St. Thomas Aquinas’ Roger Harriott, Ely’s Michael Bailey are Broward Co-Football Coaches of the Year
A year removed from a one-win season, Blanche Ely was perfect in the regular season this year and made it to a region championship for the first time since 2009. When they got there, the Tigers suffered their only loss of the season to perennial powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas, which went on to win the Class 3M championship.
Their coaches — Michael Bailey at Blanche Ely and Roger Harriott of the Raiders — are the Miami Herald’s Broward County Co-Football Coaches of the Year for Classes 4M-3M.
The Tigers’ turnaround was incredible and St. Thomas Aquinas, claiming a fourth straight title, was unassailable on the way to a perfect season and one of its most dominant campaigns ever, winning games by an average margin of 31.6 points.
The Raiders’ success wasn’t surprising — they began the year as a top-10 team in MaxPreps’ national rankings and finished at No. 6 — even if the manner was. Zion Turner, the quarterback for St. Thomas Aquinas’ last three state titles, graduated and led the UConn Huskies to a bowl game as a freshman and yet the Raiders never struggled to replace him, opening the season with a win against No. 19 St. Joseph’s Prep from Philadelphia and ultimately avenging their lone loss from last season in the 3M semifinals when they blew out Tampa Jesuit in Fort Lauderdale.
St. Thomas Aquinas only allowed more than 14 points twice all season, and only had two wins by fewer than three scores and none by less than 11 points.
Although Blanche Ely’s season ended with a blowout loss at Brian Piccolo Memorial Stadium in the Region 3-3M championship, the Tigers’
return to contention came almost out of nowhere. When Bailey got to Pompano Beach in 2021 after three years as the junior-varsity coach at Deerfield Beach, Blanche Ely only had
seven players and that number dropped to three at one point in the summer, he said. The Tigers won just one game in Bailey’s first season at Blanche Ely, getting outscored by 260 points,
before coming back in Year 2 to win District 10-3M and upset rival Dillard in the Region 4-3M semifinals.
It was the Tigers’ first win in the Soul Bowl since 2016 and their first postseason win against the Panthers since 1988.
“We just rebranded everything,” Bailey said. “It was kind of a blessing having such a overhaul of kids leaving because were able to introduce new concepts and just a whole new attitude, not just within the football team, but also around the school, as well.
“The identity I wanted to establish is just bringing a winning culture and not just winning games, but winning everything — winning in the classroom, winning in the weight room, winning with the practice, winning with the position battles, just overall a competitive, winning atmosphere and it shows.”
A week after upsetting Dillard, Blanche Ely’s season ended with a loss to the Raiders, who then kept rolling to add to their Florida High School Athletic Associationrecord total with a 14th state title.