Looking .for info on the Alliance Bowl. Where is it played? Will be coming from N. Georgia. Thanks for any help available!

It has been alternated between Mayfield and Marshall County. I think that it should be at Mayfield this year, because if I remember correctly Marshall hosted last year.

Thanks! Our schedule says we are to play Marshall County Kentucky in the Alliance Bowl. But the Marshall County website listed it as an away game. Looking forward to our trip to the bluegrass state. Any info on Marshall County for 2007?

Is Marshall County playing McCallie, the boarding school in Chattanooga?

Yes. My son will be a sophomore on the McCallie team this coming fall. The calendar we received from our coach has that as 1 of our first games.

Thanks! Our schedule says we are to play Marshall County Kentucky in the Alliance Bowl. But the Marshall County website listed it as an away game. Looking forward to our trip to the bluegrass state. Any info on Marshall County for 2007?

 

Right now about all I know about Marshall is that they have one of the premier senior backs in Western KY in Alan Williams. Marshall has a new coach this year so I guess the verdict is still out on em but I would think they are going to keep the same defense they used last year but I heard the new coach is going to be changing up some stuff offensively.

Yes. My son will be a sophomore on the McCallie team this coming fall. The calendar we received from our coach has that as 1 of our first games.

 

I am pretty sure the game is going to be played in Mayfield, KY at War Memorial stadium since it was at Marshall last year. I want to personally welcome you to Mayfield and hope your trip up here is a safe and enjoyable one.

 

By the way, can you give us any information about the McCallie team? Did you guys compete in your state championship last year? What class are you?

McCallie was a state runner-up last season ... they lost 37-34 to Brentwood Academy in the championship game. They play in the highest class in Tennessee's private-school division.

 

McCallie had beaten Brentwood Academy 28-21 during the regular season. The Blue Tornado (should sound familiar to Mayfield and Marshall County fans) was 10-2 last year ... both losses were to state champions. Alcoa, which rolled to the 2A state title, beat McCallie 24-21 early in the season.

Good summary, Westsider! Last year we had a DI prospect QB and a wide open offense. Our head coach left for Brentwood Academy in December, so this year we have a new head coach and graduated several very good seniors. QB BJ Coleman signed with U.T.K., WR/DB who signed with MTSU and 3 who went to UTC.

 

We do not have spring practice until mid-May. Will know more then about how we will re-load and how the offense/defense will look.

 

My son as a freshman played JV defensive tackle and was back up long snapper on the varsity. Was the only freshman to remain with the team through the state championship run. (Proud mom!)

Good summary, Westsider! Last year we had a DI prospect QB and a wide open offense. Our head coach left for Brentwood Academy in December, so this year we have a new head coach and graduated several very good seniors. QB BJ Coleman signed with U.T.K., WR/DB who signed with MTSU and 3 who went to UTC.

 

We do not have spring practice until mid-May. Will know more then about how we will re-load and how the offense/defense will look.

 

My son as a freshman played JV defensive tackle and was back up long snapper on the varsity. Was the only freshman to remain with the team through the state championship run. (Proud mom!)

 

I have a question, Westsider mentioned that McCallie is in the highest class in TN's private division. We are going through a pretty rough time here in KY with the public/private debates ourselves. I was wondering how that is working out in TN? Has having two different championships, one for private and one for public been a good thing or a bad thing in your eyes BlueMom? I am just interested in your thoughts, thanks.

Big Red,

 

We have been split between public/private for a number of years and McCallie is in the top division of the private side along with Brentwood Academy, Baylor School and several in the Memphis area. The Division II private schools like us are in DII because we offer financial aid to financially needy students. There are some private schools who have opted to not offer financial aid and participate in Div. I with the public schools.

 

We have very similar debates in TN about recruiting (both public and private) and the effect of the split on the playoffs. The DII schools have a shorter road to the state championship than DI, however the schools are very familiar with one another and have usually met earlier in the year. It also has created some bitter rivalries. I feel that both sides have good competition in the playoffs, but a greater toll is on the publics as they play approx. 3-4 weeks longer.

 

The DII schools have had greater travel expenses due to travelling at least once to Memphis (8 hours one way) each season and at least 2 hours several other weeks. That is why some smaller privates don't do aid and remain in D1.

 

It is all very complicated! I've read some of the KY postings on the topic and ya'll remain very civil. I'm afraid in TN we have gotten extremely heated with the same arguments. We are all anxiously awaiting the decision on the BA case at the Supreme Court. The TSSAA may have underestimate the financial pockets of BA. If BA wins and is granted legal fees, it will bankrupt the TSSAA.

Sorry to post back-to-back. Was just on the TN version of bluegrasspreps and they have a link to the Nashville City Paper who had an article today about the Brentwood Academy v. TSSAA Supreme Court case. Oral arguments are this coming week. Interesting article on the merits!

 

http://www.coacht.com

One side note about McCallie, one of the assist coaches is married to a Mayfield girl and he comes by at Thanksgiving and watches Mayfield's traditional Thanksgiving practice. This last year he told me they had already agreed to play Marshall and naturally he was very interested in learning all he could about the Marshall's. His name escapes me but a real classy guy. His wife and I went to school together.

 

Blue Mom sounds like your son is well on his way to being a good one, congrats. On the private public issue I was wondering if you feel that there are enough teams in your division to have your own class? Just on the outside looking in it looked like there are not many teams that qualify for some of the classes, is this the case or am I off in left field? Thanks for the link very interesting. I will try and be on the look out for any info you might enjoy reading on the Marshall's and their new coach. That back they have, Allen Williams, is a truly gifted back. Marshall County has a newspaper but its not a daily but it usually offers coverage on the Marshall's and I am pretty sure its online

Thanks for any info, Toothpick!

 

We currently have 3 classes in D2. My understanding is that TSSAA may divide us into 2 classes with an East/West split somehow. My opinion is that there are not really enough schools playing well at the upper class level to have a 10 team classification. We have lots of smaller privates for "lower" classes. Right now we have 4-5 teams at D23A that are traditionally equivalent in talent.

 

In TN, we see that the public schools seem to have suffered more from the split than the privates. Why...more private school students seem to be offered by colleges of all levels than publics. Privates do have alot more travel! Several great public/private local rivalries have also been lost resulting in lost revenue to the local schools.

 

There are no easy answers!

 

I'll track down our mutual coaching friend!

Thanks for any info, Toothpick!

 

We currently have 3 classes in D2. My understanding is that TSSAA may divide us into 2 classes with an East/West split somehow. My opinion is that there are not really enough schools playing well at the upper class level to have a 10 team classification. We have lots of smaller privates for "lower" classes. Right now we have 4-5 teams at D23A that are traditionally equivalent in talent.

 

In TN, we see that the public schools seem to have suffered more from the split than the privates. Why...more private school students seem to be offered by colleges of all levels than publics. Privates do have alot more travel! Several great public/private local rivalries have also been lost resulting in lost revenue to the local schools.

 

There are no easy answers!

 

I'll track down our mutual coaching friend!

 

The whole public/private debate has been very interesting discussion to me and what has seemed the whole state of KY. I too don't really think we have enough private schools here to warrant another division or whatever. Really, in KY HS football, the whole debate revolves around a couple of Louisville schools cause of their recent domination. I would hate to see a situation like what is happening in TN with the Brentwood legal ordeal myself. I think we are going about it correctly here in KY, not really rushing into anything and trying to solve the issues my making special rules, hopefully nothing drastic so we can see how that works.