The Lake Worth High football has undergone an intriguing coaching makeover bent on youth as the Trojans take the field for spring practice Wednesday, April 22.
After Erik Lee resigned as head coach, athletic director Frank Baxley hired former Dwyer safety standout, LeVon Barnett Jr., who spent this past season with Class 1A state champion Cardinal Newman.
Barnett, 27, hired a bevy of young men who have little coaching experience but were Palm Beach County football stars – several playing college football. The staff totals eight – all of whom are in their 20s.
The all-Gen Z staff is at least going to make things compelling on the Lake Worth gridiron in 2026. The Trojans come off a 3-7 season – no surprise as the ancient school has a tradition steeped more in basketball than football.
The most celebrated hire is defensive coordinator Gurvan Hall, a five-star recruit who played safety Palm Beach Gardens and went onto a career at the University of Miami. Barnett and Hall played football together in their youths.
“I handpicked my staff,’’ Barnett said. “I had to run the names by Baxley to make sure everything was OK.
“It wasn’t a stressful process knowing that I know people who played elite college football. They have elite ball knowledge. It was a matter of getting them to commit as coaches. We’re not players anymore. I had to convince a few of them. But others were all in.”
Lee stepped down because he was unable to build a big-enough staff because of a teaching hiring freeze, he said. Too many of his assistants worked off campus and couldn’t get teaching jobs at Lake Worth.
“In my experience, I believe that the best programs have coaches that work in the school, because being in the building helps run the program more efficiently,’’ said Lee, a Lake Worth history teacher and formerly the lone football coach on campus.
Lee decided to head to Park Vista as offensive coordinator and brought along his quarterback son, Lake Worth starter Erik Lee Jr.
Barnett realizes the climb is steep, though he expects 35 players at spring ball. Lake Worth ended the season with 25 guys and a small coaching staff.
To a man, Baxley is excited about the new youthful energy.
“The transition is difficult but it’s a great challenge for me and the coaching staff,’’ said Barnett, a 2017 Dwyer graduate. “It’s been just an opportunity for me and the staff to focus on development.to get these kids when they are young.’’
Barnett will be aided by offensive coordinator, Isaiah Johnson-Mack, a former 4-star recruit who started at Washington State for two seasons before transferring to Duquesne, then Bowling Green.
“The challenge is changing the culture,’’ Barnett said. “Since we’re young and energetic, we’re going to be innovative, creative and change it into a winning culture. We want the kids to build a legacy and make something they can remember.
Barnett had his own marathon playing journey. After Dwyer, he signed with FAMU, then attended a couple of junior colleges in California. He wound up his final two years at Division II’s University of Texas Permian Basin in football-mad Odessa, Texas.
This past season, Barnett was assistant defensive backs coach for Cardinal Newman, where he joined his former Dwyer head coach Jack Daniels.
“The experience was good, helping out the majority of the season,’’ Barnett said. “It was awesome to see the kids grow and learn and see the hard work paying off. God works in mysterious ways and I got another great coaching opportunity.’’
And now Barnett has a trove of assistants eager to revive Lake Worth.
The passing game coordinator is Vincent Redmon, who played at Lake Worth and Palm Beach Lakes as a wide receiver and also coached at Cardinal Newman from 2021-2024.
The offense line coach is Arnesio Rosado, a Palm Beach Lakes graduate who played at Hampton before moving on to Keiser. He was the defensive line coach for Palm Beach Gardens in 2025.
A 2019 Cardinal Newman graduate, Chaad Gustave will become the defensive line coach. He played at Saint Francis University.
Barnett’s former Dwyer teammate, Cedrick Dort Jr., will coach defensive backs and be the college liaison. He started off at Kentucky.
Barnett tabbed as safeties coach Euvoski Cunningham, who played at Forest Hill and Pahokee, then also wound up at UT-Permian Basin.
Named nickel back coach and running backs coach is Carl Willis Jr, also out of Dwyer. It’s an illustrious group of former PBC football players.
“I played under great coaches like Coach Daniels, John Beam (Laney (Calif.) College), Justin Karrigan (at Texas Permian Basin),’’ Barnett said. “I took all the favorite things I learned from them and created my own style of things.’’
The biggest question mark is at quarterback after Lee Jr.’s transfer for the second semester. Fernando Rhames, a transfer from Somerset Canyons who will be a sophomore next fall, will vie for the QB job against Joziah Gillard, who has never played football.
“I was hopeful, but I can just focus on the guys who want to be here and grow and build a legacy,’’ said Barnett, who teaches at Renaissance Charter School at Summit. “I’ll be riding with the person who wants to be the quarterback here. That’s the most important piece of the puzzle we have to figure out for sure.’’
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Lake Worth football gets a youth movement with new head coach
Reporting by Marc Berman, Special to The Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
