SerpApi.Org
After one year serving as the Sarasota (Fla.) Booker High School head football coach, Carlos Woods is no longer the Tornadoes’ lead man, according to multiple sources.
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Per sources, Woods has been dismissed as Sarasota Booker head football coach. The Tornadoes open up the 2026 Florida high school football season against the 4-time Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) state champion Venice Indians on Aug. 21 at Tornado Alley in Sarasota.
Woods was coming off his first season at the helm of the Tornadoes, taking over the program from Scottie Littles. Woods, who also serves as the school’s athletic director, coached in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals before returning to the high school level and is also a Super Bowl XLI champion. Coming off a successful season that saw Booker reach the Class 3A state semifinals, Woods wasn’t completing his first campaign as a head coach.
In fact, Woods had been a head coach previously on the collegiate level and it ended in a controversial manner.
According to a Business Insider report from 2019, Woods was previously the head football coach at Pierce College where he was eventually was relieved of his position due to allegations that he misled recruits, convincing 30 players to live together in a three-bedroom apartment.
Woods was placed on administrative leave and eventually removed as head coach due to the allegations, which at least four of the athletes allegedly resorted to living out of the school’s athletic locker room and one said he ended up becoming homeless altogether.
The Tornadoes ended this past season with a 13-2 record and finished ranked No. 27 in the final 2025 Florida High School Football Massey Rankings.
More about Sarasota Booker High School
“Booker High School, located in Sarasota, FL, is known for its strong Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) Magnet Program, which draws students from multiple counties. The school offers a variety of academic and extracurricular programs, including the Cambridge AICE, JROTC, and Career and Technical Education (CTE) tracks. The campus features state-of-the-art facilities, including a newly built turf football field and renovated theater. Booker High is dedicated to ensuring that 100% of its students graduate college- or career-ready.”
