Bradford football announces new head coach Ross Baker from Valdosta, Georgia

One of the last major high school football head coaching vacancies in the Gainesville-area was filled Wednesday, Feb. 11.

Bradford football (Starke) announced the hiring of Valdosta (Georgia) offensive coordinator Ross Baker as its new head coach Wednesday afternoon. The school broke the news on social media.

A product of the Midwest, Baker graduated from Ohio State in the 2006 and served as a Student Coach under the legendary Jim Tressel. He received his MBA from Marshall University in West Virginia in 2010 and worked as a graduate assistant.

He worked at a variety of schools in the Midwest before making his way down south. Valdosta hired him as offensive coordinator before last season. He helped continue the Tigers’ tradition of excellence with a trip to the GHSAA Class 6A state final four. Valdosta's offense ranked No. 1 in Class 6A.

He takes over a Tornadoes program with excellence in its past and present. Bradford won two state titles in 1966 and 1967. Under coach Jamie Rodgers, BHS returned to promience the last four years. The Tornadoes reached the region semifinals or higher every year since 2022. In 2023, Bradford went 14-0 until a state championship loss to Cocoa.

Rodgers led the Tornadoes to the Region Final in 2025, but he left for his Alma Mater — Baker County — in January. Former Hawthorne coach Cornelius Ingram was reportedly linked to the Bradford opening, but the Tornadoes have decided to go in a different direction.

Bradford returns some high-quality players in 2026, including Gainesville Sun First Team Big School Offensive All-Area ATH Iyen Addison.

In the social media post, Bradford states that Baker "believes in building fast, physical and detail-oriented football teams."

"Kids don't care how much you know until they know how much you care," Baker said.

Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Bradford football hires Valdosta OC Ross Baker as its new head coach