Florida High School Football Turnaround Team of the Year 2023: Vote
Whenever a high school football program is coming off a down season, the head coach and his staff spend a tireless amount of hours trying to figure out how to bring wins to the school.
We identified 10 football programs that turned things around from their 2022 season and either qualified for the playoffs, doubled or even tripled their win totals from a year ago in 2023.
We're asking you the fan to draw your vote for which team you believe is the Turnaround Football Team of 2023 out of the Sunshine State?
Voting concludes December 31, 2023.
Editor’s note: Our corresponding poll is intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. This poll is specifically for fans to vote on the players that have been nominated and in no way discredits any other player that may not be mentioned in our poll.
Here are the nominations:
Tarpon Springs Spongers: The Spongers have had a long, proud history of football run throughout the program's history. Plenty of great coaches have roamed the halls like Don Davis, George Kotis among the long list. Alum Jeremy Frioud knows the history and came back to his alma mater to try and restore it. Frioud led the program to an 8-1 record, turning it around from last year's 3-7 mark.
North Port Bobcats: Before this season, North Port had never won more than four games in an entire season. Garon Belser changed all that this year with a season to remember. North Port went winless in 2022 at 0-7 and turned it around with a 6-4 record, ending with a bowl win over LaBelle.
Leon Lions: The first two seasons for Tyrone McGriff at Leon were downright rough for the Lions. An overall 2-17 record between 2021 and 2022. Something had to give for the once proud Lions. McGriff led the way, setting the team up for a tremendous season, finishing 6-4 after going 1-9 in 2022.
Hardee Wildcats: Brian Kemp and the Wildcats fell on some hard times in the 2022 season. Finishing last year at 1-7 and seemingly going nowhere, Kemp had to revamp the program and he turned it around in a big way. The Wildcats made a complete turnaround, going 8-3 and clinching a berth in the Class 2S playoffs.
Keystone Heights Indians: After going 2-8 last season, longtime head coach Charles Dickinson stepped down and that opened the door for Steve Reynolds as the program's new lead man. Reynolds did a masterful job and guided the team to a 6-5 record, clinching a berth in the Class 2S playoffs.
Leesburg Yellow Jackets: You might of heard about these guys on social media. Former UCF quarterback Steven Moffett took over a program that went 2-8 last year and he's given Leesburg a complete makeover. The Yellow Jackets are currently 10-1 and still in the playoff mix in Class 3S.
Golden Gate Titans: Not to take anything away from last year's 5-5 team, but this Golden Gate version is hitting different. The Titans are doing things no other Golden Gate team has ever done. From beating Naples to winning a playoff game, it's a turnaround no matter how you want to slice it and dice it under the watch of Nick Bigica.
Hialeah Thoroughbreds: Whenever you can double your win total in a year's span, you know you're doing something right. That's the reason Hialeah falls on this list as they went 4-5 one season ago and came back with a vengeance this fall. The Thoroughbreds finished 9-2 this season out of Class 3M, good enough to qualify for the playoffs.
Fort Walton Beach Vikings: Winless last season at 0-10, the only way to go was up for the Vikings after the 2022 campaign. Enter head coach Bobby Clayton, who took over the program and brought Fort Walton Beach back to respectability. The Vikings finished 5-5 and are trending upwards heading into the offseason.
Madison County Cowboys: Price Harris knew the expectations would be high when he took the job before the 2022 season. Finishing 4-7 and not winning a state title wasn't what the locals expected and turning things around at Boot Hill had to happen sooner rather than later. Harris has led the club to a 7-1 mark in Class 1R and are still in the playoffs, aiming to make a run at a state crown.
