Sports Editor Justin Kline thinks Plant City High School football fans should brace themselves now.
If anyone in the Plant City area was wondering exactly what kind of havoc the “Choice in Sports” bill is capable of stirring up, we may now have our first look.
We all already knew that the bill, which allows high school athletes to freely transfer between schools with little to no friction, would drastically alter many rosters after it was implemented — even without changes being made to a staff. But now that the Raiders are without a head football coach for the third time in about as many years, we’re about to see what happens to a program when there is a major staff turnover.
In my travels, I’ve seen how important a role the coach plays when athletes have to make decisions. They can swing a kid either way: convincing him or her to stick around through tough times, or to leave for an atmosphere they’d prefer to work in. Sometimes, one coach is actually the only thing keeping an athlete in a program.
When those kids lose their coaches, the programs just might lose them.
I’m not here to criticize Robert Paxia for leaving the job after just one year as head coach. He left on his own terms, and he told me he felt that he found an opportunity that was right for him at this time. If that’s what he wants to do, then so be it — I just hope that no one who took advantage of the new transfer rules for their own kid’s spotlight has a bone to pick there.
But, now that Paxia is out, I have a feeling that Plant City fans are going to be in for a long season.
I’ve been hearing about Raiders leaving the program to transfer elsewhere and, while I haven’t been able to confirm every single transfer rumor yet, the losses could be huge. Granted, I know for a fact that this hasn’t stopped kids from transferring to Plant City, but the last things you want to lose when you’re trying to hire a new coach are impact players on both sides of the ball. And, with a tough 2017 schedule already slated — opponents include Armwood, Durant, Hillsborough, Jefferson and Tampa Bay Tech — the Raiders will certainly have their hands full.
Whoever gets the job will be the school’s fourth head coach in four years. I don’t yet know whether Plant City plans to promote from within the program, as it has done with Paxia and Greg Meyer before him, but my gut feeling is that we could see an outsider hired before the summer. If Meyer or Wayne Ward are unavailable, this is exactly where I would opt for a totally fresh start.
I’m not going to close the door on the possibility that the new hire could get a great effort out of the 2017 roster, whatever it looks like, and exceed expectations. But with yet another coaching turnover and a bill that gives athletes free reign, I’m urging Raider fans to stay patient.
