footballfanatic1286

I have subbed in Fayette County for some time now, and having been in Lafayette quite a bit the past few years, I can say that there just aren't too many "Jimmy's and Joe's" walking through the hallways. Of all the schools in Fayette County they have the least amount of athletes to choose from that I have seen. A lot of the demographic in that school is geared towards the engineering program, arts programs and the band. They also have the worst facilities I've ever seen in a high school, especially one that is as large as they are. One gym, a weightroom that is only about 400 square feet big, and a locker room that doubles as a PE lockerroom that is located inside the Gym. Hard to build a winning culture with little, to no athletes, and no facilities to incentivize kids staying at their home school. Hopefully with this more manageable schedule they can get things turned around.

Hats off to Lafayette for making a tough decision. It sounds like a lot of starters out sick, and backups are not yet physically ready to play against a Douglass team that is extremely talented. Putting young kids out there just puts them at a great risk of injury. End of the day it's about the kids, (or at least it's supposed to be) and it appears that what they're doing.

These are many of the same names I was told about. Have heard many current players are not happy with the hire either. Many were upset Shipley was pushed out and now not happy he’s being replaced by someone with little experience.

This seems to be a running trend at Shelby County with athletic hires here recently. You look at baseball hires lately, all little league/travel ball coaches that coached the Principals kids. As a former Shelby resident, who had family that were a part of the Shelby County football program, I've seen from a far how great the Shelby County program has been in the past, and how great of job Todd Shipley did there for many years with not as much talent as what is had across town at Collins High School. There were many coaches that put in for this job. I know that some alumni players who are now coaches at other high schools interviewed. There were also coaches that are or were head coaches at the high school level that also interviewed. I have heard the same that many are not happy with the hire, especially knowing who some of the other candidates were.

So they’ve gone from a coach who gave everything he had for 20+ years, stuck around after the split and then essentially got run out to a coach who has coached little league and a couple years of middle school and it sounds like no high school experience? Would love to know how he separated himself from other candidates who had much more experience.