High School Varsity Football Touchdown Preview: East Bay High School, 2026

The Indians are poised to take the next steps under second-year Head Coach DeAndra’ Simmons.

Simmons said that his team focused on its discipline and also built a lot of camaraderie in the offseason, attending a seven-on-seven camp at Florida State University. They beat Robinson 20-12 in their Kickoff Classic. Simmons was impressed with his team’s resilience in the second half. They trailed 12-0 at halftime and shut their opponent out in the second half. He said that his defense has remained consistent, and that they are the ‘big brothers’ of the team. The offense made enough plays in the second half to win the game.

The former University of Memphis offensive guard wants his offense to continue improving in the consistency of the passing game, especially with all of the great athletes they have. They showed glimpses of it in the game against Robinson. Simmons installed a new up-tempo offense and introduced new and more diverse blocking schematics to his offensive line last season. The offense went through some growing pains, especially in the passing game. In the past, they ran a wing-T, run-heavy offense. They moved to a more traditional spread offense with read-option principles in 2025.

Longtime Head Coach Mike Gottman returned to the coaching staff as the offensive line coach after retiring recently. Simmons said that Gottman has been a great mentor to him, and he feels like he can go to him for advice whenever he wants. Simmons, a Memphis, Tennessee, native, is still fairly new to the SouthShore area and Hillsborough County football in general, so Gottman has been a huge help in showing him the ropes.

East Bay missed the playoffs for the first time in four years last season. Simmons said that his players have a lot of pride in the program and want to get back to the success they’ve always had.

“East Bay has always been consistently competitive at football,” said Simmons. “We have always had great athletes. I just want to build on that and let the players know that we have what we need in order to be successful. We want to build a brotherhood.”

Simmons, being a former offensive lineman, knows the importance of establishing the run and playing good defense, which has been the model for the program in the past. East Bay has an experienced starting corps. They return their whole defense and six starters on offense. The defense will be the team’s major strength, headlined by highly recruited senior linebacker Dorian Edwards. Seniors Michael Walker, Shawn Daniels and Marquis Thornton will lead the defensive backfield. Senior defensive end, Strawberry Crest transfer Cole Sharpless will add to the depth on the D-line.

Junior quarterback Jeremiah Argo is the starter as of now, but junior Cannon Farragut is battling for the starting spot. Simmons said that Farragut is very talented and has the body type of Cam Newton with true SEC size at the QB position. He’s new and still learning the offense. Both are very athletic and can run the zone read. Argo has the bigger arm and has been in the program longer and knows the offense well. They look to name an official starter within the first two weeks of the season.

“I’ve laid my hat on the ‘East Bay Way,’ just a blue-collar approach,” said Simmons. “We are going to hit you in the mouth on defense, and on offense we are going to establish the run, then from there we are going to spread you out and show our athletes.”

The Indians have a manageable schedule but will have to beat an elite Jesuit team to win the district. Expect them to win close to eight games and make the playoffs. They open the season against crosstown rival Riverview. Both teams will battle for The Cherry Cup, which Riverview claimed last season. Simmons expects his team to go deep in the playoffs. He wants his team to take it week-by-week and ‘live in the moment.’

Schedule:

8/21 vs. Riverview

10/23 vs. Middleton