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High school football returns to Manatee County with NIL, playoff updates and more

jason dill
·4 min read

It’s been nearly eight months since the high school football season ended.

On Monday, the sport returned with the first official fall practices.

And between the 2023-24 season’s conclusion and this season’s beginning, there have been quite a few changes to the sport on a state and county level.

The biggest difference between last year and this year is the passage of a Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) policy for high school athletes.

Florida became the 36th state to adopt NIL at the high school level in June when the Florida High School Athletic Association unanimously passed the policy at a board meeting.

Athletes can profit from their name, image or likeness without impacting their athletic eligibility.

New rule means athletes can make money

The FHSAA’s Bylaw 9.9, which defines rules related to amateurism, added a section on NIL rules. However, NIL did not go into effect until the Florida Department of Education ratified it on July 24.

According to the new NIL rules, these are the following restrictions:

  • Only student-athletes and their parents can negotiate NIL deals, which means coaches, boosters or other agents of the school are not allowed to put deals together.

  • FHSAA, National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSH) and school logos, uniforms, mascots, symbols, etc. are prohibited in any NIL deal.

  • The college-style NIL collective is prohibited for high school NIL arrangements. Collectives are organizations such as booster clubs that raise money for student-athlete NIL deals.

  • Schools are prohibited from recruiting athletes away from other schools with NIL deals.

  • Student-athletes transferring to a school after starting a sport at their previous school that season are not allowed to get an NIL deal.

  • Student-athletes cannot endorse third-party entities, goods or services during school, district-sponsored and FHSAA activities.

  • Student-athletes can’t mention school, district, FHSAA or NFHS accolades or championships.

  • Student-athletes can’t engage in NIL activities related to the following products or service categories: adult entertainment products and services; alcohol, tobacco, vaping, and nicotine products; cannabis products; controlled substances; prescription pharmaceuticals; gambling, including sports betting, the lottery, and betting in connection with video games, online games, and mobile devices; weapons, firearms, and ammunition; political or social activism and NIL collectives.

NIL isn’t a football-specific addition to high school sports, but there are other changes to the football scene impacting Manatee County programs.

Classification changes

The FHSAA scrapped the metro and suburban divisions at a December board meeting. Manatee County schools were in the suburban division, then classified based on school size from there, for the past two years.

That meant Manatee County teams did not have to play teams from Miami, Orlando, Tampa and other larger metro cities during the FHSAA playoffs.

That changes this season with the FHSAA reverting to an eight-classification system (Class 1A-7A and rural).

Here’s a look at the classification and district assignments involving Manatee County football teams for the next two seasons:

Class 6A-District 11

Lakewood Ranch

Palmetto

Parrish Community

Fort Myers Gateway

Ruskin Lennard

Class 5A-District 9

Braden River

Manatee

Largo Pinellas Park

Class 4A-District 11

Southeast

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg Northeast

Seminole Osceola

Class 3A-District 11

Bayshore

Gulfport Boca Ciega

Sarasota Booker

St. Petersburg Gibbs

Class 1A-District 9

Gulf Coast HEAT

St. Petersburg Catholic

St. Petersburg Northside Christian

Independent

Bradenton Christian

IMG Academy

Sunshine State Athletic Conference

Saint Stephen’s

Coaching carousel

The offseason saw coaching changes at various public schools. The dominoes began falling in December when the area’s longest-tenured head coach, Curt Bradley, left Braden River High to become Southeast’s new head coach.

Bradley’s longtime assistant, Eric Sanders, led the Pirates through their spring game as the head coach before Palmetto High hired him to fill the vacancy left when Rashad West left the Tigers in March.

Braden River then hired Jason Grain, a former head coach at Cape Coral Oasis and assistant at Sarasota Booker, following Sanders’ departure.

Bayshore hired former NFL player Ace Sanders, who starred at Manatee High and the University of South Carolina, to become the Bruins’ next head coach in June.

High school football athletes were allowed to practice for the first time this season in a non-contact capacity on Monday. Teams can practice with contact starting Saturday.

Preseason kickoff classics can start as early as August 12 and the first regular season games start August 23.