Florida High football ushering in new generation, maintaining state title standards during spring

The piercing whistles of Florida High coaches rang around Southwood Wednesday afternoon as the Seminoles hit the fields for spring football action.

Coming off a 10-3 season that ended in the 2S Region 1 title game, losing to Pensacola Catholic 17-10, the Seminoles are looking to lay the foundation for a ninth straight regional final appearance for the program.

With a younger roster following the graduation of some of the core players from the last two seasons, Florida High head coach Jarrod Hickman said his team is talented and in a familiar position.

"It's a young talented team, and our group of seniors are very veteran. They've played in a lot of football games and then that next wave of young kids we are excited about," Hickman said. "They've got to learn and they've got to come play just like guys did in the past. It reminds me of 19' and 21', we had guys that moved on, but the young group was excited to play."

As the Seminoles prepare for the next generation to come through, Hickman knows that development is part of what has made Florida High successful.

With the middle school team practicing across the street, players come through the ranks at Florida High seeing the varsity team practice, and Hickman thinks that helps the program to continue to develop players.

"We want to make our kids better and develop our kids," Hickman said. "We just want to continue to grow them within the program, so that we know what's coming every year and keep going. We're excited about that, these guys have worked really hard. But now they've got to go out and physically do it on the field, and the spring is a great time to learn a lot and make some mistakes and go."

Seniors like Jessiah McGrew have seen firsthand what the program development can do, and he has stepped into leadership roles both on the field and off.

McGrew played in 11 games for Florida High last season, recording 45 tackles, two interceptions, nine PBU and a forced fumble to round out a strong junior season. Now one of the primary defenders in the secondary, McGrew is ready to step up.

"I gotta be a leader out here," McGrew said. "Leading with your mouth don't do too much, you got to lead by example with everything that you do. Being a veteran guide the young guys follow everything you do. So you really got to lead by example."

The expectations are always the same for the Seminoles, make a deep run into the playoffs and compete for a state championship. McGrew said this season is no different and he said Florida High has been working to get back to the state title game since the turn of the year.

"It started in January with offseason work, that's phase one in the weight room and conditioning," McGrew said. "This is phase two right here, spring ball. We have to go hard in every phase and we just got to execute like grown man. We got to do it."

Jayden Threatts ready to follow up breakout season for Florida High

Jayden Threatts was arguably the breakout star of last season.

Taking over the starting running back role after a season-ending injury to Micahi Danzy, Threatts exploded for 121 carries, 924 yards and seven TDs, including 228 yards and a touchdown against Wakulla in Florida High's 42-28 regional semifinal victory.

Expected to be the starter heading into his senior year, Threatts was blunt in what he wanted to work on during the spring.

"I just want to fix the mistakes that I made last season," Threatts said. "I'm going to be watching film and just building upon that so I can be better this year."

Threatts was one of the many Seminoles who had to adapt their role last season as Florida High dealt with a high number of injuries. The rising senior feels like that experience will help the team this season, especially with the younger players who had to step up last year.

"The new guys who had to come up and had to play because of the injuries and all that, I feel like they've gotten more comfortable," Threatts said. "I feel like it's gotten us used to adversity and ready to play through it."

Threatts and the new look Seminoles will get the first taste of action on Friday, May 17, facing Choctawhatchee and Mosely in a spring jamboree.

Liam Rooney covers preps sports for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida High football keeping state title standards during spring ball