The 2019 Florida Tech Panthers football team represented the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) during the 2019 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by seventh-year head coach Steve Englehart. The Panthers played their home games at Florida Tech Panther Stadium, approximately one mile from the Florida Tech campus, and were members of the Gulf South Conference. In May 2020, Florida Tech shut down its football program due to budget cuts that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.
Preseason
Gulf South Conference coaches poll On August 1, 2019, the Gulf South Conference released their preseason coaches poll with the Panthers predicted to finish in 5th place in the conference.
1 Valdosta State 64 (8) 2 West Georgia 55 3 West Alabama 49 4 West Florida 44 (1) 5 Florida Tech 37 6 Delta State 28 7 North Greenville 24 8 Mississippi College 15 9 Shorter 8
Preseason All-Gulf South Conference Team The Panthers had four players at four positions selected to the preseason all-Gulf South Conference team.Gulf South Conference
Offense
No players were selected
Defense
John McClure – DB
Special teams
No players were selected
Schedule Florida Tech 2019 football schedule consists of five home and six away games in the regular season. The Panthers will host GSC foes Shorter, West Alabama, West Florida, and West Georgia, and will travel to Delta State, Mississippi College, North Greenville, and Valdosta State.
The Panthers will host one of the three non-conference games against Fort Valley State from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and will travel to Newberry from the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) and Savannah State also from the SIAC.
Two of the eleven games will be broadcast on ESPN3 and ESPN+, as part of the Gulf South Conference Game of the Week.
The Week One game at Savannah State, originally scheduled for September 7, was moved back a day due to Hurricane Dorian.
The Week Seven game at Valdosta State, originally scheduled for a 3 P.M. kickoff on October 19, was moved back to a 7 P.M. start due to the forecast approach of Tropical Storm Nestor earlier in the day.
Schedule source:
Rankings
Game summaries
At Savannah State
At Newberry
At Delta State
West Georgia
Fort Valley State
At Mississippi College
At Valdosta State
West Florida
West Alabama
At North Greenville
Shorter
Awards and milestones
Gulf South Conference honors
Five players from Florida Tech were honored as All-GSC selections by the league's coaches.
Gulf South Conference All-Conference First Team Evan Thompson, LB
Gulf South Conference All-Conference Second Team Miles Kelly, WR Kenny Hiteman, TE Tyrone Cromwell, DB John McClure, DB
Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Week September 30: Mike Diliello, QB
Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Week September 23: Mike Diliello, QB September 30: Mike Diliello, QB
References