Jermaine Wilson hired as Wolfson head football coach

Wolfson football has found its next leader of the Pack.

The Southside school hired veteran assistant coach Jermaine Wilson as its new head football coach ahead of the 2023 season, announcing the move Tuesday night.

Wilson, 47, replaces former Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Step Durham, who left after one season to take over at his alma mater, Atlantic Coast. The Wolfpack finished 5-5 last year, narrowly missing out to Riverside for the final at-large playoff berth in the Florida High School Athletic Association's Region 1-2M.

For Wilson, Wolfson's comparatively small enrollment by Gateway Conference standards and its student support made it a perfect fit.

"We're going to be smart, we're going to be physical and we're going to be fast," Wilson said in a phone interview Wednesday with the Times-Union, "and we're not turning away from people."

In its announcement of Wilson's hiring, the school included a statement that the program wants "to instill a sense of pride as we develop smart, consistent players. They are 'Forged by Fire' and have respect, trust and love for the game and each other."

A South Carolina native, Wilson is noted for his time on the Mandarin staff, where he was an assistant on the 2018 Mustangs squad that turned around from 2-8 to the Class 8A state championship under head coach Bobby Ramsay. He spent a portion of his Mandarin tenure as defensive coordinator, and before arriving in Jacksonville, he coached on the staff at Oviedo Hagerty, Avon Park and his alma mater, Goose Creek (S.C.).

A multi-sport athlete who lined up in the offensive backfield in football and won a South Carolina High School League long jump title with a leap of 22 feet, 4 1/4 inches in 1994, Wilson graduated from NCAA Division II Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C. and entered the college's athletic hall of fame in 2012.

He has previously coached on Mandarin's track team with an emphasis on the jumps, and he's planning to incorporate his track background into his blueprint for Wolfson football.

"I want to have the biggest track team in the county," he said. "We're hoping to make sure our football players are out there with our track team to develop that speed when they don't have other conditioning."

Success has been elusive for Wolfson football, which last qualified for an FHSAA regional playoff in 2006 and has only one winning season (2019) since 2005. The most recent Wolfpack postseason win was a 28-20 victory over Lee on Nov. 24, 1978. Wilson is confident that the Wolfpack can soon begin to surmount those obstacles.

"It's going to be one of those programs that people talk about," he said. "People will look back at 2023 as the beginning of something big."

Kolakowski retires from Toros

Tocoi Creek will have a new head coach as it prepares for its third season of varsity football.

Mike Kolakowski has decided to retire from the coaching profession, he told the St. Augustine Record on Tuesday evening. A longtime college assistant, Kolakowski guided the Toros to nine wins in their first 19 games, including the school's first winning season (6-4) in 2022.

"I felt like Coach K has definitely got our infant program off the ground and ready to go for the future," Tocoi Creek athletic director Jeff Holland said in a phone interview. "It's definitely on the map. I look forward to watching our football program and entire athletic department grow."

Tocoi went 6-4 this fall, its first winning season, and held a grip on a playoff spot until the final week of the regular season, losing its finale 47-17 at home to Nease.

The Toros averaged 213.7 yards of total offense and 27.5 points per game, and defeated nearby rivals Beachside, Matanzas and Menendez.

Kolakowski, 67, entered the college coaching ranks in 1980. He had a four-year stint as head coach at California (Pa.) from 1997-2001, and he's been an assistant at eight current Division I universities: Cornell, Morehead State, William & Mary, Maine, Ohio, Cincinnati, Youngstown State and Mercer. Prior to accepting the position at Tocoi, Kolakowski spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Findlay University, an NCAA Division II program in Ohio.

Tocoi Creek becomes the third St. Johns County school to seek a new football coach since the conclusion of the 2022 season. Menendez hired former Oakleaf defensive coordinator Ben White to replace Matt Potak and Bartram Trail made just its second hire ever as Cory Johns succeeded Darrell Sutherland.

Holland intends to make a hire before the start of spring football. The first allowable date for non-contact practices, according to the FHSAA's website, is May 1.

"The word has just started to get out today," Holland said. "The job is posted, and we will do our best to fill that position by the start of spring. That is key; it's a springboard for next year."

— Chris Boyle/Daytona Beach News-Journal

Cox exits Hilliard

In Nassau County, Waylon Cox is exiting after one season.

In a brief announcement posted to Facebook on Tuesday, the school announced, "Effective today, Coach Waylon Cox is no longer the Head Football Coach at HMSHS. A committee is being put together and they will work diligently to get a replacement in place, ensuring the continued success of the program."

Cox led the Red Flashes for one year, finishing with a 7-3 record and qualifying for the playoffs in the FHSAA's 1R rural class. Hilliard is in search of a coach for the second consecutive off-season, after the departure of John Pate last winter.

Hilliard's coaching switch is the second in Nassau County this off-season. Earlier, Rickey Armstrong stepped down at West Nassau and was replaced by former Yulee linebacker Gunnar Cox, brother of Waylon Cox.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school football 2023: Wolfson names Jermaine Wilson football coach