thehotsnakes

This thread is basically just a notice to the rest of 3A that there is a very high possibility that everyone else will just be playing for the silver medal. With that said, everybody here knows that they play the game for a reason and anything can happen on Friday nights. But, anything less than a state championship should probably be viewed as a let down.

From what I can remember reading, they are almost all pretty young (under 30), so I'm not really sure how many of them would be in a position to actually be considered for it. With that being said, with what they've done in the last 2 years compared to the 50 years prior, I would trust that they are a pretty good staff to have around.

I think the challenge and rewards of building a program on any level of football, is probably one of the biggest factors of coaching. Marion has potential, to me. I've seen some of their kids the last several years and really would have thought they could have done more. Up until last year, they had a beyond rough district, but things can obviously only go up. I have no connection to Marion at all, and absolutely no dog in that fight, but I really would love to see them build a great program. And, I think they need to name the stadium or field after Robbins. But, that's another subject for another time.

If we are wanting to look at their performance against the "strong farm boy" type teams, then look at the Taylor, Metcalfe, Hart and Casey. They went 4-0. And if I recall correctly, Metcalfe scored on broken plays and busted coverage. They weren't taking 4 yards a play, every play, all night. Its insane that we are debating the merits of an Adair team. If you had this thread 5+ plus years ago, it would be people wondering if they would or wouldn't win more than 2 games all season.

I've always been under the impression that most people would want the same system through middle school that the high school uses. Mainly just to make the transition to high school a lot smoother. I've known programs where the high school and middle school are completely different philosophies and whatever similarities are taught are done completely differently. At the end of the day, if a middle school program mirrors the high school program, I doubt that it really runs the risk of hurting anything.

I don't see SW losing their district. Or region. Or class. 2016 4A state champions.

I would say with coaching, those people in the room might think that you work directly for them. Or, at least answer to them. Whereas if you're interviewing for, say, a teaching job. If I'm a math teacher, the other teachers know they aren't my boss. So if they sit in on the interview, that's not a big deal. If a parent is in on a coaching meeting, are they there for the good of the program or their child? If I know the star players mom is interviewing me, I could blow her a lot of smoke by mentioning things that will feature her child. That's how I see it, at least. If there's a ton of people involved with a coaching interview, I could see someone seeing that as a red flag. They might take it as too many people with too many different interests and politics involved. And while they might all say they have the same goal, we all know they each have a different goal deep down.

It's also a great example of someone who is big for their age or big for kids in the area, but not actually BIG big. I've seen so many kids who are the "big man" on the basketball team, with the skill set of a big man. They're bigger than a lot of people they play against. But, the catch is, they aren't actually big. They're a SG size for colleges. I went to high school with a guy who always talked about how he was going to play major college basketball and be a power forward. He was 6'4" and tried to just bang it in the paint. I think he's working construction now, after he didn't get any offers to play college anywhere. Not trying to criticize anyone or anything like that, but, so often kids who are big into basketball aren't aware that the average or below average size for that sport, is way different than in football. Someone who is a tiny forward or center is most likely a physical match for guys playing football in the SEC. But still, great opportunity for the kid to continue his education and play football at a school with such a great history and culture.

What could they be doing differently? I'm not defending them, but I've seen so many people complain about the group doing the hiring just simply because people have turned the job down, it seems. They can't make someone make the hire. It's fine if you want to blame the administration for the lack of funds, lack of coaches or lack of support. But, you can't blame them because someone turned down a job with minimal athletes in a region with a shrinking population. It seems to me that they're trying to hire for a position that is a hard sell to just about everyone remotely qualified. Whether that situation is their own fault or the fault of others, or is just something that has happened without much control, is purely debatable. Again, I'm not trying to defend anyone or attack anyone. I'm just confused what everyone wants in this situation. A homerun hire of a legendary coach? Not happening. Sorry. Dudley? Still not happening. Someone who is completely devoted to Bell County football who is a qualified coach? Beats me, I don't know who is there who would fit that mold. Who is the generally agreed upon person that most of Bell County wants to be hired? I'm not trying to start a fight or anything, I just would love to know.

I'm curious what your basis for that is, because it seems that they've had a pretty good run with pretty much the same core staff over the last two years. There would almost have to be a guy who could step in and lead the team off of that alone, right? But, purely hypothetically, if there isn't someone there who IS qualified, are there any people who have high qualifications who are going to apply? Despite their recent success, the perception is still pretty low and it's going to be a job where most people are going to have to take a significant pay cut to go there. Again, we might have different expectations on what qualified will or won't be, or what it means. But, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss that staff as a whole. From everything I've read on here and other sites, they seem to be young but very good at their jobs. But, I don't have anything to go off of other than what others have said on various sites and their overall record.

I would assume that after a team has lost in the semi-finals, they wouldn't be super motivated to play in a meaningless game. And I doubt many people would want to end their season on 2 losses. But, for me personally, I'd absolutely love these games. They'd be an almost guarantee to be great.

Could Josh even take what would most likely be a massive pay cut to go to Adair? No doubt he could get the job, but I wouldn't think he would even apply.

How attractive is the Adair job currently? Obviously, when he took it, it wasn't even thought of as something someone would want. But, he's had plenty of success there, and leaves with a team that could easily win 10 games again. It obviously doesn't have the long history of a major program, but, has their recent success been something to increase their overall value as a program?

Who?

I don't think I've complained, but I fully understand where those people are coming from. When they were in 3A, they were huge compared to everybody else. Now that they're 4A, they're still bigger (and growing). I agree that I don't think they would get this attention if they weren't having success, but that's how life goes in everything. Nobody focuses on the bottom tier of anything. Although, I guess this is kind of anecdotal, a few years ago I attended a game when SW was still in 3A. They brought something like 4 buses to play a team that could fit the entire team and staff on 1. That's not an indicator of school size necessarily, but I just remember that it stuck out to me as one of those things where you realize the imbalance that was getting ready to happen.

I'd honestly be fine with this for the first round, but I really wouldn't much care for it beyond that. I know of plenty of districts where the 1 or 2 could beat everyone in the cross. But, for the first round, you're keeping everybody at least reasonably close to home. And, I don't think it would solve any of the 1 vs. 4 blowouts that we can see, or some of the 2 vs. 3 ones either. But, you wouldn't have teams travelling several hours just to get the clock run on them. They aren't paying a ton of travel expenses and food, just to be a sacrificial lamb. The only catch is that I think it could lose the feel of the playoffs. Instead of facing a team you haven't faced this season, it's a familiar opponent. Maybe that's just me, but I think part of the playoff atmosphere is playing teams that you wouldn't normally.

Allowing people to go up or down really runs the risk of being abused. I can think of several teams who could cut down on travel by going up. They would even play more traditional rivals. Oh, they also would have won the district the last few years. But, yeah, less time on busses. Rivalry..... For every case that makes any time of sense, there are 2 more teams waiting to find an easier path. And after enough schools change from their normal class, why have classes anyway? Its all too subjective to never be exploited. So don't even run the risk.

What is a better indicator of school size? I would think 4 years would give you better numbers to work with than 2. But, that's just my opinion. I would think 2 years would possibly have an outlier to have more impact. Again, that's just my opinion and I don't really know if there would even be much of a difference between 2 and 4 years.

Someone who knows more about the finances of the school could probably offer some light on the subject. Maybe the money keeps people away or from staying?

I don't have any idea about school support or money, but I feel 100% confident that the right person could win there. I'm not talking state or regional championships. But I think they could beat just about every team they schedule. They look like just about every 1A school in the state, as far as numbers go. I'd love for someone to take that job and just run with it.

I've heard the same thing from people I would trust to know. 4 coaches in 4 years is rough on any attempt at program building.

Any news? Any updates? Any anything? Its quiet this year. I checked back just for this thread all the time last year. This year? Not really much of anything.

The amount that LWC has grown their program despite only being 6 years old is amazing. Being a student there when they made the announcement, I would have never thought they would have come thus far, this fast.

In the state of Kentucky, not just any specific region of the state, there really aren't a whole lot of true D-1 "studs" around. I can't recall watching anyone in the last several years whom I thought could just step on a college campus, see the field in a meaningful way and be successful. Even the big name recruits over the last few years I've thought would need to be gradually introduced into the game at the college level. A true D-1 "stud" is truly a rare thing, especially in this state.

Is Bell really in a situation right now to turn someone down? I'm not saying that's it's too late for them in the hiring process, but from everything I can gather it seems as if Bell hasn't exactly had a wealth of applicants and have had several individuals turn them down.