Florida high school football coach has suspension lifted, returns to Sarasota Booker's sideline

Per a report, the Florida High School Athletic Association has lifted Scottie Littles' 6-game suspension

Booker head football coach Scottie Littles will miss four games of the regular season after being found guilty of having improper contact with a player from another team. / THOMAS BENDER/HERALD-TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Florida High School Athletic Association has decided that Sarasota Booker head football coach Scottie Littles has served enough time away from the sidelines.

According to a report by Sarasota Herald-Tribune's Doug Fernandes, the FHSAA has lifted Littles' 6-game suspension, deeming being credited with time served with three contests missed.

Littles returns just in time for the Tornadoes' tilt against Berkeley Prep (0-1), who is coming off a 28-14 loss to Clearwater Central Catholic last week. The Buccaneers won the Class 2M state championship in 2023 and started off this season nationally ranked. Sarasota Booker is coming off a 46-0 thrashing of Naples Lely last week.

According to Fernandes' report, there was a one-hour Zoom meeting on Wednesday with Littles, his attorney Keith DuBose, Sarasota Booker principal Dr. Rachel Shelley, Sarasota County athletic director James Slaton, and officials from the FHSAA, which didn’t involve Littles presenting any new evidence on his behalf in regards to his supension.

“I actually didn’t present anything,” Littles said per Fernandes' report. “(Shelley) did a majority of the speaking, and then my attorney spoke on my behalf. We weren’t presenting anything to negate what (the FHSAA) said we did. We accepted guilt in our process and asked for time served, and the reason we asked for time served is that there were school-based punishments. I just think we asked for the opportunity for time served, to move forward, and the state was gracious enough to accept the request and say you’ve learned your lesson. I still lost upwards of $5,000. It’s not like I got away scot-free.”

The FHSAA had previously suspended the Sarasota Booker head football coach for six games and fined him $5,000 following an investigation stemming from violation of the association's recruiting rules.

In addition to the penalties previously levied by the FHSAA, Booker High School suspended Littles for two games that would run concurrent with the association's suspension. Sarasota County Schools also has placed Littles on a one-year probationary program, which includes removal as head coach if Littles is found to have violated the recruiting policies ever again.

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The recruiting violations stem from contact between Littles and a Sarasota Riverview player dating back to Feb. 27th at a track meet which took place at Booker High School.

According to the initial investigation report, Littles approached the player's mother telling her son "would look good in purple and gold" and she responded "no." The mother explained to Littles that she and other members of the family attended Sarasota Riverview High School.

The report also stated the mother vaguely admitted that she had been to Booker High School before and had contact with Littles in regards to having interest in the Tornadoes. Captured video footage, which was handed over to the FHSAA, showed the mother and her son arriving at Booker High School on March 11 to meet with a player for a workout.

About 20 minutes later, Littles arrived to the parking lot to speak with the Sarasota Riverview player and went on to discuss topics ranging from colleges, recruitment, offers, how much he was benching and a plethora of other things to make sure he was on the right track.

The three then headed into the school to Littles' office where they resided from 12:18 p.m. to 1:41 p.m. The mother stayed with her son throughout the time at the school, as she was considered the player's representative.

Sarasota Riverview head coach Joshua Smithers caught wind of the player possibly transferring to Booker and was shown a Snapchat of the player at the Tornadoes' campus. Smithers spoke with the player, who didn't reveal much about what happened other than the "pros and cons of leaving," per the report.

Below is the transcript of a text conversation between the player and an unidentified person and then between the mother and Littles, who asked when would there be a good time to speak over the phone.

Unidentified person: “Noooo, ya flagging. If he ain’t talking about handing (cash symbol) out to you.”

Player: “Nah.”

Unidentified person: “Bruh, don’t go there, you not thinking with your brain. You went to his office, or y’all talk over the phone?”

Player: “His office.”

Mother: “Who is this?”

Littles: “Littles.”

Mother: “Hey, if this is about football, my son will remain at (school redacted).”

Littles: “My apologies. I text the wrong number. I got a new phone, I was trying to reach (name redacted). I understand completely.”

The allegations were not the first time Littles has heard of complaints/allegations set forth against the program. Southeast High School filed a complaint with the FHSAA against Booker for delays in sending over its EL6 player transfer forms. The FHSAA has no rule or penalty against tardy/late transfer player forms.

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