Florida High School Football Coaching Legend Makes History

Robbie Pruitt becomes first to win 200 games in two different states

Williston Red Devils head coach Robby Pruitt hoists a glass football into the air after winning his 400th game. The Williston Red Devils hosted Trinity Catholic Celtics at Booster Stadium in Williston, FL on Monday, September 30, 2024. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner] / Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A Florida high school football coach continues to make history.

Robbie Pruitt, the current head football coach at Williston High School, secured his 200th victory in Florida. Prior to moving to Florida, Pruitt won over 200 games as a head coach in Georgia.

He is now the first high school football coach to win at least 200 games in multiple states.

Pruitt accomplished the feat with a 49-21 victory over Trinity Catholic, which moved the Red Devils to 4-1 on the season. They have won four in a row heading into a matchup Friday night with Belleview on the road.

“I’ve been blessed to have been hired at places where they hadn’t had a lot of success before I got there,” Pruitt told ITGNext.com. “The administration at those schools allowed me to do the things I needed to make the programs better.”

Robbie Pruitt a Coaching Legend in Two States Now

Success have followed Pruitt at each and every stop along his head coaching career, making 10 state finals appearances while winning seven of those. He has coached at three different Georgia high schools and is now at his third Florida high school.

Over his 42-year coaching run, Pruitt has won 409 games, 209 of them coming in Georgia. His second coaching stop, He started his career at University Christian, located in Jacksonville, in 1984, guiding the program to four state championships in nine seasons.

From there, Pruitt took over at Union County, winning three consecutive state titles during his seven-year run at the Florida school. He headed to Fitzgerald and got the school to a state finals in the first season there.

Pruitt also made a stop at Warner Robins before returning to Fitzgerald in 2004. He left for Coffee in 2012, making multiple deep playoff runs including the first-ever state championship game appearance in program history. 

Williston became home for Pruitt in 2022, which resulted in a flip from being 1-9 the year before to 10-1 and a spot in the region quarterfinals. They went 11-1 the following season and reached the state semifinals last year.

Pruitt was inducted into the Florida High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.