Wildcat18

I know a current middle school coach who came in 2nd to Coach French for the Southwestern job (the "back-up plan" if you will). I only say that because it came from sources I trust who were "in the know" with the hiring committee. Knocked the interview out of the park, best of all the applicants including French I was told. You just can't turn down a GREAT coach like French. Ended up being a great hire for them. The same MS coach has had his interest gauged from two other high school programs in the area as well. One coach reached out while contemplating retirement and one AD inquired assuming his coach would take another job opportunity, all prior to the 2014 season. Both coaches ended up staying. I would say many of the elite middle school coaches are at least seriously considered for head high school coaching jobs. On another note, Coach Haddix will do great at Corbin. However, I could very easily have seen Coach Jackson (current Corbin MS coach) take over that program and be just as successful. Great coach and even better guy.

Here is my top 4. 1. Coach Hines - Pulaski - For the same reasons JumperDad listed. Finally got that ring! 2. Coach French - Southwestern - Went from 1-9 to 10-3 and a district title (over the future state champion Pulaski team) and a regional final appearance. Any other team make that drastic of a change in one year? 3. Coach Browning - Williamsburg - Nice run and came 1 point from doing what most thought was impossible (with Mayfield in the way) in 1A. 4. Coach Gregory - Graves - For the same reasons The Scribe listed. I know I expected no one other than BG in the finals.

Great observation. This is the EXACT same team you saw shut out a Harris-less Mad South on ESPN in the monsoon. Take that to the bank.

DE-FENSE (clap, clap) DE-FENSE (clap, clap) DE-FENSE!

Harris was "injured" against Southwestern. However, he was "hurt" in previous games where he sat out. I'm a big advocate that there is a difference in being hurt and being injured. You can play hurt. He sat out most of the South Laurel game and I believe most of the Whitley County game as well. Someone closer to the program could probably confirm that. Sindelar deserves it regardless.

After last weeks rankings, I typed up a small comment followed by my computer crashing before I got to submit it! It was in response to the skepticism that Pulaski was facing due to Hall's injury from here on out. I simply said for you all not sleep on Gregory as the back-up QB. Later on that Friday night, Gregory went out and had almost 500 (226 rush, 221 pass I believe it was) yards of total offense with 8 touchdowns (5 rush, 3 pass) on a career night. I understand that the South Laurel defense is less than stellar and those numbers will probably not be duplicated. However, I will say this again: DO NOT SLEEP ON GREGORY. He would start QB on 95% of any high school teams in the state, not named Pulaski with a Hall in attendance. There will not be THAT huge of a drop-off for the PC offense as many anticipate.

Just a side note to this one...Pulaski backup quarterback George Gregory had 8 touchdowns (5 rush, 3 pass) in this one.

Early in the 3rd. 50-20 PC. Gregory with 7 total TDs as backup QB.

30-0 Pulaski. Early 2nd quarter. Backup QB George Gregory with 3 TD passes and a rush TD so far.

You all will be VERY surprised by the play of George Gregory at QB. The only thing he doesn't have quite the experience with that Hall has is reading pass coverage, only because he's not used to it. If he can practice up on that one dimension, the PC offense will be just fine. His arm is just as strong and his ground game will be better than Hall. He could start QB at almost any Kentucky high school and the only reason he's not is because there is a very rare talent like Hall at PC. Most of you are throwing the towel in on Pulaski after watching a poor performance on ESPNU and I get it. However, I'll say this...to play as poor as they did and to deal with having a friend and arguably their best player injured in the 2nd quarter, I think they responded pretty well by winning 35-0.

LOL. I'm assuming you all had a lot of feedback from that one? I was curious if all that chaos ever left Knox County that night. It was crazy.

This is a tad off topic, but relevant toward this "rivalry" if you will. About 2 years ago, a friend of mine and I traveled to Knox to watch them play Bell in a middle school football game. We were outsiders simply scouting both teams that we were scheduled to play that year. Bell had a 2 TD lead with a little over a minute to go in the game. Penalty after penalty, Knox came back in those last few seconds to get the win. Come to find out, a ref was a relative of a Knox coach (a father of a coach I believe). I would question it if I weren't there to see it myself. There is no doubt in my mind that the folks at Knox intentionally put the screws to Bell that game. Every big play had a phantom call that went against Bell. Even Knox fans we were sitting next to were in awe of some of those flags, it was laughable and obvious. I'm not a fan of either team and couldn't care less who won that game. I'll never forget it as one of the worst called games that I had seen in person at any level. I'll sweat bullets til the day I die every time a team I support plays AT Knox because of the events I saw take place that day. As far as this particular article, there is a lot of targeting that goes on. It wouldn't surprise me, but it should be done legally between the whistles. Hitting is part of the sport.

Very rarely do you see folks first see something in a negative light, then sit back and reflect on how it really is a positive. Most don't even take the time. It takes a good person to do it, but an even greater person to admit it. Good luck to Carroll County & Bellevue.

Dudley Hilton has no reason to believe that Graves resigned due to health reason...other than the fact that just a month ago, Hilton himself resigned due to health reasons. It's obvious that was a scapegoat. Hilton is a winner at the high school level. With that said, there's nothing classy about the guy with the way he left the kids at UPike hanging out to dry 2 weeks before their first game. When you start something and commit, you see it through. You've got guys who committed to play for this guy for 4 years. It's a cheap move on his part.

It should be pointed out that this looks to be the last game in this rivalry.

George Gregory and Jake Johnson from Pulaski County. The problem is they play sparingly on defense as they're also 2 of the top receivers in 5A.

I look at it from a biased stand point. Southern is A LOT closer to Pulaski than Central is. I would be surprised if this game is within 3 TD's in favor of Southern.

Harris doesn't need anymore horses to win this game. Southern 38-20

7-on-7 is not to benefit passing teams. It helps running teams work an area that they may not be as used to. It's preparation for the regular upcoming season. If your main focus is winning a passing tournament, you're in it for the wrong reasons. Get better and improve your passing game for when it matters.

The best at what? I haven't seen Madison Southern do much of anything on the football field. Southern should be winning state titles with a talent like Harris. It's a shame his coaches don't put him into a more complex offense than the pee-wee schemes they currently run. You think he's good now. Wait til you see him in a better, more fast-pace offense when he gets to the next level.

I've heard rumors that Russell County has added another stud running back because of a transfer that may not drop them as much as people think. The question still remains at the quarterback position. RC will not get past the first round or two of the playoffs because of their traditionally weak schedule. However, they'll have a decent year for their expectations.

I know this list is pre-season. However, a team to watch is Southwestern. They make noise and finish in the top 7 or so in 5A. Mark it down.

Does he play defense? Or should I say _efense? With no D.

Think about how much different this had been if Larry French had chosen to stay at Boyle. He started this massive domino effect.

I don't expect this to be a supported comment, but I look at Garrard much like South Laurel. I have no idea why each of those jobs would be popular among great coaches. Good coaches or up-and-comers, yes. If the realignment goes like expected, Garrard would possibly be in a district with Boyle and Lex Cath. South Laurel is in a district with Pulaski, Southwestern, North Laurel, and Madison Southern. Who in their right mind would want to walk into that? Those jobs are just not appealing. The only thing on Garrard's side is that I expect Lex Cath to have a couple of down years coming up. I have a hard time believing Letton would have stepped away from that team (with his son, assuming he transfers if they move) if he thought they would compete at the same levels they are used to.