observerbynature

@gbballfan21, you may have some valid points, but your unprovoked assault on the real estate market was a bridge too far. Good day, sir. #sarcasm

At this point, I think its heading for one of two scenarios. A) It is who everyone thinks it is, and it was basically locked down weeks ago, or B) It could be a complete disaster brought about by inaction that was fueled by a "we'll just let them come to us" type mentality. And then you factor all of the other things that have come up in this thread from lack of a teaching positions, etc, etc, and it ends up being a cluster.

Here, here man! It's absolutely worth calling out and taking a second to appreciate it for so many of these kids, families, and fans.

Lots of fans of their coach. ?

The radio broadcast right now is my favorite thing in the world. Now, the same lady is explaining to them that their mics are hot the whole time, while still on a hot mic. No one has said anything bad or inappropriate, but it's somehow even more charming and endearing.

Anyone else listening to the radio feed? They haven't turned it off at the end of the 1st quarter and it was an interesting exchange between the radio guys and a woman (not sure who, like the sound engineer, if there is one). Her exact quote was, ïf one more person texts me about the echo, I'm going to lose it."

I think this is awesome and would also say thanks for sharing this. So, I guess I have a question about a question. Would you ever want to ask and/or what would be the best way to get a sense of someone's understanding of the chain of command? Obviously, this is just my opinion and there are other ways people can make it work, but that seems really important to me in assembling a working staff. I think you're touching on it in question #3, but I was curious what steps you feel are necessary to ensure that its a good fit?

I do believe that is correct. They can all reapply once a new coach is hired. However, I have to say, I've heard a lot the last few days, and I'm pretty sure this was mentioned on here in a thread even last year, that this was a pretty dysfunctional staff. It seems there was a fair amount of openly questioning each other, coaches doing their own thing, and in some cases just completely blowing off the head coach. Now, from my perspective, I think that also has to fall on the head coach if you're keeping those guys on your staff, but I would also have to think this isn't exactly a secret in coaching circles and anyone we've been talking about coming in would most likely be aware as well.

I'll just say that if the criteria is whether or not its a "good" job, then the answer is unequivocally yes based on many of the things already highlighted above. The district, the resources, the facilities, the junior football league, etc. I think where Highlands people can sometimes push the argument beyond reason is the question of whether or not it's the greatest job. I also think that the level of frustration went well beyond not winning state or beating CovCath for years (neither of those help). I just think the right guy, the guy who wants to be the face of this program and LEAD his staff, develop his players and be able to manage all the rest of it will find that it's, at the very least, a really good opportunity.

I'd just like to say, I don't think John Madden would be a good fit.

Man, you really are the Voice of Reason. And what I like about this is that it points out something that we often lose sight of in the world today; more than one thing can be true without negating the other. He can be a very good coach and doing good things at WV and still not be a great fit for Highlands.

It should definitely be reassuring to Birds' fans that there does seem to be a plan in place. And, frankly, seems to have been in place for a little while. Here's hoping they can execute that plan .

I can't help but think of that scene in the original Batman when Micheal Keaton yells out, "You want to get nuts? Let's get nuts!!!" Should be interesting.

Just pretend they were the same 4 plays Highlands always runs.

I have a hard time envisioning a close game. By my math, Highlands has had one game decided by fewer than double digit points all season (a 9 point win vs Ryle). That just strikes me as a really strange stat. In their first game, that first half had a couple of pivotal moments that kept it a game, and frankly it could have been closer at halftime. But, at halftime, one team smartly makes adjustments and the other is either unwilling or unable to do the same. I think the chances of that dynamic changing Friday night are pretty slim.

Well, I would imagine resources also play a part in it. I don't think I'm being controversial here to say that Fort Thomas is able to provide a pretty healthy amount of resources to a wide variety of programs that other districts may not. That being said, the CovCath broadcast is pretty outstanding. I will also say that I was really impressed during the first HHS-CovCath game this year how professional they were. CC guys for sure, but definitely not a Dave Lapham vibe, even though I do love listening to Lap. As for the Highlands broadcasts, I enjoy it as well. I mean, its fair to say that there may be some googling of "football things to say" before they take the mic, but I think that's part of the charm. The hype video at the beginning is really well done and its kind of fun seeing the kids getting to pursue their aspirations. I was at a Highlands pep rally a couple years ago and there was something the principal said that stuck with me. It was kind of an "all fall sports" type rally, but it was before the CC game and there was a big emphasis on the football game obviously. He articulated very well just how many students who are not on the football team are still involved in some aspect of the game on a Friday night. I mean, this isn't a novel idea obviously, but I thought it was a great way to highlight that sense of the the school community. Obviously, the broadcast is a big part of that. Now, he just has to fix the actual football situation. ?

To me, a great indicator of a well run program is how much you can see them improve week to week and how prepared they are for the playoffs. Not many do that better than Specht and his crew.

I only watched the last 8 minutes or so and still am trying to wrap my head around it. That was kind of insane.

Part of the charm. ?

And I'd also like to say, to the original post by @THUNDERBIRDS who hits the nail squarely on the head. The lack of player development at the high school level is one of the enormous problems this current staff should, and all signs point to will, be held accountable.

I know the kids really like Dowling. I also think there is something inherently special about their freshman year at Highlands because for most teams, it is usually the first year all the kids actually play together on the same team. This current group was split up on two different teams the last two years. Which can lead to some thin rosters, but an awful, awful lot of snaps for those kids. So, I think its a real positive the way the FTJFL does it and results in 14/15 year olds who have had a lot of reps leading into that freshman year.

Brady Dowling is the head coach of the freshmen team. I believe he's been in that role for at least 5, 6 years?

That's a great post @Colonels_Wear_Blue Well said.

I'll just say this, I wouldn't argue that a team that loses that particular player is necessarily "better" than they were with him, but it really did seem like something happened in so far as the team coming together after he left. I want to be real clear, I'm not trying to put anything on the shoulders of a 14/15 year old kid, or even suggest he did anything wrong, but there was a difference in the team after that whole thing shook out. And yeah, I think many of those kids realized how fortunate they were to get a second shot at their arch-rival and they made it count.

That's a pretty passive aggressive "compliment," I guess. To just second JOAT, that first game saw Highlands throw a pick in the end zone and then have a KO return for a TD called back for holding, so to make it seem like they reached far beyond themselves last night is a little disingenuous. Highlands had a weird start to the season as damn near half the team was on a quarantine and only fully practiced for 1 week prior to that first game, actually only one practice before the first Ryle game. They got to play two teams twice, once early in the season and once later and in both the Ryle and CovCath rematches you could very easily see how much they improved. I don't even know if that was their best game, it's pretty much how they've been playing since Dixie. I guess all I'm trying to say is give those kids their due. When you look at this class, along with the Sophomores who are major contributors already, there is really good reason for the elevated hopes around the program, talent-wise. Obviously, the second part of that equation is something you are correct about in that we know the CovCath kids will continue to be developed and get better, and that's not something Highlands could say under the current leadership, but those changes are coming. I just think that with the right leadership (big unknown, I know), the CovCath-Highlands games are going to be awfully damn fun and competitive here the next few years.