https://www.gobound.com/fl/sunshinestate/sunfb/2025-26/teams

Yo, still nursin' this bourbon from last night, still down a few bucks at the track, but hey, at least I'm not coachin' in one of them zero-title counties. We talkin' Florida high school football glory since '63, broken down by how many folks live there. No boring spreadsheets this time—just the juicy highlights, 'cause who got time for every county when the bottle's callin'? Start with the big dogs, them Super counties packin' over a million souls—think Miami traffic jams and Disney lines. Broward, Palm Beach, Duval, and Dade (that's Miami, y'all) hog all the raw trophies, stackin' 'em like I stack bad decisions. And let's keep it a buck: a big chunk of that bling comes from them private school superpowers recruitin' kids from everywhere, no boundaries, just open checkbooks and open arms. St. Thomas Aquinas down in Broward? Man, they out here assemblin' rosters like the Avengers—pullin' top talent nationwide, playin' national schedules, and hoistin' hardware like it's goin' outta style. Seventeen state titles overall, trophy case so full you need sunglasses just to look at it.Duval punches strong per person—tops the Supers in that—and yeah, a fat slice of their dominance comes from privates like Jacksonville Bolles, them Bulldogs with 11 state titles locked in (all from back in the day, '86 to 2011 under that legend Corky Rogers), recruitin' heavy and turnin' Skinner-Barco Stadium into a ring factory for years. Just last week they was chasin' number 12 in the Class 2A final but got lit up 52-28 by Cardinal Mooney—lost five straight title games now, ouch.But overall? These metros dominate the total count like a heavyweight bullyin' the ring.Then the X-Large and Large crews—half-million to a mil, places like Polk, Hillsborough, Orange. Polk sneaks in punchin' above its weight per capita, probably 'cause Lakeland been terrorizin' folks forever. Leon (Tallahassee, my Rattler stompin' grounds) straight ballin' per head—FAMU vibe rubbin' off, makin' 'em play mean.Now, the real fun starts with the smaller joints —Medium, Small, Miniature, all the way to Tiny. This where the little guys turn into giants. Them Panhandle and North Florida specks on the map? They eatin' per capita like it's an all-you-can-win buffet.Gilchrist, Bradford, Suwannee, Wakulla, Jackson—scrappy as hell. But the king of the ants? Madison County, population barely enough for one good block party, but they winnin' state rings like it's their birthright. Cowboys out there celebratin' titles while the whole town shuts down—no recruiters needed, just local boys with dirt on their cleats and fire in their bellies.Calhoun, Gulf (Port St. Joe with them Tiger Sharks), Jefferson right behind—rural beasts turnin' Friday nights into legends under them rickety lights.That's hood heart, baby—small crew, big fight, probably runnin' on sweet tea, church prayers, and straight spite for the big-city boys.Punchline? Big counties flex the most hardware 'cause they got the bodies (and them private recruiting machines like St. Thomas and Bolles loadin' up the wagons). But per person? The tinies are the real killers—provin' you don't need a million folks or a nationwide shopping spree to own the state, just heart, hustle, and maybe a little moonshine motivation. It's like me at the casino: odds stacked against the little guy, but when we hit... we hit big.   Now pass that glass—Madison County's got me feelin' nostalgic, Bolles got me laughin' at them title-game heartbreaks, and St. Thomas got me wonderin' if they even got room for one more trophy. Who's buyin' the next round to toast both sides—the stackers and the scrappers?

And the luckiest team in the state has to be Edgewater, which somehow got placed in 6A despite being 400 students below the 6A cutoff line.  They'll have to deal with Venice and Vero in 6A, but escaped the new 5A with STA, Lakeland, and Armwood, West Boca, Buchholz, Mandarin, and others dropping down a class.

Here are the point totals thus far for the current decade (2020-2029) SCHOOL POINTS St. Thomas Aquinas 30 Chaminade  24 Hawthorne  21 Cocoa  19 AmericanHeritage(Plantation)  18 Miami Central  15 Venice  15 Lakeland  14 Madison County  13 Trinity Christian Jax 13 Christopher Columbus  12 Cardinal Gibbons  11 Cardinal Mooney  11 West Boca Raton  10 Berkeley Prep  8 Miami Northwestern  8 Bolles  7 Champagnat Catholic  7 First Baptist  7 Jesuit  7 Jones  7 Lake Mary  7 Mainland  7 Raines  7 Cardinal Newman  6 Clearwater Central Catholic  6 Apopka  5 Baker   5 Buchholz  5 Lake Wales  5 Osceola (Kissimmee)  5 Seminole (Sanford)  5 Trinity Catholic 5 Blountstown  4 Homestead  4 St. Augustine  4 Booker  3 Bradford  3 Florida "FSU" High   3 Gadsden County  3 University Christian  3 Chiefland  2 Dunbar  2 Edgewater  2 Lake Minneola  2 Lakewood  2 Mandarin  2 Merritt Island  2 Miami Norland  2 Miami Palmetto  2 Niceville  2 Northview  2 Pine Forest  2 Rickards  2 Tampa Bay Tech 2 Union County  2 Vero Beach  2 West Broward  2 Archbishop Carroll  1 Armwood  1 Baker County  1 Bishop Moore  1 Bishop Verot  1 Bloomindale  1 Bozeman  1 Carrollwood Day  1 Chipley  1 Choctawhatchee  1 Columbia  1 DeLand  1 Dr. Phillips  1 Dunnellon  1 Eau Gallie  1 Foundation Academy  1 Gaither  1 John Carroll  1 Lake Gibson  1 Lakeland Christian  1 Manatee  1 Miami Southridge   1 Monarch  1 Munroe  1 Naples  1 North Florida Christian  1 Ocoee  1 Orlando Christian Prep  1 Pahokee  1 Palm Beach Central  1 Palmetto  1 Pensacola Catholic  1 Plant   1 Ponte Vedra  1 Port Charlotte  1 Riverdale  1 Sebring  1 Seffner Christian  1 Sneads  1 Treasure Coast 1 True North 1 Vanguard  1 Washington (Miami)  1 Williston  1  

Look, the FHSAA been playin’ classification roulette since Y2K, and every spin they act like they just invented the wheel. Back in 2000 we had six classes, nice and simple—big schools with big schools, small with small, everybody kinda knew their lane. Then Florida population went full Miami traffic: exploded everywhere except where the buses could reach. So they added classes, split Metro from Suburban like they was separatin’ church and state, then scrapped it two years later ‘cause nobody could figure out the map. Travel? Man, some Panhandle teams still puttin’ more miles on the bus than a Greyhound driver. Competitive balance? Please. Private schools out here recruitin’ like it’s AAU basketball, publics stuck drawin’ from the neighborhood—guess who keeps winnin’ rings?Now here we are, December 19, 2025, and the FHSAA just dropped the 2026-28 plan: six classes plus Rural, killin’ off 7A, and—drumroll—they finally addin’ this eight-team Open Division for the big dogs. Top programs, regardless of enrollment, get pulled out based on them power rankings and play for the “real” state title. On paper? Smart. Finally admit St. Thomas, IMG, Chaminade, American Heritage, and whoever else is stackin’ talent gonna beat everybody anyway—let ‘em fight each other while the rest of us get meaningful games. I respect the honesty. Took ‘em 25 years to say, “Fine, y’all super-teams go duke it out in your own sandbox.”But here come the food-for-thought shots, straight no chaser: Them power rankings they usin’ to seed the Open Division? Same rankings that had half the state screamin’ last year when a 9-1 team got left out ‘cause schedule strength. If the formula still glitchy, we gon’ have more drama than a FAMU-FSU game in the fourth quarter. SSAA out here growin’ like kudzu. Over 120 schools now, grabbin’ teams left and right—especially them smaller publics and privates who tired of gettin’ 50-burgers put on ‘em every September. They promisin’ shorter bus rides, better matchups, and no more watchin’ the same five programs win everything. If FHSAA don’t lock this Open Division down clean, SSAA might end up the new Friday Night Lights league for half the state. Public vs. private still the quiet elephant smokin’ in the corner. Open Division might scoop up most of the private juggernauts, but the mid-tier arms race don’t stop. Georgia got multipliers, Texas got separate playoffs—Florida still actin’ like strict enrollment gon’ fix recruitin’ pipelines. Good luck with that. Geography ain’t changin’. You can redraw districts all you want, but the Panhandle still the Panhandle, and South Florida still South Florida. Until somebody invents teleportation, somebody gon’ be ridin’ six hours for a district game. Stability. That’s the word FHSAA can’t spell. Every four years they blow it up and start over. Coaches can’t plan rivalries, fans can’t build traditions, and recruits just wait to see where the power programs land next cycle. Give us a system that lasts a decade, make small tweaks, let it breathe. Bottom line: This Open Division move is the closest FHSAA come to admittin’ reality since I graduated FAMU. If they execute it right—transparent selections, protected regional play in the regular classes, and keep the SSAA from turnin’ into the SEC of independents—Florida football might actually feel fair again.If not? Well, like Ron White say, “I had the right to remain silent… but I didn’t have the ability.” FHSAA keep talkin’ big changes, but we’ll see if they finally shut up and let the games do the talkin’.You feel me? Or you want me to break it down slower next time?