JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – News4JAX hands out a list of questions to high school football players and coaches before the start of every season covering a variety of topics. This year, we received responses from 112 players and 23 from coaches. Both are asked to not vote for their own team or teammates or coaches on select questions. This is what they had to tell us.
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Previous players surveys | 2024 survey | 2023 survey | 2022 survey | 2021 survey | 2020 survey | 2019 survey
Previous coach surveys | 2024 survey| 2023 survey | 2022 survey | 2021 survey
Who has the best football team in the area?
Raines: 39 | Mandarin: 8 | Oakleaf: 8 | Ponte Vedra: 6 | Nease: 5 | St. Augustine: 5 | Wolfson: 5.
Justin’s thoughts: No surprise here. The Vikings went 13-1 last year and played for the Class 3A state championship. They may be even better this season. Mandarin, Oakleaf, Nease and St. Augustine are all unbeaten entering Week 5. I’d venture to say players from Wolfson (1-3) voted for their own team here.
Does the state need to do something about the rampant issues of recruiting and transfers in Florida?
Yes: 48 | No: 33 | Maybe: 26
Justin’s thoughts: Open enrollment in Florida became law in 2017, and with it, an era of players bouncing from school to school more frequently. Georgia ushered in a system this year that put in stricter guardrails for students who transfer, including a year of ineligibility in select cases. Florida has essentially become a year-round transfer portal. Coaches have opined on this topic to no avail.
Name a team not on your schedule that you’d like to face.
Raines: 34 | Bolles: 10 | Mandarin: 7 | Beachside: 4 | KIPP Bold City: 4 | Oakleaf: 4 | Trinity Christian: 4
Justin’s thoughts: The top teams tend to be the ones mentioned most frequently here. Raines’ schedule is very light on competition after losing Miami Central in Week 1 to a cancellation, so I’m sure the Vikings would have gladly swapped a Gateway team for another stronger opponent if possible. Bolles and Trinity Christian are always mentioned here, too.
Who is the best offensive player in town?
Mandarin WR Brysen Wright: 20 | Raines QB Timothy Cole: 12 | Bolles WR Naeem Burroughs: 7 | St. Augustine WR Somourian Wingo: 7 | Raines WR Kelvin Brown Jr.: 5.
Justin’s thoughts: Wright, the Mustangs sensational sophomore, was the runaway winner here. He’d just come off an electric summer where he starred on the Jaguars U-14 flag team that won at the national flag championship, so his explosiveness was seen by a wide audience. He’s been superb on both sides of the ball this year. Cole, the reigning Varsity 4 offensive player of the year, has looked excellent to start this season. Burroughs (Clemson) and Wingo (Miami) are elite pass catchers.
Who is the best defensive player in town?
Raines DB Shareef Jackson: 9 | Raines LB Tony Williams: 9 | Mandarin DB Brody Jennings: 7 | Bolles DL Asher Ghioto: 6.
Justin’s thoughts: Raines players led the way, with Jackson and Williams sharing the most vote total. Those two are major forces on a defense that just drilled Lake Mary, the Class 7A state runner-up in 2024, by 48 points. Jennings, a Miami commit, has played the best he has in his career in 2025. Ghioto is a sophomore terror who, along with Brysen Wright, ranks as one of the top 10 players in the nation in 2028.
What is the biggest issue you face as a high school athlete today?
Recruiting pressure: 50 | Time management: 34 | Visibility/getting your tape out/being seen: 33 | School work academics: 28 | Social media: 12.
Justin’s thoughts: Some players selected multiple things here, and you can get a picture of just what type of stress plays into these. Players have an eye on playing in college, and trying to land a scholarship offer or the pressure to get an offer is a major stressor. Recruiting tops the list for the second year in a row, with time management No. 2 for the second year. Social media slid to the lowest I can remember it being.
Besides yourself and those on your staff, who is the best coach in town?
St. Augustine’s Brian Braddock: 4 | Bishop Kenny’s Tim Krause: 3 | Trinity Christian’s Verlon Dorminey: 2 | Creekside’s Sean McIntyre: 2.
Justin’s thoughts: A good sampling of the same coaches, which says how much these guys are respected. Braddock (pictured above) is the pick of the coaches for the third consecutive year. McIntyre and Dorminey were in the top three last year as well. Krause was tied for second with McIntyre in 2023.
What is the biggest struggle or impediment facing your profession?
Pay: 13 | Resources: 5 | Difficulty to get assistants: 3.
Justin’s thoughts: All of these have been mentioned repeatedly in the past, and it’s a topic News4JAX has tracked for years. They are all directly or indirectly tied to money. Until something happens with the terrible wages, pay will continue to top the list. Difficulty hiring assistants is tied to pay as well. The supplement or stipend is the paycheck for an entire year of coaching. Those range from a low end of $3,038 (Broward County) to a high of $8,317 (Charlotte County). Some counties bump up supplements for years of service, but most do not. As low as the wages are for head coaches, some assistant coaches make a quarter of what a head coach does with comparable hours.
If you were to leave coaching, what would you do?
Not sure: 3 | Real estate: 2 | Start a business: 2.
Justin’s thoughts: Quite a few one-off answers here in terms of what coaches would do. One coach answered “die,” which I hope isn’t the case.
Is name, image and likeness at the high school level a good or bad thing?
Good: 8 | Bad: 5.
Justin’s thoughts: There were addendums placed on a few of the “good” replies, with a couple coaches saying that they should also be able to receive NIL funds. Two others said it was a good idea if it was regulated.
Should more of an emphasis be placed on transfers in Florida like there has been in other states like Georgia?
Yes: 16 | No: 4