James Wilder Jr. steps down as head football coach at Florida's Chamberlain high school

Former Florida State star resigns as the Florida high school football season rapidly approaches; offensive coordinator Chadd Wood will now lead the program

Former Florida State running back James Wilder Jr. has stepped down as head football coach at Chamberlain high school. / James Wilder Jr. Instagram

It’s the second official week of high school football practices in Florida and another former collegiate star is stepping away as the program’s head coach.  

According to multiple sources, former Florida State star running back James Wilder Jr. has stepped down as Chamberlain High School’s head football coach. 

The Storm’s offensive coordinator Chadd Wood confirmed that he has been promoted to head coach.

Wilder Jr. didn’t respond to multiple messages from SBLive regarding his status as Chamberlain’s head coach initially, but later confirmed he was no longer the program's head coach. The former Hillsborough County prep star stated he was stepping aside and will be the Chamberlain football program's general manager moving forward.

This follows the recent resignation of former University of Central Florida star Joe Burnett as the head football coach at Eustis High School.

The former Seminole took over as the Storm’s lead man back in December, becoming the successor to Joey Jamie.

Wilder Jr., who also played running back at Chamberlain before transferring to Plant, had been an assistant coach previously at Jefferson and the aforementioned Plant before landing his first ever head coaching gig at Chamberlain.

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After his time in South Tampa, Wilder Jr. went on to play at Florida State and helped the Seminoles win the 2014 BCS National Championship 34-31 over Auburn. He also went on to play both in the NFL and CFL before entering the high school football circuit as a coach.

The Storm had hoped Wilder Jr. could turn the program's fortunes around as the school has gone through three straight losing seasons, including going winless in 2023. Since the late Billy Turner ended his time as head coach in 2008, the program has endured 10 losing seasons.  

Chamberlain kicks off the 2024 season on August 23rd against Brandon at home. 

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