The coaching carousel continued for Northeast Florida high school football, with Anthony Rivers departing the Menendez head coaching post after three seasons.
Menendez listed the vacancy with the Florida High School Athletic Association in a classified job posting on Nov. 29. The news was first reported by Michael Lischio of radio station WNZF.
In response to a message from the Times-Union, Rivers declined to comment on the change.
Rivers, formerly the defensive coordinator at Ponte Vedra, joined Menendez as head coach in March 2023 and compiled a 13-18 record in three years with the Falcons, including a trip to the Class 3A playoffs in 2024. Only a touchdown by Bishop Kenny’s J.P. Donovan with seven seconds remaining stopped Menendez from a district championship that year.
The Falcons are coming off a 3-7 campaign in 2025, which ended with a four-game losing skid.
In the athletic department’s posting with the St. Johns County School District, Menendez athletic director Matt McCool said the school would continue to receive applications through Dec. 7.
The southernmost public high school in St. Johns County, Menendez is now in search of its seventh head football coach since the spring of 2020. Menendez employed only three head coaches in its first 18 years: Dwaine Fisher (2000-05), Keith Cromwell (2006-12) and Patrick Turner (2013-17).
The turnover began in May 2020 during the coronavirus shutdown, when Kyle Skipper stepped down after two years, a 16-5 record and the school’s first-ever district championship to take a position in Georgia. Former Nevada and national champion coach Kenny Sanchez lasted only two games before his dismissal, with Mark Galella finishing out the 2020 season as interim coach.
After Matt Potak led Menendez in 2021 and 2022, the school hired Oakleaf defensive coordinator Ben White in January 2023, but White resigned in March without coaching a game amid a misconduct investigation in Clay County.
Menendez competed this year in District 4-3A alongside Bishop Kenny, Parker and Westside. That assignment will change for 2026 and 2027 as the FHSAA conducts its biennial reclassification, which will also include a decrease from seven to six classes.
Anthony Rivers coaching record at Menendez
2023: 4-6
2024: 6-5, qualified for playoffs
2025: 3-7
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Menendez football seeks seventh coach since 2020. Here’s the latest
Reporting by Clayton Freeman, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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