ORLANDO – When one speaks of the greatest of all time in sports or the G.O.A.T, one must consider several factors for the discussion. Did they achieve the highest individual honor in their sport ? Did they achieve the highest team honor in their sport ? Finally, did they consistently win on a regular basis ? Specifically when considering the greatest football coaches of all time, one must factor in an additional indelible element and that element is the art of team building.
Best of the Best: Best Coach of All Time
Great coaches in Northeast Florida have consistently been able to assemble staffs, cultivate talent, and get them to work cohesively year in and year out to achieve greatness. Take for example legendary Coach Corky Rogers. Rogers finished his coaching career with a 466-85-1 record ( Lee/Bolles), and amassed 10 state titles with Bolles. Coach Robby Pruitt who guided University Christian to 4 state titles, left UC to take over a struggling Union County program and quickly made them into a public school state power winning three consecutive state titles in 1994-1996. Those two Hall of Fame coaches set the standard for the G.O.A.T discussion, to which others like David Pennland III (University Christian, 3 state titles), Mike Pittman ( Suwannee, 4 consecutive state titles) and Verlon Dorminey (Trinity/ 7 State Titles/ 4 Consecutive) have rightfully joined. Yet with all of their tremendous accolades none of the aforementioned coaches have achieved what Raines Head Coach Deran Wiley did this year.
Wiley was able to win consecutive titles with a Duval County Public School program after Raines defeated Cocoa 27-13 in the 2018 Class 4A State Championship game. The significance of this accomplishment is that it took the Gateway Conference 34 years to win it’s first. It then took the conference a total of 54 years to win it’s second. Coach Wiley is the reason the conference only had to wait one extra year to win it’s third title in 55 years. Corky Rogers, nor famed Raines Head Coach Welton Coffey were able to do this. Rogers was never able to bring a title to a Duval County public school program with Lee, and Coffey’s 1997 public school championship was followed by a regional final defeat in 1998.
Not only is the consecutive title accomplishment note worthy of the G.O.A.T conversation, but achieving it with almost a totally different team is virtually unprecedented. After hoisting the 2017 state championship, Wiley saw Class 4A Player of the Year quarterback Ivory Durham IV depart for college. Also gone was George Webb II, Raynell Killian, Diop Kee, and 25 other seniors that made up the team. Replacing them seemed impossible, and it looked as such in the spring when Raines had a poor showing in it’s spring games.
Final 17-6 Fletcher over Raines spring Football Jamboree pic.twitter.com/Yq0binGHum
— Duval Sports ™️ (@DuvalSports) May 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/franknobenjamin/status/997891921547849731
After the exhibitions, Coach Wiley was overheard yelling at his entire team behind the First Coast stands proclaiming “as far as I’m concerned we don’t have a quarterback”. It was an ominous sign for the signal caller position, that changes would be made.
A very cool moment! Trinity Head Coach Verlon Dorminey just walked up to Raines post game huddle and gave Raines Head Coach Deran Wiley a 👊 fist bump after Raines victory over Rockledge! Trinity faces Booker T next! @DuvalSports
— Andre' Ellis🗯 (@andreellis55) August 19, 2018
Fast forward to the kickoff classic in Daytona, where Raines would face state power Rockledge, who eventually defeated Bolles in the regular season. After falling behind early, Raines would rally behind the plays of new quarterback Barron Coates. Coates still needed to learn the playbook, but Wiley said after the game that he was “very impressed with the quarterback play”. Wiley had found his quarterback, while revamping the team to compliment seniors like Brandon Marshall, Javon Bonsell and Aric Horne along with refocusing his coaching staff to tackle another championship regular season.
“ We gonna celebrate tonight! “ Coach Dream Wiley after winning his second consecutive State Championship! pic.twitter.com/LOofoSnOS9
— Duval Sports ™️ (@DuvalSports) December 7, 2018
After a one-point loss at home to Lee, Wiley would lead his team to 9 straight regular season victories, including ones over playoff participants like Mandarin, Oakleaf and Tallahassee Lincoln. Wiley would defy naysayers who claimed Raines didn’t play worthy opponents, skeptics who thought the loss of the player of the year would doom his team, cynics who criticized his coaching decision to switch quarterbacks in the playoffs from Coates to Jacorey Rivers as Wiley debunked them all on his way to making history again.
So after winning coach of the year, appearing in three title games, and winning his second state championship in a row, does this cement Deran Wiley’s legacy as one of the greatest head coaches of all time in Northeast Florida? Some say yes, some say he must amass more wins. With a 97-24 record in just 8 years at the school, it’s safe to say that he is certainly in the conversation and worthy of the recognition. Only time will tell how history remembers Coach Wiley, but the good thing for his legacy is that he’s still writing it with every historic accomplishment.
