With the departure of Hatcher to PCC, who will Graves turn to or who might be interested in the Graves job? The only 1st region coaches I could see that Graves might show some interest in would be Birdsong @ Calloway Co. or O'Neil @ Carlisle Co.. Both are young and have been at the top of list as far as 1st region coaches have gone as far as success.

Brian O'Neill would have a shot at it. O'Neill is respected and well-liked and the Graves faithful would welcome his uptempo style. He's proven he can win regional titles when he has the talent to be competitive.

 

Greg Overstreet has done a great job at St. Mary, but he doesn't teach ... I don't see Graves going in that direction. Curtis Turley was the first coach at Graves when they consolidated and he's available, although I don't see him wanting to return this far west. Turley might look into Henderson County, another of his previous stops.

 

This is Graves, still one of the best jobs in the region, so the administration has to open it up and see who applies ... you never know whose application might roll in, especially from out-of-state coaches. Word is the talent coming up through the program is down right now, although a new coach might be able to get another athlete or two out for the team.

 

Jim Simmons at Hopkinsville is a longtime Graves assistant, and there is some talk that he might have a chance at it. Personally, I think Simmons is better off at Hoptown ... he did a very good job last year and has the athletes and young talent to build a good program there.

 

Terry Birdsong is happy at Calloway County, and I suspect he plans on staying there. He was interested in the Marshall job three years ago, mainly because he's from there. He has established a very good program at Calloway, one that is in as good of a shape as Graves is right now ... probably even better.

Brian O'Neill would have a shot at it. O'Neill is respected and well-liked and the Graves faithful would welcome his uptempo style. He's proven he can win regional titles when he has the talent to be competitive.

 

O'Neill is the guy at Carlisle County, correct? They seem to be solid almost every year and have even been to Rupp a couple times. I'm guessing he'd like the move up in class; does he have any family ties to Carlisle?

O'Neill is the guy at Carlisle County, correct? They seem to be solid almost every year and have even been to Rupp a couple times. I'm guessing he'd like the move up in class; does he have any family ties to Carlisle?

 

O'neil does in fact have family ties to Carlisle (it is his alma mater) but with the proximety of Graves and Carlisle to each other he would not even have to move to become the coach at Graves. Another name that keeps coming up is the head girls coach at Graves, Stokes, could possibly want to make the switch back to boys coaching.

What about former asst coach Kelly Carwile who is now an asst at Morehead State?

What about former asst coach Kelly Carwile who is now an asst at Morehead State?

Carwile isn't at Morehead anymore ... he surfaced with Jim Simmons at Hopkinsville in December. Carwile is a good coach, but I just don't see Graves hiring anybody with a Hatcher connection.

Oh wow, I didn't know that...Yeah me neither...I would think it would be one of the better jobs in the state...

Why did Hatcher leave? Were there problems at Graves with him? I know he's very well known around the state. What school is PCC?

Why did Hatcher leave? Were there problems at Graves with him? I know he's very well known around the state. What school is PCC?

 

 

PCC- is Perry County Central and he left to get closer to his family in West Virginia.

Why did Hatcher leave? Were there problems at Graves with him? I know he's very well known around the state. What school is PCC?

 

Why he truly left is known only to Hatcher. There were some disgruntled fans throughout Graves even with Hatcher's success. The fan base had dwindled from what Graves normally puts out at games. The fans were tired of his slow deliberate pace of his teams games (sound like a bunch of Wildcat fans?). I do work with a former eagle, both he and his brother played for Hatcher and their father was not happy with the way they were treated during their time under Hatcher. The word I'm hearing is that some Graves fans would like to see an outside hire void of any Hatcher disciples.

One name that has not popped up yet is Brad Stieg at PT...especially with his wife Allison Stieg resigning as the girls head coach over there. Personally I would stay at Tilghman as their talent pool is better next year, but you never know...and he plays a uptempo style of play and is not a Hatcher disciple.

Stieg's mother-in-law does teach at Graves, after all ... :lol:

 

Seriously, why would Stieg even think about leaving Tilghman for Graves?

Stieg's mother-in-law does teach at Graves, after all ... :lol:

 

Seriously, why would Stieg even think about leaving Tilghman for Graves?

 

I can think of one main reason...and that would be the almighty $$$. I know that Graves would pay very good money for the person they feel would get them back to the top of the food chain in the 1st Region. Once again I for one would not leave PT for Graves for several reasons...the main one right now would be the talent level...but it would not surprise me that Graves makes a run at him. I don't see them going after Gillespie from Marshall County as his style of play is pretty deliberate as well and Graves County's fans are tired of the "watching the paint dry" type of offense.

 

Will be interesting to see who they get to run the program

I can think of one main reason...and that would be the almighty $$$. I know that Graves would pay very good money for the person they feel would get them back to the top of the food chain in the 1st Region

Paducah's base teaching salary is much higher than Graves County's, and the Tilghman coach makes a pretty good supplement. I don't know that Stieg would make any more money at Graves than he would at Tilghman.

A name that I am now hearing from some people is David Fields from over at Murray High. For those of you that know David you know that he is the son of former Mayfield head coach Roger Fields, and David played for Mayfield so he has ties to the area. David in the past few years has helped lead a not so talented group of Murray High Tigers to respectability in the tough 4th District. His style of play would suit Graves County and as far as would a former Mayfield player and son of a Mayfield head coach come to Graves County...well no one would have thought that no one would ever go to Murray High as Tilghman is the long time rival...Graves County the county rival...but Murray is the hated rival with Mayfield.

Just a name being batted around from a few people in the know over at Graves.