1 hour ago, theguru said:

Covington Latin was known for that cheer too and it is not like anyone could argue with them. ?‍♂️

Oh, I know it. Lesser-known fact about me...I skipped my 8th grade year and attended CLS for one year as a freshman before transferring to Cov Cath the next year as a repeat freshman (I got to take a LOT of electives at Cov Cath as a result.)

Anyway, every Wednesday morning the entire school, maybe 120 students total, would meet in the 3rd floor study hall for morning announcements and the weekly school news, as presented by the eminent Mr. Dennis Whitehead. The end of the school news would include a report on what sports events had taken place in the prior week and what sports events were coming up. If there was a "big game" there would sometimes be a short pep-rally of sorts at the end of the assembly.

I remember prior to the Cov Cath basketball game (back in the days before CLS forfeited all of their district basketball games), we had the little Wednesday pep rally. Mr. Whitehead got everyone cheering and then yelled "Are we ready to play?!" Everyone yelled "Yeahhhh!!!"

And then he yelled "Are we gonna win?!" Everyone yelled "Noooo!!"

And then Mr. Whitehead yelled "But are we gonna blow by every one of them ten years from now in our Jaguars and BMWs while they're putzing to work in their Pontiacs?!" And everyone yelled "Yeahhhh!!" ??

 

How old is Coach Rash? 

4 minutes ago, AC Slater said:

How old is Coach Rash? 

I was told he's 58.

If memory serves when he retired at Beechwood he had talked about having dealt with some health issues that he was trying to keep from turning into anything major. Can't help but wonder if that might keep his return to head coaching on the more brief side of things as more of a stopgap for Conner, or not.

2 hours ago, James Graham said:

I think you are both right.  Culture breeds Talent.  Tim Sullivan started the Cooper basketball program in 2007.  Zero history.  He created the culture and then some of the area's best talent found their way to Cooper or bought homes in the district.  Combine that with the kids who were naturally in the district and that's how a winner was made.

 

Good point, however, even with that said. The only two years they won the 9th region was when they had multiple D1 talented players on their roster. Which I could be wrong, those D1 talents grew up in that area, besides maybe one? A great culture can help you compete even when you don’t have the talent. However, it still takes the top talent actually staying or coming to see the results. Then when you do get that top talent and win big when you have it, people say that shows they have great culture. It seems like people only notice the great culture, once a team gets the talent and wins a 9th region title, state championship, etc.

 

Which gets back to my original point in this thread. I think there are a lot of teams that have very good coaches, that have developed a great culture. However, many people won’t ever truly see that or think that if they don’t win at a high level. Which then gets back to having the top talent to win at a high level. 

I’d like to see Coach Rash start from the pee wee level and on up with building the culture, getting the young guys drinking the Conner Kool-aid, making it seem like it’s the only football program around. It takes time but that’s how it happens. 

3 hours ago, CCHFC said:

Cov Cath could have had the best culture in the world, but there is a 0% chance they would have beaten Ohio D2 champ LaSalle and Freddy D in 2019 without Mayer. 

Creating an attractive culture is important, but it’s 80% Jimmies and Joes. Coaching makes a big difference if the talent level is close and game can go either way. 

Agree 100% and You’re talking about a dime a dozen player. But even with Michael Mayer, both LaSalle and Fredrick Douglas had way more talent in their rosters that year and also had more guys that would to play college football than the 2019 Cov Cath team. Having a top 300 player helps, but Cov Cath doesn’t win those games without it the strong culture and standards that Coach E and that staff has set on those kids. 

CC would’ve won 3 in a row except for an untimely fumble, and the only reason the running back fumbled was bc he was fighting for extra yards. The one time running as hard as you can costs you a state title.

14 hours ago, JuanHenry1997 said:

Agree 100% and You’re talking about a dime a dozen player. But even with Michael Mayer, both LaSalle and Fredrick Douglas had way more talent in their rosters that year and also had more guys that would to play college football than the 2019 Cov Cath team. Having a top 300 player helps, but Cov Cath doesn’t win those games without it the strong culture and standards that Coach E and that staff has set on those kids. 

And even then there was a big difference between a real blue chip 5 star recruit (without elite athleticism) and guys who fill out classes at Bama and OSU since he was so much better than everyone else on the field. 

Talent is not always the FBS recruits, but if you have a 5’11 lineman or 5’8 safety playing D2 or NAIA, those kids are going to be great high school players as well. 

There’s only so much you can do in high school with getting talent in the door, but really good staffs can set a floor and also help push you over the top if player talent is close (for example, the top 3 4A schools this year will likely have similar talent, but 1 staff lags behind the other 2 imo….will be interesting to watch).  Great coaches are never coach up average talent to win big. 

23 hours ago, icalldownfire said:

The king is back. 

22 hours ago, TylerDurden said:

Bob Beatty is out of retirement?? Or wait, were you talking Dale Mueller?

Coach Rash may not be in the company of Coach Beatty and Coach Mueller yet but he isn't far off.  Of course I believe Coach Rash walks on water so maybe I am not objective here. What I don't understand is how anyone could "poke fun" at Noel Rash, he is amazing man and high school football coach and Conner immediately got better. 

18 hours ago, Breds82 said:

I’d like to see Coach Rash start from the pee wee level and on up with building the culture, getting the young guys drinking the Conner Kool-aid, making it seem like it’s the only football program around. It takes time but that’s how it happens. 

I so hope Coach Rash can get the Bandit youth following, and I so hope it happens during his time there.

Did ever wonder why the Bandit youth program was not called the Cougar youth program?  Coach Trosper could not support the start of the program, YES, the founders of the Bandit Youth program wanted to have the team called NKY Cougars, similar to what Raiders Youth (Ryle) and Jags Youth (Cooper) but Coach Trosper did not support the program early on because the Bandits started in the NKYFL vs. BCYFL.  The BCYFL was struggling and the parents in Hebron wanted better for their kids and the community.  It was a tough decision, but over all was the best.  Those in Bandit program today probably don’t know how everything started and why, but it was for the kids and the community. 

The community was all in, the business association was all in, shoot there was people who didn’t even have kids in Hebron all in, but the head of the administration at Conner and the head coach wasn’t.  FACTS!!!!!

Those who read this know the truth and you can take that to the bank!

On 6/20/2025 at 3:41 PM, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

I was told he's 58.

If memory serves when he retired at Beechwood he had talked about having dealt with some health issues that he was trying to keep from turning into anything major. Can't help but wonder if that might keep his return to head coaching on the more brief side of things as more of a stopgap for Conner, or not.

Won't be as much pressure at Conner as their was at Beechwood. If I had a guess, I think he doing a lot better health wise now than he was when he was Beechwood. 

So is another former head coach in NKY also helping the Cougars this year?

On 6/19/2025 at 7:31 PM, Honey Badger said:

Yeah I think 12 kids that "could" be difference makers that chose not to attend Conner sounds like an inflated number.

Depends on how you look at it.  A difference maker at Beechwood will probably be a difference maker at any school in NKY.  A difference maker at Conner might only be a difference maker at several schools in NKY.

How many helmet holders are there around NKY that would be contributors at other schools?

5 hours ago, Jack of all Trades said:

So is another former head coach in NKY also helping the Cougars this year?

Yep. It was mentioned in the Conner 2025 team thread, former Dixie head coach Tom Spritzky is going to be offensive coordinator this year at Conner for Coach Rash.

Also notable from the team thread, on June 22nd Coach Rash told the Northern Kentucky Tribune that he accepted the job at Conner for a one-year term "until they have time to hire the right person for the job."