Booker T. Washington High School girls’ basketball coach Jade Brown has been named the 2026 Florida Dairy Farmers Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year, the highest individual coaching honor in Florida high school hoops.
- Brown earned the distinction following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school coaches and media representatives, tallying 89 points to finish well ahead of Class 7A Coach of the Year Daniela Barrios of Doral Academy (59 points) and Class 2A Coach of the Year Ochiel Swaby of Miami Country Day (53 points).
Championship Season
The honor caps a dominant season for Brown and the Wildcats. Washington finished 24-3 and captured the Class 5A state championship, capping a three-year run in which Brown’s teams have gone 68-11. In 14 years leading the program, she has built a 214-110 all-time record—a legacy of sustained excellence that few coaches in the state can match.
When the Board of County Commissioners honored Coach Brown and the team last month, Commissioner Lumon May said, “I get the opportunity to do a lot of proclamations. This is probably one that’s most near and dear to my heart because the young ladies here are the future. They’re not just basketball players, but they’re academic scholars. They’re doing community service. They work within the community. They make a difference, and they make all of us proud, not just the Booker T. Washington Wildcat family, but all of Pensacola.”
- Coach Brown said, “I just want to say thank you first of all to God, because without him this season wouldn’t have been possible. We had a lot of ups and downs that we went through in the course of the season, but our motto is ‘don’t get out of work.’ We may not be the biggest, maybe it might be the quickest, but if we can outwork you, we can beat you.”
Awards
Brown had already been recognized as the Class 5A Coach of the Year before the statewide panel elevated her to the top spot. Rounding out the final standings were Class 4A Coach of the Year Anthony McCutcheon of Somerset Academy (49 points), Rural Class Coach of the Year Willie Powers of Williston (46), Class 4A Coach of the Year Will Mayer of Bishop Kenny and Class 6A Coach of the Year Emily Williams of St. Thomas Aquinas (22 each) and Class 1A Coach of the Year Jeff Price of Grandview Prep (12).
With the award, Brown joins Booker T. Washington’s Ronnie Bond as the only Pensacola-area coaches to win the Florida Dairy Farmers Coach of the Year honor. This elite distinction underscores just how deeply Washington’s program has embedded itself in the fabric of Florida high school athletics.
Now in its 34th year, the Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program honors top athletes and coaches in FHSAA-sanctioned and recognized sports while promoting the importance of dairy nutrition in the diets of young athletes statewide.
Congratulations, Coach Brown.
