East RIver's Adam Chappell latest football coach to step down

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Adam Chappell of East River High confirmed Monday he has stepped down from his position as head football coach, becoming the fourth Central Florida coach to resign this summer.

Chappell, who has been at East River for just one year, was unavailable for comment but he confirmed the resignation via text message. East River athletic director Brittney Scott also could not be reached for comment.

Three other Central Florida coaches -- Jeff Rolson (Apopka), Jimmy Buckridge (Timber Creek) and Jermel Jones (Lyman) -- stepped down in June, citing frustrations with the current transfer culture of high school football players.

The ability for students to freely transfer schools -- since a 2016 law passed by the state legislature -- has had a tremendous impact on high school sports rosters, most notably football, as the successful schools continue to draw student-athletes from schools with lesser success rates, making it difficult for those schools to build programs and compete at a high level.

Two other coaches, wishing to remain anonymous, said Chappell was frustrated with the rate of his players transferring to other schools.

Chappell was at East River for just one season, which was the initial season of Orange County Public School's two-year experiment with an Independent Division made up of eight schools: East River, Colonial, Cypress Creek, Innovation, Lake Buena Vista, Oak Ridge, University and Windermere,

Chappell guided the Falcons to their first winning season since 2020, ending with a 6-5 record, the best mark since 2017, when East River went 9-2. He was previously a member of the Edgewater coaching staff under former coach Cam Duke, who left Edgewater to take the head coaching position at Marietta, Ga.