A program that spent the last three falls in the state semifinals will not field a varsity team this fall.
Sarasota Booker (FL) announced Wednesday evening that it will field only a junior varsity team for the 2026 season, walking away from varsity football entirely for a program that had become one of the better stories on Florida's Suncoast.
The news came via a Facebook post penned by principal Jamal Crook, and it landed on the same day the school was hit with penalties from the state.
"As we prepare for the 2026 football season, Booker High School has made the decision to field a junior varsity football team rather than a varsity team this year," Crook wrote. "This decision was made after careful consideration of the current needs of our student-athletes and the long-term health of the football program."
The fall from contender to JV-only happened fast.
Booker reached the state semifinals in each of the last three seasons, making the Class 2A Final Four in 2023 and back-to-back Class 3A semifinals in 2024 and 2025. Last fall the Tornadoes went 13-2 and finished No. 27 in the final 2025 Florida High School Football Massey Rankings before losing to Jacksonville Raines in the state semis. This was not a bottom-dweller looking for a reset, the program was a legit contender for a Florida state title.
But all that changed when the roster came apart.
The Tornadoes reportedly lost 21 players to transfers across the South Suncoast region, and the names sting. Four-star Georgia Tech defensive line commit Maleek Lee headed to Palmetto. Georgia State safety pledge Jordan Booker landed at Venice. 2027 quarterback Mason Summer transferred to Bradenton Southeast. When that much talent walks out the door in one offseason, fielding a competitive varsity schedule becomes really, really difficult.
Then, the coaching situation added to the churn. Booker dismissed head coach and athletic director Carlos Woods back on July 22, just days before the state's of Florida's practices started on the 27th. Woods, a Super Bowl XLI champion who coached in the NFL with the Colts and Bengals, was one season removed from taking over for Scottie Littles and guiding Booker to that 13-2 mark previously mentioned. The school then hired former USF quarterback Lance Hoeltke to replace him.
On the same day the cancellation of the season went public, the FHSAA fined Booker $500 and placed the program on administrative probation until May 25, 2027, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The violation? In a state long known as the Wild West of high school athletics, Booker allowed eighth graders to practice with the team during the spring. Woods had been set to serve a one-game suspension in the preseason classic tied to the case.
This situation is a stark reminder of how quickly a winning program can come undone when coaching turnover, transfers and a compliance issues all hit at the same time. Crook framed the JV year as a rebuild rather than a retreat.
"This is not a step away from football at Booker High School," he wrote. "It is an investment in its future."
Hoeltke now inherits a JV roster and a long road back to the varsity Fridays Booker had grown used to.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.