High school football practice opened last week, the Kickoff Classic exhibitions are eight days away, and with the regular season slated to start Aug. 21, the 2026 season can be described as a season of change.
Coaching changes, player movement, different district assignments, new athletic leadership and even an additional school mark those changes.
It starts with the addition of Nova Lakes, Osceola County’s ninth public high school. The Rattlers will draw students from Harmony and St. Cloud and compete at the varsity level in all sports in 2026-27— without seniors. They will play football the next two years as an independent.
Interestingly enough, the school has already had a head coaching change before ever playing its first game. Earlier this summer, Nova Lakes made a huge splash when Virginia coaching legend Jeremy Blunt had agreed to become the school’s first coach. But several weeks after the announcement, Blunt rescinded his acceptance to become an assistant coach at Norfolk State University under Michael Vick. The school has turned to Anthony Rivers, who assumed the role of head coach in late July.
Other head coaching changes in the county include Tyler Anderson, who returns to Harmony after coaching the Longhorns from 2004-07 and to its first playoff appearance, replacing Don Simon. Harmony also has a new athletic director, Michael Glassburn, after after Joey James resigned to pursue a college basketball coaching job.
Hoping to reverse fortunes, Liberty has hired Denzel Singleton as its new head coach. With more than 15 years of experience, Singleton most recently coached at Strawberry Crest High School near Tampa. It is part of a major overhaul in the Liberty administration, as new principal George Arscott arrived from Tohopekaliga and immediately brought Simon in to be the Athletics Director.
The 2026 season brings new district alignments—five of them for eight of the county’s schools. Part of the sweeping changes include Poinciana, Liberty and Gateway moving back into district play after two years as independents.
Poinciana will join District 6A-9 with Winter Haven, Haines City, George Jenkins, Davenport and Ridge Community. Liberty moves to 3A-7 with Tenoroc, Mulberry and Discovery; while Gateway slides into 6A- 5 with county rivals Harmony, St. Cloud, Tohopekaliga and nearby Lake Nona.
“Since I became coach our goal was to get back into a district,” Eagles Coach Taron Mallard said. “Athletes have something to prove and want something to play for.”
Celebration enters 6A-7 with East Ridge, Horizon and Ocoee; while Osceola is in a District 5A-6 “district of death” with multiple-time state champion Lakeland, Bartow, Lake Gibson and Auburndale.
With school choice, player movement continues to be a prevalent story at the high school level. Among the more notable changes, Osceola significantly added kicker Brayden Buehler from Harmony and two-way lineman Dory Thimote Gateway.
Poinciana announced the addition of athlete Xaidyn Hill (Orange County) and running back Jamarie Williams from Osceola, while receiver/ cornerback Kesan McDuffie moves from Apopka to Tohopekaliga.
Training camp will conclude next Friday with the Kickoff Classics, exhibition games that give coaches and players a chance to rate themselves playing against those wearing a different color for the first time since the spring games.
