West Boca Raton (Fla.) looking to become a national contender

It was just three and a half years ago when Dylan Potts was tabbed to turnaround a West Boca Raton (Fla.) football program that hadn’t reached the playoffs previously since 2017.

To say a lot has changed since Potts’ appointment would probably be a gross understatement.

In just three seasons as the head coach, Potts has had three straight winning seasons, compiling an overall record of 30-7, including leading the team last year to the program’s first-ever state championship in Florida’s Class 6A. Thing is, the Bulls have zero plans of slowing down their ascension.

Potts has had a vision for the West Boca Raton football program and that’s building it up to national prominence. This 2025 season, he will put his team to the test and test their mettle against some of the country’s best.

“Well, I mean, I think the message has been since we’ve won that state championship, the message and the goals have changed not only to do what we did last year but we’re looking to take ourselves to a national level this year,” Potts said.

“We believe we have the talent, the roster where we believe we got everything in place to put ourselves in that mix that we’re one of the best teams in the country. I think that’s been one of the things the kids have worked harder than they’ve ever had and we’ve had a great January to July and just really the kids have really just continue to buy into what we’re doing as a program.”

Putting yourself into that national conversation starts with beating a team that already has that pedigree and Potts is well aware of that. That’s why West Boca Raton has sought out and put together one of the tougher 2025 regular season schedules for a South Florida team.

For starters, the Bulls will take on nationally-ranked Chaminade-Madonna in the preseason kickoff classic, which will test West Boca Raton in many ways. It’s the game after the opener against Palm Beach Central that definitely will draw plenty of eyes when Week 3 rolls around in the Sunshine State.

The Adidas Football Classic takes place on Sep. 5 when the Bulls host one of the country’s best in New Jersey’s Bergen Catholic. A win against the Crusaders would ultimately do wonders in catapulting the Bulls up the national ranks.

“I think you if you want to be considered in the national mix and you wanna prove yourself as one of these top teams in the country, you have to play some of these teams that are recognized as that and we’ve always tried to make sure that we’re a team that never shines away from competition,” Potts said.

“We want to play the best and it’s a mindset. Our kids have that where we’re willing to play anyone, anytime, anywhere and our kids have really bought into that of wanting to prove that they’re the best team in the country this year.”

If you’re wondering what kind of talent West Boca Raton has to warrant such consideration, it won’t take long for you to realize they have one of the more talented teams in Florida overall.

2026 4-star running back Javian Mallory, a University of Miami (FL) commit, is coming off a year in which he dealt with an injury and missed a handful of games, is fully healthy and ready to go out of the backfield. Along with him on offense is Zacharias Walls, who caught 24 passes for 379 yards and four touchdowns last season for the Class 6A state champions.

It’s the defensive side of the ball that could be one of the best units in Florida as they defense features more than a half dozen Division I level players.

The defensive line is West Boca Raton’s strength on defense, with three linemen that will be playing for Division I schools after their high school playing days. Leading the way is 2027 4-star defensive tackle Jamar Thompson, who pairs up with 2026 3-star Xavier Reid, a Liberty commit, to form possibly the top tandem on the line defensively in the state.

“Defensive line wise, we believe we have the best defensive line in the country,” Potts said. “I mean, there’s just talent after talent after talent (on the defensive line).”

What could also become a game changer in helping take West Boca Raton’s football program to new heights is a new multipurpose training facility. The Bulls revealed photos of its new Frank A. Barbieri Athletic’s Facility. which will be right next to the school’s Medical/ Exercise Science Academy at West Boca Raton.

With the new Sports Management Academy facility is an impressive array of new equipment, which will include eight classrooms, a 40-yard turf section, 16 full weight racks and multiple coaches offices for all of the school’s sports.

From scheduling nationally-ranked opponents to the talent returning to state-of-the-art facilities, West Boca Raton is prepared to take it up a notch this fall. If Potts and crew have it their way, they’ll be making more than conversation for those national Top 25 rankings sooner rather than later.

“I think it’s just having that mindset to know that we’re not at the peak right now,” Potts added.

“We’re not at the pinnacle when there’s a lot of things that we need to keep improving on to keep climbing that ladder of getting to that level we wanna get to.”