Takeaways from the 2025 Central Florida Media Days

It’s that time of the year when high school football media days are taking place around the country and one of the largest just took place in the Orlando area, known as Central Florida Media Days.

The media day event spanned over the course of three days, starting last week on Thursday starting at Seminole State College, until Saturday, with the latter two days being held at Camping World Stadium.

Several counties throughout the region were well represented at the event, with Brevard, Flagler, Osceola, Orange, Polk, Seminole and Volusia all partaking in the media festivities.

Event organizer Dan LaForest, who is a director for the Influencer Counsel, was pleased with how the Central Florida Media Days went overall.

“So I thought I went really well,” LaForest said. “It seemed like the teams, the coaches all really enjoyed themselves. They saw the value and participating and high turnout rate of all the programs was very encouraging.”

We jump into some takeaways from the Central Florida Media Days:

1. Xavier Payne back at Orlando Jones

Wait, what. You read that right the first time. The 6-foot-7, 275-pound monster offensive tackle has made his way back to the 407 with Jones after a brief stay with Miami Edison. Seeing Payne up on stage with the Tigers seemed like a blast from the past, even if it wasn’t that long ago when it comes to the last time he suited up for the program. Protecting Dereon Coleman’s blindside is obviously a top priority for Jones and having Payne back certainly helps that very aforementioned cause.

2. Lakeland beefs up 2025 regular season schedule

Some of the narratives in the past about the Lakeland Dreadnaughts has been about nitpicking who they exactly play during the regular season. Under third-year head coach Marvin Frazier, Lakeland is seeking out the top teams not only in the state, but in the country.

The Dreadnaughts will go across the country California this season to take on 2024 California Open Division runnerup De La Salle in a regular season contest. Frazier’s bunch will also be facing Miami Northwestern in the preseason classic, Class 7A finalist Lake Mary and Orland The First Academy, who are being heavily regarded as a potential Top 25 team in the nation.

“The reality is I don’t know anything other than playing until December,” Frazier said at the Friday media day. “For us, the reality is playing until December means we have to see a Niceville, have to see a Tampa Bay Tech and you’re probably going to have to see St. Thomas Aquinas. Year in and year out, St. Thomas Aquinas is top five in the country. So why would I not think about playing against a Miami Northwestern? Why would I not want to play against a TFA? Why would I not want to play against De La Salle?”

3. Lake Mary expects high turnout numbers once again this fall

Remember when the Central Florida school attracted around 200 kids for spring football? Well, those numbers could balloon over that once practices begin next week for the 2024 Class 7A finalists. Lake Mary head coach Scott Perry confirmed that the varsity has around 65 kids and another 120 split between their freshman/junior varsity teams. Perry spoke about what he attributes to the high interest in playing football at Lake Mary.

“I attribute it as no one has more fun playing football than we do at Lake Mary High School,” Perry said. “Yeah, now we have great atmosphere, great community support. We’ve got this wonderful, brand new turf field right now. We replaced the one that was 10 years old and we got a brand new one now. We got a great band and cheer section and dance team and we got the admin supporting us.”

4. What did coaches have to say about the Teddy Bridgewater situation at Miami Northwestern?

There’s been plenty of opinions that have spilled all over social media on what is transpiring over at Miami Northwestern and the suspension of head coach Teddy Bridgewater. From national personalities like Shannon Sharpe to Robert Griffin III to Cam Newton, everyone has said their part.

What do Central Florida high school head football coaches think?

Some chose to answer while others distanced themselves from the subject saying they didn’t know enough about what was exactly going on. What was clear is there’s an opinion, no matter where you are at in the Sunshine State.

“It’s tough. (Teddy Bridgewater) is helping his guys and I know rules and stipulations are a little different. I would never, a guy who was that kid who needed that help, I would never get mad at the coach wanting to help out, especially if you have the funds to do so. Hope everything works out in his favor.” – Sanford Seminole head coach Karl Calhoun

“I think (Teddy Bridgewater) doing what’s best for the kids, what’s best for his players. You know, and it’s no different than any coach in any sport would do and that’s, you know, if you really get into this and you say you’re here for the kids, well, that comes with some other stuff as well. And that’s part of it. So I don’t, for me personally, I don’t have any issue with what he did. I think it was just him showing that he loved his players and showing that he was taking care of them.” – Mount Dora head coach Luke Hutchinson

“I think if he’s trying to help his kids and not enticing other kids to come to his school, I’d tipped my hat to it. I mean, come on. You know, that’s why I’m very cautious of social media. Even when I retweet, I watch what it is. But Teddy (Bridgewater) did a great job. He took a team who won a state championship his first year.” – South Lake head coach Brad Lord

5. Who says the high school athletes can’t talk to the media?

Now this one is an observation made over the years, as texting has become a popular form of communication over in-person interaction. For the high school football players that attended the Central Florida event, speaking on the podium may have not been exactly their cup of tea, but many did so with flying colors.

“I was very proud of how they all handled themselves,” LaForest added. “You know every player was fun to watch. This is when you start watching some of these particular players show their personality. It’s very intimidating for young people to put themselves out there and when you see guys actually make an effort to make a connection with the audience, that’s what’s exciting to see how they evolve because that’s really what is going to build them as young people, whether you’re promoting a brand or you’re interviewing for a job at some point.”