ChiefSmoke

Our first off season episode will be Jeremy Carlson, Assistant AD at Centre College for Sports Performance. Jeremy was our S & C coach my last season at Mercer. He is excellent. If you have questions about football offseason programs, please list them here. We will get this episode out on Thursday, 1/22 at 7:30 pm. You guys have bee super with questions and content. Thank you!

When the QB is not under center on the goalline, is that offense the single wing, or is it spread/shotgun?

When someone and their work is taken for granted, for so long, and you never have a complaint or see a problem, it reveals exactly how special and elite their work has been. That would certainly apply to Mr. Riherd. If you are a KY HS coach or athlete, he is like a member of the family. Thank you Mr. Riherd. Your impact on young people and athletics in Kentucky... extraordinary.

Curt Cignetti has totally flipped the college football world in how he has built his roster and brought them together into one, TOUGH, physical, fundamentally sound football team. In particular, his ability to evaluate Group of 5 talent and bring them to Indiana has been incredible. What will this mean for the future of college football? More parity or less? More separation between coaches that can evaluate & develop versus those that cannot? Lower levels of college football evolving into a "Farm System" for the Power 4? What else? Where is this headed? We have seen dominant football teams in the past. But, IU & Cignetti are different and this era is different. When I was at the Rose Bowl last week, initially, I was disappointed that it was not a better game. As we got deeper into the 2nd half, I began to realize, "this is one of the finest football teams I have ever seen in my life!" (60 years old)

Noah is also a fine young man. I watched his GrandDad play at old Mercer County High, Joey Milburn. Excellent player. Noah has a super attitude about all of this and he will navigate it well.

I was told interviews would be today and tomorrow.

The guy has a crazy motor/tremendous work ethic. Extremely intelligent. Genuinely loves kids and is over the top in building relationships... and understands very well that love and accountability go hand in hand. He can have very difficult conversations with people because he cares about them and does what is right. He can look them in the eye and not flinch. He was Trosper's freshman coach at Mercer. They were very successful and Trosper would kill for him. My last year at Mercer, he was our DC and did an excellent job. Elite teacher and very creative problem solver. We moved him from D-Line Varsity Coach to Freshman/JV head coach in the fall of 2018. Our freshman head coach, Graham Heasley, was an exceptional QB coach and had the personality/intelligence to navigate Trosper and I. William wanted to be a head coach and we both knew that would be great prep, as well as be great for Titan football. Graham and William both excelled in those roles. Our program made significant growth & improvement during that time. Our roster hit 70 players in 2019, 2020 & 2021. William is a big reason for those numbers...exceptional for a 3A program. He was my shadow from 2015 until January of 2022. He wanted to learn everything he possibly could learn about running a football program. Even in the offseason, he would come to my office almost everyday and ask questions, why we do what we do & what I would think about his ideas. It was really good for me. It forced me to think through why we operated the way we did, how we could do it better, etc. William has been doing head coach type of stuff since the fall of 2018 and he is good at it. And he is old school loyal to me, and vice versa. I appreciate that about him more than anything else. Very proud of him and happy for him.

Coach Benton was on our podcast this fall. He was impressive and I really liked him. Disappointed and surprised to see this has happened.

Congrats to Coach Sutton! My Mercer connections really like him. Wish him and the Panthers the very best!

Wonderful Coach. He cared about that program and cared about the kids... over the top. I will miss some of those conversations. It would inspire me when we would talk and he was searching for answers... like crazy, to help a young man and help his team. It is a sad day when a guy like this leaves the profession. To Coach Abell and to the guys across the state that continue to fight the tough fight, thank you for what you do for kids and football in Kentucky. And... there have been several good coaches and men that have left the profession recently. But, Josh was one that we had talked more recently & frequently about the battles he was fighting. I don't want to make it like the others that have hung it up recently were not quality as well. Part of making this post... just very discouraging as I continue to see such good men get out of coaching football in Kentucky. Received more disturbing news today. Cannot share details. But, would not be surprised to see several other coaches make a similar decision.

You are 100% correct. Congratulations to William and the Taylor County Cardinals!

Great experience. Indiana has one of the best football teams I’ve ever seen. Very impressive.

Was told the same from a reliable source.

Wow! Hats off to the Middlesboro admin. They had a GREAT candidate in house. Instead of screw around and play games, they immediately did what was best for the kids. Have seen schools go a different route and pay a big price for doing so. Takes a long time to get the train back on the tracks. Congrats to Coach Adams & the Jackets!

If Barney Fife is greatest character of all time, who is #2? Sgt. Schultz? Kramer? Coach (Cheers) ?

My TCOP picks from our 12/11 Episode:

Former Georgetown All American WR, Kenan McWhorter, would be an excellent hire for Southwestern. He did a super job turning around Berea as their HFC. He was our WR/DB Coach this past fall at Anderson Co. HS. Knowledge of the game is through the roof. Ability to lead and build relationships with kids is exceptional.

Chip Off The Old Block!

Hunter Adams is an alum, former star player, and currently on staff at Middlesboro. I have heard his name for the position and also that he would do a good job as the head coach. If he were able to keep Zach Massengill as DC, it would be even better. Coach French does a really good job prepping assistants to become head coaches. That would be another plus for Hunter.

Anderson has a shot at being really good come tournament time. Sparrow and Welch are good. Henry Cooper & Hudson DeGarmo are good athletes, tough, physical and play their guts out. As those two continue to develop... the Bearcats may surprise some people toward the end of the season.

USC v. Notre Dame series comes to an end. Glad Coach Rockne is not here to see this. "So stupid. These rivalries ARE college football. And they're being sacrificed to accommodate cash-chasing conference expansion—which prioritizes USC making trips to West Lafayette rather than South Bend." - Albert Breer (Sr. NFL Reporter/Lead Content Strategist @TheMMQB)

I met Coach Larry French when he came to our house in Danville on Carrigan Drive, spring of 1974(I was 8 years old). He was driving a white corvette. My Dad had just taken the job at Mercer County and he hired Coach French as an assistant. They had the two first winning seasons in school history in 1974 & 1975. I was on the front row when Coach French pursued Miss Christopher at Mercer Elementary in the cafeteria. I was switching out the milk crates... probably 6th grade. Now they have a wonderful family and are enjoying those grand children. I am thankful he was my HS football coach. Fall of 1982 was tough. But, it was also great. A big reason it was great was because of my coach. I have a great son in law, Josiah Robbins. Josiah played QB at Boyle and had two head coaches.... Larry French & then Chuck Smith. That was excellent prep to marry my daughter Emma, and raise Josie Ruth, our granddaughter. This is from my book. Love my old coach. “Did you feel the earth start shaking under your feet?” I responded, “No. sir.” Coach French continued, “then, I don’t want you to run the ball.” My HS football coach was Larry French. Coach is a great person and tremendous football coach. From the time I was 9 years old to the present, he has been a mentor and wonderful person in my life. And, he could never let me forget how slow I was. He still tells people I was the slowest QB he ever had. The quote above was from one day in practice on a called pass play. I took off running and thought I had done the right thing. Coach French was always after me. In the fall of 2007, I called Coach before a game because I had heard he wasn’t feeling well. He was talking about me being a good player over the phone- I knew he was sick because he never said anything good about me! My dad went to Mercer County HS in 1974. He hired Coach French to be his assistant. I can still remember Coach driving up to our house in Danville in his white corvette when he took the job. When my dad got out of coaching and teaching, Coach French became our head coach at Mercer County. I played for him all four years in HS. He later became the head football coach at Meade County, Lincoln County, and is currently the head football coach at Boyle County HS where he has lead 2 teams to state titles. After 38 years, I have learned enough from Coach French to fill a book, much less a column. Toward the end of my senior season, on a night that we finally got a win in Berea, I took a sack that was so bad they said the down was, “4th and Richmond.” After the game, Coach French told me that I had played very well except for taking that sack. That night when I got home and talked to my dad, his game analysis was that I had played well and that the BEST play of the night was when I took a sack instead of throwing the ball and taking a chance on an interception. Two guys that thought alike and coached together giving me exact opposite feedback. But, two guys that would do anything in the world to help me. My best lesson from Coach French was the way he handled my senior season. 9 games into the season, we were 1-8. And, we were not playing well at all. A lot of coaches in that situation begin to prepare for the following season. The seniors get phased out. But, not Coach French. He didn’t give up on us. He stayed positive. He continued to coach us. He continued to play the seniors. We won those last two games. Those last two wins were great. It really helped the seniors feel better about our last season. It built momentum going into the next season which was much more successful and was the start of a six year run that would see the most success enjoyed in the history of Mercer County football. After 20 years of being a head coach myself, I have been in several situations where we were struggling at the end of the season. I always remain loyal to my seniors just as Coach French did for us. I know how bad it hurts when things are not turning out like you hoped they would. Having your head coach bail on you when things are the toughest would be hard to take. To be clear, I am not saying play a senior if an underclassmen is better, not at all. But, if the senior is a better player, and is giving a good effort, he still plays. Some coaches say it is time to play the younger kids regardless if they are better or not. Not me. My senior year was a tough one. But, because of Coach French, it was a great experience when it was all said and done. As a head coach today, no matter how tough things can get during a season, it helps me to know that my kids can some day look back on that last season and find positives and things that make their high school football experience one of the best times of their life. After HS I was fortunate to be an assistant for Coach French. The other assistants on our staff were Chuck Smith who later lead Boyle County to 5 state titles and Jack Robertson, a great player from Harrodsburg and who would later become the head coach at Mercer County. In 1986 Mercer County won its first district and region championships in school history when we were there together on that staff. 1986 Mercer Staff Coach French was a groomsmen when Stephanie and I got married. He is one of John Combs’ biggest fans and someone that is always checking on me, my dad, and our family. We talk on the phone frequently. He still says I am slow but that is ok with me. If I could have the opportunity to put on that red helmet one more time and step on the field for my old coach, I would take it.

In that last play, that moment.... those millionaires playing the game looked like little kids.... the push off, the lateral, the QB dive... very cool.

Glad the officials are taking their time to get it right.

He was our pick on our podcast last week. Congratulations Brandon! We also picked Mr. ? . Think we will be 2 for 2.