A busy season of high school football coaching changes continued this week, with two more schools filling vacancies.
On Friday, Parker promoted assistant Michael Holloway to replace Charron Dorsey as the Braves moved quickly to address the vacancy. North Florida Educational Institute hired Jamaal Fudge as its new head coach to replace Rodney Dubose. The moves bring the total number of new head coaches at area programs to nearly 20.
Dorsey stepped down this week after five years and a drought-ending district championship in 2019. A 26-21 win over Westside that season delivered a district title, the program’s first since 2000.
Holloway had been alongside Dorsey for years, including quite a few together during a highly successful time in middle school coaching Matthew Gilbert. He’s worked with not only the football program, but the track and field team, too. The high school head coaching job is the first for Holloway, but the transition should be a rather seamless one.
High school football coaching changes
SchoolFormer coachNew coachAtlantic CoastMike MontemayorStep DurhamBartram TrailDarrell SutherlandCory JohnsChrist’s ChurchKoreen BurchJustin SirmonColumbiaDemetric JacksonBrian AllenEnglewoodZachary HarbisonKevin JohnsonFlagler Palm CoastRobert PaxiaDaniel FishFleming IslandDamenyum SpringsChad ParkerFort WhiteLee DorsettDemetric JacksonHilliardWaylon CoxDaniel ThomasJacksonChristopher FoyDaryl BartleyKeystone HeightsChuck DickinsonSteve ReynoldsMenendezMatt Potak/Ben WhiteAnthony RiversNFEIRodney DuboseJamaal FudgeOakleafMarcus Miller (interim)Christopher FoyParkerCharron DorseyMichael HollowaySt. JosephTom DickersonCash ForbichTocoi CreekMike KolakowskiZachary HarbisonWest NassauRickey ArmstrongGunnar CoxWolfsonStep DurhamJermaine Wilson
For NFEI, the change wasn’t unexpected. Dubose left for the athletic director position at Oakleaf to create the vacancy. Fudge, who starred locally at Ed White during his playing career, went on to shine in college at Clemson and then sign with the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent. Fudge played two seasons in Jacksonville and another two seasons with the Falcons.
We found ourselves a new hc @EaglesNFEIfb 🦅🦅 pic.twitter.com/dwJCQOWB8e
— Dee Webb (@_ogwebb) June 26, 2023
In terms of volume, it has been a significant offseason for coaching volatility. A total of 19 schools have head coaches who are new this season. That’s nearly one-third of programs in the News4JAX coverage region. That includes some of the area’s biggest and more prominent schools, too.
Bartram Trail, which opened in 2000, saw Darrell Sutherland step down after the season. He had been with the school since its inception. Atlantic Coast, Flagler Palm Coast, Fleming Island and Oakleaf, four of the area’s largest programs, also brought in new coaches.