:sssh:

 

Ha, I was right...I had a feeling that's who you were talking about.

COACH B

All too often in today's culture we overlook the process.

 

When Coach B took over a rural school in a Southern Kentucky farming community, medicority was the norm. Expectations were never high, unless you were part of the basketball program of course, and all too often football took a backseat to the round ball or even just the necessity of daily chores.

 

The years we looked at for Coach B were 2004-2010. To understand this Coach though, you have to truly appreciate the task at hand. When looking at the history of Kentucky few areas have enjoyed less success than the spread out population density County Schools of Southern Kentucky. I fact, when Coach B took over you could not find a single SKY team from the area West of Lake Cumberland, to the I-65 line that had won a Title. Only Glasgow and Allen-County Scottsville had even reached the State Finals.

 

When Coach B took over the new enthusiasm and stability helped lead to a small but unimpressive uptick. Losing margins decreased, but the seasons were over well ahead of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was for basketball talk!

 

With numbers always limited and the best athletes reserved for the hardwood, Coach B knew something had to change. Much like our Coach A example, he knew it had to happen long before he got his hands on the kids. He devoted a change in his Feeder System and making sure the right figure heads were in place at the deepest of levels. While the movement began, he continued to deal with the rigors of simply not having enough guns in his arsenal to defend his fort and the years of "average football" continued.

 

It's a funny thing about this Coach in a farming community. Suddenly his program resembled the harvest of the local farmers. In 2009, he began to see his own crops grow. A Freshman class, a product of the careful tending of the soil. He then invested in this crop, fertilizing them at the risk of criticism, growing for something greater. 2009 and 2010 would be the end of most coaches, back to back losing seasons. But in 2011 his bumper crop were strong grown Juniors and a 10 win season was new ground.

 

In 2012 he made Southern Kentucky history as for 14 games his harvest group was untouched and unblemished reaching the State Finals where they came 3 points from doing what noone had done before. It was a bitter loss, but a cornerstone to build from and he knew he had found the recipe to build a program that rises above the mediocrity of rural farm country.In 2013 he saw his next set of tiny shoots burst from the ground and once again poured into them to see a disappointing 5-7 season, but come 2015 another 11 win season and the second Semi-Final Appearance with a Junior and Sophomore heavy team.

 

A good farmer knows that it takes a process to break new ground. All too often people give up, whether by lack of patience or simply the inability to see the rich fields on a rocky and barren piece of land. Coach B though is a man that knows that the hard part is the risk. Wayne County's Shawn Thompson probably would have been fired in most places that have only known the simplicity of always having fruit on hand. After the schools only three 10+ win seasons have came in the past 4 years, and with a team that is seemingly destined to be his fourth, you have to sit back and give credit to the patient grower of talent.