CoachJ

This is a great question, NCF. I'll need to check with someone there with much more technical knowledge than I. I'd be surprised if there's not a way to do that. (and you were the exact person I thought about when I wondered if this could stream online!)

Oh trust me, I made them very well-aware that THE online outlet with the most comprehensive coverage, the most passionate/football-loving subscribers, and best outreach to fans who would want to watch on Saturdays is this place. Mainly, I told them the heart of BGP is to promote this great sport, the kids that play it, the coaches that give their everything to it, and the fans who go nuts for it. They told me to go full speed with promoting HERE in any way I can. And I told them I knew without even asking that BGP would go all out in helping to promote those same stakeholders. Marriage made in heaven! Guru -- I'll get back with you about specifics. I know there are going to be some nice human-interest pieces for halftime and pre-game on kids/coaches who have a great story. That might be something of interest to fans outside the Louisville area on here and maybe there'd be a way for this site to be an outlet for that.

Thank you for the confidence, Bruin66! I know 'thorough' will happen; not sure how this ugly mug will play on an HD screen though! To your other point, it's better said I always said I would "assist" Coach Copley during his transition and am still doing that (administrative help mainly). There was some talk early on about me having a hand in the offense, but my intention when stepping down was 100% about being with my family more the year before my son goes to HS. I knew being an official "assistant" would ultimately mean less time for family. This TV gig is mainly one day a week & has no interference with my son's football practice or games.

I am excited to be a part of "Game On 2016," a weekly broadcast of a Louisville area game of the week to be televised each Saturday this fall on WBKI, Louisville's CW affiliate. In addition to great coverage by outlets like BGP, Jason Frakes with the Courier-Journal, etc., this will further promote this great sport in our area and also the hard-working kids and coaches that make it possible. The first game is the Manual/Central matchup in week 0. The game will be telecast on SATURDAY, AUG. 20 at 8:00pm (it will be in that time slot each week). I have met some incredible people who are part of this project while getting prepped for doing color commentary -- like Craig Olmstead (son of Louisville TV legend, Chuck Olmstead), Kevin Hulsman, Randy Whetstone, Garry Gupton, and a tremendously professional group of technical people at the TV station who really seem to have a passion for promoting kids and schools in this area. In addition, the media department at PRP is assisting both behind and in-front-of the camera--great real-world education for those kids. I don't want to post the entire schedule b/c a few games later in the season are still in the confirmation stages on the school end, but I can say that these teams will be aired at least once: Ballard Central Christian Academy Eastern Male Manual PRP St. Xavier Trinity Hope you guys will tune in every week. I know I've got a face made for radio, but fortunate for all of you I think I'll only be on camera for the pre-game keys to the game.

Great point w/ basis in fact/evidence Cols. But...what if it doesn't mean only playing 17 players total. In other words, you still have 9 kids who pretty much only play offense or defense & that's what they work on 80% of the week in practice so you have them IF NEEDED (major injury to a main player, kid needs a two-play break,etc), but those 5-7 STUD athletes do more of a 50/50 Split in practice each week & are thus available at any point in time (critical 4th down, game-winning drive, etc) on their "second" side of the ball? What Carmony's suggesting I think, is not "iron-man" football where only 17-20 kids total play EVERY snap O/D/K.

Thank you for that. You're a very respected and knowledgeable poster so that means a lot! Now...enough about me -- let's keep talking about HS football in Louisville! Good article up now on Scott Carmony at Manual and moving away from 2-platoon football -- thoughts? DeSales has a new facility and has already proven they can compete at top level of their own class but also against bigger schools. Can they keep this up? Waggener has gotten some very talented players transferring to them over the last two years. Can that talent infusion help them compete with already talent-rich Central? And then, what about that region -- from Central frying pan into the Boyle/LexCath fire every November. Christian Academy -- those of us in the know have always said it's just a matter of time a lower-cost private school situated at the east end of Jeff. Co, near Shelby and Oldham lines becomes a major player. Now with a top-shelf head coach, some YOUNG players destined to play on Saturdays in a few years, and a major upgrade in facilities could this be the year for the Centurions?

No problem -- you're not alone. Some took the phrase "I'll still be helping out" as I'd be a full-time assistant. It even looked for a while he would need me to be on board to run the offense, but fortunately he was able to get a great coach he also trusts to come on board and so now I can concentrate almost exclusively on helping my son after school each day.

Slight correction: the former head coach won't be an actual assistant. I'd said I'm 'helping out' and have with the off-season training, some administrative things, and the myriad of transitional things to be helpful to a coach new to the school & area. As was my original intent when stepping down in December, I will be spending my time after school working with my son and his middle school team this fall. Incidentally, Ballard should be good this year. The head coach is new but the transition was pretty seamless in terms of off-season work, discipline, etc. The offense will change a bit but should be a good fit for the players' strengths that are returning from last season--most important it is being run by a person that has experienced success as a head coach and has great attention to detail in Chris Engstrand. Coach Copley has a TREMENDOUS defensive mind and has hired a DC I really respect in Adrian Morton (formerly at Manual). Some carry-overs from last year's defensive staff too who are VERY good coaches. I'd have expected we'd have been 20-25% better this year than last with the returning group (this year's class will have over 30 seniors--more than half with at least a year starting varsity experience). Sometimes a head coaching change can actually illicit a better season even with the changes (new energy, different knowledge-base/experience vs. certain schemes, etc.)--I definitely look for that to be the case with Coach Copley. I also look for Ballard to surprise a lot of people this year.

I like what you did there. Well done!

Actually between July 10 and 31 (when everybody starts actual practices) is the ONLY time you're allowed to do 7on7 vs. other schools. Used to be that the competitive 7on7 stuff was done mainly in June -- prior to when we all would start 'offical practice' in July. Now the ONLY option for those wanting to compete against others is now.

Sounds like what the recently-let-go UK "performance management" guru--Eric Korem--was trying to do. I think it started off with a bang but some on-field (and in-training-room?) results (lack thereof) made it go out with a whimper. As for being secretive, I can totally see an NFL organization keeping any kind of results to themselves worrying that any edge they get might trickle to other teams. Very paranoid bunch.

We used something similar, but somewhat cheaper. It was called, "THE SECOND MAN." We'd do a running back drill where the RB would be handed a ball, one defender was to angle tackle him on the side away from the arm with the ball, and THE SECOND MAN would rush in and attempt to strip, punch down, or punch up on the ball.:lol2: If the RB didn't apply the right pressure, a coach would notice and would "beep" (actually, he'd "tweet" -- it would be his whistle). Ours had the added benefit that if the "beep" (or "tweet") went off, the RB would have the added benefit of 20 up-downs (that seemed to be a better deterrent than ringing ears). Sorry to be smart, but when I saw that each of these balls are $150 and are for a very specialized use, I just wondered who could possibly afford such a thing in a HS program (then I'm reminded some programs are VERY "well-endowed"). ...but cynicism aside, I really like the concept to try and teach this important skill. (We went to 'high-and-tight' ball carrying when we lost a game in overtime when down only 3, our best RB gained 8 yards on 1st down but fumbled at the very end of the run -- film review showed he had the ball tightly held...but at his SIDE where a defender's helmet was perfectly placed. I read somewhere soon after how Tiki Barber of the Giants essentially saved his career by using a high-and-tight technique and his fumbles reduced dramatically). Speaking of technology I think if I had money to spend on one "gizmo" to answer a need in football, I think I'd go for this motorized tackling dummy:

Urban Meyer may truly care more about the HS coach's recommendation than camp attendance, but I'll tell you what he cares about even more than that: DOES THE KID FIT THEIR PRE-DETERMINED HEIGHT/ARM-LENGTH PRESCRIPTIONS FOR THE POSITION THEY NEED. If the answer to the above is "yes" (even WITHOUT the HS coach's recommendation), Coach Meyer will do whatever is possible (whether an OSU camp or viewing the kid in person at his HS) to test three things: 1. STRAIGHT LINE SPEED (unless an OL, then this is down the list) 2. HIP and OVERALL FLEXIBILITY 3. REACTION SKILL (stimulus to eyes to brain to feet) Pretty much every player at the D1 level (especially Power 5 schools) is recruited based on this protocol with obvious exception of kicker/long-snapper (often non-scholarship kids). It's this simple: D1 scholarships go to about 1% of HS playing seniors. Your kid then needs to be in the top 1% SIZE-WISE while also being in the top 5% SKILL/SPEED-WISE to garner an offer.

What kids THINK their 40 time is -- b/c it was timed by their HS coach (usually hand-timed; sometimes fudged to build confidence), or someone at a camp (sometimes fudged to make them think that's where they ran their best time), or their 'personal trainer' (definite self-serving reason for them to fudge their client's time to justify the $$ they're spending), or worst-of-all "my buddy/dad with his cell phone stopwatch -- is the reason so many kids are so disappointed when they don't get that D1 offer they've been sure they're getting all their lives. It's all about the combination of BODY-FRAME & ATHLETICISM (especially in the hips) for the position they project you. A possible exception could be WR/DB if you can FLY (one of the 0.1% HS kids out there who have true sub 10.7 100m times)...but even at those positions, we're starting to hear more and more, "if he's not 6'0 or better, we're not really interested."

Ballard still needs a game early in the season. Have reached out to all programs with openings within a reasonable distance--have offered several close-by schools home-and-home and even $$ to play--and still no takers. May have to drive several hours to fill it unfortunately.

Not seeing anything on their website for a "Spalding Alpha" football. Did see an "Alpha" on the Sears website for $129! Am guessing HS football would use their "TF-GOLD" ball ($89.99--still WAY more than it was 5 years ago). Looks like that supply-and-demand stuff I learned in Econ is pretty accurate.

Tough seeing this--both for the program at NOHS but more importantly for him regarding his family. Extremely loyal man and passionate about kids being successful. Won't be easy to replace to be sure!

Great kid. Hated losing him to Mercer -- glad to see it was a great fit. As good an athlete as he was very early (starter on our #1-ranked bball team that made finals as a freshman), he had zero pretension. A pleasure to be around and I can see now that he'll have a great way with kids in need of help.

Spring football can be very beneficial if it's looked at as a whole different enterprise than in-season practice. Must realize you're not in it to get a team ready to play a game...it's 99% about developing players' skills in ways not permissible every other day of the off-season. Think of the SOPHS-TO-BE moving from Freshman to Varsity with the added complexity. Important for upperclass kids who didn't play the year before you worked hard walking the halls to get to come out -- gives you a chance to catch them up on the very basics: stance, start, alignment, assignment. Good for TRANSFERS to your school who you must teach not only your systems but your practice methods and culture. What's been said about the linemen and being able to FOCUS on them and their technique is important. Very big is that you don't look at spring practices and development of strength/quickness/agility as mutually exclusive. (Part of the reason it would be hard for me ever to coach at a place we don't have in-school weightlifting.) It's like a 6-months-later 'refresher' for our returning guys too. I don't think for one minute Coach Sander is doing ONLY athletic evaluation during his spring practice window. I'm sure even if it's only him there with zero assistants, he's able to teach the basics of his system (stance/start, alignment, formations, etc.).

(Horse's mouth here) My only son has one year of middle school left and is saying he wants to try football again. The way I do my off-seasons along with the other entanglements of a HEAD coach and the distance between his school and my school meant I would be unable to work with him at all. Not getting totally out of coaching, just the way things are set up here in Jeff. Co. makes it nearly impossible to be a JCPS head coach AND spend the kind of time with him I think he needs.

Wondering if names of any interviewees are leaking out? I always like keeping up with what's going on at the place where I got my start -- great sports community.

Coach Rigdon is a good football mind and I've heard does a good job connecting with kids. Congrats to him. Am sure he will bring some needed competitiveness to our district in very short time. Some good athletes at that school and one of the few JCPS publics that just seem to yearly have a fairly large group of BIG linemen.

I recommend the 'paid combines' to our kids ONLY if they can be the best at their position. Otherwise, the only 'value' is, as mentioned earlier, to give all those kids who think they're D1-ability (maybe 25% of kids playing HS football!!?) a wake-up call as to how they're NOT really D1 ability compared to kids from a several-states area.

Yes (as did UK), but was interested mainly in FCS schools that signed Ky. kids (I think we have a bunch of them but they get overlooked b/c EKU & Murray only scholarship-offering FCS schools).

Dontez Byrd (Ballard HS - 5'10, 185 WR) signed letter of intent w/ Tennessee Tech (transferred from UofL).