EDITOR’S NOTE: In Hernando County, an athlete like Nature Coast senior Jackson Hoyt comes along once in a generation — or maybe not even that often. An outstanding quarterback on the football team, Hoyt is an even better baseball player. At 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, he has the measurables that top colleges and Major League Baseball teams covet. More importantly, he’s a left-handed pitcher — a precious commodity in the baseball world.
Hoyt verbally committed to play baseball at the University of Florida before his freshman year of high school (at about the same time he picked an agent) and recently took the next step by officially signing his letter of intent with the Gators. But it gets more complicated than that. Hoyt very well may end up playing at Florida, but the Major League Baseball draft in July looms large. In baseball circles, Hoyt is viewed as a potential high pick and it’s possible he could end up skipping college and turning professional.
Hoyt is clearly in the driver’s seat as he goes through a remarkable senior year. Hoyt has agreed to give The Hernando Sun inside access throughout it all and we’ll have a periodic series on critical points during his journey. Part One starts today and it puts the finishing touches on a football season in which Hoyt led a very young bunch of Sharks to the second round of the state playoffs before it ended with a loss to Sarasota Booker and takes a look at what lies ahead in baseball.
BROOKSVILLE — Ironically, a lot of people around Jackson Hoyt didn’t want his senior football season to happen. People in the professional baseball world and some of the people around Hoyt urged him to stay away from potential injury and focus solely on baseball.
But Hoyt wasn’t having any of that. In the summer before his senior season, Hoyt was adamant about returning for a third season as the starting quarterback. Maybe a kid, who didn’t turn 18 until the day of Nature Coast’s first-round playoff game, had more insight about what was most important to him than all the adults.
“I love the sport,” Hoyt said. “There was no way I was going to pass up one more season. Football is fun for me. I know I’m only going to be in high school once in my life and I want to have fun while I’m here.”
That’s the simple answer, but it goes much deeper than that. Hoyt’s love for football is multi-faceted.
“I know it may sound weird, but I love the contact,” Hoyt said. “I love the physicality. I love the excitement. The crowd and the sound of the band. Just the whole atmosphere of it. And I love being the quarterback and the leader. The quarterback controls everything and directs everyone around him. I love that part of it.”
“We celebrated the fact that he played football and it only helped his baseball profile,” Hoyt’s Plant City-based agent, Scott Bikowski, said. “Football showed his versatility and athleticism and people in baseball are looking for athletes. Some baseball scouts actually came to Jackson’s football games to see him in a different environment. They got to see his athleticism and his leadership abilities and that only helped him.”
Hoyt was an exceptional leader as the Sharks, who started only two seniors on offense and two on defense, went 6-6. Late in the season, Hoyt was allowed to call his own plays — something almost unheard of on the high school level and a huge sign of trust from the coaching staff. He threw for over 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns. Although his left arm is his meal ticket — past, present and future — Hoyt was much more than a thrower. He also ran for 594 yards and four touchdowns.
In his high school career, Hoyt passed for nearly 3,600 yards and 34 touchdowns. He also ran for 1,743 yards and 10 touchdowns. After it ended in Sarasota on a November night, Hoyt grew introspective. He started texting all of the football coaches he had throughout youth league and high school and thanked them for believing in him, working with him and giving him the chance to do something that was fun.
“It hit me on the bus ride home,” said Hoyt, who admitted he took a certain pride in making it through the season without coming anywhere close to the major injury so many around him feared. “There was a sadness that football was over for me. I’m going to miss it immensely. It was very tough because I realized that I was never going to play another football game.”
That’s not because Hoyt doesn’t have the talent to play football at the next level. Nature Coast coach Robert Kazmier said there’s no doubt Hoyt has the ability to play in college. Kazmier said he easily could see Hoyt, who has a 4.4 grade-point average and is taking all college-level classes as a senior, be a standout quarterback in the Ivy League. Had he focused only on football, Hoyt believes he could have been a major Division I prospect in that sport.
“I know 100 percent that I could play in college,” Hoyt said. “I have no doubt about that. That leaves me with no regrets about football. I got everything I wanted out of it.”
But something is — and always has been — standing in the way of football. Even in Little League, Hoyt’s skills as a baseball pitcher were off the charts and important people noticed. The University of Florida coaching staff first watched Hoyt as a 12-year-old. That was more about potential than production at the time. Eventually, Hoyt resisted overtures from the likes of Vanderbilt and South Florida to sign with the Gators before he ever set foot on the Nature Coast baseball field.
But Hoyt has been a prolific producer for the Sharks since his freshman year when his father, Rich, and Nature Coast coach Dan Garofano compromised on a pitch count that would showcase his ability while not overtaxing his left arm. Hoyt starred as a freshman and sophomore and his career really took off as a junior when he went 4-1 on the mound with a 0.54 earned-run average and 67 strikeouts in 38.2 innings. While leading the Sharks to a district championship, Hoyt played the outfield when he wasn’t on the mound and hit .357 while driving in 17 runs.
Garofano previously coached Charlie Condon, who was the No. 3 overall pick by the Colorado Rockies in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft, at a Georgia High School. Garofano said Hoyt’s ability level is on a par with Condon’s.
Although he only pitches once a week, Garofano calls Hoyt a “three-game-a-week” player. But, just like with football, everyone knows that’s only temporary. Everyone in the baseball world says Hoyt has an unlimited future as a pitcher — whether it is as a college player or as a professional.
Baseball also is fun for Hoyt, but he’s well aware of the business side and what it could mean for his future. With baseball, he could get a first-rate college education or possibly earn millions as a professional. It’s now time to get down to serious business and the shift started within a day or two after the end of football season. There was no rest period.
“Nah,” Hoyt said. “I don’t think I know how to relax. I mean I’m not throwing all out just yet. I’ll take it easy on my arm for a little bit. But there will be a build-up period as I get ready for the season. I’ll start throwing more and throwing harder as it gets closer. But, right now, I’m just going to work out and hit the weights. I have a fast metabolism, so it’s hard for me to gain weight. But I think I can get up to 220 pounds if I hit the weights hard and get stronger.”
But Hoyt’s weight isn’t the number the baseball world is focusing on. For a pitcher, the number on the radar gun is paramount. Hoyt’s fastball already has been clocked as high as 94 miles an hour, an exceptional number by any standard. But with each notch that number increases, so does Hoyt’s value.
The next few months will be all about getting another tick or two on the fastball.
“I think I can get it up to probably 96,” Hoyt said. “I think that’s a reasonable goal.”
Numbers are crucial, but Hoyt isn’t getting too caught up in all of them.
“We don’t even talk about what round he might go in or what kind of money he could possibly be offered,” Bikowski said. “People that get caught up in that sometimes shoot themselves in the foot with unrealistic expectations that aren’t met. Jackson is quite comfortable with the idea of going to Florida and he has put himself in a very nice position whether it ends being for the 2025 draft or the 2028 draft. We know he’s going to put in the work and we’ll just see how it all plays out.”
As he gets ready for one final high school baseball season, Hoyt isn’t focused solely on himself or even his pitching. Like he realized with football, Hoyt knows this season will have sentimental value. It will be the last time he gets to swing a bat and play with the kids he’s grown up with. Hoyt said he would like to hit a few home runs — something he has yet to do on the high school level and he thinks the season could be magical for the Sharks.
“We have seven starters back and we should be even better than we were last year,” Hoyt said. “I think we can go a long way and I can’t wait for it to start.”
Hoyt also can go a long way and this season will go a long way in determining just how far.
Part Two of this series will come in a couple of months as we check in with Hoyt as his last high school season is about to start.
