A Turbulent Start to the Southwest Florida High School Football Season
The 2026 high school football season in Southwest Florida opened under a blanket of heat, humidity and sudden storms that have tested both players and coaches, forcing teams to adapt to conditions that feel more like midsummer than early spring.
Fort Myers High School will be led by Joey Mendes for the first time in half a century, taking over from the Sirianni family who had guided the program for decades.
At St. John Neumann, quarterback Carter Quinn, who missed the previous season while battling leukemia, is slated to return to the field, sparking optimism among teammates and fans.
Riverdale High, which reached the state semifinal a year ago, is poised to contend again, hoping to translate its recent momentum into another deep run.
Stability Amid the Chaos
What sets apart the region’s most successful programs — Bishop Verot, Estero and Riverdale — is the continuity of their administrative and coaching staff, a stark contrast to the dozen new coaches and frequent player transfers that have defined much of the area.
Covering that landscape is a logistical marathon for the News-Press and Naples Daily News sports editor Ed Reed, who has described the physical and organizational strain of tracking more than twenty games each week, a burden that pales in comparison to the more structured schedules of professional and college football.