On Thursday, just under 30 high school football teams and their head coaches assembled for the North Central Florida High School Football Media Day at the Best Western Gateway Grand in Gainesville.
The event was streamed live by FloridaHSFootball.com and is available for replay on its YouTube channel.
Perhaps one of the biggest storylines from yesterday was Gainesville High quarterback Nelson Tambling (6’5, 235) transferring to rival Eastside. That will open a quarterback battle in the fall with rising sophomore Andrew “Cade” Sutherland (6’, 195) of Eastside.
Last year, Hawthorne quarterback C.J. Ingram announced he wasn’t going to play football during his senior year so he could focus on his basketball career. That opened the door for Adrian Curtis, who transferred from Eastside for his senior year and became the Hornets’ starting QB.
“It’s making both of us better,” Sutherland said. “It’s made me want to work harder because I’ve never had anybody to really compete with since my freshman year, because Adrian left.”
Tambling threw for 1,295 yards and 11 TDs last year as a junior at GHS. He also averaged 3.1 yards per carry.
“At Eastside, one of the things that makes the program special is that everybody believes they’re going to start, and they work like they’re going to be the starter,” said Tambling, who will also play defense. “Everybody believes they’re going to be one of the 11, and me and Cade have adopted that mindset. Both of us have that mindset that we’re going to be that guy.”
Sutherland threw for 880 yards and 10 TDs as a freshman.
“Cade did a great job, led us to the playoffs,” said Eastside coach Harold “Gator” Hoskins. “There’s going to be a quarterback battle, and let the best man win.”
There could be situations where both quarterbacks get a chance to play to take advantage of their skill sets, but the offense doesn’t change.
“We’re pretty much going to kind of call the same thing that we’ve been calling,” Hoskins said. “I know with Nelson, he’s a bigger, faster, stronger kid, so we can possibly put in some quarterback runs for him.”
Some compare the situation to former Gator quarterbacks Chris Leak and Tim Tebow.
It certainly gives the Rams some options this year under center.
Also, there will be a lot of first-year head coaches on the sidelines this fall.
Among teams in the Mainstreet coverage area, six schools will have a new head coach in 2025.
R.J. Fuhr is back for his second stint at Oak Hall School, after Randy Brower served as interim coach in 2024. Two years ago, Fuhr led the Eagles to a 7-2 record and the school’s ninth straight playoff appearance (2015-2023).
Cliff Harrell (Chiefland), Steven Hall (Dixie County), Bryant Frye (Trenton), Tim Place (Saint Francis Catholic Academy) and Lamar Waters (Union County) begin their first season as head coaches at their respective schools.
Harrell, who replaces Adam Gore, is not new to the Indians. He’s coached on the defensive side of the ball for six seasons at Chiefland.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I’ve been at Chiefland for a little while now and it’s a great place from the top down. We’ve got a great administration, really supportive, community support is fantastic. I’ve got some great men on our staff and our young men who play for us work really hard. It’s a really good place to be on Friday nights.”
Hall, who was previously the coach at Riverside Christian (Trenton), takes over for Ric Whittington.
Last year, under Whittington, the Bears (7-7) played in the inaugural FHSAA Rural Florida Invitational Tournament state championship game.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” said Hall, who was with the team in the spring. “The student body and the administration, and the culture, it’s just embraced me very well. I’m very thankful.”
Frye, who was hired in January, replaces Cameron Porch, who was 10-22 in three seasons with the Tigers’ football program.
“I would say things have gone as best as it can,” he said. “At this point in juncture, you’ve got a new coach, new assistants coming in, new philosophy, new process. The kids had to learn the way that I want things done, and they had to buy in, and I think they’re getting there. I think the real issue that we will have right now is taking what we’ve been doing through the transition of the spring, spring game, and the summer workouts, and seeing if it will translate to fall and victories in the fall.”
Place takes over for James Langham, who is now the defensive coordinator at Bronson. He served as the head coach for 12 seasons at Chowan University, a Division-II program in North Carolina.
Saint Francis Catholic Academy drops down to 8-man football this season.
“It’s still football,” said Place, who has been an assistant coach since 2019 at Creekside (St. Johns), Trenton and DeLand. “There’s just three less players. The field is 40 yards wide. I believe in the state of Florida, it’s 100 length and 40 wide…it will be an interesting experience.”
In a surprising move this past May, Union County (Lake Butler) fired Andrew Thomas as football coach and athletic director and Waters was hired as the interim coach and AD.
“We’ve got a full staff,” Waters said. “A lot of the guys that have stepped up are former players of mine. They played at Union County and went off to play at the next level. We just had a home run hire, a guy volunteered. Our strength and conditioning guy, Caleb Williams, awesome guy. He’s been at Bolles (Jacksonville) the last five years. He’s an alum of Union County. He’s worked at Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Pittsburgh and LaGrange College…for him to come in and help build the cohesiveness of the group is incredible.”
Buchholz will look got get back to the state semifinals for a fifth consecutive season, Hawthorne aims for its sixth straight state championship game appearance, and Newberry has the pieces in place to win its second straight Class 2A-District 5 title after winning their first district championship since winning the 2B-District 4 title in 2007 when the Panthers were state runners-up.
Plus, Williston’s Robby Pruitt is about to accomplish something that no one in the country has ever done: win 200 or more high school football games in two different states. He’s already done it in Georgia and currently stands just four wins away from doing it in Florida.
I’ll have more on the FHSAA Hall of Fame coach on Monday.
