ChiefSmoke

That gym is special. Next to the Fieldhouse at Mason County, probably my favorite.

Have had several people reach out to me on this. No one has thought it was a good idea. I am not on Facebook. But, I was told this morning that this was no longer posted. I hope they had a change of heart.

It's been a good 24 hours. Former Bearcat Nemo Wilson had a TD in the Georgetown Spring Game. Clayton Stratton, Eli McCann & Wyatt Shouse were invited and attended the Centre College Spring Game. Hudson DeGarmo had a visit to Maryville today. It has been tough to be a Bearcat the last few years. These guys have worked their tails off and hung in there for each other. Happy for them. Excited for the future.

Got the quiz out yesterday after lunch. By 3 pm, Clayton had scored 100/109. He has also lost 13 pounds of bad weight while getting stronger (another reason I love Truck Stick). Very proud of this young man. Honor student.

Interviews are ongoing. Best guess, there is a coach by the end of April. Went to Phil Simms Camp w/ JB Donahue, June of 1980. Been a Green Dragon fan ever since then!

Thanks for putting this out there. Found out last night, Eastern, Oldham, North & South Oldham are going to do the same thing.

Quarters are six minutes. Legally, they can play every single minute. But, that has never happened. The guys that play on Monday play limited reps on Friday.

We started something like this at Mason County. It was Dan Gooch's idea when he was at Montgomery. In 34 seasons as a head coach, this has been the best format for player development. Freshmen can play every minute of every game for the entire week. The OT gets kids home at a decent time on a school night so they can eat and do homework. The two different games with short quarters allows kids to play against kids that are the most like them. We have endured enough JV games where juniors on the other team, who got blasted on a Friday night, were blasting our freshmen on a Monday night to feel better about themselves and their program. Ridiculous and a great way to encourage your young kids to quit football. A by product... when freshmen know they will have games against other freshmen, and they will practice separate, they are more likely to come out for football. My hometown was use to all 4 grades practicing together. We got alot of criticism for practicing the freshmen separate. But, our roster hit 70 in 2019, 2020 & 2021 for a 3A school. My son was a freshman QB. Instead of getting 3rd team reps with the Varsity. He got first string reps at Freshman practice. Game changer. The first Mason County team to win in Flatwoods was our freshman team in 2002. They took 12 kids. Henry Boone & Chris O'Hearn were their coaches.

Wish we had thought of this in 1992. We paint blocking assignments on pavement for some of our base runs and one screen. LT = Blue LG = Gold Center = White RG = Green RT = Red Requires no equipment and no teammate. A young offensive lineman competing for a starting position can practice all 5 spots as many times as he wants to do so. If we don't know who to block in July, we just look at the guy in the mirror!

His Dad was a very good football player at Mason County HS. Would not be surprised to see Jake end up in the NFL playing TE.

Aaron's Mom & Dad were our neighbors when we lived in Maysville. Trosper, Jaylan Rigdon & Brandon Hester(Aaron's nephew) would play sports all day, get in fights, and then start playing again. Always thought that made all 3 boys much tougher. Good luck to Aaron and the Polar Bears! And, how "COOL" is it to play in the IGLOO!!

Glad to see all of these schools continuing to have a freshman program. Lots of hassles and takes some work/planning. But, great player development.

If a head coach is having parent issues, the first place to look is... 1) Are we being fair? 2) Are we communicating standards, procedures, accountability & the schedule up front? At four different places (Paris, Mason County, Mercer County, Anderson County) the parents have been super. Once everyone knows what to expect, it eliminates alot of drama. People still may not like the decision or outcome, but most of the time, it doesn't become a problem.

Excellent hire. Happy for Kasey and my hometown. Go Titans!

The spring game today was well attended. Yes, the energy & enthusiasm has been good. I sure think they are better. You never really know until you play another team. But, yes, the execution and talent level seem to have improved. 2 weeks ago, the defense seemed to be ahead of the offense. That was not the case today. I like Minchey alot. He is good. Overall, alot to like about the new staff and how they do their work. Organization. Details. Communication. Teaching. They check all of these boxes at a high level. Very encouraging.

Good observation. Not sure this is correct... but a guess. I believe the longer sleeves were for protecting the arms. Shoulder blocks and forearm shivers took a toll on the arms. As time went on, hands were used more. In the picture below… playing QB but wearing a J Pad to play DE to the left of the defense. We made contact with our forearms. Now, most of the time, it is with our hands Also, football use to be almost exclusively a fall sport. It still would get hot in September, but when the season did not start until after Labor Day, generally, the temperatures would be cooler for game time.

Our admin at Anderson County is super to allow us to do this. This camp took 30 minutes, but the kids had a blast. Edmondson Supply provided the t-shirts for 4 camps. 5th grade at Turner, Saffell, Emma B. Ward. 6th grade at ACMS. This was year 3 of the camp. Coach Derek Shouse is an old Bearcat. We played against each other in 1982. Don't ask me who won. We had 3 seniors come help with camp also. Nothing to gain other than to help others and help their football program. My experience at Mercer County (1974 thru 1987: Dad was HFC, played for Coach French, then coached there w/ Coach French) was great, but it was tough. Many similarities to what we do everyday at Anderson County. Would not trade my Mercer experience for anything. Great time with wonderful people... but very difficult and a ton of hard work. Helps me appreciate what I get to do everyday as a Bearcat. We have a big mountain, and we are having a blast attacking that mountain, one day at a time. Easy days... never. Great, tough days...YES. Last thought... it was a warm spring day in 1974 when Coach French drove up to our house in Danville in a white Corvette. Wednesday was a warm spring day and we loaded a casket into a white Cadillac hearse for his body's final trip to Berea. How did all of this happen so fast? Life is a vapor. Don't waste a day.

Great hire!

No one loved to get video in the middle of the week more than Coach French. I think it was a Wednesday. We all load up in the car, after practice, and head to John Nochta's house in Lexington to get a video. Steven is with us. We are starving. Coach French is in the house talking to Coach Nochta. Finally, out of frustration, I say, "Coach French, get your butt out here so we can go get something to eat!" We get to his house. Steven is in his room, and yells out, "Mom, get your butt in here!" Coach tells Mrs. French, "You can thank David for that." Over the years, it became fun when Coach French would change jobs. One of my favorites, I got a call from Pulaski Southwestern while I am teaching at Mason County. I knew the guy on the other end of the phone, very well. He says, "Do you think Coach French would be interested in our job? Will you call him and ask him for us?" I agree to do so. But, on the surface, I am thinking, "There is no way he is going to leave Boyle." So, I call him and ask him, "Coach, I just got a call from Southwestern. They want you to be their head coach. Are you interested?" He says "David, any time a job opens up and they call us, aren't we ALWAYS interested?" Sure enough.... he became the head football coach at Pulaski Southwestern. A few Decembers later, the rumor begins to spread that Coach French is headed to Middlesboro. I call him and ask, "Coach, Are you going to Middlesboro?" He says, "Well, David, I have been to Middlesboro. I can tell you how to get there if you need to go there." That was the Christmas that Stephanie said, "Tell NORAD, no one cares where Santa is. All we want to know is, 'WHERE IS COACH FRENCH?' " Another time, the rumor was that I am leaving Mason and headed to Mercer. Coach French calls me from his office at Boyle County. He has Jeff Hester and Chris Mason with him. He says, "David, are you taking the Mercer job?" Lying, I say, "Yes. And, at Sundown, Coach Johnson and I are going to meet you, Hester & Mason at the Boyle County-Mercer County line." He responds, "You and Alvis are fine. But, don't bring Becky (my little sister)! I am scared of Becky!" https://blackshoesandwhiteshoestrings.blogspot.com/2026/04/this-isn't-football-practice-its-ice.html More Grok!

You did a super job with those. Grok is like a time machine. After a week like this and losing Coach French, it has been comforting to go back and remember those times. Thanks for sharing these.

John Hines built a strong foundation. Travis Burns is doing a super job building on that foundation. That level of coaching over an extended period of time is exceptional.

I believe it has been Tony McCombs. Excellent football coach.

Coach French’s wonderful family @ Russell County. I was in charge of the milk cartons , 6th grade at Mercer Elementary. Coach French would come to the cafeteria to chase after Miss Christopher. Was at their wedding as well. Coach French paddled me in 5th grade for fighting. 1/2 of me can’t believe he is gone. But, all of me is overwhelmed & thankful that he was such a huge part of my life and who I am today. Madison Central & Allen Co Scottsville

Lights and scoreboards on across the state for Coach French. Boyle County Anderson County Middlesboro Bullitt East

My Dad was the coach at Mercer, 74-77. I played against them 79-82. In 82, they were really good... Mike Jones, Tommy Covey & Chris Winkler were STUDS! And...don't get me started on the Wisemans. At the coin toss, thought we were playing 30 year old men. Those guys could play and were TOUGH as nails. Prayers for Coach Niece's family. Thank you for sharing him with all of us. KY HS Football is much better because of him.