Florida high school football has seen its fair share of head coaching jobs pop up all across the Sunshine State, but schools are moving ahead with filling them as off-season workouts are taking place.

Though there are plenty that still need to be filled, we’ve seen quite a few hirings that have already stood out to us this off-season already.

We take a dive into the hires made up until this point and we give you seven so far that we feel have been splash hirings throughout Florida.

From coaching up Cocoa’s Class 2A state championship team to taking on as the lead man of the Terriers comes full circle as Diesel was once Titusville’s defensive coordinator for five years. Now this isn’t Diesel’s first rodeo as a head coach, with Diesel also leading the way at Space Coast. The Terriers were a pretty solid Class 3A team, going 7-5 in 2024. With Diesel’s state championship experience the last three seasons, he’ll help guide Titusville to new heights in 2025.

Last season was a tough one all the way around for Sarasota Riverview, who thought they were in store for a turnaround campaign. Instead, the Rams finished an uninspiring 3-7 and head coach Josh Smithers ended up stepping away about a month and change later. Enter Cristiani as the new head coach, which many in the Sarasota community support the Rams’ assistant becoming the now-lead man. Getting above the .500 mark will be one of the tasks that Cristiani will look to pull off Year 1 at Sarasota Riverview.

Taking over a Pensacola Catholic program that has been pretty successful the past several years and following up Matt Adams, who retired from coaching after the season will be no easy task for Clayton. The former Gulf Breeze/Fort Walton Beach head coach compiled a 50-41 overall record between the two previous stops, but did lead the Dolphins to four playoff appearances. Now leading a Crusaders group that is used to winning, Clayton should be able to find success.

Talk about a blast from the past when it comes to this splash hire for the Lions. Leon is just a season removed from having Tyrone McGriff at the helm until he stepped away. The Lions took a step back with a 1-9 record in 2024 and in steps in one of Leon County’s most recognizable names in high school sports. The longtime coach and administrator returns to the sidelines and certainly will have an impact in Year 1 of running the show.

The only head coach Davenport has ever known decided to head over to one of Polk County’s more well known programs in Lake Gibson. George, who went 17-22 at Davenport, has a tall task on his hands in turning around a Braves club that went 4-6, but has to begin with making the Lakeland rivalry somewhat more competitive. The new Lake Gibson coach received praise for taking on the job and could prove to being a solid hire for the Braves.

It’s not like Lincoln needs any sort of overhaul whatsoever as former head coach Jimmie Tyson left the cupboard pretty full when he stepped away. Enter the former University of Florida standout as the Trojans’ next head coach. Jackson, who played his high school ball at Suwannee, knows the ins and outs as he was an assistant with the program the past couple of seasons.

The Mustangs may have went 2-8 a season ago, but the hiring of Ortega as the program’s next lead man looks to be changing those fortunes come the 2025 season. The 42-year old was formerly at Western before heading over to take over McArthur and there’s plenty of excitement all around the program, including the addition of former Florida State graduate assistant Guy Lemonier Jr. as the Mustangs’ offensive coordinator.

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— Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi