West Florida High football brings back Wes Summerford, now as head coach of Jaguars

Posted by author February 13, 2025 Football

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The West Florida High football team has its new coach, and it’s a relatively familiar face to the program – and definitely a well-known last name in the area.

Wes Summerford most recently was the Northview head coach from 2020-24 and lead the Chiefs to four regional playoff bids and a state championship game appearance in 2022, falling to state powerhouse Hawthorne.

This past season, after graduating a lot of seniors in 2023, Northview posted a 2-8 record, beating both Destin and Central. It was a tough end to the regular season, shut out in its last three games, including a tough one against Flomaton (Ala.).

This isn’t Summerford’s first time at West Florida, either. Prior to taking over the Chiefs’ job, he was the defensive coordinator for the Jaguars, serving under his brother, Rhett, who was the head coach at the time. Rhett is now the head coach at Tate, and has turned the program around the last few seasons.

Summerford will look to do the same at West Florida, a team that went 3-7 last year and hasn’t made the postseason since 2022. Summerford replaces Harry Lees, who moved to Walton to be the team’s quarterbacks coach in Walton County.

Now has West Florida not only had both Summerford brothers as head coaches, but its last two head coaches also have been with the school previously. Lees was head coach twice for the Jaguars. Summerford was introduced to Jaguars players on Thursday morning at the school.

“West Florida is a very unique place. Having been other places, you can’t really fully understand how unique it is. Every place has its unique dynamics, but we have to look for certain things at West Florida,” West Florida AD Todd Leonard told the PNJ. “We just tend to gravitate in that direction because it is just a natural fit for the school, and Wes has the disposition and the leadership because he understands our unique dynamic.”

One of those “unique dynamics” is the fact that, in the world of the so-called “high school transfer portal,” West Florida can sometimes be on the losing end of that factor. Being a magnet school, students must apply to get in their freshman year. No one can come in after that.

And if a student chooses to leave the school, they can’t come back. That’s where the focus of developing players comes in. Leonard believes Summerford is the man for the job, in that aspect.

“That was a big aspect that many of the coaches who interviewed had not been in an environment like this one. Some had 30 years of coaching experience, but we made it very clear to them that that’s the unique dynamic here at West Florida,” Leonard said. “Wes understands that fully. He’s been in it before and he’s very committed to a player’s development and just hitting the ground running. … I think he’s got a mind for that.”

Summerford’s string of success at Northview was also key for Leonard and the rest of the hiring committee, Leonard noted.

“Coaching to a level of excellence was key for us,” Leonard said. “It told us that he’s ready to come back and compete with West Florida. … Like (Gen. George) Patton said, ‘You can’t always describe (leadership), you can’t always verbalize it, but you can see it.’ Wes, in the interview, demonstrated that. We knew he was a good fit.”

Leonard also chuckled a bit when asked if this would mean a return of the “Summerford Bowl,” which was between Northview and Tate in both 2022 and 2023, with the squads not squaring up this past season. Given that Tate is Class 6A and West Florida is Class 4A, it’s much more likely that rivalry could continue between the Summerford brothers.

“That’ll be very interesting, now that it’ll be a different level,” Leonard said. “I know both of them very well, and I think they’ll be excited about that.”

Despite West Florida’s vacancy now filled, the coaching carousel for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties continues – likely ending soon for what has been a wild offseason as far as coaching changes. Since Summerford is now with the Jaguars, that opens up the head coach job at Northview.

Summerford’s move marks the seventh coaching change in the area, but Northview is only vacancy that remains open. Kent Smith retired from Pace, with his son, Vance, taking over the program. Kelly Gillis resigned from the Milton job, and Ronnie Douglas has been brought on as the new bench boss. Tony Carter stepped down as the Pine Forest skipper, and Kerry McDowell is the new head coach there. Matt Adams resigned from Pensacola Catholic, with Bobby Clayton taking over the Crusaders.

This story will be updated.