On 10/9/2022 at 8:05 PM, VF111 said:

This thread just highlights what a great job X has done in nabbing Coach Wallace who has taken them to that next level again. 

Reading this thread I get absolutely zero vibe on X and Coach Wallace.  Pretty much Mueller and Beatty and that is it.  ?  Then again maybe its hidden messages I just am not picking up on. ?

On 10/9/2022 at 11:29 AM, theguru said:

That is Bob Sphire at Highlands.

I wonder who it will be at Trinity? @NLTanker1

I really do not think this is a "talent" question in the broad scope of things, for those questioning who is/is not coming to Trinity, especially given the breadth of football kids in the area. Two things stand out to me in terms of the landscape of how the Rocks will compete over the next several years: 1) Covid has played a major, major role in depleting the Catholic league (CSAA) in Louisville and so many of the key role players that came to us either played another sport during the time that league was shuttered or they just didn't play. Say all you want about "talent" but when kids are in their most formative years of being able to learn the fundamentals around line play, coverage drops, etc. and instead they're sitting at home isolated it will stunt any chance for growth and the kids who played in the Public/Optimist leagues will gain a major advantage. I have seen it firsthand going to practices and games at that level. It has killed Trinity in this regard and this will not be an easy fix. 2) Most importantly, things are really not as bad as they seem on Shelbyville Road. Sure, losing to Ballard is pretty tough to take and being 0-3 to the Louisville schools is a black eye for us, no doubt. St. Mary's will give us fits too on Friday, no doubt. But Cobb is really doing this with almost no depth at the key positions (largely due to point number 1) and major injury issues for key players. Not having the most important returning player in RB Steven Mack after week 1 has really proven difficult. QB Drew Allen is battling high ankle sprains in both legs. LBs Johnny Pirtle and Finn Laskowski are out for the year as well. #1 RB Luke Sasser went out this past week. With injuries like those, replacing those kids with players with little to no game experience, and then playing the schedule Trinity is playing, you're going to lose some games. Does it hurt to lose to rivals? Of course. Are Trinity kids falling further behind than their Louisville counterparts? I just don't see that. If the CSAA gets back on their feet, that will go along way in replenishing the ranks with more and better players. The coaching is still at an elite level and will be for a long, long time, because that is the Trinity way. Combined losses of 12 points to those schools can be overcome and the Rocks can still win it all this year. I do believe that. 

And as far as the talent implications go, assuming many of you think our better players came from the public leagues, please go speak to Brian Brohm, Travis Wright, Adam Barry, Alex Kupper, Scott Radcliff, Will Stein, Jacob Dingle, Jack Dingle, Nathan Dutton, Eric Senn, Vince Lococo, Bradley West, Nate McElroy, Nick Bohn, Isaac Martin, Timmy Smith, Brian Smith, Sam Robey, Joey Warburg, John Michael Heile et al just to name a few All-Staters... 

4 hours ago, #RockNation said:

I really do not think this is a "talent" question in the broad scope of things, for those questioning who is/is not coming to Trinity, especially given the breadth of football kids in the area. Two things stand out to me in terms of the landscape of how the Rocks will compete over the next several years: 1) Covid has played a major, major role in depleting the Catholic league (CSAA) in Louisville and so many of the key role players that came to us either played another sport during the time that league was shuttered or they just didn't play. Say all you want about "talent" but when kids are in their most formative years of being able to learn the fundamentals around line play, coverage drops, etc. and instead they're sitting at home isolated it will stunt any chance for growth and the kids who played in the Public/Optimist leagues will gain a major advantage. I have seen it firsthand going to practices and games at that level. It has killed Trinity in this regard and this will not be an easy fix. 2) Most importantly, things are really not as bad as they seem on Shelbyville Road. Sure, losing to Ballard is pretty tough to take and being 0-3 to the Louisville schools is a black eye for us, no doubt. St. Mary's will give us fits too on Friday, no doubt. But Cobb is really doing this with almost no depth at the key positions (largely due to point number 1) and major injury issues for key players. Not having the most important returning player in RB Steven Mack after week 1 has really proven difficult. QB Drew Allen is battling high ankle sprains in both legs. LBs Johnny Pirtle and Finn Laskowski are out for the year as well. #1 RB Luke Sasser went out this past week. With injuries like those, replacing those kids with players with little to no game experience, and then playing the schedule Trinity is playing, you're going to lose some games. Does it hurt to lose to rivals? Of course. Are Trinity kids falling further behind than their Louisville counterparts? I just don't see that. If the CSAA gets back on their feet, that will go along way in replenishing the ranks with more and better players. The coaching is still at an elite level and will be for a long, long time, because that is the Trinity way. Combined losses of 12 points to those schools can be overcome and the Rocks can still win it all this year. I do believe that. 

I do appreciate this post. Very informative. Thank you.

16 hours ago, DevilMayCare said:

I do appreciate this post. Very informative. Thank you.

I just think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions right now with Coach Cobb and the staff given outcomes of ball games and maybe don't see what is really at play here. It makes a very tough job even more difficult.

On 10/12/2022 at 6:24 AM, cincyswords said:

Reading this thread I get absolutely zero vibe on X and Coach Wallace.  Pretty much Mueller and Beatty and that is it.  ?  Then again maybe its hidden messages I just am not picking up on. ?

I think this is more of a comparison to what FTH has endured the last several years since Mueller left and whether or not Trinity will succumb to the same issues.

I said before on here that I thought Wallace was the best public school coach we went against when I was at T. His teams were very disciplined and he is a tremendous leader of young men. That being said, I thought he had a monopoly on the talent in one of the fastest growing counties in the state and that perhaps skewed whether or not he was an elite coach. While I'm not ready to put him in class with Beatty, Mueller, Smith et al given offensive or defensive scheme, I would say it is not a reach to call him one of the best going right now and he could get there if X contends for the next several years. 

7 minutes ago, #RockNation said:

I just think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions right now with Coach Cobb and the staff given outcomes of ball games and maybe don't see what is really at play here. It makes a very tough job even more difficult.

I'm completely ignorant of the inner workings of the CSAA and the effect Covid has had there, so that insight is very much appreciated. 

I think year two for any coach at any school is too soon to hit the panic button, but especially in regards to Trinity right now. The issues you raised combined with Beatty's exit have created a perfect storm for the Rocks to have a couple of "down" years. Maybe more, who knows?  

If the parity* of this season persists 2-3 more years, does that in any way impact Trinity's ability to regain the form we're accustomed to seeing from them, or do they exist in a vacuum all their own and it's simply a matter of the CSAA getting back on its feet?

* Specifically, assuming Ballard and Manual have staying power.

What do you think led to Highlands issues? To answer the question, I don't necessarily think Manual or Ballard have the staying power since much of their program seems to be focused on other sports/activities at the school. I think maybe that's why Male appears to be such an enigma within JCPS.

For Highlands, was it just not a great hand-off situation to Weinrich? Did outside influences interfere? I love the program that was built there, but I was never sure that those facilities were going to be enough to keep the Bluebirds afloat after Coach Mueller left, passionate fanbase or not.

4 minutes ago, #RockNation said:

What do you think led to Highlands issues? To answer the question, I don't necessarily think Manual or Ballard have the staying power since much of their program seems to be focused on other sports/activities at the school. I think maybe that's why Male appears to be such an enigma within JCPS.

For Highlands, was it just not a great hand-off situation to Weinrich? Did outside influences interfere? I love the program that was built there, but I was never sure that those facilities were going to be enough to keep the Bluebirds afloat after Coach Mueller left, passionate fanbase or not.

I will take a stab at this one, a legendary coach left and a new administrator had different ideas about who should be attending Highlands. 

Definitely a make or break for a sport as big as football...Seems to be what has galvanized the program on Poplar Level Road...

1 hour ago, theguru said:

I will take a stab at this one, a legendary coach left and a new administrator had different ideas about who should be attending Highlands. 

 

On 10/12/2022 at 12:02 PM, #RockNation said:

I really do not think this is a "talent" question in the broad scope of things, for those questioning who is/is not coming to Trinity, especially given the breadth of football kids in the area. Two things stand out to me in terms of the landscape of how the Rocks will compete over the next several years: 1) Covid has played a major, major role in depleting the Catholic league (CSAA) in Louisville and so many of the key role players that came to us either played another sport during the time that league was shuttered or they just didn't play. Say all you want about "talent" but when kids are in their most formative years of being able to learn the fundamentals around line play, coverage drops, etc. and instead they're sitting at home isolated it will stunt any chance for growth and the kids who played in the Public/Optimist leagues will gain a major advantage. I have seen it firsthand going to practices and games at that level. It has killed Trinity in this regard and this will not be an easy fix. 2) Most importantly, things are really not as bad as they seem on Shelbyville Road. Sure, losing to Ballard is pretty tough to take and being 0-3 to the Louisville schools is a black eye for us, no doubt. St. Mary's will give us fits too on Friday, no doubt. But Cobb is really doing this with almost no depth at the key positions (largely due to point number 1) and major injury issues for key players. Not having the most important returning player in RB Steven Mack after week 1 has really proven difficult. QB Drew Allen is battling high ankle sprains in both legs. LBs Johnny Pirtle and Finn Laskowski are out for the year as well. #1 RB Luke Sasser went out this past week. With injuries like those, replacing those kids with players with little to no game experience, and then playing the schedule Trinity is playing, you're going to lose some games. Does it hurt to lose to rivals? Of course. Are Trinity kids falling further behind than their Louisville counterparts? I just don't see that. If the CSAA gets back on their feet, that will go along way in replenishing the ranks with more and better players. The coaching is still at an elite level and will be for a long, long time, because that is the Trinity way. Combined losses of 12 points to those schools can be overcome and the Rocks can still win it all this year. I do believe that. 

My son, Grant Edwards, a JR would have been in that LB mix this year but blew his ACL in lacrosse in the spring and out all season. Losing all the other guys through the season has been devastating.  Hard to get reps and experienced players on the field when people are getting knocked out for the entire year.  All teams have injuries but we seem to be suffering the worst.  One person goes down, they are usually moving someone from another position to fill in, who then has to learn the position.  

To add a little to this.  While I think Cobb is a decent coach, I have heard some serious rumblings of some back stabbing, and some disarray in the locker room at Trinity.  

Once that starts, it's massively difficult to get rid of.

We did just hire, who I believe to be, the very best possible Freshman Head Coach.  That will pay huge huge huge dividends for multiple reasons.

On 10/13/2022 at 10:37 AM, DevilMayCare said:

I'm completely ignorant of the inner workings of the CSAA and the effect Covid has had there, so that insight is very much appreciated. 

 

I wanted to add one comment on the CSAA league.  My daughters went to St Albert The Great.  When my older daughter started there (kindergarden) in 2006, all the parishes around St Albert had their own football teams and the Toy Boy Championship was a really big deal.  By the time my younger daughter graduated 8th grade at St A in 2019, the CSAA were moving to combined teams.  This was influenced by additional sports becoming more popular (soccer and lacrosse to name 2) and was when concussion concerns were mainstream and likely had some families choosing non-football options.  St Margret Mary and St Albert (long time rivals) were now on the same team.  And that was pre-Covid.  I'm also certain that Covid likely gave another hit to this system and you can see why @#RockNation is concerned.