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John Peacock has been linked to a felony investigation.
John Peacock is the winningest football coach in Venice High School history. He is also linked to a felony crime involving leaked phone calls.
Details to this point are still a bit murky. No charges have been filed. Peacock’s job status has not changed. With that said, the potential wrongdoing is serious.
The Herald-Tribune broke the story midway through the high school football season. In the very least, it provides an off-field distraction for the team and staff.
John Peacock was investigated.
He has been linked to law breaking through a series of subpoenas. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office found probably cause of Peacock’s involvement in a third-degree felony crime.
🚨 Venice (FL) Head Coach John Peacock Under Felony Investigation
According to the reporting from @NickWilsonUSAT The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office found probable cause linking Peacock to a third-degree felony involving private phone conversations allegedly recorded without consent and posted anonymously on X.
Investigators used four subpoenas to trace the phone number back to Peacock, who acknowledged creating a TextMe account.
Peacock, the winningest coach in Venice history with three state titles, has NOT been criminally charged, according to his attorney. The State Attorney’s Office has not confirmed whether charges will be pursued.
— Fired Coaches of Georgia (@FiredCoaches) October 14, 2026
Phone calls were allegedly recorded without consent. Conversations were then posted to social media by an account that no longer exists.
In the conversations, an unidentified party speaks to someone that calls themself Andre Moss. I do not know if this is a rival player, coach, parent, or recruiter. I don’t actually know if the calls were football related at all. Without the now-deleted audio, context is missing.
Here’s what we do know.
On Jan. 13, the affidavit says the complainant found an audio recording of the private conversations with Moss posted to an account on X, @TrueFruitville, which no longer exists. After reviewing the account, the complainant found three posts containing recordings of the conversations with Moss.
The investigation found that Cell Phone 1 was associated with TextMe. A subpoena to TextMe found the subscriber left their name blank, but that an email address was used to activate the account.
After finding that Cell Phone 2 was associated with Verizon, the SCSO subpoenaed Verizon and found the number was registered to the Venice Football Club, the non-profit booster arm of Venice’s high school football program.
-The Herald Tribune
Peacock confirmed that Cell Phone 2 was his after being interviewed by law enforcement. His email was also found to be linked to Cell Phone 1.
“Based on the aforementioned, I believe probable cause exists to show the TextMe phone number used to call the victim was directly linked to the defendant Thomas John Peacock. Those conversations were recorded without the victim’s knowledge or consent and later disseminated via the social networking platform ‘X’ which is a violation of F.S.S 934.03 (1a) Interception and Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications,” said the lead investigator.
Violation of F.S.S. 934.03 carries third-degree felony status.
John Peacock’s social media activity has gotten him in trouble before.
In fact, he’s already been fired once by his current employer for online antics. In 2018, he “liked” a message that said a rival coach used a spray tan to achieve his skin color. He was rehired two months later after going through social media training.
Now, he’s under the spotlight again for potentially illegal online crimes.
Peacock owns three state titles across his 20 seasons with Venice High School football program. He boasts a 203-48 all-time record, making him the winningest coach in school history.
The Indians are 7-1 this year. Interestingly enough, they had their season opener cancelled due to another criminal investigation linked to an opposing coach in the state of Florida.
John Peacock is still the head football coach at Venice High School. Controversy surrounds the program given the recent probe. We’ll be sure to follow-up should any updates come along.