Scary to think about what Bob Lewis would have accomplished if he had coached longer at Conner. Great coach.

Scary to think about what Bob Lewis would have accomplished if he had coached longer at Conner. Great coach.

With the massive amount of title that NKY big class has won (none).....forgive me if I disagree.

Homer Rice, not even close in my book.

Jack Morris, winning percentage speaks for itself

As someone who has coached baskeball now quite a while and has been involved in sports for many many years, let me say this...it is just as possible that the BEST high school football coach in the state coached this year and went 3-8 and has never won a state title than it is that it's anyone who appears on any of the above lists. Why is that? Because this coach might have won 3 games with 0-11 talent, got every bit of ability from his players and then some, all the while teaching life lessons and helping build strong well mannered young men. Who is this guy? Who knows? My point being is that the "best" arent always the guys in the limelight and aren't always the guys who even have a chance to be thought of as "best" because of the situation(s) they find themselves in and the kids they have to work with. Yes, it's easy to use wins and losses to point to who's "best", but that is so simplistic and really takes away from other aspects of coaching...theres so much more to it than that. Thats why, to me at least, lists like this leave so many coaches off who garner mentioning but never will be because they didn't "win" enough. And hey, I get it, I want to win as badly as anyone on this site. But that doesn't always tell the whole story.

As someone who has coached baskeball now quite a while and has been involved in sports for many many years, let me say this...it is just as possible that the BEST high school football coach in the state coached this year and went 3-8 and has never won a state title than it is that it's anyone who appears on any of the above lists. Why is that? Because this coach might have won 3 games with 0-11 talent, got every bit of ability from his players and then some, all the while teaching life lessons and helping build strong well mannered young men. Who is this guy? Who knows? My point being is that the "best" arent always the guys in the limelight and aren't always the guys who even have a chance to be thought of as "best" because of the situation(s) they find themselves in and the kids they have to work with. Yes, it's easy to use wins and losses to point to who's "best", but that is so simplistic and really takes away from other aspects of coaching...theres so much more to it than that. Thats why, to me at least, lists like this leave so many coaches off who garner mentioning but never will be because they didn't "win" enough. And hey, I get it, I want to win as badly as anyone on this site. But that doesn't always tell the whole story.

 

A coach needs to develop talent. Coaches need to prove they can deliver in championship settings. A 3 win coach no matter who is on your schedule in the state of KY is a bad season. Over their career, the best coach ever had better have a bunch of championships.

If you get a chance, a great book to read is Homer Rice's Leadership Fitness. On page 256, in regards to Dale Mueller and a game Coach Rice was watching, he says, "I have never witnessed more precise, synchronized coaching.."

Great post!!! Dale Mueller built Highlands into the program it is today. The year before he got to Highlands, they lost in the second round of the playoffs to Conner and there were only about 30 players on the Highlands football team. The tradition was always there, but he took Highlands to a new level.

 

Are you saying Highlands was down? Conner lost to Cov that year who won state 7-3. The previous season before that loss Highlands won state. Dale has built Highlands into something bigger than it was before he got there, but lets not act like Highlands was down when he took over the program.

A coach needs to develop talent. Coaches need to prove they can deliver in championship settings. A 3 win coach no matter who is on your schedule in the state of KY is a bad season. Over their career, the best coach ever had better have a bunch of championships.[/quote

 

If wins and loses are what tells the tail as you have mentioned then Dudley is the second "greatest" in the state and Phillip Haywood is the "GREATEST"

 

I mentioned Dudley before. IMO

Dale Mueller

If you get a chance, a great book to read is Homer Rice's Leadership Fitness. On page 256, in regards to Dale Mueller and a game Coach Rice was watching, he says, "I have never witnessed more precise, synchronized coaching.."

 

Very methodical to say the least.....

 

Quite impressive to witness!

This thread is like asking what is the best color.

This thread is like asking what is the best color.

 

GREEN!

Eddie eviston. 2 championships in his first 3 seasons. Who knows what he could have done if he stayed at NCC.

Most of us do not remember the coaches of "yesteryear." We tend to think of the coaches of today, without remembering those who preceded them in their programs. Two of the ones mentioned are active coaches who have taken their schools to new heights, but they have built on programs that were successful before they arrived.

 

Bob Beatty is a good/great coach, but where would the Trinity program of today be if it were not for coaches Jim Kennedy (won two state AAA championships at Trinity and one at Flaget), Dave Moore (Trinity won two AAA titles and one 4A championship under his leadership) and Dennis Lampley (during his time, Trinity had a 50 game win streak and won 5 4A championships)?

 

Dale Mueller is a good/great coach, but where would the Highlands program be without coaches Homer Rice (won one mythical and two AA championships during his years, he helped found the Fort Thomas Junior League and was the last coach at Highlands with a losing season on his record in 1955 [4-5-1]), Owen Hauck (under his leadership, Highlands went 1-1 in state championship games [he also took Boone County to 4 times]), Mike Murphy (his teams won two AA championships), Roger Walz (a player under Rice, won one AAA championship at Highlands), Bill Herrmann (an assistant with each of the previous mentioned Highlands coaches, Bill won three AAA titles), and Tom Duffy (Dale's immediate predecessor who won two AAA championships at HHS [plus two at Danville])?

 

Eddie Eviston may have won two championships in his three years at NCC, but would he have been able to do that without the program built by Bob Schneider (three state championships, one AA and two AA)?

 

More schools and coaches come to mind, like Mayfield, Murray, BG, and Danville that have multiple championships with multiple coaches.

 

I would say that maybe these coaches are good/great, but they had a lot of help from the past.

 

My choice for "Greatest Head Coach in KY history" is a coach that did not have a program in place, but helped start a dynasty that has lasted for over 55 years without out a losing season. A coach that did many things during his career besides coach High School football. My "Greatest Head Coach in KY History" is Homer Rice. Not only did he have a successful career in Kentucky, but he coached an undefeated team at Wartburg, TN, HS, before his stint at Highlands. As a high school coach in the 1950's, he compiled a record of 101-9-7 and was named "Winningest Football Coach in America 1961". He invented the (veer) triple-option offense, which is still used today by many coaches in KY and nationwide. He is an author read widely by other coaches. He also served as assistant coach at the Univ of KY and the Univ of Oklahoma. He was head coach at the University of Cincinnati and Rice University. He served as Head Coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. He later became the AD at both the Univ of North Carolina and Georgia Tech.