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The Niceville Eagles are coming off their 2nd Final Four appearance in the last five seasons. The tradition has always been one of success at Niceville High School. This season, it will be up to first-year Head Coach Richard Morgan and his young team to continue that success.
After the surprising resignation of former head coach Grant Thompson on March 5, the turnaround for Niceville had to be quick, and Niceville Principal Charlie Marello made the decision to bring in Morgan from the state of Georgia, where he won a state title with Marietta High School. With only four months under new leadership and a new playbook, it remains to be seen just how much of a learning curve there will be for the Eagles. There’s no doubt about the explosive talent on both sides of the football, but Niceville will have to rely on players who haven’t yet had their turn in the spotlight to compete at the level of last year’s squad.
“We’ve progressed and gotten better every day,” said Morgan. “I told them they have to embrace the process of learning new things. Every day, I think has been a little bit better. We’re light-years ahead of where we were in the spring. They’re starting to catch on and they’re starting to enjoy it, so I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
Niceville graduated both Kane Lafortune and Johnny Lewis Jr. last season, leaving the quarterback position wide open going into the 2025 season. The only returning signal caller on the roster is rising junior Thomas Radliff, who appeared in three games last season for the Eagles and completed two of his three throws.
Along with Radliff, rising sophomore Deagan McCoy has also been getting first-team reps at quarterback this summer. Competing on JV a season ago, McCoy racked up 20 touchdowns and looks to be right in the thick of the QB1 race for Niceville.
“It’s been really good,” said coach Morgan of the quarterback position battle this summer. “We’ve been rotating three different guys. They are all young, no seniors in the group, but they have been good. They’ve been catching on to the playbook. We’re going to let them keep competing, and then we’ll make a decision in the next week or so and go from there.”
It will also be new faces toting the rock for the Eagles this season. Lewis Jr. led the Eagles in rushing yards a season ago (1,252), with fellow senior Connor Matthews also carrying for over 1,000 yards. This season, it appears as though rising senior Justiss Parker-Jones and freshman Jakobe Gilyard will get the majority of the touches at the running back position. Parker-Jones saw limited action a season ago, carrying for 32 on 10 carries. Gilyard graduates from Davidson Middle School and will look to make an immediate impact on varsity.
While the story for the Eagles seems to be the number of players who graduated, one of the best receivers in the area returns:Robert Stith. Stith, a West Virginia commit, totaled 870 yards receiving on his 45 catches a season ago. The rising senior finished the campaign 8th in Class 5A for total receiving yards, and looks poised for more of the same this season. Another Division I commit, future James Madison tight end Max Roche, will also be a threat catching the ball for Niceville.
Coach Morgan will benefit from a significant number of athletes playing both sides of the ball this season. Rising senior Harper Campbell finished second on the team a year ago with 93 total tackles and five sacks. While Campbell appears ready to continue his dominance at the linebacker position, fans can also expect to see him get reps as a tight end behind Max Roche.
TeRay Geiger and NIU commit Justus Donahoo are more defensive stars from last year’s team who look ready to get reps at wide receiver in 2025. The defensive back duo accounted for 132 total tackles, with Donahoo also bringing in three interceptions. Neither caught a pass for the Eagles in 2024, but with Landon Isbell and Mo Seck graduating, the opportunity is there for Geiger and Donahoo to make an impact in coach Morgan’s offense this season.
Another young kid, rising sophomore Tri’marcus Mays, will play as a two-way lineman in the upcoming season. After losing a few linemen in the offseason, Mays should be a crucial piece in pass-protection and gap-creation, and should wreak havoc on opposing lines and quarterbacks this season.
Many of the standouts for Niceville defensively were mentioned as crucial two-way candidates in the paragraph above. The Eagles have lost a few big pieces of last year’s defense to transfers, injuries, and graduations, such as Maddox Hayles (158 total tackles), Jon Bocchino (87 total tackles), and Owen Atkins (13 tackles for loss).
Even with the losses, leaders like Campbell, Donahoo, and Geiger are tremendous players for new faces to learn from. The Eagles also have several rising seniors on the defensive side who have not yet had the chance to see too much of the field.
Though the defense might feature different personnel this season, Niceville has plenty of young talent and appears to be a stout side again in 2025.
The Niceville schedule is no slouch. Coach Morgan is thrown right into the fire with a trip to Tallahassee to face Lincoln in Week 1. The Eagles faced the Trojans in the 2024 regular season and walked away with their narrowest margin of victory of the season, winning 38-35. They left no doubt when they faced them again in the playoffs, this time winning much more comfortably.
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Four weeks after the challenging opening game, Niceville hosts Choctawhatchee in what is sure to be one of the games of the season on the Emerald Coast. They face all three of their district opponents, Gulf Breeze, Mosley, and Milton, in the final five weeks of the season. Oct. 9 will be a date to circle, as Mosley comes to Niceville looking to defend its district championship from a season ago.
With turnover on the field and the sidelines, Niceville will look to rely on its pure talent and leadership to carry it through the beginning of the season. As the players and coaches continue to gel with each other, expect the Eagles to finish their crucial back half of the schedule strong.
