I am intrigued to find out what makes BG tick. For a school with a male enrollment of 580 to beat St. X two years in a row with an enrollment of nearly 1400 males, and no enrollment boundaries, is, to me , stunning. What makes this program tick? Does it lack competition for talent in its area? Does it accept tuition students? Is the administration unusually supportive? Is there anything unique about its feeder system? Are there socio-economic conditions in their community that give the program advantage? Is the coaching staff unusually large?

 

Thanks!

Be independent.

One thing is the middle school is closely aligned with the high school. They are both 'The Purples'. So the 'program' extends downwards in age. This is not unique to Bowling Green as many rural schools have strong middle school programs that are aligned with the high school. The metro Louisville and Lexington public systems where a lot of 6A is that sort of alignment is non-existent

 

The foundation of good high school football starts before freshman year. Louisville has the strong Catholic youth league, Northern Kentucky youth programs are outstanding and in Lexington LexCath and LCA run Saturday youth football starting at 1st grade through middle school. This gives kids the foundations early.

One thing is the middle school is closely aligned with the high school. They are both 'The Purples'. So the 'program' extends downwards in age. This is not unique to Bowling Green as many rural schools have strong middle school programs that are aligned with the high school. The metro Louisville and Lexington public systems where a lot of 6A is that sort of alignment is non-existent

 

The foundation of good high school football starts before freshman year. Louisville has the strong Catholic youth league, Northern Kentucky youth programs are outstanding and in Lexington LexCath and LCA run Saturday youth football starting at 1st grade through middle school. This gives kids the foundations early.

 

Great post, and you are exactly right. Having a leader in the football program that knows how to form, and run, a top down program is crucial. I have no idea about the competitive environment around BG, but in NKy it is fierce, but nothing is being done to instill loyalty and pride in the kids. With social media, kids no longer just know kids at their own school, they have friends everywhere, and in a metro area like this, where they all attend the same festivals, parties, etc. the risk for defection is high. The old addage "if they don't want to be here I don't want them here" doesn't work. IMO, with teenage boys, its up to the coach, and program, to make them want to be there.

Great post, and you are exactly right. Having a leader in the football program that knows how to form, and run, a top down program is crucial. I have no idea about the competitive environment around BG, but in NKy it is fierce, but nothing is being done to instill loyalty and pride in the kids. With social media, kids no longer just know kids at their own school, they have friends everywhere, and in a metro area like this, where they all attend the same festivals, parties, etc. the risk for defection is high. The old addage "if they don't want to be here I don't want them here" doesn't work. IMO, with teenage boys, its up to the coach, and program, to make them want to be there.

 

 

Except in Ft. Thomas....

Just shows what hard work and good coaching can do. Anyone can be beaten when a program is built correctly (except maybe Trinity).

Except in Ft. Thomas....

 

True. NOBODY leaves that town, its NKy version of the west side. All kidding aside, HHS is the model for how to run a program.

but in NKy it is fierce, but nothing is being done to instill loyalty and pride in the kids. With social media, kids no longer just know kids at their own school, they have friends everywhere, and in a metro area like this, where they all attend the same festivals, parties, etc. the risk for defection is high. The old addage "if they don't want to be here I don't want them here" doesn't work. IMO, with teenage boys, its up to the coach, and program, to make them want to be there.

 

^This.

Everyone cries about education but doesn't realize that most schools that have a lot pride and tradition in their football programs have good test scores as well. It breeds a culture of success in that filters throughout the entire school.

Be independent.

 

The correct response.

True. NOBODY leaves that town, its NKy version of the west side. All kidding aside, HHS is the model for how to run a program.

 

The other thing that often gets overlooked when speaking of Ft. Thomas is that they are one of the best schools academically in the state of KY. There are not many parents that are going to quickly leave this school district just so little Johnny can go play on another football team.

Central, Boyle, and , Bell are the only non private, non-independents to win a state title in the past 5 years. In class 1a, you have to go all the way back to1986!

It don't hurt when BG has some awesome speed and great players. Natural size and speed are things you can't coach, which makes anyone a great coach.

Something that has been mentioned upthread, but Bowling Green is fantastic at academics and is regionally very good in all sports. They have a tremendous support system that is built upon a school that has existed for 104 years and has played football since 1922. They do attract some talent from surrounding schools - they are hardly alone in that respect around here.

Central, Boyle, and , Bell are the only non private, non-independents to win a state title in the past 5 years. In class 1a, you have to go all the way back to1986!

Serious question: what county schools do well academically? I mean high test scores.

 

One member made a comment, that I tend to agree with, that those schools that are very successful in football tend to have very good test scores. I just wonder if that works in reverse, do school with high test scores have a lot of success in football.