The GC brings subs and suppliers together at the customer's site and makes all the moving parts fit together. Each trade in pool construction is a specialized skill build quality depends on individual capability. You will have no leverage over the subs as they'll all know you won't be bringing them any work down the road so you'll be the last job on their list and the first they'll leave. Remember, as GC it's your risk, not the subs. Likewise you'll have no leverage with the suppliers, they'll have no motivation to work out problems because you're a retail customer in a wholesale game.

That said, I suppose in Florida there are an abundance of skilled pool tradesmen and that if there's an off-season for pool construction, you may have ready access to them. Suppliers may also be more accommodating in slack times.

Be aware that some equipment manufacturers (Pentair comes to mind) have gutted their warranties for equipment sold directly to end users. You may want to purchase pool gear from a company that will honor their warranty to you.

Good Luck. Let us know how it's going.
martinkennedy has given us a great look into his pool build at http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php/22640-New-build-in-South-Texas and I'd love to see yours. As a trial user, you'll have to copy the URL and log out of PoolForum and them paste the URL into your browser to see the page.