Who would be your coach of the year for the 2023 season?

For COY in either 3A or 3A district 7 or just overall COY I would say this:

I may be biased but I think Chris Larkey is worthy of COY contender. In just his second year at Rock he has put us on the map in one of the toughest districts in 3A football. To possibly finish 9-1 in year two with wins on the road at Log Mountain against Bell County and to go on the road at Knox Central to win district out right via a running clock again on the road is as impressive as anything. Preseason Rock was picked to finish 4th place in the district. Now here we sit going into the last week of regular season and have wrapped up 1st place in the district and may be hosting the playoffs from now until state semi finals if Bell gets beat which means home until at the least 3rd round or until we are eliminated. That is a great place to be this time of the year! We need not to forget year one under Larkey was less than ideal as he finished 4-7 and lost 33-0 to Mason County in a 1st round exit. 3A district 7 is a tough district to win. For Bell and Rock to be considered one of the top teams in the East add a physical Clay county who should finish 7-3 and Knox Central who will be 5-5 or 6-4 at the end of the season. All teams with potential to be even or have winning records yet Rock went right through each of them.

As if that’s not good enough argument let me remind you just what Chris inherited by taking over the coaching job at Rock. In 14 year span prior to the arrival of Chris back to the Rock. Rock had only won 2 district titles and had 2 seasons where they won at least 9 games. That was 2011 Rock went 9-3 and then in 2016 Rock was 10-2. Those are the best seasons Rock has seen since Tom Larkey moved on from Rock. The previous coach went a combined 83 wins an 76 losses. Rock was eliminated in the first round 6 years and then eliminated in the 2nd round 7 different years in that time frame.

Chad Griffin at Hart County should be in the conversation.  He has led his team to a 9-0 start and the school’s first district title while beating Glasgow and Franklin Simpson to do so.  They have a good shot at playing for a regional title.  They have another test this Friday against undefeated Campbellsville, and if they take care of business, they will finish 10-0 for the first time ever as well.  I’m not a Hart County fan what so ever, but he has done a great job there.

Bump.. have to be more than two coaches everyone feels is deserving 

Clay Clevenger.  Albeit, not the strongest schedule but could very well have the Jumpers in the 2A state-semis in year 1.

On 10/22/2023 at 10:10 PM, RoCkMaN28 said:

For COY in either 3A or 3A district 7 or just overall COY I would say this:

I may be biased but I think Chris Larkey is worthy of COY contender. In just his second year at Rock he has put us on the map in one of the toughest districts in 3A football. To possibly finish 9-1 in year two with wins on the road at Log Mountain against Bell County and to go on the road at Knox Central to win district out right via a running clock again on the road is as impressive as anything. Preseason Rock was picked to finish 4th place in the district. Now here we sit going into the last week of regular season and have wrapped up 1st place in the district and may be hosting the playoffs from now until state semi finals if Bell gets beat which means home until at the least 3rd round or until we are eliminated. That is a great place to be this time of the year! We need not to forget year one under Larkey was less than ideal as he finished 4-7 and lost 33-0 to Mason County in a 1st round exit. 3A district 7 is a tough district to win. For Bell and Rock to be considered one of the top teams in the East add a physical Clay county who should finish 7-3 and Knox Central who will be 5-5 or 6-4 at the end of the season. All teams with potential to be even or have winning records yet Rock went right through each of them.

As if that’s not good enough argument let me remind you just what Chris inherited by taking over the coaching job at Rock. In 14 year span prior to the arrival of Chris back to the Rock. Rock had only won 2 district titles and had 2 seasons where they won at least 9 games. That was 2011 Rock went 9-3 and then in 2016 Rock was 10-2. Those are the best seasons Rock has seen since Tom Larkey moved on from Rock. The previous coach went a combined 83 wins an 76 losses. Rock was eliminated in the first round 6 years and then eliminated in the 2nd round 7 different years in that time frame.

you're biased. LOL

 

I'm kidding.  That's a pretty impressive resume.

Head coach at Ludlow, first district title since the 70's I read. And if memory serves, isn't this his first year at the helm?

Chad Griffin Hart County and Donte Ellison at Jtown 

55 minutes ago, Finkle Ray said:

Head coach at Ludlow, first district title since the 70's I read. And if memory serves, isn't this his first year at the helm?

EXCELLENT CHOICE!!! What that program has done in one single year is impressive!!

Coach Griffen Hart co. 

1A District 5 COY: Chad Pennington

First District Title in Program History.

4th Year of Varsity for Sayre.

9-0 to this point, best program record. 

John Gillispie (Manual) & Anthony White (Atherton) are two who come to mind for me.

10 hours ago, LCDAWGS19 said:

you're biased. LOL

 

I'm kidding.  That's a pretty impressive resume.

Hey man I at least told everyone ahead of time lol but in all seriousness I thought he has done a lot in just two year here considering what everyone has had to endure over the last 15 years here at the Rock. He already has one district title in just year two and previous coach only had 2 in 15 years. Haha but I didn’t mention how he has the feeder program looking over the last few years. More kids have came out and plays for our little league thru middle school. We now have last 2 years of 8th grade making it to the final 4 and then this years 8th grade will hopefully win this weekend against Boyle and that will set up a final 4 for 3 straight years and what appears to be a matchup with your Lawrence county team in 2 weeks which should be a dandy of a game. Not to mention our 6th grade team also is still playing this weekend in the 3rd round so things are certainly looking up around here. Something our middle school hasn’t been able to achieve with consistency like this ever before. 

Chad Griffin, Hart Co.  

He is 9-0 at Hart County.  Enough said.  It is one thing to be a good coach.  It is another thing to have success at a place not known for success.

I will add Nelson County's Phillip Stockdale to the list as well.  First home playoff game in long time after taking over a program with some dismal years.