JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Baker's Sports hosted its annual high school football media day Monday, a day that traditionally signals the start of the high school football season.
Top players and coaches from Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia spoke with media members about their upcoming season and the optimism a new season brings. Media day also serves as an opportunity for smaller schools to grow their platform.
"It's my first day at media day, first time ever being at media day, I feel like it's a great experience for me my name is going around that's what I like to hear. I came from the bottom," Middleburg running back, Mike Mitchell, said.
"Being at a small school, it's hard to get out of the shadow of such large schools such as a Raines, Trinity, First Coast, Westside schools that are known. To come in this room to have an opportunity to speak up, speak out and allow them to know who we are. It's a privilege, it's a blessing," Harvest Community School head coach, Nathaniel Whitehead, said.
"They're [players] sitting outside the stadium, just like me, just sitting outside looking, that's an NFL stadium the world's best play there and every year Florida and Georgia play there so I just love being down here myself to it's a great experience," Charlton County head coach, Russ Murray, said.
The Northeast Florida football landscape will look a lot different this year as suburban and metro schools have been split into their own classifications.
Creekside head coach, Sean McIntyre, was on the committee that voted to pass the plan.
McIntyre said coaches in Florida were polled to gather feedback and the majority were for a metro-suburban split.
Creekside will play in Class 4S District 3 this year. Joining them are Bartram Trail, Buchholz (Gainesville), Fleming Island, and Oakleaf.
"Got the SEC West of Suburbia, it's going to be some fun Friday nights," McIntyre said. "I wouldn't want to go back and change it because our plan and goal was to make it more competitive there were so many running clocks in playoff games last year the goal was to get the best teams that were similar. If you look at Creekside, Bartram, Fleming, Oakleaf and Buchholz our hallways probably don't look very different and so when you say we're going to be in that district is it tough? Sure, but it's probably equitable and fair," McIntyre said.
Equity is the goal, but improved travel is also a product for some teams.
West Nassau is playing in Class 2S District 5 and will play Baldwin, Baker County, Yulee, and Fernandina Beach, none of which are farther than 40 minutes away.
"It gives us the ability to have more things for our guys, being a more rural county and having less backing from the city around you. West Nassau, Callahan itself is tremendous they back our team Friday nights it's filled man it's going to give us an opportunity to pull more into the actually athlete itself," West Nassau head coach, Brian Butler, said.