Like sands in the hour glass...Heres my prediction:

 

Floyd stays at Raceland (Why would he leave?) Floyd played at Greenup but is loved so much by the Ram Alumni they will probably retire his jersey in orange.

 

Fraley coaches his alma mater. His dream job comes true but then again Pitino thought Boston was too.

 

Kidwell vs. Barnes, Kidwell wins out with his support system, Cassity coaches the Russell Girls after rule changes.

 

Don Daniels coaches in another region, maybe another state?

 

Barnes and Nobles take over at Rose Hill and in two years make back to back State appearances.

 

These were my predictions way back when ...I posted these predictions because I kind of forgot about them, so here you have it.

Congrats to Kidwell. He definitely deserves the opportunity. Yhe girls loss will be the boys gain!

Congrats to merle. Good luck you will need it.

Funny. True. Realistic. Long. Season.

Like sands in the hour glass...Heres my prediction:

 

Floyd stays at Raceland (Why would he leave?) Floyd played at Greenup but is loved so much by the Ram Alumni they will probably retire his jersey in orange.

 

Fraley coaches his alma mater. His dream job comes true but then again Pitino thought Boston was too.

 

Kidwell vs. Barnes, Kidwell wins out with his support system, Cassity coaches the Russell Girls after rule changes.

 

Don Daniels coaches in another region, maybe another state?

 

Barnes and Nobles take over at Rose Hill and in two years make back to back State appearances.

 

These were my predictions way back when ...I posted these predictions because I kind of forgot about them, so here you have it.

 

If Kidwell is for sure the coach, who will his staff be? And is this 100% offiicial? We he bring the guys from the girls team or select others or keep Dodd's staff? Does anyone have any info for asst's?

I heard yesterday that Sutton is staying at GC to help Fraley.

Official announcement would be first on the agenda I am sure.

Good Luck Coach Kidwell!! Hope everyone gets behind you at Russell. I'm sure you will be as successful will the boys program as you have with the girls. I know there will be some girls who are going to miss you being their coach. Good Luck again!

Congratulations and best wishes to Coach Kidwell, he is a great basketball mind and will do well at Russell.

Good luck to Coach Kidwell !!

It is official, Merle Kidwell is the new head coach at Russell. I have the story on my sports report this morning. My source is the most reliable in this situation, I am not KIDding.

Congratulations to the new boys head coach, Merle Kidwell.

I know the coach is hired by the site based council, and I've heard that there is not a consensus there yet on who the new coach should be. You have to remember that parents (sometimes with agendas, sometimes not) are included on this council. This is keeping it from being cut and dried.

 

Also, if you look at the hiring history of the sports coaches (head coaches), Russell has a HORRIBLE track record of hiring its own. They have constantly overlooked those Russell employees who have either put in their time being assistant coaches and head coaches of minor sports for people from "somewhere else". Not that this is always bad, but it is the case. There is a mentality at Russell and a lot of other places that when looking for a head coach, high quality coaches come from other places, never from within. I guess it's the whole "comfortable" scenario. They all know Merle Kidwell at Russell, his good, bad, and ugly. Joe Blow from Ironton or some college comes in for an interview and they know NOTHING about him. He spins all the bells and whistles for the interviewing committee, shows them the shiny black boxes and all of a sudden, he looks GREAT! They don't know his bad and ugly, so they naively think they are more qualified than the inside people. Look back at the following (and if I forget a few, please forgive me or correct me):

 

Basketball

1. Hired Steve Dodd (from outside), passed over Merle Kidwell and Jim Conway, both Russell people and assistants. Kidwell ended up with the girls job and Conway left to become head coach in Laurel County.

 

2. Larry Stamper (from outside the district)

3. Sam Sparks (from outside the district)

 

Football

1. Hired Ivan McGlone (from outside the district)

2. Before him, I have no idea

 

Anyway, I may be totally off base, but because of the reasons I stated above, I am now believing that Merle Kidwell will not be the next head coach at Russell. I hope I am wrong.

 

I am glad to see that I am wrong. Congrats to Coach Kidwell.

I am glad Merle is finally getting a shot as the boys coach ! I can't think of anyone available that would be a better choice. I just hope everything goes well for him and the team. They also need to give him time to "rebuild" the program and develope a few young kids. I would hate to see him be a "two or three and out" coach. Parents need to know up front that Merle calls the shots and support him. Given a fair shot, he will have a solid program. Good luck Merle.:devil:

Congratulations! Sorry for my mix up the other day