ChiefSmoke

Interesting. Our season opener with Newport in 2013. Weather delay. We both asked to make it a no-contest. We were told by the KHSAA office that once a game starts, that is not an option. They came back and we finished the game on Saturday night. Did the rule change?

Two wonderful places with excellent leaders in place as their head coach. I hope Carter County HS never opens up. I know for my 3 kids, I would rather them go to East or West than one big school. One of my favorite games every fall. When I am 81, this game will definitely be on my list.

Just sent this to our families. These folks are absolutely wonderful. I could not ask for a more cooperative group of people.

2022 was my year being an analyst for Kevin Wallace & St. X. I scouted the Male game @ Ballard. When it started, thought it was going to be a running clock for Male. Ballard & Coach Morton pulled off the upset. Adrian knows how to coach football. Coach White has certainly taken Atherton football to another level. Will be a great game and would not be surprised with either team pulling out a victory.

How much would a victory over CovCath help Tyler Fryman in the Mr. Football race? CovCath vs. Beechwood is one of our games of the week. We will talk about Tyler as a Mr. Football candidate.

Happy for the Green Devils. Love that place. Good luck the rest of the way!

Dayton was tough in 1993 and very good in 1996. How does this team compare to those? Dan Ridder was an awful good football coach. Jason Skirvin was talented but about as hard nosed as they come as well. Tough kids. Tough team. Physical.

Will be a great football game. Talented and extremely well-coached teams. Could charge $20 a ticket and still be a bargain.

Taylor won big. Think the final was 55-14 but not sure.

The first football game we played after 9/11 was against the Russell Red Devils. Until that moment, they were sort of the big red monster. As we got ready to play that game on that Saturday night, I realized those guys were on my side. I think that shared experience is part of why I grew to have such a good relationship w/ Ivan, Garry Morris & the Russell staff. I had a ton of respect for those guys and still think of them as friends. This was published in June of 2013. I wrote about my wonderful friend and elite football coach, Ivan McGlone. We remained friends until his death. I went to Gloria's visitation. He came for my Dad's. A funny story.... I called him after I got the Mercer job. His first words, "David, I heard a bad thing about you." He NEVER got over the Titans and that 2006 state title. He teased me for going to Mercer County. The post 9/11 game was at Mason County. But, my favorite setting for a game would be in Flatwoods, in the rain & cold, with Ivan and Garry on the other side. We didn't always win. But, those kids played some tough, hard-nosed football. And, you had to finish the game to win it. Nobody was letting anybody off the hook. Steph and I were talking about this tonight. She said, after the 9/11 game, I was still psycho. And, the games were still important. But, it really changed my perspective for the better. Love the Royals & the Red Devils. Love my Bearcats. Love the old Rebels & Dogs. Love the Greyhounds & the Titans. God Bless America. The Flatwoods legend I am not real proud of how I acted when it all got started, but I had my reasons. It was 1996 and my first trip to Flatwoods to face the Russell Red Devils. It was past 7:30, time for kickoff. And I walked to the hash marks, saying loudly, "I guess since this is Russell and that is Ivan McGlone, we don't have to start the game on time.” I was trying to establish with our kids that we were not going to back down from anyone. The referees begrudgingly threw the flag and penalized the Red Devils, but they were mad at me the rest of the night. I still think it was good for me to set the tone with our kids, but little did I know that night that our series with the Red Devils, and more importantly my friendship with Ivan McGlone, would have a monumental impact on me as a person and a coach. Since the first butt-kicking we took in 1996, the trip to Flatwoods and the challenge of playing the Red Devils has become my favorite game and destination. It is a challenge because of what Ivan, his staff, the players and the community have built at Russell. Our games with Russell have been major turning points in our program. In 1997, we finally beat them. In 2001, our first game after 9/11 was against them at home on a Saturday night, moved because of the events of the week. We won that game by two touchdowns and played exceptionally well, but it was a very empty feeling after the win. What happened the Tuesday before had put football and my nemesis, the Red Devils, in perspective. In 2002, they knocked us off in a crazy game in a rainstorm the first week we had ever been ranked No. 1. The later loss in the playoffs in 2002 was the toughest loss I've experienced - ever. We started playing again in 2007 after having been moved to the old Class AAA. As a staff, we prepped more for the 2007 game than any other, going all the way back to December 2006. The result was a home loss in OT, followed by a playoff loss at Flatwoods. We finally broke through in 2008 and won in Flatwoods. We have now won three in a row in Flatwoods, including last fall when we came back from three TDs down in the fourth quarter to win 32-28, which was one of the biggest wins I've experienced - ever. Ivan has taught me much about football and life. Ivan's Wing-T offense, especially his two-tight-end Wing-T set, is an incredibly sound and solid offensive system. Glenn Caruso is one of the brightest and best young football minds in the nation. Through Coach Bill Arnsparger, I had the opportunity to talk to Coach Caruso. Caruso has developed a system for assigning to offensive formations a quotient that determines the difficulty of the set to defend. When you apply Caruso's formula to Ivan's primary offensive set, it scores very high. His base set is balanced, but he gives you an additional gap to defend to the wing side. He can get four receivers deep in a hurry, but he can also get all of his blockers to the point of attack inside the tackle box when he needs to do so. He can handle any adjustment you make with a small number of very effective plays. Add to all of this the bonus of having a boatload of deception and blocking angles in his offense, and you have a juggernaut to defend. We work against Ivan's blocking schemes and use our defensive reads for his offense in the spring and preseason. His offense forces you to play good, sound, fundamental football, which helps you against all of your opponents. Defensively, the Red Devils blitz whenever opponents hit the red zone. We call it November Drill and work against that blitz year-round. We put the ball on the 20-yard line and tell Coach Harris to blitz the house. Ivan has made us a much better offense in the red zone. Through 17 seasons of seeing Ivan before and after our games - some of them our biggest wins and losses ever - he has given me a better perspective on what is really most important. Of course I want to win, but I get fired up just anticipating that for four quarters we are going to have an epic battle. The last few years when his wife Gloria was battling cancer, I also began to really look forward to seeing her after the game. I realized if she was there and I got to see her, win or lose, it had been a great night. In the spring of 2012, Gloria passed away and Ivan was struggling in his recovery from back surgery. When I saw him at Gloria's visitation, I wasn't sure he would be on the field Oct. 5 in Flatwoods. That moment in the church helped me appreciate how blessed I had been to be on that field, opposite of Ivan, over these past 17 seasons. Before last year's Lewis County game, I told the kids we were playing for the "envelope.” Only with a win could we open the envelope. We won. On the inside, it said "battle of unbeatens, big district game, in Flatwoods versus the Red Devils and Coach McGlone.” One more time, we were going to face the legend and the Red Devils in Flatwoods. And I believe Ivan was right where Gloria would want him - on the field, getting ready to be who he is and do what he does. I missed Gloria being there, but I was glad that Stephanie and Trosper were there to hug Ivan after the game. We always want to win, but if I can face my old friend one more time in 2013, it will be a great Friday night regardless of the score.

Citing competitive imbalance, Tennessee private schools may leave the TSSAA and form their own league and build their own schedule. They are doing so to get away from Baylor, Brentwood Academy & McCallie. Interesting development. Would not be surprised to see more of this happen in other states. Could competitive imbalance also be contributing to the number of programs across the country dropping varsity football for the 2026 season? Dominance of Baylor, McCallie has some D-II teams conside...A move that could potentially shake up the entire framework for the TSSAA's private-school membership could be presented to the state's high school sports governing body as early as next week.

I don't remember. I don't think so.

Hope everyone has or had a great Labor Day practice. Thankful I still got to be there today at my age. No better place to be the first Monday in September.

That is not true. 1995, Dennis Johnson of Harrodsburg HS was ejected against Paris HS. He played the following week. I was the HFC at Paris the night he was ejected.