BFritz

Then the coach needs to adapt and needs to be prepared to beat it in other ways. Aside from not hitting shots, as I mentioned, they seemed to just typically keep passing the ball around the outside. Also, CCH was deep, so you need to sub if some guys aren't hitting, even if it's just for a little bit to let them relax and get their heads straight.

Did you two also receive an insult laden private message blasting your criticism of coach's performance in the game or was that just me? Funny, though, because the person who sent it has had no answer for any of the examples that I listed or points that I made in my reply to him.

Yep. HUGE understatement :thumb: But Roddy has been involved in the program and I think he can step-in and be a boost for the program and be better than Chev because he knows basketball, he's younger so I think he understands today's game more, the players relate to him more, and I think he can motivate the players more and that they'll better respond to him.

Not sure but I think he'd choose basketball over softball. Maybe not but I've known him a long time and he's always loved basketball, both playing and coaching. I just can't see him having a bigger passion for softball.

It would be a crime if Roddy wants the job and he's not given it. He's a great coach and the kids always love him. I also think he's young enough for what Dixie needs, and that's to have a more energetic team.

Yep, and they'd just keep passing it around the perimeter with no one even attempting to drive or make cuts into open spaces. I was watching it and every time up the floor I could predict what was going to happen and I'm thinking "that didn't work last time up the floor, so why do they keep doing it? Coach.......... COACH THEM!"

CCH got outcoached. They had no answer for the zone and didn't even try to adapt all game, they just did the same thing over and over. Congrats to Cooper.

It wasn't taking it off its course, but looking to further expand on this thread and find out the direction of it and the reasoning for the responses, which asking questions will only improve the thread's clarity.

Back in the 90s and early 2000s, Beechwood was the one doing the physical pounding, and I don't see that as much different now. They're a team that always lines up and goes blow-to-blow with the big dogs. They were always a base wishbone-type team that would just run the ball down your throat. Don't make mistakes and capitalize on the opponent's mistakes. I understand that the style of play is different now, especially for CovCath, but I think Beechwood playing a more simple style, with running the ball a lot and not trying to go blow-for-blow with CCH, could be beneficial. I think Beechwood can rise to the occasion but they just have to have some players step-up and play hardball, just like they use to do. That's how they'd beat you: they'd pound you, be conditioned to go hard all game in a brutal style, and then just wait for you to make a mistake.

Care to explain how my post is flawed in your eyes?

I post that the program is on the decline and it gets bashed so hard the thread is closed. When Highlands was on top of their game, CovCath would have never DREAMED of DOMINATING them, especially not two years in a row. However, Guru suggests it, and all of the sudden there's three pages of discussion with NOT ONE person bashing him? If this was a social experiment by him, it was BRILLIANT and played out PERFECTLY! :thumb:

My cousin Coy is doing big things in coaching down there and has the program going in a great direction! I LOVE IT!

That's the typical response about Highlands football: just ignore legitimate questions and act like everything is ok!

Answer why the coaching change would now be a problem when it wasn't a problem when Dale first left. Answer why they're not still just beating teams by 3 or 4 touchdowns instead of 7 or 8. Answer what changed in the feeder system that allowed them to have so many talented players that they could two-platoon but now can't even put together a winning record, much-less win state.

That might make sense if they hadn't made the finals in the new coach's first year (or even won state), made it to the semis the next year, and then had a 3-8 record this year. Those seasons might not be in the right order, but the point is that the coaches weren't the problem when Dale first left, but then it has spiraled downwards. That doesn't seem like it's it or else it wouldn't have been successful any of the years since Dale left. But it's not supposed to happen at Highlands. No other team has been as dominant as they have or had a feeder program for as long as they have with enough talented players to two-platoon and still beat everyone by 60+. May not be whipping boys, but Highlands has been a national powerhouse, so they should still be taking care of them, even if just by 3 or 4 TDs instead of 8 or 9. That's what I mean by downfall. Because I just don't buy general answers and act like everything is still ok. Highlands fans always bragged about the feeder system and why Highlands is so dominant year after year, but now it's not and I'm wondering why. Even all of those answers combined don't explain such a fall from the top.

lol. You just stated what we've all known for so many years but people like @RCC9 deny, and that's that so many kids go to Highlands strictly for football, and you went even as far as to say that families move to Ft Thomas to do it. Some kids may go strictly for the atmosphere and academics, but I've known so many kids that have come from schools with "horrible academic programs" but come out ahead and are very successful in life. It comes down to an individual's motivation or a family's motivation to push an individual.

A thread created solely to take a shot at me and to mock my thread. So cute and so mature, but I'll bite :thumb: I think part of it was Highlands being so dominant and consistent, which, when you have a nationally ranked program in your area that you have to play in the second round of the playoffs at the latest, it's tough to get to the regional title game. (I realize that they didn't lose to Highlands every year in the playoffs, which other parts of my post could play a part in.) I think the other big part was just that we didn't have the right coach in there that had the win-first attitude. Don't get me wrong because I think that the attitude was always "let's go play hard and give it our all," but now the attitude is "we are going to go win," thanks to Eddie. I think that the attitude trickled down to the players, but now players like AJ that have been starting for years also have the attitude of "this game is ours." Again, I don't know that for sure, but, when I was in school (before and after the wreck), it was always "we WILL win," even when we were facing the nationally ranked Highlands team in 98 with Smith and Lorenzen. All of those reasons also bring with it intensity and desire to be on the field, along with the win-first attitude, which I think is returning. :laugh:

Fine. Let's meet so you can describe everything about Highlands' football that you couldn't post on here like this message board is meant for. You say that you can't see expressions, reactions, instant responses on here, but isn't it like that with EVERYTHING posted on here? Why is discussing Highlands' football different? No matter, though, because we'll meet. The Wings and Rings in the Crestview Hills Town Center is an easy place for me to roll to, so let me know when and we'll do it. :thumb:

People didn't give one complete answer. Some people said feeder and other people gave different ideas. I'd be happy to accept some logical explanation and not just "a down year or two but everything is fine in Fort Thomas," because that doesn't seem to fit. I didn't start this thread to stir the pot, I started this thread because Highlands is and always has been CovCath's biggest rival, and also because Highlands fans were so die-hard about drilling into the ground "Highlands reloads, they don't rebuild," and everything else about how great the feeder program was and how dominant Highlands always is, so I was wondering what changed. Furthermore, it's high school football in Northern Kentucky, which is always a blast to talk about and Highlands has always been the cream of the crop up here (and in all of Kentucky). The feeder program quit developing kids? Don't need to work miracles, but developing kids starting in grade school had them at least able to play football at an average level, and then the Highlands' program helped develop them more and also made it easy because a pass-first system is hard to stop when you have a bunch of fresh receivers that spread the defense out and just run routes. That's tough for colleges and even the NFL to stop when it's run properly, even without superstar receivers. Is their talent at quarterback down? Receivers are a dime a dozen, especially with a feeder program like Highlands has because they've all played. That could be an explanation, and I'm not saying they need an All-American, but just someone that can deliver the ball. So they're playing basketball and baseball instead of football? Seems to me like they would have always chosen football back in years past. I know it can't be pointed to ONE thing, but I was looking for a collection of answers that made sense. I thought maybe it was as simple as Dale was really that good of a coach, but it doesn't seem like many people think that's the reason. You also act like "one losing season" is that much out of the norm when they would beat every team they played, especially in Northern Kentucky, by 60 and would only lose one game a year for the longest time and it was always to some out-of-state powerhouse. Downfall is not dominating football in 5a (and all of KY outside of a few big 6a schools) anymore. Downfall is not blowing every team out by 50+ like they used to. Downfall is not winning state every year. Might be more that I think of later, but that's a good start.

LOVE it! Great young man leading the Colonels! Even if he gets a big D1 (or even a small D1 because, let's face it, D1 is D1!) offer? Figured he might take time off to hit the gym and/or work on throwing, drop backs, etc.. Then again, he might need a break from football and to enjoy his senior season of basketball before spending four or five years in college football.

You've done nothing but skate around the answers in this thread, except for maybe one or two general posts at the start of the thread. It's not that I don't "like" the answers, it's that they haven't made sense and they've gone against everything that the Highlands' crowd bragged about for so many years as for all the reasons of success. People have offered vague possibilities, but none have really offered any full explanation or have provided a logical explanation. And if you've answered them in other threads, what good does that do in this thread? Why wouldn't you just answer it here. I thought the closing enrollment happened years ago, though, and didn't seem to have any effect when Dale was here. It's also surprising that, even with closing enrollment borders, there would be a drop-off in talent because of the feeder system where kids are learning to play football in the Highlands' style with other kids that they'll play with through high school. I thought BW was an outside hire, which makes the drop even more surprising because you'd think things wouldn't change much at all in the way things were done (practices, conditioning, offseason, pre-game, etc.). How many threads in this forum ask multiple questions and have civil people that answer them? Strongside had no problem doing it above. I did only ask a few in the original post and actually I don't believe I've asked many more. Don't tell me to bullet the questions like you're better than me. Don't be a child. Answer the questions. How many times do I have to explain this?! It's a message board! It's for discussing things like the things I'm asking! It's for everyone! Not just me! So, no, I didn't weasel out, I'm being an adult about this and just trying to start a conversation. Why is that so hard for you? I'd be more than happy to believe it if it made any sense! You can't just say "everything is the same" when everything clearly isn' the same! I'm impossible for searching for answers and not just accepting "it's this because I say it is" from you. Typical.

Why has depth dropped-off? Just not strong classes or feeder program faltering or what? Does the defense not having that attitude reflect the players more or BW more? They never seemed to need much defense because the offense scored so much. He offered something real. Take notes.

Maybe you missed the part where I said "only sarcastic replies have been given." Why are you do afraid to answer if nothing it's so easy? Once again, this is a message board, which discussing these topics is exactly what it is for. Stop dancing around the topic and discuss. We can meet for drinks after you do. By the way, why do you only do that with this topic? Some people have given BW needing to get used to it as a reason, and Cowboy gave the no star QB as a reason, and a few people have given talent falling off (which then I'd ask how that happened when everyone boasts about the feeder system and also how Highlands two-platooned and was at least 3 quality players deep at each position), maybe a few other opinions, which I've been reading and trying to put them all together, which is why I started the thread. Your reasoning was "no downfall, just two off years." I really don't know, which is probably why I started the thread. No elite quarterback could make sense, but you don't really need an elite QB in Highlands' system, just someone who can throw decently (so it seems). Also, why would you need players going both ways? That lends some weight to maybe the talent drop-off theory, but I find that hard to believe when the feeder system has been praised and they have had so much depth in the past. Other schools improving really doesn't make much sense because they've always dominated even the best of teams. So I'm not sure, which, once again, is why I started the thread. Earlier. This forum is for discussing Highlands' football, but we're only allowed to discuss it when they're good? They are CovCath's biggest rival, so obviously their football program has an impact on my interests. I have no clue, which, as you'll see below, is one reason why I started the thread. Not sure. That's another reason why I asked. Not only back to state titles, but will they ever get back to blowing teams out in one-loss seasons? I don't know anything about it, but people always pointed to that as a reason for Highlands' success, so is that a (or the) reason for Highlands' struggles? I think other teams might have improved, but Highlands was always a well-oiled machine and they would have improved while other teams were improving, so I'm not sure. Do you think other teams have? Are you saying Highlands is no longer in a class by themselves?

Once again, no they haven't. Not in this thread. One or two people have said that BW needs time to get make his mark, but things were already established, so I don't see that as much of a reasoning. Most people have just offered sarcastic comments or just posted things to avoid the question altogether. Why wouldn't I want to hear real answers to a question I asked?

Once again, so I asked questions, which no one has been able to answer besides with sarcasm, so doesn't that make them ignorant, too? At least I'm trying to become more knowledgable about the situation. By the way, quick question for mods: I was suspended a long time ago because someone posted that I knew nothing about drinking and driving, which I responded was an ignorant comment, but that's legal for people to do now?