High School Football: Harry Lees leaves Milton to return as West Florida High head coach

At the start of the previous decade, Harry Lees helped lead the West Florida High football program to prominence.

Now, Lees is leaving Milton High School to return to the Jaguars sidelines. He was hired on Tuesday to become the next head football coach at West Florida.

"The thing that makes West Florida special, and really I've had time to reflect on it, are the people involved with that school," he said. "Just really excited for a chance to get started with a new group of kids."

At West Florida, the 50-year old head coach replaces Rhett Summerford, a former assistant under Lees who left the Jaguars in December to take over head coaching duties at Tate.

When the West Florida position became open, Lees had a number of conversations with the man that succeeded him years ago, and now he succeeds today.

"He's a good friend of mine and he told me basically what had been going on, what was good, what needed to be improved on," Lees said. "He was a big help on the process and he's a guy I definitely trust."

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Finishing with winning records in six of his seven seasons, Lees complied a 55-24 record with the Jaguars from 2010-2016.

He led West Florida to five district titles, including three consecutive at the end of his tenure. He was also named PNJ Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2014.

"I'm very excited about it because Harry is the one who actually turned our program around," West Florida athletic director Marc Conti said.

"He's a Jaguar originally, so the fact that he wanted to come home, to me that was just enough," West Florida High principal Esi Shannon remarked. "He knows the Jaguar way, he knows the rich tradition because he's the one who really put us on the map. So to have him come back is really exciting."

Lees was introduced by Conti as the program's new football head coach on Tuesday morning in a small assembly with the players. Afterward, he took a tour of the school, which is different from the campus on Longleaf Drive that he taught from during his previous stint.

The current campus is in its third year of existence.

As much as his return to West Florida creates nostalgia, Lees acknowledges the past is well in his rearview mirror.

"Anything I've done in the past doesn't help us going on in the future because those days are gone and those kids are gone," Lees said. "But this is a good group of kids that I can come in and try to help get recruited and try to build a football program."

What's also different is where Lees is in his career and what he's undertaking.

In 2010, he was younger coach seeking a chance. He got that chance at West Florida as part of a rebuild. This time around, he takes over one of the area's best teams from a year ago.

Behind a suffocating defense, the Jaguars posted a 9-2 record last season and advanced to the Region 1-5A semifinals. The team allowed 11.7 points per game.

However, Lees' expertise is on offense. As he evaluates his roster, he'll see what elements from his previous offenses may be incorporated for the future.

"As a coach that likes the offensive side of it, you see different pieces and think, 'maybe we can do this or do a different scheme than what we've done or what we've done at Milton, this will fit with this group of kids,'" Lees said, "That's the fun part of the coaching side, but there's a lot of talent. And anytime you have talent, you're a better coach."

Lees' return to West Florida marks the end of a five-year tenure at Milton. As part of another rebuild, he posted a 21-26 record at Milton.

His Panthers teams finished at .500 or better over the last three seasons.

"There's a bittersweet part of it because the people of Milton were so good to me. Anytime you leave a place, there's relationships and dynamics that change," Lees said. "First and foremost, everything that I experienced was good, from a good administration, good support, good quarterback club. The players were excellent, they did everything that we asked of them."

The local coaching carousal has been active this offseason. With the job at Milton opening up and Pensacola High currently undergoing a search for a new person at the helm, five of the 13 Pensacola-area teams will enter the 2022 with a new head coach.

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (850) 503-3828, on Twitter @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Football: Lees leaves Milton to return as West Florida High head coach