Two Miami-Dade football programs are leaving the traditional district format this fall, and the Coral Reef Barracudas won't be among them.

The FHSAA announced its inaugural Independent Football League divisions on Tuesday, July 14, with 20 South Florida schools opting into a system that lets them build their own regular-season schedules while still competing for a state championship. Belen Jesuit and Dade Christian are the only Miami-Dade participants. Coral Reef, which went 9-2 in 2025 under head coach Tim Wood, will remain in the Greater Miami-South district.

For Barracudas fans, that mainly means one thing: Belen Jesuit and Dade Christian are off the schedule board, while Coral Reef's playoff seeding stays tied to the traditional classification system rather than MaxPreps rankings.

The league, approved unanimously by the FHSAA Board of Directors at a Thursday, Jan. 29, emergency meeting, splits 69 programs statewide into two divisions. Division A covers schools with 900 or more students. Division B covers schools with up to 899. Each division has North and South regions. Instead of district play, teams set their own schedules, and MaxPreps rankings seed the top eight teams from each region into the playoffs. Higher seeds host every round, with the championship set for Friday, Dec. 4, at Villages Charter School.

Teams that miss the postseason can still play in bowl games. To qualify for the playoffs, programs must schedule at least 60% of their games against FHSAA member schools.

Belen Jesuit head coach Nick Oyarzun told the Miami Herald the Wolverines joined because their no-transfer-student policy makes it hard to replace players who leave.

"We came to the decision because we're trying to grow," Oyarzun said. "We're only going to grow if we win football games. Staying in the district was going to make it very uncompetitive."

Oyarzun added that the independent format lets Belen schedule opponents at a similar competitive level without giving up a playoff path.

Coral Reef's 2026 schedule has not been published. The Independent League's first games are set for late August alongside the traditional season opener.