CoachJ

If you get a chance to see the video on this event, try to see it. The Rivals guys made a point to talk about Joey and how he was 'nasty' in the 1-on-1 drills...going against some VERY athletic Memphis-area DL. This kid is VERY driven. Worked our 4-day-a-week workouts every week then went to work with a personal trainer (Carlos Collins) several nights a week to specifically work on things he needed to improve. The "mean-streak" no doubt is inspired by the fact that he's getting offers from many schools around the country (add San Diego St and Houston most recently) but for some reason, the in-state schools are holding off? I hope he carries the mean-streak to the field this fall.

How it relates: people out in the state (my area as much or more than anybody) complain that 'their money' goes out of their area to help fund Eastern Kentucky (you made a direct comment to this effect), yet they pay some of the lowest energy costs in the country due directly to what comes from E. Ky (my comment...in direct response to your comment). This benefits both residential AND business. If the per pupil spending is $3000 per student in our district, I'm sure it's an average...and likely is skewed toward the poorest, lowest-achieving schools in our district. So, our school (not one of the poorest, lowest-achieving) is, in real terms, nowhere near $3000 per student. Makes sense to put more resources toward areas of town where the tax-base would be next to nothing...if not, we'd have basically a situation like the segregated South in the 30s and 40s (I'm VERY far from what one would call 'Liberal,' but I DO not feel it's best for our society to have schools in economically-depressed areas dependent on what they themselves pay in taxes; are you?). So...what our budget is (transportation included) is 100% dependent on how we do with gate receipts (and, like yours, a lot of that goes toward sports with no gate receipts after expenses are taken out). I'm assuming your question is about, 'how much do we get for athletics from the board?' Same as yours. They pay for SOME of our coaches (not all) and we pay for everything else. If we want more to spend, we either have to raise it ourselves (nobody else gets a cut of that) or we have to put a better product on the field so our gate receipts go up.

Personally, I wonder how much more Boone Countians (and other Kentuckians) would have to pay in aggregate ENERGY costs if not for the coal mined and easily transported from Eastern Kentucky?

@ballardbruins1

We've had maybe 20-25 D1 coaches come through Ballard. Have told all of them they're crazy for not offering Dawkins -- best 'burst' of any RB I think I've seen in HS. PERFECT for these spread systems that utilize a one-back set and mixes Inside and Outside Zone.

Kudos to theGuru for posting these numerous links on Ky's top players. For many years, all-state selections were (and could only be) based on word-of-mouth--or worse--the opinions of a very small number of sportswriters with very limited scope. (Not a big fan of polling us COACHES either -- that system is fraught with vote-trading and such.) Now, with these videos, the casual fan can get a sense of really how good these guys are where it matters most: in competition (not just at a combine with measurables like height/weight/40-time/etc.) I've always thought All-State should be based on FILM review by a group of people who really know what they're doing, but always knew it was unfeasible logistically. Maybe now it's getting possible to do it that way. I'm especially grateful that now there are internet systems like hudl.com and others that allow coaches to MUCH more easily compile highlights for players and send them out to the internet and to college coaches than the old days of VHS or DVD burning, mailing, etc.

Kid he went up against from Warren Central was a nice, physical but MUCH quicker-than-usual player and Joey played VERY well against him. DE from Scott County I thought was a similar player but maybe a little more physically strong and Joey had his best game of the season. As to 'not getting much interest -- even from the smaller schools' ...in addition to the probably 20 or so BCS-level coaches that have called me about Joey (just talked to the OL coach from Colorado and the new OL coach at Penn State late last week), I've talked to several 1AA schools who, after watching his film, state that they realize there'd be little need for them to expend the time and energy to recruit a kid who's obviously a BCS-school prospect. (DeVante Parker had zero offers from 1AA-sized schools--why would they?)

Win is a win. Good job Colonels!

:confused:

Very good coach. Will upgrade that program.

Does the BARKER kid from Conner (QB) have any D1 offers?

Big omission on my part. Thanks!

Has been tough over the years as a HS coach in Ky trying to convince D1 recruiters that thus-and-so are good enough to play at the D1 level. I think a lot of this is due to the historical relative low numbers of D1 signees from this state. My belief, however, is that since the Mumme/JohnL/Petrino eras -- when Ky HS football became more of a wide-open game -- MANY more of the skilled athletes in schools have come out for football rather than the old "gotta concentrate on one sport and be a gym rat." Seems to me it used to be that the state of Kentucky would have 8-9 D1 signees a year -- maybe 10-12 in an unusually-talented year. Now it SEEMS that there are many, many more than in the past, but I don't have numbers to back that up. I know there's a thread about where the best Ky. 2012 grads are headed, but wondered about D1 offers already extended this year. Not that we'll ever challenge Florida or Texas for number of D1 guys, but I hope D1 schools out there are aware we are NOT what we used to be as a state. Trust me, with all the area they have to cover in the US, they have to overlook some places--I don't want Kentucky kids to be the ones overlooked. Obviously, the gaggle of great athletes in the 2013 Trinity graduating class has multiple offers (White, Dawkins, Quick, Hatcher, Wright...and I'm maybe leaving out a few like the ILB from Oldham Co. who plays there), Scott from Mayfield committed to WKU yesterday, our OL Joey Bloomfield has an offer from Kansas University and I think our WR Cam Lewis is close to getting some D1 offers as well, Bivins from Apollo, Hyde from Clay Co., Kentavyus ?? from Bourbon, and the WR from Franklin Co. That's 11-13 right there and just off the top of my head. Anybody else I'm leaving out?

Dave Buchanan at Mason County does a great, short, affordable, camp for quarterbacks a couple of different times a year I believe. In Jefferson County, for little guys at several elementary schools, Mark Catlett (who was head coach at Fairdale and Ballard) runs great instructional football camps that run once a week, for 6 or 7 weeks (also does summer week-long sessions). It's called "Football Futures."

This isn't right. A Grayshirt is someone that is told they're wanted by a school but there's not enough room in THIS year's incoming class for them to start in the fall. So they WAIT and enroll the following January. Some pay their own way the first semester of that college freshman year and are technically 'walk-ons' in fall camp; others completely sit out that first fall semester or go to a community college to gain some hours.

Wow...that IS really selfish; I learned in school camels could go MONTHS without needing even a drop.

A couple of questions for the NKy folks... Why would Campbell County even NEED waterboys? Seems like a waste of resources considering who they are. And doesn't DIXIE have an unfair advantage over other schools who probably don't have the same free access to quality drinking cups?

(Sorry to remain off-topic of the original thread, but interesting topic, and since it came up...) At Ballard, we too shy away from referring to 'skill/everybody else.' Our off-season lift/conditioning groups break up into "Skill" (WR/DB/QB) "Big" (which is often wishful thinking for us: OL/DL) and "Tough" (ILB/OLB/FB/RB). Back ON the topic, my post above (saying Dawkins would stand out behind any line) was in no way to demean the big guys he had in front of him this year; rather, just to emphasize how unique a player HE is.

That O-Line was VERY good. But this kid would take pretty much ANY team to another level -- good O-Line or bad. He's got an explosiveness I've rarely seen in a high school kid.

Great athlete, and a VERY classy kid (great family). Glad to see that he's excelling at the next level.

This was my point to the official who flagged our guy for raising his hand while going into the endzone. He didn't give me a definitive answer when I pressed him about whether it was a high school rule as well as college -- that made me think he was a little unsure himself.

By the way, though I disagreed with the call, I do believe the officials in our game ENFORCED the penalty in a fair way. Our TD stood, but the opposing team--since it was a scoring play with a foul--was given the choice to get the 15yds. on the try or on the kickoff. I believe this should be the correct enforcement for CELEBRATION (dead ball foul) regardless of what they decide about what is excessive and what is not. I do think TAUNTING should be a 'live-ball, spot-foul.'

We had the same exact thing happen to us this year. Kid scoring a TD just raised his hand with a finger raised in excitement as he crossed goalline. Flagged and 15yds assessed. Player that did it is about the least 'unsportsmanlike' kid I've coached -- he is, however, a competitor, loves winning, and expresses joy when he or a teammate makes a great play for a score. In the same game, our opponent made a tackle behind the line of scrimmage and you'd have thought he just won the Super Bowl with his flexing toward his own sideline. I didn't think it was an issue since he didn't taunt any of us at all, but how could the same crew label what our kid did as 'excessive' and not a display straight out of the Mr. America competition? I think it was because our kid was on a SCORING play and the tackler wasn't--but it's impossible to know what an official is thinking when viewing a play one way and a similar play in another. It's my belief that there's no place in the game for 'taunting' an opposing player for any reason. I don't even like the 'high-stepping' or 'front-flip-into-the-endzone' thing because it's technically taunting in that you're showing your opponent they're so weak you can score with little effort. However, holding a single finger up in celebration while doing nothing to taunt or disparage the other team in any way. Nor should a SHORT celebration with teammates in the endzone after a score bring a flag. I guess it's the sort of thing that goes to the judgment of the official. Hard to define what is and what isn't 'excessive' (though I think taunting is pretty easy to spot), but I wish they'd try so we can either tell our players to enjoy the game and be excuberant or tell them they must completely restrain their emotions during a game. Don't really care which they tell us; just want to be able to teach my kids correctly.

Wow. I just responded to someone else"s pointing out how good a particular kid looked that I'd never seen play before last night. That also held true for MANY kids I saw late in the game who were VERY impressive kids. Was commenting on the incredible DEPTH of this years Trinity team as much as how impressive the individuals were. I think if you'll look at any of my previous posts about T in the past or talked to any of my colleagues, they will speak to how I've always been nothing but complimentary--and this year In awe -- of them. I'm sorry if my comment seemed somehow not a compliment to the kids and team I finally got to see play. I am in agreement with many I've heard say T is the best Ky team ever and that their 2's would likely beat most team's 1's (I'm really just echoing what I hears the T radio announcers say last week during the 4th Q against Butler).

Really like Sauer too. Same with lots of T Senior kids I saw not get in til 4th Q last night