Boycott bound? Florida Coaches Coalition wants FHSAA to support higher pay for coaches - or else

The Florida Coaches Coalition is calling on the Florida High School Athletic Association to step up to support increasing pay for high school coaches around the state.

In a post to X on Monday, the FCC said: “It would make all the difference if the governing body of high school sports in Florida finally made a stance in support of ALL Florida coaches.”

Speaking for its 13,000 members and counting, the FCC finished its post with a mic drop and veiled threat at more drastic action:

“Coaches in Florida produce more Division I talent than any other state in this country, yet they are paid the least. Most coaches do it for the passion, not the paycheck… BUT… the $1.00 an hour coaches average in Florida won't cut it anymore.”

The FCC recalled times when the FHSAA took action to improve the state of high school sports in Florida.

Although a staffing shortage impacting the nation still exists in 2023, the FHSAA issued raises when referees and officials threatened to strike during a pandemic-modified 2020 season. Including travel fees, maximum-rate figures for officials climbed from $65 to $111 for the 2021 season.

31 states around the country, most recently Georgia, have approved high school students to profit from their name, image, and likeness — a considerably newer and more controversial topic than low-pay for coaches in Florida. The FHSAA told The Post that the organization is “in the process” of drafting an NIL proposal for its Board of Directors.

“The @FHSAA has repeatedly said that the wage issue that coaches in Florida face is a ‘school district issue,’ “ the FCC wrote.

Coaches still leaving due to low-pay: Palm Beach County coaching turnover cause for paradise lost

“What the FHSAA has never done is publicly make a statement that stood in solidarity with ALL coaches in Florida seeking higher pay. The FHSAA is fully aware that ALL public high school coaches are paid well below minimum wage.”

According to 2021 analysis by the USA Today Florida Network, data from the state’s 67 public school districts showed the average supplement for a first-year head football coach was approximately $4,650 for the 2020-21 school year.

In 2023, football coaches in Osceola County are bringing home $4,111 per year — before taxes — but the School District of Osceola County could increase pay for the first time in a decade. On September 7, the district bargained with the Osceola County Education Association and signed a tentative agreement to increase compensation for 23 athletic supplements, reflecting “increased workload and certificates earned.”

History by the (low) numbers

Ten years ago, head football coaches in Palm Beach County were paid a $4,110 stipend. Assistants made $3,015.

Today, despite being the second largest county in Florida, between 25 public high schools, Palm Beach coaches are facing a below-average starting supplement of around $4,500 and average a tenure of just over 2 years. The latter number is among the lowest in the state for counties with more than a handful of teams.

Having since come out of retirement to work in the private school sector, Jack Daniels, head football coach at Cardinal Newman, and former Dwyer coach and two-time state champion, was “wondering if it’s worth it” way back in 2013.

In an interview with The Post, Daniels, then entering his 18th season at Dwyer, said: “I would say most coaches lose money coaching football. There’s a ridiculous amount of time involved and you don’t get paid anything.”

Coaches around the state don’t feel they receive stipends that reflect the off-season, off-field, and after-hours work that takes place from the time the preseason begins to the end of the regular season, four weeks of spring ball, and summer workouts in June and July.

There’s more conviction in that argument when you examine salaries in other states like Georgia, which had at least 44 high school football coaches raking in six-figures in 2017 — and that was two times the number of coaches in the Peach State making $100,000-plus in 2014.

Social media reacts

Preps sports fans chimed in under the FCC’s call-to-action with some harsh criticism of the FHSAA, which has overseen interscholastic sports in the state in some form or capacity since 1920.

Quoting the FCC graphic reading, “Imagine what would happen if every coach in Florida unified together and boycotted the FHSAA until we got paid minimum wage,” Palm Beach Gardens D-line coach Justin Green wrote: “WHAT WE GOIN TO DO?”

X user Louden Swain, located in Orange Park, wrote: “Pay Florida’s Coaches! Do your part in the support of this necessary effort @FHSAA. All of our school districts Must do better.”

“The FHSAA is a worthless entity that only serves as a money grab,” Joel Bronson wrote.

Trenton High football coach Bill Wiles pointed out that the “FHSAA has absolutely nothing to do with how much coaches get paid” and brought Florida’s teacher unions in question.

“Each district and teachers union negotiate contracts. Supplements too. If unions go, you could see a change,” Chad Choate explained in a reply. “They [FHSAA] could come out and support raises no doubt, but they don’t have control of coaches pay.”

Emilee Smarr is the high school sports reporter for Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Coaches Coalition calls out FHSAA to support higher pay for coaches