Four of the all-time Gator greats will be high school football head coaches in Alachua County this fall.
Cornelius Ingram is going into his 11th season as head coach of the Hawthorne Hornets, Willie Jackson Jr. and Ian Scott will be in their third season with P.K. Yonge and Gainesville High, respectively, and Earnest Graham enters his first season at Santa Fe (Alachua).
“You know, it’s a big deal,” said Jackson, who played for Steve Spurrier and the Gators from 1991-1993. “I don’t think a lot of people really realize how big a deal it is. I think they understand the magnitude or impact that Cornelius has had and what he’s done out there (in Hawthorne) and compete at a high level. So, I mean, it’s great for football.”
Jackson, who was a three-time All-SEC football player for the Gators, is ninth all-time on the UF receiving list with 2,172 yards receiving. He was selected in the fourth round of the 1994 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys and played nine seasons with the Cowboys, Jaguars, Bengals, Saints, Falcons, Redskins and Broncos.
In his second season with the Blue Wave in 2024, Jackson led P.K. Yonge (5-5) to a postseason berth. He joins Scott and Ingram as alumnus at their respective schools.
“When you’ve got guys that have been pillars and that are from here, from around here, and they return to give back, I think it’ll help the area catch up with everyone else in the state,” Jackson said.
Scott, who graduated as the school’s valedictorian in 2000, won two state championships as a member of the Hurricanes’ basketball team and was a part of two state playoff appearances in football during his high school career.
“Those are relationships that go a long way and are similar with high school and I tell these guys these are going to be friendships that you have for the rest of your life, whether you’re in contact every day or it’s just an occasional thing,” said Scott, who was also an All-SEC selection for two seasons at the University of Florida and was drafted in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears. “With Willie and CI, I didn’t play with those guys, but you grow up in the same area and you kind of know each other.”
Although they just missed the state playoffs last season, Scott and the Hurricanes won four more games than the previous year to finish 5-5.
Graham, who was previously a head coach at North Fort Myers and Evangelical Christian (Fort Myers), was the offensive coordinator under Scott at GHS last season.
“I was hoping I could have Earnest with me for a couple of years, but I knew that was probably a long shot because he’s been a head coach before,” said Scott, who accumulated 120 total tackles and 18.5 tackles for a loss during his three-year career (2000-2002) at UF. “He’s brilliant, and he’s great with the kids…he’s going to do a great job and hopefully they have a lot of success too because when everybody’s doing well and it’s competitive, it’s a lot more fun and it makes you proud to be part of the 352.”
Graham, who was also a teammate of Scott’s at Florida, is a graduate of Mariner (Cape Coral), where he finished with 5,710 rushing yards and 86 touchdowns.
“For me coming into Alachua County and being received by those guys and becoming one of the guys who played here at the University of Florida and returned to coach, I think it’s great,” said Graham, who is the fourth-leading rusher in Gators history (3,085 yards) and also ranks fourth in rushing touchdowns with 34. “Most kids, and their parents now, obviously watched us play for the Gators, and to come back, it gives you credibility. We’re all connected as friends and peers, but to be able to, in return, get into coaching and help out in the community is awesome.”
He takes over a Santa Fe program that has struggled with just two wins combined over the past four seasons (2-37 since 2021).
“He’ll do great,” Jackson said. “He’s a great coach.”
His son, Myles, played his senior year at state semifinalist Buchholz and was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 4S Player of the Year. He finished second overall in the voting for Mr. Football in 2023.
He followed in his dad’s footsteps and signed with the Gators.
“Man, it’s a big deal,” said Graham, who was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2003 and had two stints with the Bucs. “He’s been doing great. First of all, he’s an awesome kid. We did our best to raise him right and I can tell you he’s just a great person, so to see him live out his dream, to see him grow up as a Gator fan, go up and want to wear the number five in the swamp and actually get that done, is not easy.”
Myles Graham appeared in all 13 games as a freshman last year at UF and finished with 30 tackles (nine solo), one sack, 2.5 tackles for loss, one interception, one forced fumble and one QB hurry.
“He’s representing our family and representing Gator Nation well,” Earnest Graham said.
Meanwhile, Ingram played college football and college basketball at Florida.
He set a milestone at Hawthorne last year with his 10th season as head coach of the Hornets.
Ingram has led the Hornets to five straight state championship game appearances and back-to-back state titles, plus a state runner-up finish last year.
His son, C.J., is also a recent Gator signee.
“He’s doing great,” Cornelius Ingram of C.J., who will be a freshman this year for UF head coach Todd Golden and the national champion basketball team. “He’s enjoying it, and it looks like he’s been on campus for like a year.”
Although he could have played football and basketball at UF like his dad, C.J. decided not to play high school football his senior year at Hawthorne so he could focus on hoops. He was 25-0 as a starter and was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 1R Player of the Year as a junior.
“The type of courage that you have to have to not want to follow your father’s footsteps completely because there was a lot of outside pressure for him, ‘you have to play football, you have to go over there (UF) and do both,’ and he’s so mature,” said Cornelius, who won a national championship in football with the Gators as a tight end. “He came to me and said, ‘I just want to focus on basketball,’ and I said, ‘absolutely, you have to create your own legacy, create your own path.’ I love him for it.”
C.J. (6’6, 202), who transferred to Montverde Academy in his senior year, averaged 24 points. 8.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 1.9 blocks as a junior and repeated as the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 1A Player of the Year.
“He’s having a great summer so far,” said Cornelius, who was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL draft and spent three seasons with the team. “He’s still the same kid when he was playing quarterback or when you guys were interviewing him. He’s taking pictures everywhere, he’s signing autographs. He’s just a humble kid and he knows there’s so many people that wish they could be in his position…I’m looking forward to him having a good freshman year.”
The tradition and Gator pipeline continues.