The State of the Current St. Xavier Football Program?

[RickGrimes]

I waited to read what you guys had to say. I respect all of the X Alum opinion. THE issue isnt coaching guys. Will has some of the best coaches around him! He has an excellent staff of coaches. Former head coaches. IMO St. X does more with less on the football field. The city of Louisville as a whole is the issue. Parents are not sending their kids to Catholic schools like they used too. Parents are just spending their money on other things than education. The X man is still the X man. Look at Trinity for example over 15 of the 30 players they have that see the field are of the public school system. 100 percent of Male is. St. X is sharing the catholic school kids with Trinity, Desales and X. Looking at the program there was 95 freshman football players. Maybe 2 kids ran a sub 5 40 time. The skill athlete just isnt in the program or they are choosing to play LAX. St. X is not in a worse state guys. The players are just different. The teams they play are evolved. Male uses their athletes in space as does Trinity. its the jim's and joe's guys. I love the St. X program and school. I would not change a thing except the interpretation of the KHSAA rules of talking to athletes from public school which ST.X can not by rule interpretation.

I am a fan of St. X, their staff and their players and students alike.

 

Sorry to say this guys but I heard this from a Male staffer. Male is opening Ghens and they are upping enrollment 300-500 students. they will be able to get the non traditional school athlete now. PRP, Central and the likes will take a dip because of this. The rich will get Richer in the world of the athletes.

 

I believe this was already discussed during the T/X regular season game. However, all of these sound like excuses. Trinity and DeSales football do not seem to be suffering and I know neither had 95 members of the freshmen team the last two seasons. St. X hasn't had a problem taking public school kids in the past. I mentioned in the earlier thread Duece Finch who attended Parkside MS in Indiana. Going back a little further I grew up playing with William Thomas and Ryan Joyner at Fern Creek, neither played for or attended catholic grade school. So either the school's magically no longer accepting of public school kids or X is just upset because some of those kids they used to get are now choosing to go to T, Male, Central, DeSales and probably even CAL, whether they are public or CSAA kids. Somehow it doesn't seem to be hurting those other schools, only X.

[RickGrimes]

And the using their athletes in space comment, that is on the coaching staff. Not an X guy, but from an outside perspective Wolford is looking for the quick fix (new offensive coordinator and system each season) instead of trying to build from the ground up the right way.

[bruin66]

And the using their athletes in space comment, that is on the coaching staff. Not an X guy, but from an outside perspective Wolford is looking for the quick fix (new offensive coordinator and system each season) instead of trying to build from the ground up the right way.

 

That is a very good point. Successful PROGRAMS are built from the ground up and focus on player development through fundamentals. While some disagreed with the system that was run at times, Glaser built the St. X program this way. While there were tweaks from year to year, the fundamentals on offense, defense, and special teams that were taught did not change. That allowed average players to get better over time. Through reps over a 4 year period of time, players made progress.

 

That is what I don't currently see from Wolford: Player Development.

 

But it is hard to develop players when the system changes every year.

[Jim Schue]

I believe this was already discussed during the T/X regular season game. However, all of these sound like excuses. Trinity and DeSales football do not seem to be suffering and I know neither had 95 members of the freshmen team the last two seasons. St. X hasn't had a problem taking public school kids in the past. I mentioned in the earlier thread Duece Finch who attended Parkside MS in Indiana. Going back a little further I grew up playing with William Thomas and Ryan Joyner at Fern Creek, neither played for or attended catholic grade school. So either the school's magically no longer accepting of public school kids or X is just upset because some of those kids they used to get are now choosing to go to T, Male, Central, DeSales and probably even CAL, whether they are public or CSAA kids. Somehow it doesn't seem to be hurting those other schools, only X.

 

That's an interesting point — how has the rise of these two in the past decade adversely affected X? Because I don't get the impression that enrollment at Catholic high schools in general is down. If anything, it seems like it would be trending the other way.

[RockPride]

It may be an awesome hire....it may be a disaster. I would not want Trinity to hire one of our former legends to be our head coach (too much potential for personal disaster).

 

The above was on 9/3/12 . . .

 

Now, I'm not saying it's a disaster....but it hasn't been great. My point was, if it ends up being a disaster, or "not great".....it gets real uncomfortable....and I think that's where we are now.

 

Personally, I think Will would resign, before forcing X's hand with his ousting. Not sure they're there yet. Next year will be huge.

[NKY Bandit]

CSAA is the Louisville Catholic school league. The number of catholic schools in the area have closed or merged with other schools and the overall student population is declining. Why it is declining is for an entirely different forum.

 

X had some solid players this past season, but really now one or two guys that could consistently beat you. Ridder was probably the lone guy on the offensive side of the ball who could take over the game, but consistency was an issue. Their RB situation was not very good. I was high on Chase Rowan when I saw him play as a soph. but he never really developed into the top end player. WR has always been an area of concern for the Tigers, and this year was no different. They have solid possession players, but not a guy that can put pressure on a secondary. Blake Roshkowski (sp) is speed guy, but not the best WR in terms of route running and creating separation.

 

Defense is solid because they're in position, but other the Logan Butler there was not a player that could step up and make plays or create a momentum changing play.

 

Very coachable kids, but the talent has dropped over the last couple of years. Every year, just look at the linemen for X and that will give you a good indication of how good the team will be, and this year they were average.

 

Getting top level student-athletes is a school responsibility not just a football responsibility. But one way the football team can help itself is by winning games.

Sounds like what UK had to say about X in the summer that most of you guys dismissed.

[PepRock01]

Sounds like what UK had to say about X in the summer that most of you guys dismissed.

 

He was bragging on a victory in a scrimmage against a team without an identity who had just implemented a new offense.

 

At no point did I see him say that X was down or low in the talent tree. X's offense has sputtered and their D was competent.

 

So what exactly did he say that echoed that?

[RickGrimes]

That's an interesting point — how has the rise of these two in the past decade adversely affected X? Because I don't get the impression that enrollment at Catholic high schools in general is down. If anything, it seems like it would be trending the other way.

 

If I'm a kid in Jefferson County and I have a choice, I would want to play for Beatty, Scroggins, Wolfe or Lefors.

[RickGrimes]

That is a very good point. Successful PROGRAMS are built from the ground up and focus on player development through fundamentals. While some disagreed with the system that was run at times, Glaser built the St. X program this way. While there were tweaks from year to year, the fundamentals on offense, defense, and special teams that were taught did not change. That allowed average players to get better over time. Through reps over a 4 year period of time, players made progress.

 

That is what I don't currently see from Wolford: Player Development.

 

But it is hard to develop players when the system changes every year.

 

Exactly, regardless of your thoughts on Coach Glaser, kids in that program were going to have 4 years to perfect an offensive system and really focus on their individual skills and technique. Currently you're spending every year just learning the new plays and hoping for the best.

[LongTimeReader]

The type of player hasn't changed that attends X, the difference is that T is getting a few more of the students to would typically go to Male or Manual. I remember when I was a senior in '04 the freshmen class was one of the most athletic teams I had seen. But over the course of the next few years some of those kids didn't make it all the way to their senior year. It does happen X will get a loaded senior class like they did in the late 2000's they just came up short, which I think X is still trying to overcome.

 

I would agree with a previous comment, it appears the foundation is missing from the Wolford Era. I'm not sure what is philosophy is, and it shows especially in big games. With Glaser ball you knew what he was going to hang his hat, Wolford not so much.

[Guest]

Financial aide doesn't compare at the 2 schools.

[plantmanky]

I dont see anything wrong with X football.

[eatsleepdrinkfootbal]

That's an interesting point — how has the rise of these two in the past decade adversely affected X? Because I don't get the impression that enrollment at Catholic high schools in general is down. If anything, it seems like it would be trending the other way.

 

there were over 100 less boys attending catholic high schools this past year.

[Bert]

Look at Trinity for example over 15 of the 30 players they have that see the field are of the public school system. 100 percent of Male is.

 

Are you sure about your numbers? Each year Dr. Rob Mullen asks Coach Beatty for the 22 starters. He looks at the numbers that went to the Catholic grade schools versus public. I don't remember a single year where the ratio wasn't at least 17:5 with Catholic grade schools in the majority. Many years it reached 20:2.

 

Also, I have a hard time believing Male is 100% public fed. Manual snags a large amount of Catholic School kids (for example, the four Ram brothers who used to be on this site) and I cannot imagine Male does not to a degree also.

[kypride]

Are you sure about your numbers? Each year Dr. Rob Mullen asks Coach Beatty for the 22 starters. He looks at the numbers that went to the Catholic grade schools versus public. I don't remember a single year where the ratio wasn't at least 17:5 with Catholic grade schools in the majority. Many years it reached 20:2.

 

Also, I have a hard time believing Male is 100% public fed. Manual snags a large amount of Catholic School kids (for example, the four Ram brothers who used to be on this site) and I cannot imagine Male does not to a degree also.

 

Why does he ask that question at all?