Fort Walton Beach High School was the “it” athletic program of the 1990s in the area.
The football team won state titles in 1991 and 1995 as the home to Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel. The girls basketball team won state titles in 1994 and 1999, and the boys basketball program made back-to-back Final 4s in 1996 and 1997, the latter finishing state runner-up. No school in the area could match that big-sport success, and more than two decades later, those teams are still talked about.
While the debate is open for whom should be on Fort Walton Beach’s Mount Rushmore, the impact from the ’90s can’t be oversold. Keeping that in mind, here is the Vikings’ top four sports figures of all time. Vote below for the fifth face that should be included.
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Glenwood Razeem Coffee Jr. was an American hero. Football was not his first love. Had it been, he could have been an all-pro NFL running back.
As a senior at FWB, he followed up a 1,125-yard, 11-score season by rushing for 1,886 yards rushing, hauling in 350 yards receiving and totaling 29 touchdowns as part of a district title and run to the region finals. Again, football was just a means to an end. Alabama beckoned, so he obliged and bided his time before going off his senior year. After a modest 687-yard, four-score effort his junior year, Coffee broke out with a 1,501-yard, 11-score effort in his swansong.
The NFL took notice, San Francisco drafting the 6-foot, 210-pound with the 74th pick in the third round. Coffee backed up Frank Gore and rushed for 226 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown in 14 games, the next year choosing to retire and enlist in the U.S. Army.
Coffee graduated from Airborne School that summer and served with the Sixth Ranger Training Battalion as a paratrooper for four years. He tried to make a comeback to the NFL in 2017 but retired shortly after. He later returned to Alabama to graduate and coach under Nick Saban.
When Craig enters a gym, people notice. He’s charismatic. He’s a leader. He’s one helluva human being — a mentor to coaches, a father figure to players and a friend to the media. Death, taxes and Kevin Craig giving you the best postgame quote ever, is what I like to say.
At FWB, Craig led the girls basketball program to a 509-172 record and state titles in 1994 and 1999. But he wasn’t done. He tacked on another 329 wins and a 2013 state title at the helm of South Walton, who had never won a state title before Craig arrived. That 832 wins is a benchmark that is hard to imagine anyone topping in the area.
Green was Danny Wuerffel’s favorite target at Fort Walton, and he’s arguably the best route runner Bobby Bowden ever coached. At Florida State, Green had 29 touchdowns (fourth all time) on 166 receptions (sixth) for 2,920 yards (fourth all time). He was a three-time All-ACC selection and an All-American, and he was a third-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1998 NFL Draft and spent three seasons playing professionally.
Green came back to the Emerald Coast in 2021 to coach Destin High, which he led to a 7-3 campaign last season.
There’ll never be another Danny Wuerffel.
The 6-foot-3 quarterback graced NWF Daily News football tab and Sports Illustrated covers, led the Vikings to a 1991 state title with a 431-yard, five-score effort in the championship, guided Florida to four SEC titles and a 1996 national title, won the Heisman Trophy and set 17 NCAA and UF records. He did all this while being named high school valedictorian and winning the Campbell Award (the nation’s top scholar athlete). But more than brains and brawn, post-NFL he’s been a humanitarian and philanthropist.
Danny volunteered after practice with the New Orleans Saints with Desire Street Ministries. He became their Executive Director following his NFL career and continues in that role today. The Wuerffel Trophy has also gained traction as one of the most coveted collegiate awards, given annually to the college football player “who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.”
