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Former Booker High School football coach Carlos Woods is under criminal investigation.
The Venice High School football team in Florida does not have a Week 1 opponent. If it is unable to fill a now open spot, its season will be delayed by one week.
A season opener scheduled vs. Booker High School has been cancelled just days out from the start of preseason camp. That late scratch is the result of a criminal investigation into a shady head coach.
The Indians are now scrambling to find a suitable foe. The Tornadoes, meanwhile, must navigate an off-field drama and the consequences that have come with it.
Venice is a Florida high school football powerhouse.
The Indians went 9-4 and finished first in the 7A District 8 standings a year ago. Their season ended one game shy of a state title appearance.
Venice is a four-time high school football champion in the state of Florida. Coach John Peacock has posted a 190-45 record since being hired in 2007. He’s won 10+ games ten times in 18 years.
The Indians plan to contend for another championship in 2026. They added three-star quarterback Noah Patton to the roster over the offseason, a player with offers from Kentucky, Arkansas, Purdue, Syracuse, Minnesota, and Arizona State.
They also return top receiver Tyree Mannings, a four-star talent receiving interest from Florida, Miami, USC, and Auburn.
Venice’s title pursuit was set to start on August 21 vs. Booker, located a half hour north in Sarasota.
Bing Maps
A map of the route from Venice to Sarasota, Florida.
The Tornadoes were hoping to build off of positive momentum of their own after a 13-win season in head coach Carlos Woods’ debut. All movement came to a screeching halt about a month out from the season opener.
Carlos Woods is under criminal investigation.
The details of that probe are unclear, though it’s been confirmed that it does not center around “any harm or wrongdoings toward any students.”
Woods has been terminated as coach and athletic director. He has denied the allegations brought against him.
While there is little knowledge surrounding his current situation, his checkered past is available to the public. Prior to landing at Booker, Woods ran into issues at a pair of California colleges.
More on his rule breaking from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune:
In 2017, as an assistant coach at Gavilan College’s football team, Woods was placed on leave and then resigned after 17 players shared a three-bedroom house and received impermissible housing and dining benefits…
In 2019, Woods was placed on administrative leave at Pierce College in Los Angeles, according to The Roundup. It’s alleged that Woods convinced 30 players to live in a three-bedroom apartment, collecting rent from the athletes but not paying it to the landlord…
Woods was also accused of recruiting out-of-state players — prohibited at the time by the California Community College Athletic Association — and allowed them to compete.
Booker High School went 13-2 in Woods’ first and only season, finishing one game shy of a Florida state championship appearance. After the coach’s dismissal, more than 20 players transferred out of the program.
The roster depletion, combined with a coaching change, have forced the Tornadoes to cancel their first game. It’s left Venice with no Week 1 opponent.
Barring a late addition to the schedule, the Indians will have to delay the start of their 2026 season.