The Santa Fe football program hit rock bottom again last season.

After a winless campaign (0-9) in 2021, the Raiders (1-9) did win one game in 2022.

However, Santa Fe finished 0-10 in 2023.

That doesn’t seem to be a concern for new head football coach Jason Wells, who believes he has a great job in Alachua.

“It’s exciting, I mean it’s a great opportunity,” Wells said. “When you start to pull back the layers of what the ceiling is up north, it may be the best job in the county. It’s exciting. The fan base is fired up, the school is fired up. The boys have bought in, and we’ve just got to do a good job.”

But that’s where the rah-rah ends.

“At the end of the day games don’t win themselves, they win it because you’re more disciplined; they win it because you’re dialed in; they win it because you’ve put the work in,” Wells said.

Former coach Joe Szymanski tried to change the culture in his two seasons as head coach, but the only win on his resume was a 14-7 win at home against GHS.

The Raiders have lost 15 straight games since.

“They’re not used to it [winning],” Wells said. “It’s not necessarily built into the fabric yet, so that’s what we’re weaving. We’re weaving into the fabric how we can become winners on a regular basis. That’s our thought process. We’re focused on us and what we’ve got to do to get better.”

Wells said “there’s not much residue” from last year’s winless campaign since he showed up, and he said there is a completely different mindset heading into 2024.

“They’ve bought in,” Wells said. “As soon as I got there, we started early morning workouts before school, and we’ve had 35-40 boys, diligent, working out. Shank [Tim Shankle] is our strength and conditioning coach so anybody that has been around in Alachua County knows who Tim Shankle is. That joker will work you and they love it.”

There’s a lot of belief in what the Raiders are doing.

Rising senior Micah Miller, who attended Santa Fe his freshman and sophomore seasons, transferred in from Fort White.

“I came back for my senior year because I wanted to come back home, come back to better coaching, and build the culture up,” said Miller, who will play wide receiver and defensive back. “I love Coach Wells. Ever since the first day we met he’s just been believing in me and trusting me.”

Only four starters are back on offense, which averaged just 11.5 points per game in 2023.

However, the offense will change drastically from last season.

“Well, we are in the home of Tracy Ham (former CFL QB) so…” Wells said with a laugh. “We’ll be a little bit multiple, but you will see some option out of us and heavy emphasis on the run game.”

Buchholz JV transfer Jadathon Bryant (5’7, 155) will be the Raiders’ starting quarterback.

“He’s a tireless worker,” Wells said. “We’ve got us a great leader. In terms of capacity for leadership that’s exactly what you want from the quarterback position. His ability to make reads, his ability to understand the offense, get us into the right plays, that’s a big component to our new offense.”

The rising sophomore is deceptively strong, squatting 345 pounds over the summer.

“Basically, we’re just going to run the ball,” Bryant said. “That’s our power point and that’s what we’re going to do because we’re a strong country team.”

His brother, Asaph, will be the starting running back. The junior, who also transferred from Buchholz, rushed for over 100 yards in the spring game against Zarephath Academy (Jacksonville).

Only one starter returns on the defense, which allowed a whopping 47.2 ppg.

“Not to disparage anything that went on last year, but they didn’t stop a lot of folks,” Wells said. “I come from a world where we like stopping folks and we like getting the ball. So yeah, from a defensive standpoint I think we did OK in the spring.”

The Raiders allowed just 24 points in the spring game, had a pick 6, and two fourth down short yardage stops.

“We were gritty, we were tough, we were thin, and we were tired in the spring,” Wells said. “We’ve got about seven new transfers that have moved over so I’m hoping our depth is a little better. When we’re fresh and we’re healthy then we’ve got a shot.”

Santa Fe is moving to Class 2A-District 5 and will be joined by Newberry, Bradford (Starke), Keystone Heights and Palatka.

All four made the postseason last year, including the Tornadoes’ Class 2S state runner-up finish.

The Raiders will open the regular season at home on Aug. 23 against P.K. Yonge.

“We need to get that first win quick,” Wells said. “We’ve just got to get that 0-and-forever off us, and I think once that lightbulb comes on. I think we’re going to be better than people think we’re going to be. We’re more physical than you think.”