John Brantley returns as head football coach of Ocala Forest

The former Trinity Catholic head coach played quarterback for the Wildcats back in the 1970's

Trinity Catholic head coach John Brantley coaches before the game as Trinity Catholic takes on Holy Trinity in opening playoff round of the 2023 FHSAA Football State Championships at Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, FL on Friday, November 17, 2023. [Alan Youngblood/Ocala Star-Banner] / Alan Youngblood/Ocala Star-Banner / USA TODAY NETWORK

All roads led back to Ocala Forest for John Brantley.

The former Trinity Catholic head coach announced via X that he was returning as a head coach, but this time of Ocala Forest. Down below is Brantley's announcement post on X.

"Happy to announce that I’ve accepted the job of Head Football Coach @ Forest High School, my alma mater!! Back to work & GO CATS!!"

Happy to announce that I’ve accepted the job of Head Football Coach @ Forest High School, my alma mater!! Back to work & GO CATS!!💚🏈💛@OcalaPreps @OcalaGazette @FlaHSFootball @Dwight_XOS pic.twitter.com/FxfN42iLKY

— John Brantley (@CoachBrantleyTC) December 12, 2024

Five decades ago, Brantley played quarterback for the Wildcats, winning the program's lone state championship back in the mid 1970's.

John Brantley steps down as Ocala Trinity Catholic head football coach

Brantley had been apart of the Trinity Catholic football program in some capacity since the 2003 season, helping the Celtics win two state championships along the way as an assistant coach. His son, John, played at Trinity Catholic and was apart of the 2005 Class 2B state championship team.

From assistant to head coach, Brantley led Trinity Catholic to a state title in 2010 when the Celtics defeated University School, coached by now-St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Roger Harriott, in an overtime thriller, 56-55. 

This past season was another district championship squad, but one that fell short of the previous couple of Celtics' teams that reached the Class 1S state championship games in 2022 and 2023. The Celtics lost both years and were looking to make another run this season, but fell to Providence School 26-7 in the Class 1A playoffs. Trinity Catholic finished the 2024 season with a record of 2-9. 

Brantley has an overall coaching record of 104-48, with 98 of those wins coming at Trinity Catholic. An impressive stat in Brantley's tenure was the Celtics never lost a district game under his watch, going 27-0. He led the program to 10 district titles, five regional crowns and over 70 players have moved on to play at the next level during his tenure.

Now the former Celtics' lead man takes on his next challenge and instead of quarterbacking Forest, he will now lead the program as the head coach.

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi