of whom have won 200+ games... 

Bill Castle

Gene Cox

Larry Gergley

Billy Livings

Al Morrell

Gerald Odom

Corky Rogers

George Smith

Billy Turner

[gatorman-uf]

Joe Kinnan (Manatee)?
 

[OldSchoolLion]

5 hours ago, gatorman-uf said:

Joe Kinnan (Manatee)?
 

Joe Kinnan has a field named after him, but not the stadium.  And he led Manatee to a lot more than 14 playoff appearances.  Good guess, though.  

[OldSchoolLion]

On 5/21/2020 at 10:18 PM, Jambun82 said:

Was this coach ONLY a head coach at one school during his career, or was he a head coach at more than one school?

He was a hc at one school.

[Perspective]

11 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Another GREAT guess...but no

He meets all of the criteria except one.  His Leon teams appeared in playoff games over three decades, not four.  

Hmm, Cox had more than 2 title game appearances and the only time he appeared in back-to-back title games, he won one ('74) and lost one ('75).   This adds a new wrinkle.  He may have had multiple title appearances and may have won one or more titles, but only appeared back-to-back once.   At least that's how I'm interpreting the responses to the selections.