Sandalwood hires new high school football coach. Here's what to know

Sandalwood's next coach is arriving from the opposite side of the Intracoastal Waterway.

Sandalwood hired Fletcher defensive assistant Malik Reaves as high school football head coach on Dec. 2, the school's latest bid to revitalize the winning tradition of the Saints' program. He replaces Brad Kessel, who resigned at the end of the Saints' 1-9 season.

For Sandalwood, Reaves' hiring brings a new motto of dominance through defense.

Reaves is already a familiar name in the eastern section of Duval County, where he played four seasons at Fletcher in the early 2010s. He later excelled in college football at Villanova, where he earned all-Colonial Athletic Association honors, and also spent time on the rosters of the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers, although he did not appear in an NFL regular season game.

Reaves also lined up with the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts and the Indoor Football League's Green Bay Blizzard.

In its announcement of Reaves' hiring, the athletic department rolled out a slogan referring to the new coach's background in the secondary: "My coach can lock down your coach."

One of the Gateway Conference's most consistent winners in the 2010s, Sandalwood has fallen on hard times of late on the gridiron, losing 29 consecutive games before defeating rival Parker in the season finale.

Sandalwood competed in District 1-7A against Atlantic Coast and Creekside during the past two years, although that alignment will change in the Florida High School Athletic Association's pending reclassification for 2026 and 2027.

Reaves is the first Duval County head football coaching hire since the end of the 2025 season. Elsewhere in the region, Keystone Heights, Menendez and Ridgeview currently have coaching vacancies.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Malik Reaves hired as Sandalwood High School football coach