May 28, 2025
Wildwood’s Vincent Brown Sr. Named Lake & Sumter Style Magazine’s Coach of the Year
By Kyle Coppola
Wildwood’s Vincent Brown Sr. Named Lake & Sumter Style Magazine’s Coach of the Year
WILDWOOD, Fla. — Vincent Brown Sr. has earned his place among the coaching elite.
After guiding Wildwood Middle High School to an undefeated season and an FHSAA Rural Girls Basketball Championship, and leading the school’s girls flag football team to its first-ever state championship appearance, Brown has been named Lake & Sumter Style Magazine’s Coach of the Year.
(Coach Brown coaches the girls flag-football team and nearly won a second state championship for Wildwood coming up just short in the state final. Photo Credit – Elite Factory Photography.)
Brown’s coaching résumé this past season is nothing short of incredible. His girls basketball team blazed through the schedule, finishing 25-0 and capturing the state title in dominant fashion. But his coaching excellence wasn’t limited to the hardwood.
(Coach Brown gets the FHSAA Class Rural State Championship Gold Medal Placed on his neck. Photo Credit – Kyle Coppola)
In the spring, Brown led Wildwood’s girls flag football team to a 13-1 record and a runner-up finish in the FHSAA Class 1A State Championship which was a historic achievement for a program that had never before reached the state finals.
Across both teams, Brown closed the year with a staggering 38-1 overall record, a feat that will be hard to match in the coming years. His commitment to building a championship culture in Wildwood has been evident and it’s the way he coaches that we admire. He expects excellence from his players but he shows so much love to them as well on and off the court.
If anyone is having a bad day, just go talk to coach Brown Sr. and you will instantly feel better about yourself. That’s just the kind of person and coach that Vincent Brown Sr. is. Worth noting Wildwood Girls Basketball team has not lost a game since March 1st of 2024 in the State Semifinal against Hawthorne. That’s pretty incredible and one of the longest active win streaks in the state of Florida.
(The Wildwood Middle High girls basketball team visits the Sumter County School Board after winning the FHSAA Rural State Championship. Photo Credit – Vincent Brown Sr.)
“Coach Brown has changed the standard of excellence at Wildwood,” said Brian Haugabrook the Wildwood Athletic Director. “He’s not just winning games, he’s building programs and doing it with class, integrity, and a relentless drive for success.”
Brown’s work-ethic is second to none and so are the girls teams he coaches. We want to congratulate coach Vincent Brown Sr. on this trumendous honor and we look forward to next season.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
