JUPITER — Former Jupiter head coach Jason Kradman had hoped to visit his old team’s practice this past week.
Last January, Kradman left Jupiter to join Wisconsin’s Lawrence University, which is on its bye week. Kradman is in town, but the most accomplished coach in Jupiter history never made it out to the Military Trail campus.
Perhaps Kradman realizes Jupiter football is in very good hands with Josh Brooks
.The beat has gone on splendidly. Kradman’s former defensive coordinator, Brooks has the Warriors off to a 4-0 start one season after Jupiter posted the school’s first-ever undefeated regular season (10-0).
Brooks, who had been with the program for seven years, has proven the perfect choice to succeed Kradman and continue Jupiter’s sensational
ride.
Jupiter seeks its 20th straight regular-season victory dating to 2024 when it travels for a district matchup at Wellington (3-1) on Friday, Sept. 25.
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“We had to move forward,” said Jupiter star safety Nick Bothe, who caught the game-sealing interception in last week’s stirring 15-14 comeback win over Palm Beach Lakes. “(Brooks) is a great coach, tremendous leader for us and brings the team together. We loved the decision.”
Brooks, a 2013 Jupiter graduate, spent four seasons as Kradman’s defensive coordinator. Prior to that, the former collegiate cornerback was Jupiter’s defensive backs coach under Tim Tharp.
If he doesn’t bleed Jupiter green, Brooks, a Palm Beach Post All-County honorable mention who led the county in interceptions as a senior, comes close to it.
“I grew up here, went to school here, coached here for seven years before getting the head coaching job,” said Brooks, a special education teacher at the school who starred at Division III Bridgewater (Virginia). “I’m Jupiter through and through. It’s more than a job for me. I take a lot of pride in this position, with a bunch of ties here. I think all that weighed into deciding to go with me.”
Brooks has maintained his role running the defense, a 3-4 alignment, and didn’t hire a defensive coordinator. During practice this week, Brooks was on one side of the field with the defense. The offensive players were on the other side of the turf.
If there’s a noticeable difference between Brooks and Kradman, it’s Brooks being more hands-on with off-the-field conditioning, cranking up weight-room work to a higher level.
“Being a defensive-minded guy, we’ve bought into the physicality and violence aspect of football,” Brooks said. “It’s something I’ve been preaching since I took over. We live by it in the weight room. We modified things. There’s no time off in the weight room. We’re physical in practice and we’re physical on Fridays.”
Kradman had served as a quasi-offensive coordinator, so when Brooks took over, the new head coach promoted Kevin Embick from receivers coach to offensive coordinator.
“(Kradman) was heavily offensive-minded. I was heavily defensive-minded,” Brooks said. “That’s the big difference. My style is aggressive. We preach the weight room, preach physicality, preach high energy.”
Through four games, the defense has allowed 8.6 points per game and not a single rushing touchdown. Those are two statistics that embolden Brooks’ belief in this unbeaten squad.
“We were all happy,” receiver/safety Drew Larsen said of Brooks getting the job. “We didn’t want anyone else. He was our guy and our mentor. He played here, came back here. He helped our defense be really good last year and kept it going this year.”
In the Palm Beach Lakes comeback from a 14-0 halftime deficit, Jupiter’s defense shut out the Rams in the second half. But Brooks points to one play in the first half as the key moment when Jupiter could have fallen behind by three scores.
Everyone remembers Bothe’s game-sealing interception, but in the second quarter there was a Palm Beach Lakes punt return to the 18-yard line. The defense rose up. Ace Bogedain forced a fumble on a sack and Jack Rief recovered to keep the Warriors alive.
“He’s insanely defensive-minded,” said Larsen, who has scored a touchdown in every game. “We have different types of schemes every week. It’s crazy.”
One central bonus was that none of Kradman’s staff left, except the defensive line coach. Brooks filled that opening by hiring Jupiter’s former head coach and his own former coach, Doug Uccellini, who had been volunteering on Friday nights. Now Uccellini is back full time.
“There are learning curves along the way,” Brooks said. “Kradman left me in a really good spot. He set me up for a lot of success. Having that continuity on the staff made it easy to hop right in and keep things rolling. Everyone has their own spin on things, but with the same core group of coaches, it’s easy to keep things similar to how it’s been.”
And it’s been really good. Since Kradman arrived in 2022, Jupiter has launched itself into the county’s upper echelon. During Kradman’s final three seasons, the Warriors posted a 29-5 record.
Unfortunately, in each of the past two seasons, Jupiter’s playoff run ended against Orlando-based Dr. Phillips.
Last season, Jupiter’s season ended in the first round of the Class 6A regional playoffs in a three-point loss. In 2024, Jupiter was eliminated by Dr. Phillips in the second round.
This year, the regional format has changed and Jupiter would avoid Dr. Phillips until later rounds after the Panthers were grouped with schools from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach County.
Jupiter, which has more than 70 players on the roster, also relies on offensive standouts Harrison Fitzgerald and Brendan Hollinger.
“Orlando is good, but Miami is really good,” Brooks said. “Once you get to the regionals, there’s competition. But our first goal is the district championship. It’s not a given. We’ve been fortunate enough to win it two of the last three years. But it’s a new district.”
Indeed, Jupiter moved into an expanded district with Santaluces, Palm Beach Central, Palm Beach Lakes, Wellington and Joaquin Garcia.
“One of the hardest districts in Palm Beach County,” Brooks said. “Every district game we play is a battle.”
Wellington will be Jupiter’s second district contest. The matchup that looms largest is the Oct. 16 home showdown against unbeaten Palm Beach Central.
“Every year we play them, it’s tough,” Brooks said. “We beat them for the first time in 10 years last year. One hundred percent, it will be a fourth-quarter game.”
How far can Brooks lead Jupiter?
“I like our chances in the playoffs a lot, but districts are our No. 1 goal,” Bothe said. “It’s our brotherhood. We’re different from every school, staying after practice to watch film. Coach Brooks runs everything, the conditioning, the weight room. That’s where we really bond.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jupiter football win streak approaches 20 games under new coach
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