The Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) announces 2024 Hall of Fame inductees

The eight inductees for the 2024 class were named on Monday morning; Bill Castle given 2024 Dub Palmer Award

The Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) announced on Monday morning the eight inductees that will be inducted into the FACA Hall of Fame 2024 class. 

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— FACA (@FACACoach) July 10, 2023

Amongst the names were two head coaches that just recently retired after the 2022 high school football football season, with Bill Castle (Lakeland) and Darrell Sutherland (Bartram Trail). 

Castle stepped down after the 2022 season and having led Lakeland to the Class 4S state championship in a 21-14 win over Venice. The former Lakeland lead man left the Dreadnaughts after 52 years, 473 career wins and eight state championships with the school. 

His 473 victories are eight more than the late Corky Rogers (Bolles) all-time. The 2022 season was Castle’s 46th at the helm and he gave way to assistant Marvin Frazier, who took over as Lakeland’s new head coach.  

In addition to Castle being named into the hall of fame, he was also awarded the 2024 ‘Dub Palmer Lifetime Achievement Award’. The Dub Palmer Lifetime Achievement Award is given to a retiring football coach who exemplified the same standards of excellence as Coach Palmer did, according to the FACA website.

List of Dub Palmer Award recipients per the FACA website 

2022 Brian Dodds, Park Vista​

2021 Bill Kramer, Naples

2020 Phil Ziglar, Hagerty/Boone

2019 Ron Ream, WPB-Benjamin

2018 Corky Rogers, Bolles

2017 Inman Sherman, South Sumter

2016 Joe Kinnan, Bradenton-Manatee

2015 Paul Maechtle, Bradenton-Southeast

2014 Perry Brown, PC-Mosley

2013 Tommy Keeler, Alachua-Santa Fe

2012 George Smith, St. Thomas Aquinas

2011 Rocky Yocam, New Smyrna Beach High School

2010 Billy Turner, Tampa-Chamberlain

2009 Walt Frazier, Miami-Carol City High School

2008 J.D. Jones, Wakulla High School

2007 Jim Kroll, Miami-Palmetto High School

2006 Sam Budnyk, WPB-Cardinal Newman

2005 Jim McCool, Palatka High School

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— FACA (@FACACoach) July 10, 2023

Sutherland was the only head coach the Bartram Trail football program had ever known. The former Bears’ head coach led the team for 23 seasons before stepping down. 

It would be 182 wins later and an exit in the Class 4S, Region 1 final that concluded the legendary coaching career for Sutherland. Bartram Trail bowed out of the postseason in a 21-20 loss to Buchholz. 

Sutherland started the program back in 2000 and had been with the school ever since. Former Nature Coast head coach Cory Johns became just the second lead man in program history over the offseason. 

Below is the list of names that were selected to the FACA’s latest class of hall of famers. 

Larry Bishop, Citrus 

Bill Castle, Lakeland 

Jay Getty, Hagerty 

Steven Lyons, Bishop Kenny 

Yusuf Shakir, Tallahassee Lincoln/Manatee 

Darrell Sutherland, Bartram Trail 

Tim Tharp, Jupiter 

Lisa Zielinski, St. Thomas Aquinas 

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.