Alex Orenczuk
•7/27/2026
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Lee County high school football returned Monday with the first official practices of the 2026 season, followed by a media day featuring new head coaches, a new league for Gateway and a Riverdale team still thinking about the state title game it narrowly missed.
For Riverdale, the new season begins with unfinished business. The Raiders finished 12-2 last year, won a district championship and advanced to the state semifinals before falling one victory short of the title game.
Head coach Kendoll Gibson said that ending has remained with his players throughout the offseason.
“Our boys are hungry,” Gibson said. “They came into the offseason ready to go, ready to play. And we’re looking forward to the season ahead.”
Bonita Springs is beginning a new chapter under Tony Mottola, whose coaching résumé includes stops with the Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders and the New York/New Jersey Hitmen of the original XFL. He most recently coached at Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts before taking over the Bull Sharks.
Mottola said his first months at Bonita Springs have centered on relationships, communication and establishing new expectations throughout the program.
“As long as these kids just kind of stay the course and keep the vision and understand what we are trying to build here, no matter what our record is, we’re going to be successful,” Mottola said.
Gateway will compete in the FHSAA’s inaugural Independent Football League this season. The league was created to offer independent programs greater competitive balance and a potential path to postseason play.
New head coach Chris Strykowski said Gateway’s rapid enrollment growth had pushed the young program into a classification it was not ready to compete in. He believes the new format will allow the Eagles to play a schedule that more closely matches the program’s current stage.
“The idea that I could come in and I could do it as an independent and we could play a schedule that matched where we’re at,” Strykowski said, “I think that was one of the things that I really, really found most attractive about the job.”
Lehigh Senior also opened practice with a new head coach. Sean Downing said more than 100 players participated during portions of the summer, with roughly 90 remaining as the Lightning entered fall practice.
Downing said his first offseason was built around details away from the football field.
“I’m just really big on getting them to buy into the order that we like things done, the organization and the accountability,” Downing said.
Dunbar enters the season with several experienced players returning from a team that remained competitive in a number of close losses last year. Head coach Sammy Brown said the Tigers now have a better understanding of how to manage those games late.
“I know we won’t quit,” Brown said. “I know that for sure. So if you beat us, you’re better than us. We will not quit.”
At Cypress Lake, Mark Flaherty takes over a program coming off consecutive district championships. The Panthers graduated a senior-heavy class, but Flaherty said the returning leaders have embraced the responsibility of bringing younger players along.
The next championship would give the current seniors a place of their own in the school record book.
“Hopefully, these guys can be the first senior class in Cypress history that have three district titles in football under their belts,” Flaherty said.
Teams will continue progressing through the FHSAA’s preseason practice schedule before kickoff classics and the opening week of the regular season next month.
