Mike Code is the reason HHS was so good when they had their run of 9th region finals. He constantly stressed defense and the defense just wore teams out. Willie and John Messmer did a lot but Code was the reason they could shut down a team. Just my opinion!

 

Why would Code leave a situation where he's the very successful coach of the "king" sport at a quite successful, relatively stress-free program, to be the second fiddle to football at Highlands?? While I fully believe Willie's decision has nothing to do with basketball or Highland's football; he & Mike are close friends, and I'm sure have discussed the challenges of being the 2nd banana in a "no-win" situation in Ft. Thomas!! :confused:

Why would Code leave a situation where he's the very successful coach of the "king" sport at a quite successful, relatively stress-free program, to be the second fiddle to football at Highlands?? While I fully believe Willie's decision has nothing to do with basketball or Highland's football; he & Mike are close friends, and I'm sure have discussed the challenges of being the 2nd banana in a "no-win" situation in Ft. Thomas!! :confused:

 

True statements there but my feeling it would be a good fit where he could teach/coach and get the program back in the REgional Finals. The dry spell at Highlands is very disappointing. The past 4 yrs they have had some very nice teams with stars like Vories 2005 POY, Simpson/McGraw (Studs) and have not gotten past the 2nd round in the Region. Bottom line is it aint gettin done.

If Highlands want to have a shot of winning regionals every year they have one choice!

 

SHUMATE!!!!

True statements there but my feeling it would be a good fit where he could teach/coach and get the program back in the REgional Finals. The dry spell at Highlands is very disappointing. The past 4 yrs they have had some very nice teams with stars like Vories 2005 POY, Simpson/McGraw (Studs) and have not gotten past the 2nd round in the Region. Bottom line is it aint gettin done.

Many programs would kill to get to the second round of the regional tournament on an annual basis. This is the part of the Highlands equation that makes the job undesirable - the extremely high expectations placed on the coaches and players every year. Anything less than winning the 9th Region Championship is unacceptable in Fort Thomas. McGraw and Simpson were studs with physical problems. This years "studs" are juniors.

In this day and age, there are many good teams out there, many good coaches, and many "studs." Holmes is a dominant force right now. Boone County figured out how to play them best and gave them all they wanted, defeating them once.

Willie did the best he could with what he had to do it with, under the circumstances. The football animal has changed dramatically since the Shields era and does factor into the Highlands basketball success picture. Will Grubbs be in the gym next year?

Good luck to the next in line to succeed Willie at Highlands, bring your blood pressure meds, and expect nothing but perfection to be demanded by the Fort Thomas faithful.

If Willie couldn't get it done, what makes you think that someone else can???

Why would Code leave a situation where he's the very successful coach of the "king" sport at a quite successful, relatively stress-free program, to be the second fiddle to football at Highlands?? While I fully believe Willie's decision has nothing to do with basketball or Highland's football; he & Mike are close friends, and I'm sure have discussed the challenges of being the 2nd banana in a "no-win" situation in Ft. Thomas!! :confused:

 

A somewhat successful (tongue placed firmly in cheek) coach named Shields didn't think it was a "no-win" situation and won the region with a pretty good frequency. Seems like Code is quite the competitor and if so, I'd assume he would love the challenge of winning the region at a "football school". It has been and can be done. And I disagree with Mustang that the football animal has changed since Shields. I don't recall Shields teams being littered with football players. There were a few on each squad, but there has been a few on Willie's squads. And if Roller had not blown out his knee in a football game, there would have been one more.

 

Perhaps I missed it, but has it really been confirmed that Willie is stepping down?

Many programs would kill to get to the second round of the regional tournament on an annual basis. This is the part of the Highlands equation that makes the job undesirable - the extremely high expectations placed on the coaches and players every year. Anything less than winning the 9th Region Championship is unacceptable in Fort Thomas. McGraw and Simpson were studs with physical problems. This years "studs" are juniors.

In this day and age, there are many good teams out there, many good coaches, and many "studs." Holmes is a dominant force right now. Boone County figured out how to play them best and gave them all they wanted, defeating them once.

Willie did the best he could with what he had to do it with, under the circumstances. The football animal has changed dramatically since the Shields era and does factor into the Highlands basketball success picture. Will Grubbs be in the gym next year?

Good luck to the next in line to succeed Willie at Highlands, bring your blood pressure meds, and expect nothing but perfection to be demanded by the Fort Thomas faithful.

If Willie couldn't get it done, what makes you think that someone else can???

 

 

I think so. The kid's first love is bball.

 

And you are right about expectations being high. They are high at Highlands in everything, but to the right type of people, that's not a negative; it's a positive.

I think so. The kid's first love is bball.

 

And you are right about expectations being high. They are high at Highlands in everything, but to the right type of people, that's not a negative; it's a positive.

 

:thumb::thumb:

I would go after the coach from Scott High School. Not sure of his name, maybe Karr. Very solid coach and has done quite well with minimal talent. Give him some real athletes, like Highlands, and see what he can do.

I would go after the coach from Scott High School. Not sure of his name, maybe Karr. Very solid coach and has done quite well with minimal talent. Give him some real athletes, like Highlands, and see what he can do.

 

That would be Brad Carr from Scott HS.

 

Seems to always be a candidate when jobs come open in the N Ky area. Has had a good run at Scott and has a pretty solid team coming back. Big advantage at Scott is he is not competing for those football athletes. Disadvantages at Scott would be facilities and lack of feeder program.

Any chance Coach Shields comes out of Retirement for an encore?

 

Also any chance a one time assistant and Ft. Thomas Resident, who currently coaches at another prominent NKY school would consider the move? I hear he is not real thrilled with the current Principal.

I would go after the coach from Scott High School. Not sure of his name, maybe Karr. Very solid coach and has done quite well with minimal talent. Give him some real athletes, like Highlands, and see what he can do.

I agree he has done a great job a Scott. I wouldn't mind seeing him come in for an interview as well. I just think that Code would be a nice solution. I am sure Willie will talk to him if he hasn't already about playing second fiddle to football, but that goes for any coach that is going to step into that position.

I heard from a very reliable source this morning that Coach Sheilds was asked if he would consider coming back. To his reply (Guys I'm 70 years old) He did say he thought he could still do the job but he did feel they needed to find someone that could come in and lead the program for the next 10 or so years. Maybe Highlands needs to look outside the box here a little bit. Isn't Holmes and Boone Co's coaches from down state somewhere. They sure seem to be getting the job done. Maybe just maybe Coach Sheilds could sit on the bench as an assistant. Nah!!!! That would be to good to be true.

You never know Brad Carr walked the halls off HHS for a year or so...I think he would be a great pick. I really like the way he coaches..:thumb:

I heard from a very reliable source this morning that Coach Sheilds was asked if he would consider coming back. To his reply (Guys I'm 70 years old) He did say he thought he could still do the job but he did feel they needed to find someone that could come in and lead the program for the next 10 or so years. Maybe Highlands needs to look outside the box here a little bit. Isn't Holmes and Boone Co's coaches from down state somewhere. They sure seem to be getting the job done. Maybe just maybe Coach Sheilds could sit on the bench as an assistant. Nah!!!! That would be to good to be true.

 

I think when it is all said and done Highlands will have a ton of great applicants. There will be current head coaches and assistants from the Northern Kentucky area and across the state.

If Highlands want to have a shot of winning regionals every year they have one choice!

 

SHUMATE!!!!

 

:scared:Don't leave coach. Stay at Beechwood and lead us to victory!