Top 20 States-HS Football

[Henry521]

I'm surprised SC made, just barely, the top 20. Lived there for 3 years and football wasn't all that much.

[strongopenyon]

For what it is worth, Rivals.com, the leading authority on high school football recruiting has the following number of top notch players named in each state. Kentucky has 10 players named. Other states with more than Kentucky and their number of players include:

 

Maryland (20), New Jersey (30), North Carolina (30), Pennsylvania (40), Virginia (30), Alabama (30), Arkansas (15), Florida (100), Georgia (50), Louisiana (30), Mississippi (20), South Carolina (20), Tennessee (15), Illinois (30), Indiana (15), Michigan (30), Ohio (50), Colorado (25), Kansas (20), Missouri (20), Oklahoma (25), Texas (100), Arizona (25), California (100), Nevada (15), and Washington (25).

 

That totals 26 states with more college prospects than Kentucky as per Rivals. com. There are fifteen other states tied with Kentucky with 10.

[strike-3]

Incidently, DeMatha plays in DC, not Maryland...neither of which can compete top to bottom with Ky (T, X and Highlands all beat DeMatha this year...I've seen them in person).

 

That's somewhat ture. DeMatha plays in the Washington Catholic Athletic Association. It's a 12 team league but 6 of the teams are located in Maryland, 3 in Virginia, and 3 in the District. So it's more MD than DC.

 

DeMatha is not able to compete for state titles in Maryland as apparantely that states version of Wilson Sears has been much more successful. The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletics Associtions wont' let them play.

[leatherneck]

Trotwood Madison was a team of individuals who ran up against a "TEAM" in Fort Thomas Highlands.

 

Kentucky has always had some good individual players, but overall level of competition is poor.

 

NOTE: Just as an example, put Maryland ahead of Kentucky. DeMatha High School places more D-I players each year, than the entire state of Kentucky does. Other states ahead of Kentucky, in my opinion.........Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin.

 

Yes it was. And they proved once again that raw talent does not guarantee good football. Keep that in mind as you re read your post about the number of top notch players named in each state by Rivals.

[Arm Chair QB]

Okay, now we are overstating it a bit. I played in New York...we are not even close because basketball gets the best athletes in the state. I have seen football in Ok., Mz, Ks, Ia, Co, Ut and they are not in there (although each have their great programs like Jenks, Colombine, Union, etc.). I have not seen Oregon but I have had west coast coaching buddies that have agreed that Kentucky could come out west and do quite well.

 

Incidently, DeMatha plays in DC, not Maryland...neither of which can compete top to bottom with Ky (T, X and Highlands all beat DeMatha this year...I've seen them in person).

 

Just my opinion. :thumb:

 

Hey, give me your list. I want to see where other states shake out!

 

Agreed... I have lived in NY for the past three years and the football isn't much. I'm sure you will find some "individuals" in the inner city that are great but from top to bottom it is weak...

[Hatz]

 

Another state that I feel is vastly top heavy is Virginia. Virginia's bigger school's are very good, but their smaller division teams couldn't hold a candle to Kentucky. Take for instance this year, Clintwood made the state championship game. Clintwood would probably not even be a Top 10 1A team in KY.

 

Also, as bad as I hate to admit it, Tennessee football is better than KY.

 

 

It depends upon what you define as "top heavy." There are 3 classes and 2 groups in each class. (I've never understood why they don't just go ahead and call it 1A, 2A, et al)

 

I have seen the state champion for Class AA Group 2 the last 3 years. (i think that is like 4A in KY) and the State Champion this year (Gretna) for Class A Group 1 (in KY it would be AA). These were some pretty good teams.

 

The bigger class Champions have some Grade A talent surrounded by some other Grade B talent. Amherst (Group 2 Class AA champs last 2 years) were very fast and very good. Great line play. Not huge but technically sound. Peter Rose from that team is going to play at V Tech. They have some other Div 1 talent and 1-AA talent on the squad.

 

Salem (State champ 3 years ago) has solid skilled people but are one of the more disciplined teams I've ever seen. They don't make mistakes or penalties. They also adapt to exploit any weakness they see in the other team.

 

Gretna, this year's champ in equivelant AA, was very fast and very quick. Not huge. But they were just faster than everybody they played. The smaller VA schools aren't that great IMHO.

 

The bigger Richmond/Tidewater schools are awesome. They are stocked with athletes and skill.

 

My son's school, Bassett, lost to Salem in the Regional Finals (10-7) but had one of the biggest High School O-Lines I've seen. They also have a good athlete at QB and a TB/DB that will probably play 1-AA. Their FB was 260 lbs and was better at Defensive Tackle. He'll probably play somewhere next year as well.

 

VA football has hot and cold spots like KY. I think the 2 are very comparable but due to the population size of VA there are more better athletes by just the numbers.

[bugatti]

No disrespect intended and it is strictly editorial, but you have the state of Kentucky rated at least 20 spots too high in your ratings.

 

Overall, this state has poor high school football.

:thumb:

 

And I love Kentucky prep football, but I think a better question would be, who would finish lower than Kentucky on the list - it would be a lot shorter of a list.

 

I would guess Kentucky would be in the 35-40 range.

[CC06]

The only problem I have with putting Kentucky in the top 20 is competitive balance issue. From what I've observed in Kentucky, there seems to be a wide gap between the competitors (even within their own divisions) and the rest of the schools.

 

I think one of the causes of this is that football is still growing in popularity as compared to other states. My reference point on this is Ohio, since that's where I played high school football, so that may cause my opinion to be skewed. However, I've read about multiple football programs in Kentucky with 25 or less players. That just doesn't seem to happen in states that our higher on this list (again, my viewpoint is from Ohio).

 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trashing Kentucky football. Some of the best players I've ever played with were from Kentucky. I think it has made great strides, even in the short amount of time that I've been observing it, but to hold it in the top 20 in the country might be a stretch.

[KHSB1]

I was fortunate to see the Florida 4A and 6A finals at the Citrus Bowl Saturday. The Miami Northwestern team was a treat to watch. I have never seen a high school team as talented like that. They played a local team called Orlando Boone and they were both 14-0 coming into the game. It was a slaughter. The quickness and the organization and discipline on that Northwestern team. High school footbal is at another level down here.

[woodsrider]

Saw this thread started on another website and thought it mught be cool to start here. IYO, what are the top 20 states in HS Football, taking into account:

Talent

Atmosphere

Coaching

Competitive Balance

Reputation

 

Here's my list;

 

1. Texas

2. Florida

3. Ohio

4. California

5. Pennsylvania

6. Georgia

7. Alabama

8. New Jersey

9. Illinois

10. Mississippi

11. Virginia

12. Kentucky

13. Indiana

14. Louisianna

15. Michigan

16. Tennessee

17. Arizona

18. Washington (State)

19. North Carolina

20. South Carolina

 

Let's see others!

Are you serious!! You put Kentucky 4 spots higher then Tennessee?

 

Tennessee is a top ten state IMO for high school football. Kentucky isn't a top 20.

 

Also, Indiana has better overall HS football then Kentucky.

[born2reign]

For what it is worth, Rivals.com, the leading authority on high school football recruiting has the following number of top notch players named in each state. Kentucky has 10 players named. Other states with more than Kentucky and their number of players include:

 

Maryland (20), New Jersey (30), North Carolina (30), Pennsylvania (40), Virginia (30), Alabama (30), Arkansas (15), Florida (100), Georgia (50), Louisiana (30), Mississippi (20), South Carolina (20), Tennessee (15), Illinois (30), Indiana (15), Michigan (30), Ohio (50), Colorado (25), Kansas (20), Missouri (20), Oklahoma (25), Texas (100), Arizona (25), California (100), Nevada (15), and Washington (25).

 

That totals 26 states with more college prospects than Kentucky as per Rivals. com. There are fifteen other states tied with Kentucky with 10.

 

I am not claiming to be an expert when compared to Rivals, but I will say this-there is some grade A talent in other states that play for some pretty poor teams. I think it goes back to your Trotwood Madison arguement-great individuals, not a great team.

 

Kentucky has some solid teams, especially some of the smaller class programs.

 

Anyway, we are getting away from the aruguement a bit-all five criteria need to be taken into account. Talent is only one of them.

[strongopenyon]

Very true statements!

 

High school football in Florida has been on a very high level for nearly 50 years now.

[born2reign]

Are you serious!! You put Kentucky 4 spots higher then Tennessee?

 

Tennessee is a top ten state IMO for high school football. Kentucky isn't a top 20.

 

Also, Indiana has better overall HS football then Kentucky.

 

Please remeber to take into account all five criteria that I have used. Kentucky is up there.

 

Indiana is sleeper as well. They have the Friday Night Lights going pretty well for a "basketball state".

[strongopenyon]

Please remeber to take into account all five criteria that I have used. Kentucky is up there.

 

Indiana is sleeper as well. They have the Friday Night Lights going pretty well for a "basketball state".

My analysis/grading of where Kentucky stands as to the criteria you have set forth:

 

Talent (C+): There are just not enough schools playing football in Kentucky (just over

200) to have an abudance of talent. This is a numbers game and Kentucky does not have the numbers. Some outstanding football players have come from the state of late, but not many compared to other more populated states.

 

Atmosphere ©: On any given Friday night, there are some schools whose atmosphere

reeks football. Unfortunately, I can name them on one hand, maybe two. This is compared to some other states where I have seen high school games.

 

Coaching (D+): It is improving, but there are too many schools who have a very underqualified coaching staff.

 

Competitive Balance (No grade): I think the new 6A system greatly dilutes any balance

the state might have. It allows some poor teams to still be playing into November and December.

 

Reputation (D): Why do you think a national record setting quarterback like Corey Robinson is not getting much D-I attention? Many players in Kentucky have eye-popping statistics, but are not viewed as D-I material because of the competition they play. This opinion comes from college coaches recruiting in Kentucky.

 

Football in the state of Kentucky is improving, but has a long way to go to begin to be competitive to the football being played in other states.

[Ram]

I don't know what area of the state everyone is from, but some of the statements just give me pause.

 

I do not claim to be an expert on football in other states, but I have seen my share of football from Ohio, and Virginia. I have seen and played in several games with Raceland playing teams from Ohio and Virginia. I played in a game versus a Virginia team that only lost one game all season, and that was to Raceland. I have seen several games where Raceland has beaten Ohio teams. I have also seen several other teams from North-Eastern Kentucky play and beat Ohio teams.

 

As for the Criteria:

Talent - I think Kentucky has a great deal of talent. Maybe not as much as the top states, but I have seen many talented players. Do they all get D1 scholarships? No. And the major reason for that is size. Many of the very talented players do not have the size to play D1.

 

Atmosphere - I think all in all, most of the venues in Kentucky that I have been to have a great football atmosphere. Not necessarily the best facilities, but a great atmosphere.

 

Coaching - I have seen and know many great football coaches in the state of Kentucky. Are all the coaches in Kentucky better then all the coaches in Florida? No, but I think most of the coaches in Kentucky could hold their own.

 

Competitive Balance - I would say that Kentucky could improve here. There are quite a few quality programs in Kentucky in their respective classes, but a cross the board this could improve.

 

Reputation - this could improve as well, and has somewhat. But, more coaches are coming to recruit in Kentucky then there used to be.

 

Perhaps my glasses are rose colored, but I do not see the despair in Kentucky football that some of you see. I see large crowds at football games, and small crowds at basketball games. I see schools who are putting a lot of resources at the hands of the coaches to make their programs competitive. I see many schools improving their facilities. I see football becoming bigger in football in Kentucky.