- May 8, 2026
Instead of the community coming out to Flagler Palm Coast High School to watch spring football practice, the Bulldogs took their first spring practice in full pads to the community on Tuesday, May 5.
FPC practiced on the field at the George Washington Carver Community Center in Bunnell.
“A lot of people came out to watch us,” FPC football coach Patrick Turner said. “There was a lot of energy. And the kids were excited.”
When Turner and his coaches were painting lines on the field in preparation for the practice, FPC grad Kent Coleman, now the Bulldogs’ head JV coach and varsity defensive line coach, told thema little bit about the history of George Washington Carver High School.
The school, built in the 1949, was Flagler County’s first Black high school. It closed as an all-Black school in 1967 when Flagler County schools were integrated.
“Kent Coleman’s grandmother attended Carver High School,” Turner said. “When we were painting the field he told us that the field was where the school sat. For all the heritage of the players that came out of Bunnell, it [was important] for us to get out there and put ourselves in the community.”
Turner said he did the same thing when he was the head coach at Menendez High School in St. Augustine, bringing his team to the historic Hastings High School for a practice.
The short trip down the road to the Carver Center also gave the new Bulldogs a taste of what football season will be like, Turner said.
“We put the kids on a bus and treated it like an away game, because every spring you have new kids who haven’t done it before,” he said.
FPC returns seven players on defense who started at least one game last season. Kicker/punter Garrett Tucker and long snapper Brady Gerling return on special teams. The offense will feature a lot of new faces, Turner said.
The Bulldogs will hold their Green and White intrasquad scrimmage at 6 p.m. Friday, May 15, at FPC’s Sal Campanella Stadium. FPC will host Seabreeze in a spring game at 7 p.m. Friday, May 22.
Matanzas will play in a jamboree with Eustis and Pine Ridge at 6 p.m. May 21 at Pine Ridge. Mainland will travel to Palm Beach Gardens for a six-team jamboree on May 14, beginning at 5 p.m.
The Bucs will hold their Blue and Gold scrimmage at 9 a.m., Saturday, May 9. Seabreeze will have its Red and White scrimmage at the school at 9 a.m., Saturday, May 16.
