bruin66

UNC will be a playoff team within 2 years. You heard it here first. Why would a potential NFL prospect not want to be developed by the best NFL coach of all time? Recruiting is not what it once was. It is not about charming high schoolers. It is about money and development for the NFL. As long as North Carolina commits the financial resources necessary, I don't know why he won't succeed. And I would tend to think that he has already had these financial reassurances before agreeing to take the job.

That's awesome!

Agree on Who knows how it ends. However, in general, I think too many coaches turn down points early in games. In the 4th quarter, that is a different animal.

Great job by Coach Baisch and Lexington Catholic. Way to right the ship.

Ryle should win. They key for Ryle is to deliver a decisive blow early. Do not let Central Hardin hang around. If so they allow CH to hang around, it could get interesting. Triple option offenses like CH's tend to get better as the game goes along, as long as they can keep the score from getting out of hand.

I disagree with some of your logic. First, if you are down by 42 points, it does not really matter what offense you run. You are going to lose that game. They key is to not get down 42 points. Running the ball and limiting possessions can keep the other team's potent offense off of the field. Sometimes the best defense is to play less defense. That is why teams like service academies are able to keep the score down on most teams. It is usually not due to their defense. They almost always have inferior talent on defense. They keep the score down because their offenses possess the ball so that they have to play significantly less defense. Secondly, I agree with you on the fact that the best offenses are balanced. But you have to define balance. It is pass/run attempts or pass/run yardage? Many good Wing-T teams over the years (Scott Co. comes to mind) gain quite a few yards through the air. They just do it in larger chunks. That is a result of having defenses over-commit to try to stop a potent running game. Other passing coaches (Mike Leach comes to mind) define balance a having all eligible receivers touch the ball as a threat. So there are many different ways to define balance. As far as being painful to watch, I'll tell you what is painful to watch: way under-talented teams trying to run a no-huddle spread with little or no chance of executing it and giving the ball back to the other team in a hurry. As far as the ingredients of a championship team on offense, the best offenses have a great core of plays that they are good at, whether it is run or pass. Then, they understand how teams will try to take away what they do best. When that happens, they have answers to attack the defensive adjustments. Sometimes these answers are passes, sometimes the answers are counters, sometimes the answers are changing up the formation to run the same plays. But the bottom line is that they have answers. Great offense also have answers to situational football. It drives me NUTS to see spread teams consistently get stopped in short yardage and goal line situations because they stay in shotgun spread formations. I like shotgun spread formations. But not in all situations. Just like I like 2 backs and 2 TE's. Just not in all situations. Another ingredient of championship offenses is that they are complimentary to the other 2 phases of the game. Championship teams play complimentary football between offense, defense, and special teams. In short, the spread offense is the best choice for some teams. But, in my opinion, way too many teams run it that have no business doing so. Plus, most defenses have little to no idea how to stop non-spread offenses any more. It used to be unique to run the spread. Now it is unique if you don't.

I totally agree with you in that regard. The Wolford era was a disaster. While I believe that Wallace could tweak some things about the program to improve, he is light years ahead of Wolford as a coach and in running a program.

Below is a post I made in 2019. Nothing has changed since then as far as becoming a more physical team. Posted November 23, 2019

Many teams could benefit from running something other than the Spread.

I am mainly referring to losing to Manual 2/3 years and getting blown out in a playoff game by a team not named Male or Trinity. Those things should not happen. And add to that the deterioration of developing offensive linemen. I am not saying Wallace is a bad guy or a bad coach. I just think that he needs to adjust his tactics to add elements of physical play to what he already coaches well in order to maximize what St. X can do. I am not advocating 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Having an effective passing game is important. I am saying that getting consistently whipped up front is not a good recipe for playoff success.

Chief, I respect you and your opinion. Coach Wallace is a good guy and has a proven track record elsewhere. However, he has to embrace physical football more and more effectively develop linemen to consistently win in 6A. He seems to want to emphasize perimeter play more. And the defense has to get fixed. While he is an elite person and may be an elite coach, he may not be an elite coach for St. X. He must make the necessary adaptations to be elite for the Tigers.

Is the current state of the program good enough? Below is a link to a post I made early in the season. Nothing has happened this year to change my original thoughts. St. X the in the 11 seasons since Glaser retired: 92-40 (69.7%) 31.2 offensive points per game 17.6 defensive points per game 1 championship, 2 runner-ups, 4 semifinals appearances Glaser’s last 11 seasons: 125-27 (82.2%) 36.1 offensive points per game 13.2 defensive points per game 2 championships, 3 runner-ups, 6 semifinals appearances Stats are from the KHSAA website.

It is tough to win without controlling the line of scrimmage. Finesse does not win in November.

Ted Bacigalupo Succeeded Faust for one year, then was succeeded by Steve Klonne.

I do admit, I thought St X should have run the ball more last Friday. They had some success running for 3 or 4 yards. Would have been a good idea to try to just pound it at BG for one full series and see what happened. Oh well. Maybe Coach Wallace is trying to win with a passing game to show that he can do it his way and not the way maybe it was done before him?

If you can't control the line of scrimmage, you can't control the game. St. X has become a perimeter-oriented team. I do not think that is sustainable against good teams. You control the line of scrimmage, you control the ball. You control the physicality. Championship teams are balanced, yet they control the line of scrimmage. I am not condoning a 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust strategy. I am advocating a return to developing offensive linemen. I am advocating a balance offense that is capable of being efficient in the passing game and also being able to play with power when needed. That is not happening at St. X.

Glaser’s last 10 years featured 5 final appearances and 2 wins. Since then (11 1/2 years), there have been 2 finals appearances and 1 win. Doesn’t look the same to me. You can’t win in 6A football without winning the line of scrimmage. Especially in the playoffs once the weather changes. That is not happening now on Poplar Level Road. Sugar coat it if you want. Facts are facts.

You can't control the game if you cannot run the ball and stop the run. You can control the scoreboard, but not control the game. St. X has gotten way too pass happy. I am not against passing the football. I believe in balance. But St. X is no longer a line of scrimmage program. In order to win big, you have to be.

Whoever did the scheduling for Central Hardin must have been a sadist. Tough way to break in a new coaching staff and system.

They are all good decisions when they work.

This is a very competitive matchup this year. I don't think either team has a huge talent advantage. This will truly be one of those games where the team that plays better on that given night will win. In tight games like this, special teams usually has a big say in the final outcome.

Agreed. My above comments are mainly about the systemic issue with going for it on 4th down so much.

Agree, but the ball should not have been kicked there.

To me, the recent trend at all levels of football of going for it on 4th down so much is costing teams wins. It is ok to take the points and to punt every now and then. Especially early on in games. As far as Cov. Cath. specifically, I don't know the status of their kicker; therefore, I believe it would be unfair to comment.

The kickoff out of bounds after taking the lead really hurt. The Tigers showed some fight in the second half. Good execution on the 2 pt. play. They just have to be able to make critical stops on defense. Their pass defense is suspect.