Just wondering, does Highlands loss to Collins take some pressure off of the new incoming coach.

Just wondering, does Highlands loss to Collins take some pressure off of the new incoming coach.

 

Really....are you bored?

Really....are you bored?

No. I was just thinking about it. I'm not a Highlands fan, I am however a NKY fan. I always pull for NKY teams. I would have liked to see Highlands bring home #7. If they had, and they fell short next year, would there have been a grumbling. I'm not saying the new coach won't be highly qualified, and fully capable of the task in front of him. He is however filling some big shoes and we are a very judgmental society.

No. I was just thinking about it. I'm not a Highlands fan, I am however a NKY fan. I always pull for NKY teams. I would have liked to see Highlands bring home #7. If they had, and they fell short next year, would there have been a grumbling. I'm not saying the new coach won't be highly qualified, and fully capable of the task in front of him. He is however filling some big shoes and we are a very judgmental society.

 

I think there would have been pressure on not only the head coach, but the entire coaching staff and more importantly the players. It is a shame the way it ended this year, but everyone knows that you cannot win them all and on that given day they came up a little short. As I have said before, Highlands won titles before Dale and they will continue to win them after Dale.

I think a better question is:

 

Is Highlands a good job to take RIGHT NOW?

 

I say this because of a couple of factors:

1. It is never good to follow a legend, and Dale was a legend of epic proportions

2. Highlands backups are not what I would call "Highlands Good" players...don't believe me or want to argue? Need I show you the film of the Warren Central game and Lex. Cath game when Highlands subbed out their starters and we witnessed and almost instantaneous explosion of scoring?

3. Highlands is just plain bad on defense right now, and as I alluded to above, it does not appear that the guys waiting in the wings are much better.

4. Cov. Cath is looking like Cov. Cath may be the team they can be once every 6-8 years...which is a beast. With the talent level down per Highlands standards (according to some on here), that makes for a dicey first go at your arch rival for a new HC.

5. The "Highlands Standard" in my mind is "win a State Title, or nothing"...that, no matter where you are, is a tough expectation.

 

All that said, Highlands is still the best public school football job in KY. They will still likely win State Titles. They are still NKY's flagship. I just simply ask, given the points above, is the new HC in a position to really struggle, again, per the "Highlands Standard", and how tolerant will the fan base be of these struggles?

Highlands will fall to 3A in all likelihood after next season when the next realignment is completed.

 

Highlands + 3A = 4 straight State Titles till next realignment after 2018. Next Coach will be fine.

An excellent point.

There is pressure and the expectation to win a state title every year at schools like Highlands. That is never going to change. The question is how many titles are good enough? IMO, if the next coach wins six titles in the next seven years, it will be a greater accomplishment than anything Dale did as coach in his tenure. What if there are 3 titles in the next 7 years? Or 2? Or 1?

 

I do think this year showed us the rest of the state is catching up to the premier programs. That is one reason why I say 6 titles in the next 7 for the new coach will be more of an accomplishment. The question I have for Bird fans on this topic is - what would you be happy with? And please don't give me 6 out of 7. Don't give me "as long as he is building character". Be real. How many titles do you need to see out of the new coach in the next 7 years?

I think a better question is:

 

Is Highlands a good job to take RIGHT NOW?

 

I say this because of a couple of factors:

1. It is never good to follow a legend, and Dale was a legend of epic proportions

2. Highlands backups are not what I would call "Highlands Good" players...don't believe me or want to argue? Need I show you the film of the Warren Central game and Lex. Cath game when Highlands subbed out their starters and we witnessed and almost instantaneous explosion of scoring?

3. Highlands is just plain bad on defense right now, and as I alluded to above, it does not appear that the guys waiting in the wings are much better.

4. Cov. Cath is looking like Cov. Cath may be the team they can be once every 6-8 years...which is a beast. With the talent level down per Highlands standards (according to some on here), that makes for a dicey first go at your arch rival for a new HC.

5. The "Highlands Standard" in my mind is "win a State Title, or nothing"...that, no matter where you are, is a tough expectation.

 

All that said, Highlands is still the best public school football job in KY. They will still likely win State Titles. They are still NKY's flagship. I just simply ask, given the points above, is the new HC in a position to really struggle, again, per the "Highlands Standard", and how tolerant will the fan base be of these struggles?

 

I think those are all good and fair questions.

 

As for the defense, remember that other teams graduate kids too, so not all those kids that were blocking and running will be available for the other schools too. Meaning, it does make a difference when you have JR's and SR's blocking and running against sophomores. But those sophomores will develop.

 

They also (with a new coach) get a different perspective and have a opportunity to "balance" the athletes on both sides of the ball. I'm sure addressing the defense in on the priority list.

 

And yes, it's state or bust in Ft Thomas. But I really don't think much changes with the the program. They have a solid, dedicated coaching staff in place and the most likely candidate to takeover has plenty of experience with "the Highlands way". The culture will not change at all, except for any normal tweaks they do year to year.

 

Cov Cath is working their way back. For me, I'm glad. It's good for football and good for NKY when they are back to the same level. The thing that stinks though are the rumors that they may not be in the same division anymore. I'm sure they will still play, but it won't mean as much if that happens. In my opinion, that will be bad for NKY football.

There is pressure and the expectation to win a state title every year at schools like Highlands. That is never going to change. The question is how many titles are good enough? IMO, if the next coach wins six titles in the next seven years, it will be a greater accomplishment than anything Dale did as coach in his tenure. What if there are 3 titles in the next 7 years? Or 2? Or 1?

 

I do think this year showed us the rest of the state is catching up to the premier programs. That is one reason why I say 6 titles in the next 7 for the new coach will be more of an accomplishment. The question I have for Bird fans on this topic is - what would you be happy with? And please don't give me 6 out of 7. Don't give me "as long as he is building character". Be real. How many titles do you need to see out of the new coach in the next 7 years?

 

What would we be happy with? Well unless you just started watching HHS 6 years ago, we do have realistic HHS fans. We all knew this run would come to an end eventually. We know that teams and programs evolve (at HHS and their opponents). How many would we be happy with is tough to say. It depends on the talent levels coming in and the expectations with those kids. Mueller is an unbelieveable coach, but HHS was also on a nice run of talent as well. If the talent levels are high, then we would expect to compete for the next XX amount of titles. If they are not as high as they have been in the last several years, then we look for the coaching staff to develop the talent, but also understand and are realistic about expectations. Now the "expectations" are still very high, but a run like we just saw doesn't happen like that very often. We know that.

 

It also depends on where we end up in realignment. If we truly do move down, then I would think that effects the expectations.

 

I know the next question is "what kind of talent do we feel we have coming up". I'm probably not the right guy to ask for that info. All my knowledge in that area is second hand.

Highlands will fall to 3A in all likelihood after next season when the next realignment is completed.

 

Highlands + 3A = 4 straight State Titles till next realignment after 2018. Next Coach will be fine.

 

Really? Someone on here mentioned that Highlands would be moving up to 5A. I have no idea either way but a move in class up or down would be interesting

Really? Someone on here mentioned that Highlands would be moving up to 5A. I have no idea either way but a move in class up or down would be interesting

 

It wouldn't be 5A. They are at the very bottom of 4A. HHS is a pretty small school. Cov Cath may move to 5A.

Highlands during the last realignment was the smallest 4A school, there are a couple of schools that have grown in size that would bump them up and looks to bump HHS down to 3A. Unless they let them play up there is a very good chance they drop to 3A next time.

Really? Someone on here mentioned that Highlands would be moving up to 5A. I have no idea either way but a move in class up or down would be interesting

A move to 3A could be a real downer for the Highlands program. To my knowledge, there are no 3A schools in NKY. So instead of playing CovCath, the Bluebirds might get thrown into a district where the closest rival is a two-hour bus ride away.

A move to 3A could be a real downer for the Highlands program. To my knowledge, there are no 3A schools in NKY. So instead of playing CovCath, the Bluebirds might get thrown into a district where the closest rival is a two-hour bus ride away.

 

That's the biggest reason that they might get to stay in 4A, travel for them in 3A would be crazy.