ChiefSmoke

I’ve heard even much worse and shared it on our podcast that comes out Thursday. Very discouraging.

He did a really good job and his mindset was very good as well. His mental health may be too good to be a football coach. ?

This week's tough topic came from @theguru: Should we do away with districts and seed the playoffs based on RPI? BGPreps has been a good source for our Tough Topics recently.

Coach Bathiany is our podcast guest this week. Excellent interview. My favorite part, his method of install and initial evaluation of players. You know he is excellent in both departments because he has hit the ground running at both Lex Cath & Moeller when he took over both programs. His answers were really good, and not what you might have expected.

This is our fall break. We do not have a game this week. We also have alot of room for improvement. We are going 8-11 am, TUE, WED & THUR. We did give them long weekends on both ends of the week. On Wednesday we have a nice meal after practice. Thursday they get their sweats. Our town wants to see us play better football. I think someone would kick my tail if we took the week off. We had to go inside today but it was still productive. Everyone was accounted for as well.

We used this for our Tough Topic this past week on TCOP.

Have thought about this alot lately... I had two bosses, Larry French & Roger Gruneisen. Both won state titles. My favorite part about both of them... when things were toughest, they still made HS football a great experience. They were over the top taking care of the people on their team when things were hard. I also think that is part of why their teams played their best football at the end of the season. They refused to go in the tank and did all they could to keep everyone around them positive and moving forward. It takes alot of energy, discipline & unselfishness to do that. 1982 was tough, but we did finish with 2 wins and that helped everyone between the ears. Surprisingly, I have GREAT memories from 1982. Coach French is a big reason that is the case. After that season, the Principal called me in to his office and asked me what was wrong with Mercer Football. I told him the problem and was very clear that the problem was NOT Coach French. In 1983, Mercer hired a great DC... Chuck Smith. Great life lesson... things were rock bottom when we got on that bus and went to Berea. Had no idea we were right on the edge of the best football Mercer County would ever play.

I think he was in the press box saying we need new jerseys. ?

1982 we(Mercer) were 1-8. Temps in the 30s. We took a Pep Bus to Berea. Packed. Early in the game, I let go of a pass, face mask in my back and my face is in the dirt. I hear our corner of the bleachers, our pep bus crew, cheering loud. Alan Hendred caught the pass and was gone. About 80 yards total. That is a great memory and I will always appreciate my classmates that rode the Pep Bus. And, we won our last two games to finish 3-8. My HS Football Coach, Larry French. And Berea was his alma mater. Don't ever tell me Friday Night HS football isn't special. Nothing like it.

Mercer County press box crew was not happy with our royal jerseys and scarlet numbers. I thought they looked great. Old School/Classic. I left and they got new jerseys.

Coach Marksbury was our podcast guest for this week. We had Coach James on 11/2/2023.

One of our games of the week!

Our guys did a good job Friday night. Played hard and played well. Also, pleased with the job our guys are doing in the classroom.

https://www.youtube.com/@T.C.O.P/videos

This is one of our games of the week on the podcast!

Coach Bathiany will be our guest on the podcast, Thursday, 10/9 at 7:30 pm!

Our other game on 9/26 will be Hart Co. vs. Glasgow, thanks to @know your role! Appreciate you guys. Others... please send us some tough topics. The tougher the better!

This week, we host two of the finest young coaches in the state, Daniel Barker & Tim Champlin, as they prepare their teams for the Battle For the Barrel, East v. West Carter! TH, 9/18 7:30 pm TCOP: Behind the Scenes of HS Football w/ Chuck Smith & David Buchanan

This is one of our podcast games of the week!

This week, we preview the Battle for the Barrel, East vs. West Carter. We will have Coach Daniel Barker(West) & Tim Champlin(East) together. Our games of the week: Ashland vs. Russell CovCath vs. Beechwood Tough Topic from Hunter Cantwell : How do you decide who plays JV and who does not, especially in regards to non starters you will really need on Friday night. And... we want your INPUT! 1- what are some big games coming up that should be the game of the week? 2- What are some tough topics that would interest listeners? Hope everyone has a great week!

I am a huge Dale Mueller fan. We did 7 on 7 w/ them when I was at Mason. I would visit/learn whenever I could. I lost my mind when I scheduled them but I my ambition outpaces my brain, often. In 2012 we were visiting before our game. I thought all that goes with coaching the Bluebirds was beginning to wear on him. I love Highlands football. Incredible history and football program. Still, it takes a special cat to lead the Bluebirds. And, doing so for the long haul... very special what Dale was able to do.

I believe he is. Highlands is a great job. As is with a lot of great jobs, you better have a thick skin and a true confidence/belief in what you do. Bob Sphire has both of those.

It is really tough to find excellent football coaches. The Bluebirds have one. I have old guy bias… but experience is underrated. August of 1989 or 90… remember driving to Hindman one Saturday morning to meet Bob to get a VHS on Paul Rains’ Hazard team. We go back a long way. I can still see him sitting on that front porch, exhausted , holding on to that video. Guys w/ that type of longevity and elite success are special. You get one, think I would keep him. And … absolutely, he will still make mistakes & some times big ones. When you get bombarded w/ big decisions, rapid fire… there will be times you mess up. It happens to every coach. If one ever tells you not to him, he is lying.

Tonight is youth night. We will recognize our youth teams and MS Teams. We will also recognize these 3 Bearcat Legends. Bob Ware is great place to be on a Friday night. The bermuda grass and bleachers right on top of the field, nostalgic as well!

This was one of our podcast games of the week. Comes out tomorrow night, 7:30 pm! We did not agree on who would win this game.