Bolles hired former St. Johns Country Day School girls soccer coach Mike Pickett, tied for the state’s all-time lead with 15 Florida High School Athletic Association championships, to the same position on April 17.
Pickett, who won FHSAA championships in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2012-22 and 2025, stepped down from St. Johns Country Day on March 31 after 28 years with the Spartans and 572 victories.
He will replace Matt Tracy, who retired in February after 21 seasons, six FHSAA championships and 358 victories at Bolles.
The move between two of the most successful girls soccer programs in state history — St. Johns Country Day owns 15 FHSAA championships, while Bolles has nine — immediately shakes up the Northeast Florida landscape in the sport.
Bolles completed the 2025-26 season at 9-10-4, advancing to the second round of FHSAA regionals before losing 1-0 to South Walton.
Pickett, a St. Johns graduate in the class of 1983, had coached the Spartans from 1998 to 2026, amassing streaks of 23 consecutive district championships (2004-26) and 76 consecutive victories (2015-18).
At St. Johns, Pickett received the Florida Dairy Farmers girls soccer coach of the year award in 2012, 2017 and 2018. St. Johns also finished atop the national United Soccer Coaches or MaxPreps rankings in 2017, 2018 and 2021.
For 2026-27 and 2027-28, the FHSAA has tentatively assigned Bolles to District 3-3A along with Baker County, Baldwin, Fernandina Beach, Jackson, Raines, West Nassau and Wolfson.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Bolles girls soccer hires 15-time state champion coach
Reporting by Clayton Freeman, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
