JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fleming Island’s football team is changing head coaches, an abrupt shift at the top of the program with just two weeks to go before the season kicks off.
The Golden Eagles replaced Chad Parker with Derek Chipoletti on Wednesday afternoon, according to a report from the Clay Today. The paper cited school principal Thomas Pittman who said the Clay County School District was investigating the situation that led to Parker not being the team’s head coach any longer.
Recommended Videos
News4JAX comfirmed the Clay Today report with two separate sources saying that Parker had been removed and that Chipoletti was put in charge of the program Wednesday at 2 p.m. In a text Wednesday afternoon with News4JAX, Parker said he had not resigned. He was with the Golden Eagles football team a week ago at high school media day at EverBank Stadium.
The departure comes after Parker led Fleming Island to a 3-7 record in 2023. Parker was hired for the head coaching role at Wolfson in 2017, but he wound up never coaching a game and returned to his assistant coaching role at Bartram Trail. He spent nine seasons with the Bears under coach Darrell Sutherland.
Chipoletti is a name area fans should know well. His father, Neal, started the program at Fleming Island. Derek got his head coaching career going at Williston and Bradford before going to Oakleaf. He had a career-best 12-1 season in 2014, a year that ended with a run to the regional finals. Chipoletti stepped away from head coaching in 2016 and got into the private sector.