I think Male comes down to the second tier. They have won a lot of games, but some of that is a product of being around forever. Overall, they have won 8 championships in the modern era, placing them tied for 10th overall in KY. 

Bluebloods - Good in the past, and have never stopped being relevant
Trinity, X, Mayfield, Beechwood, Highlands 

Close to Bluebloods
Bowling Green - Since the mid-90s, have been an absolute powerhouse in KY
Danville - A history as good as any blueblood, but the drop off has been severe
Cov Cath - Same as BGHS, but dating back to the mid-80s. They're really close
Boyle - Like BGHS and Cov Cath, their rise in the last three decades has been epic... and at the cost of Davnille's fall.
Belfry - I'd put them there with Cov Cath in terms of how close they are. But pre-2000, they weren't really in the conversation. 
Male - I do feel somewhat disrespectful not calling them a Blueblood as the 3rd winningest team in the Nation, but they just don't quite make it there for me. Probably the team I feel the most torn on when it comes to my list. 

Male is absolutely a blueblood. Coaching, D1 players, destination school that parents figure out a way for their kid to attend. Even when they are down you STILL are worried about playing them.  When have they ever NOT been a relevant threat to win state in high school football? 

 

2 hours ago, Hungover_in_Andover said:

Male is absolutely a blueblood. Coaching, D1 players, destination school that parents figure out a way for their kid to attend. Even when they are down you STILL are worried about playing them.  When have they ever NOT been a relevant threat to win state in high school football? 

 

I agree. 

Danville is in the top 5 winning schools in the nation all time. How are they not a blue blood with all the wins and state titles. The have won a title more recently than Highlands.

On 9/7/2025 at 12:04 AM, St. Matthews Boy said:

Forgot about Belfry to be honest. Would have them in that third-tier as they have had a lot of success but more recently. Similar to CAL 

It's OK to admit you aren't familiar with Belfry.

To define Belfry's success as being more recent and comparing them to CAL is a tough putt.

People forget Belfry reached the State Finals before Haywood was hired (1979). Belfry played in two State Finals in the 80's early in Haywood's career despite coming up short.

Belfry has played in a State Finals game in five different decades.

It took Belfry a while to get over the hump and win their first State title in 2003.. but Belfry's run of consistency from 2003 until Present is something CAL may be on the path of replicating, but currently it is a whole different league than what they have accomplished so far.You are talking two straight decades of sustained high levels of success.

Tier 1 (True Bluebood+, these are the teams who have established Blueblood Status with decades of high level success and really never have had a sustained decline)

Trinity

Highlands

Beechwood

Male

St. Xavier

Mayfield

Danville 

 

Tier 2 (New Money, these are the programs who have been successful for a long time but their dominance has only occurred in the last 30 years. These also are programs who may have been tracking to Blueblood status but had to overcome some leaner years)

Boyle County

Belfry

CovCath

Bowling Green

Pikeville

 

Tier 3 (Old Money, these are programs who are revered and have plenty of much older success and still have moments of noted current prominence, but their legacy is more defined in the past)

Ashland

Tilghman

Owensboro

 

Tier 4 (Tech Bros, these guys have gotten rich quick and are built to be the next New Money or beyond.)

CAL

Frederick Douglas

Johnson Central

Louisville Central

 

Tier 5 (The Name Brands, these programs are a clear cut below but have sustained success for decades but never demonstrated true dominance)

Bardstown

Bell County

Corbin

Franklin-Simpson

Hazard

Hopkinsville

LCA

LexCath

Manual

NewCath

OCath

Scott County

Somerset

South Warren

 

Tier 6 (The Trendy Brands, they had a season.. they are generally quality.. but they have lacked the consistency and have a tendency to be forgotten for stretches)

Breathitt County

Caldwell County

Christian County

DeSales

Etown

Fort Campbell (trend that may not come back)

Franklin County

McCracken County (You can include Lone Oak as well)

Ryle

South Oldham

 

 

 

 

On 9/6/2025 at 10:19 PM, El Diablo said:

Kentucky has one of the country’s oldest histories in high school football and has many storied programs. In college football there is a lot of discussion about the blue blood programs, and what makes a program a blue blood. Got me thinking about what Ky high school programs are blue bloods….?

Locks: Trinity, Highlands, Male, St Xavier, Mayfield

Maybe: Bowling Green, Paducah Tilghman, Danville, Beechwood, Cov Cath, Boyle Co. Who else?

College Blue Bloods are ( I think) :

1 ND, 2 Michigan, 3 Bama, 4 OSU, 5 Texas, 6 Oklahoma, 7 Nebraska, 8 Florida, 9 Penn State?

Should there be 9 blue bloods 10? What’s more important? championships? Wins? Recent prominence? Am I way off? 
 

I looked to see if this has been a topic and could not find anything. Interested in what people think about this, might be a fun discussion. I might be completely wrong about this? Or is this super obvious?

 

 

Cov Cath is for sure a lock. You have to add Beechwood to the mix as well! 

My first reaction is there's no way Boyle isn't a lock...

17 minutes ago, ATLCat said:

Tier 1 (True Bluebood+, these are the teams who have established Blueblood Status with decades of high level success and really never have had a sustained decline)

Trinity

Highlands

Beechwood

Male

St. Xavier

Mayfield

Danville 

 

Tier 2 (New Money, these are the programs who have been successful for a long time but their dominance has only occurred in the last 30 years. These also are programs who may have been tracking to Blueblood status but had to overcome some leaner years)

Boyle County

Belfry

CovCath

Bowling Green

Pikeville

 

Tier 3 (Old Money, these are programs who are revered and have plenty of much older success and still have moments of noted current prominence, but their legacy is more defined in the past)

Ashland

Tilghman

Owensboro

 

Tier 4 (Tech Bros, these guys have gotten rich quick and are built to be the next New Money or beyond.)

CAL

Frederick Douglas

Johnson Central

Louisville Central

 

Tier 5 (The Name Brands, these programs are a clear cut below but have sustained success for decades but never demonstrated true dominance)

Bardstown

Bell County

Corbin

Franklin-Simpson

Hazard

Hopkinsville

LCA

LexCath

Manual

NewCath

OCath

Scott County

Somerset

South Warren

 

Tier 6 (The Trendy Brands, they had a season.. they are generally quality.. but they have lacked the consistency and have a tendency to be forgotten for stretches)

Breathitt County

Caldwell County

Christian County

DeSales

Etown

Fort Campbell (trend that may not come back)

Franklin County

McCracken County (You can include Lone Oak as well)

Ryle

South Oldham

 

 

 

 

I struggle with a couple of these. 

South Warren ran the table in 4A in 2015. They were a hard team to beat fresh off a merger. 

Franklin has been one of the more consistent teams making it to the state game 2 times in 2024 and 2020, and lost in the state semifinals in 21,22,23. They have been one of the more proven teams as of late. 

12 hours ago, Breds82 said:

Danville is in the top 5 winning schools in the nation all time. 

I like Danville, but they aren't in the top 5 all time.  

The all-time winningest high school football programs heading into 2025 - High School Football America

This is the NFHS list as of the end of last season for all time wins:

#3 Male - 957 wins (2 behind #2 Washington out of Massilon, Ohio) (8 behind #1 Valdosta, GA) (Began football in 1893)

#4 Mayfield - 955 wins  (1919)

#5 Highlands - 943 wins (1915)

#19 Paducah Tilghman - 835 wins (1925)

#25 St Xavier - 822 wins (1917)

#27 Owensboro - 812 wins (1904)

#28 Danville - 806 wins (1924)

#37 Bowling Green - 764 wins (1908)

#39 Ashland - 756 wins (1892)

#44 Somerset - 743 wins (1900)

 

 

18 minutes ago, Hard Work said:

I struggle with a couple of these. 

South Warren ran the table in 4A in 2015. They were a hard team to beat fresh off a merger. 

Franklin has been one of the more consistent teams making it to the state game 2 times in 2024 and 2020, and lost in the state semifinals in 21,22,23. They have been one of the more proven teams as of late. 

You are illustrating my point.. Franklin is a trendy team... South Warren I bumped to name brand because they have been consistently good since their inception, but not to the level of a Frederick Douglas and certainly not to the level of CAL.

Neither SW or Franklin though have the sustained longevity or dominance to be higher yet.

 

So we are clear there is nothing wrong with trendy or name brand... 90% of the programs in KY would sign up to be in those spots right now!

32 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

My first reaction is there's no way Boyle isn't a lock...

Google is a great place to be... Google may be the new Ford Motor Company in 15 years... but historically speaking 25 years does not make you a Blueblood when you have no shortage of brands doing it for 40 to 50+ years to be compared to.

To me Boyle County is the King of the New Money and I don't doubt that program will be the thought of as the standard with another generation.

Just to have some more fun with comparisons:

Trinity= Ford Motor Company

Highlands= Bank of America

Beechwood= Walmart

Male= AT&T

St. Xavier= General Motors

Mayfield= Wells Fargo

Danville= General Electric

Boyle County- Apple

Belfry- Target

CovCath- Citigroup

Bowling Green- Coca Cola

Pikeville- Walt Disney Company

CAL- Amazon

 

1 hour ago, ATLCat said:

Tier 1 (True Bluebood+, these are the teams who have established Blueblood Status with decades of high level success and really never have had a sustained decline)

Trinity

Highlands

Beechwood

Male

St. Xavier

Mayfield

Danville 

 

Tier 2 (New Money, these are the programs who have been successful for a long time but their dominance has only occurred in the last 30 years. These also are programs who may have been tracking to Blueblood status but had to overcome some leaner years)

Boyle County

Belfry

CovCath

Bowling Green

Pikeville

 

Tier 3 (Old Money, these are programs who are revered and have plenty of much older success and still have moments of noted current prominence, but their legacy is more defined in the past)

Ashland

Tilghman

Owensboro

 

Tier 4 (Tech Bros, these guys have gotten rich quick and are built to be the next New Money or beyond.)

CAL

Frederick Douglas

Johnson Central

Louisville Central

 

Tier 5 (The Name Brands, these programs are a clear cut below but have sustained success for decades but never demonstrated true dominance)

Bardstown

Bell County

Corbin

Franklin-Simpson

Hazard

Hopkinsville

LCA

LexCath

Manual

NewCath

OCath

Scott County

Somerset

South Warren

 

Tier 6 (The Trendy Brands, they had a season.. they are generally quality.. but they have lacked the consistency and have a tendency to be forgotten for stretches)

Breathitt County

Caldwell County

Christian County

DeSales

Etown

Fort Campbell (trend that may not come back)

Franklin County

McCracken County (You can include Lone Oak as well)

Ryle

South Oldham

 

 

 

 

I think Glasgow should be in tier 5. Should reach the 700 win level this year. 

52 minutes ago, ATLCat said:

Google is a great place to be... Google may be the new Ford Motor Company in 15 years... but historically speaking 25 years does not make you a Blueblood when you have no shortage of brands doing it for 40 to 50+ years to be compared to.

To me Boyle County is the King of the New Money and I don't doubt that program will be the thought of as the standard with another generation.

I suppose it depends on what someone's criteria is. Which program is "better": The program that wins 9+ games a year for 40 years with no/few titles, or a program with 15 titles in 30 years? Completely subjective.