After back-to-back playoff appearances, it’s really hard to fathom what truly happened last fall at Ed White.
Since 1993, the Commanders have made the playoffs 16 of the last 22 years, yet for just the sixth time in 23 years, the Commanders were sitting home come playoff time.
Despite making the playoffs during both of their reigns, newly hired administration made the decision to go in a different direction replacing coaches Terry Gilliam Sr. and Paul Pierson, who guided White to the third round of the playoffs two years ago.
Gilliam, who guided White to five playoff appearances between 2005-2010, was brought back to replace Pierson last year and again let go following the season.
Unlike most teams missing the playoffs, at Ed White it’s virtually unacceptable. It wasn’t just missing the playoffs that was unacceptable, it’s how they missed the playoffs.
White (3-7) started out 0-4 with blow out losses to Lakeland 35-10, Mandarin 41-7, Raines 49-10, Nease 21-0 to go along with a 31-14 loss to St. Augustine which knocked them out of playoff contention.
That doesn’t cut it at White, and changes are coming.
After retiring and then taking a brief job with JU, Kevin Sullivan was brought in to clean up the program and get it back to where it once was.
Talent wasn’t the problem at White. As many as 65 college coaches stopped by in the spring to watch practice, and potentially offer scholarships. Among the big time programs stopping by were Ohio State, Tennessee, UCF, USF, Georgia Tech, Southern Miss, Auburn, Kentucky, Maryland and Virginia Tech.
Among the players back are Keyon Washington (Sr., RB), Xavion Allen (Sr., WR/FS), Jamal Tillman (SR. DB), Terry Gilliam Jr. (Jr., QB), Caleb Steward (Jr., RB) and Johnie Myers (Sr., RB).
The schedule is tough again with non-district games against Mandarin (12-1), Raines (12-2), Lee (8-3) and Sandalwood (8-3).
To get back in the playoffs, White will still have to contend with both St. Augustine (9-2) and Nease (7-4) in District 4-6A along with Englewood (5-5) and Middleburg (0-10).
Expect Sullivan to have the Commanders back in the playoffs and to be an annual playoff contender again and have area teams respecting the Commanders again.
Edward H. White Commanders
Commanders Out To Prove Last Year Was A Fluke
Written by Corey Davis
Photo by tallahassee.com
