Taylor County = Joke

[PAPA PIGSKIN]

After 1 year on the job at Taylor County Coach Cotton has been forced to resign. He is a very good coach and has had success every where he has been, including a state championship appearance at Henry Clay, a Midsouth Conference Championship at Georgetown College, and a state championship at LCA. Taylor should be ashamed to only give him one year on the job. This program has always been bad and with this show of spinelessness by the administration it will only get worse. Taylor is a bottom tier job and will take years to even build a solid foundation. Giving a coach 1 year is a joke. Even after posting a 1-9 record, I understand that the staff had 65 kids out for winter workouts and the kids were buying in and working hard. Those type of numbers and player effort speak volumes about the direction the program was going.

 

This job may look somewhat appealing from the outside but do not be fooled. It is an awful job. Parents have unrealistic expecations of success and believe their student athletes should achieve this success without hard work. Obviously the administration has shown they are a bunch of yellow belly cowards. They can't stand up to pressure concerning the hire they have made. With Taylor moving in the district with Boyle, Lex Cath, Mercer, and Marion I don't think a quality coach would touch this job with a ten foot pole. I hope no one takes the job and the program crumbles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Spread O]

Was he forced? I was putting 2 & 2 together and thinking he was following Rains to Mercer!

[PAPA PIGSKIN]

100% forced out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

With this development Mercer and Coach Rains would be an option, I assume. If Rains can get the LCA band back together at Mercer then watch out!!!!!!!!!!

[beverlybubba]

I know nothing about Taylor County but football is probably the hardest sport in which to build a program. You need a lot of players of the right mix of size and abilities. Learning plays is difficult due to having 11 players involved. Basketball teams only have 1 more person in the team, 12, than football teams have on the field. Building a football program is very tough.

[sportsfan08]

You can say what you want but he was awful at Taylor and did nothing to endear himself to the community. Their program was awful, but cotton somehow managed to make it worse. One year or not his performance this year was fireable.

[Harry Doyle]

This might be the worst job in the state to take right now. They have absolutely no shot of making the playoffs the next four years being in a district with Marion County, Boyle, Mercer and LexCath. As Papa said, Coach Cotton got the shaft. They'll be hard pressed to find anybody that will want to take this. Nobody in there right mind would go after this job.

 

I hate it for the kids. Another prime example of a Kentucky school district administration that obviously has no clue in how to properly support it's football program.

[TheLegends64]

With the new district this maybe a blessing in the long run. Best of luck to Curtis he is a good coach. Not sure what went wrong at Taylor but he will be a good assistant if he goes back to that position.

[Harry Doyle]

Facts:

 

1) Coach Cotton given the option to "resign" instead of being "fired."

2) Cotton officially "resigned" his coaching position today.

3) His reason to "resign" wasn't because he and his wife didn't like living in Campbellsville/Taylor County.

3) The hire last year to make Cotton the head coach was decided upon the principal, athletic director and hiring committee. It WAS NOT made in an overide by Taylor County Schools superintendent Roger Cook. As a matter of fact, Cook removed himself from the hiring process as it progressed.

[gchs_uk9]

Taylor County has been to the playoffs 13 times, winning four games total in those trips. Three of those wins were from that regional title run in 1999. The other was a five-point win as district champ over Powell County in 2008. So while Cotton might not have been the most loved person in the community, the past results seem to show that they haven't exactly been a powerhouse over the years. The new district is certainly a challenge, but the bigger challenge might be explaining why your previous coach was gone after one year.

[Harry Doyle]

Taylor County has been to the playoffs 13 times, winning four games total in those trips. Three of those wins were from that regional title run in 1999. The other was a five-point win as district champ over Powell County in 2008. So while Cotton might not have been the most loved person in the community, the past results seem to show that they haven't exactly been a powerhouse over the years. The new district is certainly a challenge, but the bigger challenge might be explaining why your previous coach was gone after one year.

 

They could bring in Urban Meyer to replace Cotton the next four years and it wouldn't make a difference with that district line-up. Now, if somebody is interested in taking the job and making this a long haul 6-8 year+ work in progress, chipping away each year to improve in numbers and a win here or there, then they might have a chance. Personally, though, I'd be doing some serious investigating how how things are handled at the top.

 

I'm still trying to figure out what was so wrong about what was in progress at Taylor? They were having 60+ kids lifting after school, and this started the second week of November. I know some had a problem with their choice of offense this past year (Tony Franklin System), but that was being thrown out of the window in going towards a more traditional, run heavy offense next year. I'll be honest, and I try not to ever make comments that might be read by the young men playing, but the fact of the matter is, Taylor County was so bad this past year in terms of their numbers and physical personell, that it didn't matter what they tried doing on offense. Coach Cotton and his staff was doing what they felt was best, and instead of ditching an offense every week, they tried to get better at what they committed themselves too. To his credit, he realized that the TFS wasn't what was best for his program, and was bound to make a change for the future.

 

I can see if this was a Highlands, Boyle County, St. X, etc and a 1-win season, in their first season would justify a firing, but not a place like Taylor County, where as you pointed out, has had only couple good years in their programs almost 40 year history.

[sportsfan08]

I think one reason could be that the previous coach was fired for only winning four or five games. Then coach cotton comes in showing off his ring like he invented football and only one 1 game with the same team. Not exactly the results they were looking for.

[Jim Schue]

I think one reason could be that the previous coach was fired for only winning four or five games. Then coach cotton comes in showing off his ring like he invented football and only one 1 game with the same team. Not exactly the results they were looking for.

 

I have a hard time believing a school the size of Taylor Co. had zero seniors playing football in 2009.

[Harry Doyle]

I have a hard time believing a school the size of Taylor Co. had zero seniors playing football in 2009.

 

I don't know about '09, but I'm almost positive that they only finished with 2-3 seniors this year.

[oldonetechnique]

Another school on the long list of Jokes in Kentucky! Good luck to Coach Cotton.

[birdseye]

This is coach Cotton. I'd like to comment and put and end to this thread. I was so desperate to be a head coach I took the job without having met Cook or interviewed with him. My mistake. Then when I did get it I went all in committing to a long term re-building project with all my heart, brought my family here and bought my house. I instituted a program of fairness, character and accountability, began teaching fundamentals, instituted a feeder program, scheduled a freshman and full jv schedule and began the BFS strength and conditioning program. Not surprisingly not every kid and parent bought in right away. These are the things that will begin to show dividends in the long run. Every decision I made was to build long term dividends and permanent lasting success. In essence I was building a PROGRAM not a team for a season. I was given less than 1 year. Big mistake committing to people I don't know. I should have never come here but I'm a grown up and I did and now i'm paying for it. Another coach on my staff moved here from Mississippi and bought a house also. I feel bad for him and i'm sorry. I feel bad for the kids who had now bought in and i'm sorry for what their future looks like now.