1 minute ago, mrbrightside said:

I can’t help but feel like a big message is being overlooked in all this.  The guy caved because of his loyalty to his home school.  At the same time, Highlands grads with deep loyalty to the program were overlooked in the hiring process.  No judgment, but something the interview committee needs to consider for future.

Program loyalty cannot be the reason you hire someone. There are a lot of people who are Highlands loyal that aren't the best candidate. Get the best coach. If it is a Highlands loyalist, that is just icing.

16 minutes ago, mrbrightside said:

I can’t help but feel like a big message is being overlooked in all this.  The guy caved because of his loyalty to his home school.  At the same time, Highlands grads with deep loyalty to the program were overlooked in the hiring process.  No judgment, but something the interview committee needs to consider for future.

I pitched in little league. Dad was my head coach. I was the third best pitcher on the team and pitched every third start until a kid from Maryland moved into our town and joined the team. Dad moved me to left field and relief pitching. I was the coaches son, and was there on the team before the kid from Maryland, but my Dad made the best decision for the team as the head coach.

15 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Program loyalty cannot be the reason you hire someone. There are a lot of people who are Highlands loyal that aren't the best candidate. Get the best coach. If it is a Highlands loyalist, that is just icing.

Not THE reason. A factor.  A consideration of a hiring committee, nothing more implied. Turns out for James, it was the biggest factor of all.

I never understood the hire anyway.  He's unproven and Highlands is high school Royalty. He's had a couple winning seasons. They've had that in Dayton ky.

Per his video: "Do I want to be Eddie James the football coach or do I want to be somebody who is a mentor and impacts them?"

They welcome mentorship in Ft. Thomas.

5 hours ago, Bill W. said:

I never understood the hire anyway.  He's unproven and Highlands is high school Royalty. He's had a couple winning seasons. They've had that in Dayton ky.

So who fits the bill of proven and that would leave where they are at? 

Lickert is the man for the job.  He has won everywhere he’s been, and none of those places had the resources of Highlands.  

He won at a small A school.  Won at an inner city school.   Won at a 6A County school like they had never won before.  Nice start at NCC as well.

I believe HHS will be sorry if they pass on Lickert again.  Might be their last chance.  Very likely he’ll pile up some trophy’s on the hill then he won’t want to leave.

Maybe the guy was told some stuff by Highlands and they first agreed then could not deliver on what they had told him. I see this as something changed on either end and right now the coach is taking the high road and not putting all of Highlands business out there for other potential coaches.  While people want to blast him about it, I think you better look at yourself and realize how much you may change your mind.  

One note from the press conference. When asked about his staff, I believe he insinuated that he wanted to bring some of his guys with him, and that he and Wes or Bertasso would be discussing those options later in the day. 

5 minutes ago, BigErn said:

One note from the press conference. When asked about his staff, I believe he insinuated that he wanted to bring some of his guys with him, and that he and Wes or Bertasso would be discussing those options later in the day. 

One of the many "reasons" I heard about this was that the assistant coaches were a sticking point between Coach James and the Highlands powers that be. 

What a classless move from EJ. That being said I wish him luck at Franklin County...I understand why he made the decision, I don’t understand and never will why he accepted the HHS job, did a presser and then decided it wasn’t for him. Mind boggling to me. #BertBsTheAnswer in my eyes. Let the young man try and bring a program he’s more passionate about than anything in the world back to prominence. I can’t imagine anyone else giving the time and emotion he will to the Birds. 

1 hour ago, Buttermaker said:

Lickert is the man for the job.  He has won everywhere he’s been, and none of those places had the resources of Highlands.  

He won at a small A school.  Won at an inner city school.   Won at a 6A County school like they had never won before.  Nice start at NCC as well.

I believe HHS will be sorry if they pass on Lickert again.  Might be their last chance.  Very likely he’ll pile up some trophy’s on the hill then he won’t want to leave.

Lickert is a great motivator and a great personality for the community, but based on the NCC games I watched this season, I'm not sure about his X's and O's. There were little to no adjustments being made in the games I've seen, and some very questionable play calling.

I'm not positive which thread I saw it in, but I read somewhere where a member posted about Coach James receiving a counter-offer from Franklin County to lighten his teaching load and get him additional staff help for the football team.

I can confirm that Franklin County is now looking for 1 to 2 new members to add to their coaching staff.

It sounds to me like Eddie got an offer that improved on his previous situation at his alma mater and would allow him to keep his family in the area where they grew up.

Yeah, good for him. I think they should have given the press conference a couple days to let reality run it’s course. Probably not coach James idea to have the press conference on day one. Probably handled a little hastily on both sides.

2 hours ago, Buttermaker said:

Lickert is the man for the job.  He has won everywhere he’s been, and none of those places had the resources of Highlands.  

He won at a small A school.  Won at an inner city school.   Won at a 6A County school like they had never won before.  Nice start at NCC as well.

I believe HHS will be sorry if they pass on Lickert again.  Might be their last chance.  Very likely he’ll pile up some trophy’s on the hill then he won’t want to leave.

Lickert would leave in a heartbeat.  Hes not qualified though. Hes yet to win a big game.