Man, logged in today and found out Danville's inability to keep a superintendent has kept college scouts from attending Garrard County games which in turn made it a necessity that they then transfer to Boyle County.

At the end of the day, kids (like adults) want to be a part of something great. Maybe it’s about recruiting opportunities for some, about winning for others. Either way, Boyle football is great, and that’s not even in question at this point.
 

As far as recruiting, I don’t think high school sports matter that much, other than perhaps local (KY) D3 and NAIA schools. It’s about camps in football, travel teams in basketball and baseball, etc. There are some kids that play/played for Boyle over the past couple years that I’ve been surprised didn’t get offers. So it didn’t turn out too well for them in spite of having played at Boyle. And then there are kids getting high level D1 offers and they couldn’t be happier. But the Boyle staff does an excellent job of hyping kids on social media, and most kids want that.

I can see the Danville/Boyle football rivalry ending sooner than later. It wouldn't surprise me if Danville stopped playing them next year. 

5 hours ago, Statsdontlie said:

I can see the Danville/Boyle football rivalry ending sooner than later. It wouldn't surprise me if Danville stopped playing them next year. 

I hope not, but I suspect you're correct. It is almost getting to a Paintsville/Johnson Central-type situation from several years back. Both teams can still be very good, but it might not be in their best interest to keep playing each other.

2 hours ago, gchs_uk9 said:

I hope not, but I suspect you're correct. It is almost getting to a Paintsville/Johnson Central-type situation from several years back. Both teams can still be very good, but it might not be in their best interest to keep playing each other.

Why would they end the rivalry?  If you remember in the 80’s and early 90’s Danville was loaded and killing Boyle.  Boyle had players transferring to Danville.  Did Boyle stop playing?  No.  They made decisions to move in the right direction and gradually improved until they beat Danville and got to where they are now.  Suck it up, Buttercup!

14 minutes ago, Paul Dean said:

Why would they end the rivalry?  If you remember in the 80’s and early 90’s Danville was loaded and killing Boyle.  Boyle had players transferring to Danville.  Did Boyle stop playing?  No.  They made decisions to move in the right direction and gradually improved until they beat Danville and got to where they are now.  Suck it up, Buttercup!

As I said in the earlier post, I hope they don't.

I will add, from 1987-1998 both Danville and Boyle played in the same district so dropping wasn't an option.

12 minutes ago, Paul Dean said:

Why would they end the rivalry?  If you remember in the 80’s and early 90’s Danville was loaded and killing Boyle.  Boyle had players transferring to Danville.  Did Boyle stop playing?  No.  They made decisions to move in the right direction and gradually improved until they beat Danville and got to where they are now.  Suck it up, Buttercup!

I think there is a major difference in not being able to compete at a 1A level and not being able to compete at a 4A level. I am sure Danville won those games, but it was still competitive. When a 1A school bottoms out it will no longer be competitive. 

 

I still and will not agree with what happened with Clevinger. I feel like the program was on the path towards the Sam Harp era. 

1 hour ago, Hard Work said:

I think there is a major difference in not being able to compete at a 1A level and not being able to compete at a 4A level. I am sure Danville won those games, but it was still competitive. When a 1A school bottoms out it will no longer be competitive. 

 

I still and will not agree with what happened with Clevinger. I feel like the program was on the path towards the Sam Harp era. 

Danville is mid 2A. 

I don't pretend to be an expert on Danville football and its history, but the last few years haven't been good to Danville.  For me, I believe you can often times tell how the direction of a program is going based on the crowd you have in the stands on a Friday night.  I know it's not always an exact measurement, but my personal experience has always been that when things are good, more people are there.  When things are not going so well, your true, loyal supporters will show and that's it.  Below is a picture I took at a game against Danville.  Granted, it was an away game for Danville, but the trip was only an hour and it was 8 minutes before kickoff and the crowd didn't get a lot bigger.  Danville is at a low point.  I wouldn't call it a collapse, but I hope for that program and community, the new coach and players that are left can help revive the program and return them to a 2A power.

 

3 hours ago, Paul Dean said:

Why would they end the rivalry?  If you remember in the 80’s and early 90’s Danville was loaded and killing Boyle.  Boyle had players transferring to Danville.  Did Boyle stop playing?  No.  They made decisions to move in the right direction and gradually improved until they beat Danville and got to where they are now.  Suck it up, Buttercup!

I agree but if Boyle keeps taking there best players the administration is going to stop playing Boyle along with other area teams. That's just a fact. 

Small city schools have an uphill climb. With GREAT administrative leadership and a commitment to excellence, they absolutely can stay at the top of their game. 

Bob Rowland was an elite Superintendent at Danville and was a big reason the Ads were so good for an extended period of time.

In a small city school, if the administration struggles, there is less of a cushion and much smaller margin of error. It doesn't take long for things to get tough real quick. And, it takes a long time to recover. 

I lived through this one time and it absolutely broke my heart. Things are much better now... but it took a long time and, still, ,not sure how long it would take to get back to the "good old days."

For small city schools that love football, the Superintendent hire has more of an impact on football success than any other role, including who the head football coach is at the time. 

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this already, but it reminds me a lot of the Harrodsburg/Mercer situation from years ago. Not so much that Mercer was a football/sports powerhouse like Boyle is now, but Harrodsburg gradually lost their status in both sports and academics. That led to kids peeling off and going to Mercer, hurting Harrodsburg financially. And we all saw how that one ended.

On 5/4/2023 at 12:47 PM, gchs_uk9 said:

Man, logged in today and found out Danville's inability to keep a superintendent has kept college scouts from attending Garrard County games which in turn made it a necessity that they then transfer to Boyle County.

Hopefully Danville's Super can stick around for a while then! ?

The Lions have some boys that can play ball. Next two years look promising for Crutchfield's squad.

On 5/4/2023 at 8:44 AM, RunninReb said:

Tell me all the scouts that were at Garrard games when he was there? If you are college coach why would you go watch 1 player or go watch 8 players that are competing at a high level. Then those college programs keep going back to the same schools because they know they will have talent. 

 

Well before Spencer, they only allowed 1 coach in the building. Did not have in school weightlifting. Had terrible facilities. Do you want me to keep going on? They finally started to invest in the program. 

FWIW, Q had an offer from EKU (as a freshman) before leaving Garrard.  They also sent another kid to EKU on scholarship this year.

Your entire second paragraph is just false.

On 5/7/2023 at 2:23 PM, burreaux said:

Hopefully Danville's Super can stick around for a while then! ?

The Lions have some boys that can play ball. Next two years look promising for Crutchfield's squad.

This comment didn't age well.  New Danville Super just announced his resignation effective mid June.  He was a one and done.