Spring football is a season of renewal. A time when every team can envision a bright future, no matter how bleak the recent past.
That’s certainly the vibe at Island Coast, where first-time head coach Justin Midgett is looking to restore a winning culture to a program that once was among Lee County’s best.
In their first seven varsity seasons, the Gators posted a 52-22 record and made the state playoffs five times, including a 2010 Class 2B state semifinal appearance. Since 2015, however, Island Coast is just 29-78 with one winning season, a 6-5 campaign in 2020.
Coming off a 1-9 finish last fall, Midgett said the returning players have demonstrated a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.
“The kids are incredibly bought in to what we are trying to do,” said the 41-year-old Midgett. “We’ve got great kids; it’s just our numbers are down. The guys who are left are the guys who really want to be here and really want to work.”
Midgett said he’s got 33 players out this spring, which has its positives and negatives.
“The good thing is you can build the culture around the guys who are really wanting to work and really wanting to do things the right way,” he said. “And they can set the standard for everyone who comes after.
“We’ve got a great core, but we don’t have much depth, and that’s a problem in Florida football. We’re going to have to be in great shape, and we’re going to have to be pretty tough.”
The Gators will also have to be quick studies. Midgett is installing the Wing-T offense, which the former standout quarterback has experience with first as a standout player at Charlotte High School and then as an assistant coach with both the Tarpons and at Fort Myers High School.
“The Wing-T is incredibly intricate; everything has to be so precise,” Midgett said. “It’s like a machine with a lot of gears. One gear breaks down, and the whole thing falls apart, but when it’s running smoothly, man, that thing goes.”
It’s also a fit for a team that, as of now, does not have a true quarterback.
“We’re not going to go spread and chuck it all around the field,” Midgett said. “But we can run the football and eat up the clock and try to play sound and disciplined football. That’s how we’re going to have to win.”
Rising junior Dontavian Wilson, who primarily played running back for the Gators last season, will get first crack at running the offense under center. Midgett said Wilson, along with rising junior linebacker Jamesley Descollines, have emerged as leaders on both sides of the ball.
“It’s been different but in a good way,” Wilson said of the team’s spring practices. “There’s a good mindset, new focus, all of that. Things are going good, but there’s a lot of little things that we need to do better.”
The Gators will get their first opportunity to show what they’ve learned when they take on visiting Aubrey Rogers in a spring classic on Friday, May 22. While Midgett is obviously hoping for a good performance from his players, he also wants to see them experience something that’s been in short supply in recent seasons: fun.
“They’re going to make mistakes; it’s high school football, and it’s a new system,” he said. “I really just want them to go out and play fast and have fun. They didn’t have a lot of fun going 1-9 last season, so I’m hoping they can enjoy themselves a little bit. Football is supposed to be fun, and that’s what we’re trying to make it.”
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Island Coast football’s spring agenda: New offense, attitude for rebuild
Reporting by Dan DeLuca, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
