What's wrong with Highlands?

Coming from an outsider Highlands reminds me of Ironton Ohio. First things first FTH playing up in class plays a huge part of their demise. When they were a 4A School one of their biggest strengths besides some great talent was platooning that talent. Talent drops off a bite and your platooning is negated by the fact the schools your playing have twice the boys to field their team.Most important is the coach and whether he saw the writing on the wall or erased the wall after he left the coach plays a huge part of a high school teams wins and losses. Do the Patriots have all those Rings without Bill on the sideline? Now back to Ironton. They were one of the most feared teams year in and out for many years under Bob Lutz, he retires and they are meadiocre at best hovering at 500 or worse. Side note Ashlands last title 1990 was due in part to Lutz losing the game to the Cats that season and telling our coach after that game to keep Juan Thomas at tailback. I said a few years back on this site or another to enjoy the ride you Highlands fans were on because it won't last forever. Good Luck and hope you make it back to your glory days but as you the faithful are finding out every good thing comes to an end. Good Luck this season.

Coming from an outsider Highlands reminds me of Ironton Ohio. First things first FTH playing up in class plays a huge part of their demise. When they were a 4A School one of their biggest strengths besides some great talent was platooning that talent. Talent drops off a bite and your platooning is negated by the fact the schools your playing have twice the boys to field their team.Most important is the coach and whether he saw the writing on the wall or erased the wall after he left the coach plays a huge part of a high school teams wins and losses. Do the Patriots have all those Rings without Bill on the sideline? Now back to Ironton. They were one of the most feared teams year in and out for many years under Bob Lutz, he retires and they are meadiocre at best hovering at 500 or worse. Side note Ashlands last title 1990 was due in part to Lutz losing the game to the Cats that season and telling our coach after that game to keep Juan Thomas at tailback. I said a few years back on this site or another to enjoy the ride you Highlands fans were on because it won't last forever. Good Luck and hope you make it back to your glory days but as you the faithful are finding out every good thing comes to an end. Good Luck this season.

Wow! Filled with many holes here.

A little early. Season hasn't even started and they've only had one bad year.

A little early. Season hasn't even started and they've only had one bad year.

Yes I know working midnights and getting slap happy reading all the comments on their scrimmage got me thinking about how much a coach can win games and lose them. Seen many very very good Ashland teams lose to inferior teams because of coaching. The other thread about what position besides QB is most important and some answered coach also made me think about it also.

Coming from an outsider Highlands reminds me of Ironton Ohio. First things first FTH playing up in class plays a huge part of their demise. When they were a 4A School one of their biggest strengths besides some great talent was platooning that talent. Talent drops off a bite and your platooning is negated by the fact the schools your playing have twice the boys to field their team.Most important is the coach and whether he saw the writing on the wall or erased the wall after he left the coach plays a huge part of a high school teams wins and losses. Do the Patriots have all those Rings without Bill on the sideline? Now back to Ironton. They were one of the most feared teams year in and out for many years under Bob Lutz, he retires and they are meadiocre at best hovering at 500 or worse. Side note Ashlands last title 1990 was due in part to Lutz losing the game to the Cats that season and telling our coach after that game to keep Juan Thomas at tailback. I said a few years back on this site or another to enjoy the ride you Highlands fans were on because it won't last forever. Good Luck and hope you make it back to your glory days but as you the faithful are finding out every good thing comes to an end. Good Luck this season.

So lets start. First, HHS has almost always played up in class, except for a few years when they were forced to play in their own class by the KHSAA. In fact, they have played 5A before and have rings from doing it. So playing up for HHS is nothing new. It's actually the norm. And playing up does not provide the other teams "twice the boys" to choose from. There are only a few schools in the entire state that have "twice the boys" to choose from. HHS consistently fields 85-100 kids. They have plenty of heads. But you did hit on talent. Which is the root of all this. They have dropped off in talent. I don't mean they haven't had some really good players, but depth of talent. That's what has been their demise. The last couple classes that went through just didn't have 1)the studs at the top level they had on the past and 2)the depth of talent they have had when they didn't have the top level studs. When you aren't a big school and you have a couple years of thin classes back to back, you see what can happen.

Next, Coach Mueller was awesome. He did a terrific job and had a great run of talent. But you do realize HHS had many state titles before he even stepped on the field right? So your analogy about Patriots is a stretch. They already had several rings before "Dale" stepped on the field.

And you're right, things don't last forever. And anyone would be silly to think the ride they were on while Mueller was in charge would be sustainable forever. But the actual ride started way before Dale was coach. And a long history tells us the real ride is not over. Just a speed bump. Will they get back to winning 10 in a row...not likely at all. That was unreal. But they will be just fine. Patients grasshopper!

Another factor some forget. It can go in cycles as well. If you're in the know at HHS, you know that many many HHS kids grow up, go to college, get married and bring their kids back to HHS. And if you do the math, wouldn't it be about time that some of the kids from some of the very successful teams are starting to cycle back around? So I know that some of the extremely successful players have kids on the way. Is that a prediction of greatness cause they'll repeat what their father did...Nope! But its a very good blood line to have and something to be very optimistic about other than having no idea what's coming. I'll take several offspring of very successful parents coming into the system in the very near future!

It's just comical how many come out to knock on them after an HHS down year two years ago (a year that many in the state would love to have) and a second year of there worst record ever. Its two years. HHS has be successful for a long time. And they have seen spurts in that time where they were not great and sometimes what I would consider average. So before we put them out to pasture, don't you think we might want to let time determine that. Because again, history tells us they always bounce back at some point.

Not in any way trying to throw the Birds under the bus. Most any fan base in this state not name Trinity would give anything to have their success.

Highlands was 5a for 3 years and I don't think they lost a 5a game. This was before being forced to move to 4a. The outcome of a scrimmage doesn't concern me. But, low energy and bad body language does.

So lets start. First, HHS has almost always played up in class, except for a few years when they were forced to play in their own class by the KHSAA. In fact, they have played 5A before and have rings from doing it. So playing up for HHS is nothing new. It's actually the norm. And playing up does not provide the other teams "twice the boys" to choose from. There are only a few schools in the entire state that have "twice the boys" to choose from. HHS consistently fields 85-100 kids. They have plenty of heads. But you did hit on talent. Which is the root of all this. They have dropped off in talent. I don't mean they haven't had some really good players, but depth of talent. That's what has been their demise. The last couple classes that went through just didn't have 1)the studs at the top level they had on the past and 2)the depth of talent they have had when they didn't have the top level studs. When you aren't a big school and you have a couple years of thin classes back to back, you see what can happen.

 

Next, Coach Mueller was awesome. He did a terrific job and had a great run of talent. But you do realize HHS had many state titles before he even stepped on the field right? So your analogy about Patriots is a stretch. They already had several rings before "Dale" stepped on the field.

 

And you're right, things don't last forever. And anyone would be silly to think the ride they were on while Mueller was in charge would be sustainable forever. But the actual ride started way before Dale was coach. And a long history tells us the real ride is not over. Just a speed bump. Will they get back to winning 10 in a row...not likely at all. That was unreal. But they will be just fine. Patients grasshopper!

 

Another factor some forget. It can go in cycles as well. If you're in the know at HHS, you know that many many HHS kids grow up, go to college, get married and bring their kids back to HHS. And if you do the math, wouldn't it be about time that some of the kids from some of the very successful teams are starting to cycle back around? So I know that some of the extremely successful players have kids on the way. Is that a prediction of greatness cause they'll repeat what their father did...Nope! But its a very good blood line to have and something to be very optimistic about other than having no idea what's coming. I'll take several offspring of very successful parents coming into the system in the very near future!

 

It's just comical how many come out to knock on them after an HHS down year two years ago (a year that many in the state would love to have) and a second year of there worst record ever. Its two years. HHS has be successful for a long time. And they have seen spurts in that time where they were not great and sometimes what I would consider average. So before we put them out to pasture, don't you think we might want to let time determine that. Because again, history tells us they always bounce back at some point.

Like I said just throwing my opionion out their and they whipped Ashland many times in the past few years and as far back as the 60s and 70s. Ashland hasn't beat the Birds in a LONG time so don't think I'm trying to get a cheap shot in on them while they are struggling..

Highlands lost to the defending state champs, number one team in OHIO. It's a scrimmage. Learn from it and try and stay healthy. They'll be fine.

Coming from an outsider Highlands reminds me of Ironton Ohio. First things first FTH playing up in class plays a huge part of their demise. When they were a 4A School one of their biggest strengths besides some great talent was platooning that talent. Talent drops off a bite and your platooning is negated by the fact the schools your playing have twice the boys to field their team.Most important is the coach and whether he saw the writing on the wall or erased the wall after he left the coach plays a huge part of a high school teams wins and losses. Do the Patriots have all those Rings without Bill on the sideline? Now back to Ironton. They were one of the most feared teams year in and out for many years under Bob Lutz, he retires and they are meadiocre at best hovering at 500 or worse. Side note Ashlands last title 1990 was due in part to Lutz losing the game to the Cats that season and telling our coach after that game to keep Juan Thomas at tailback. I said a few years back on this site or another to enjoy the ride you Highlands fans were on because it won't last forever. Good Luck and hope you make it back to your glory days but as you the faithful are finding out every good thing comes to an end. Good Luck this season.

How many coaches have won titles in Ironton? How many have won titles at Highlands. Not a very good comparison. I'll compare them to Alabama. If Nick leaves and Alabama wins a title, goes to the loses in the playoffs and has a very bad year, is the Tradition of Alabama over??? Some Coaches make a team successful (Like when Coach Cal was at UMass).. Other tradition rich programs draw great coaches (Alabama, Ohio State, Kentucky or Kansas Basketball). It doesn't mean these teams dominate every year, but the tradition of the program is bigger than the coach, not the other way around. Highlands views it's history and trends in 5,10,25 year increments, not 1 or 2... Trust me, the bird fans have been disappointed the past couple years, but the sky is not falling.. and as another post described, the cycle of these great athletes coming back to raise their families is the very thing that makes it a traditional powerhouse. People from Erlanger or Union aren't dying to move back after college and raise their kids there (no knock on those communities), but ft. Thomas is a generational community that is unique in society today. This has it's downside for Ft. Thomas. For example, try moving there when you're not from there (it can be tough), but it's the very reason why the tradition continues.

Interesting thread.

The talent drop off post Dale has been steep, well after Hoge, specifically. I don't know the reasoning for it.

The talent drop off post Dale has been steep, well after Hoge, specifically. I don't know the reasoning for it.

Its simple really. Thats the same time FTH stopped taking out of district students. When the talent from outside didnt come, other programs got better and improved. Now that the other programs are improved, the talent chooses to atay home/go somewhere other than FTH. Is what it is. Like a said before its as much about talent drop off at FTH as it is everyone elses talent getting better.

The talent drop off post Dale has been steep, well after Hoge, specifically. I don't know the reasoning for it.

They still have talent Fort Thomas Senior youth teams had some very nice players last year.

They still have talent Fort Thomas Senior youth teams had some very nice players last year.

And I believe their Junior Class is pretty strong.

Highlands will be back, probably not at the level they were recently, but they will be back.

Let's try to focus on the positives as much as possible.