Ordell

I’d like to see us drop Daviess County and Henderson County. I realize they’re great “gate” games most years but our district is so weak. I’d replace those games with more statewide recognized programs like Lexington Catholic, Central, Bryan Station, Johnson Central, Scott County, etc. Or an Indiana team like Castle, Evansville Reitz, Heritage Hills, Jasper, or Gibson Southern.

I have always respected the Wildcat’s program. But since 1970 Owensboro is 11-4 all time vs F/S. We played in 1975(F/S), 1976(OHS), 1986(OHS), 1987(F/S), 1988(OHS), 1989(OHS), 1990(OHS), 1991(OHS), 1992(OHS), 1993(OHS), 1994(F/S), 1999(F/S),*1999 playoffs(OHS), 2000(OHS), & 2013(OHS)

Owensboro and Paducah should definitely play more then they do.

I was going to mention this as well. Central can get kids from everywhere so I could see scheduling like they have.

I would definitely put Mayfield above OHS. Historically I’d say Bowling Green, South Warren, Mayfield, Paducah, then OHS would be my top 5 west of I-65. Then I’d add Franklin-Simpson, Hop-twn, Christian County, Owensboro Catholic, & probably Madisonville. (Special mention Henderson Co., McCracken Co., & Caldwell Co.)

I heard they asked him to retain the current assistants. But I don’t know how true it is. I also heard Coach Rector made some requests when interviewed. He may have asked to be able to pick his own assistants. Which I don’t think the higher ups liked.

I started to mention this in the other thread. Mike Settles won 0 games in 1998. Then won 3 games in 1999. 4 games in 2000. Then 8 in 2001. He seemed to have Ohio County trending up. Settles leaves Ohio County in 2002 and Dan Crumes takes over and wins 7 games. Then 6 games in 2003. 5 games in 2004. 7 games in 2005. 2 wins in 2006. And finally 4 wins in 2007. Crumes left and I believe he was an assistant coach at a few places before he got the Apollo job in 2012. I would say Apollo historically is a better program than Ohio County. Crumes at Apollo won 2, 2, 3, 2, & 7 games. I say all that to say winning 7 games one year at Ohio County doesn’t really prove future success. Especially at a championship level like the Owensboro faithful are wanting. But Owensboro the program has the advantage of having enough talent that cycles through every 4-5 years that every coach has won at a high clip on Frederica Street. They just haven’t brought home a ring. Ganaway will win like the rest of them IMO it’s just whether he’ll be able to get OHS to a state championship level or not.

I understand. I just think their program has moved beyond worrying about 95% of instate programs most years. I think Bowling Green, Boyle, Trinity, St X, Male, Mayfield, etc. have too.

Real decent schedule right there. But I’d love to see them play a Winton Woods, Cincinnati Princeton, Cincinnati Anderson, Indy Warren Central, Indy Ben Davis, etc.

You didn’t mention Henderson’s big win over Evansville Reitz.

The grapevine is saying an in house hire. Going to be a lot of grumbling but I think the folks that want a more wide open offense, like me, may be happier.

Yes they probably were in most of those cases. Just like Owensboro was just better than Apollo, Daviess Co., etc. But I’m not so much debating the wins and losses. As much as I am what the product on the field looks like.

I doubt it. And we shouldn’t lose to them this year. (Fingers crossed!)

I’ll give another example. We have a phenomenal running back on Frederica Street. In 2023 he was our leading rusher and receiver. This is while we also had Morris, Winstead, Crowe, etc. on the team. IMO we were predictable on offense because the defense didn’t have to respect those other kids because we hadn’t developed the offense enough to make them threats. This is just my opinion though.

They have been successful but #’s can be misleading because Owensboro only plays 2-3 high level teams yearly. You can run the #’s up against Apollo, Breckenridge County, Henderson County, Daviess County, Ohio County, etc. Now let’s look at the games against Bowling Green, Owensboro Catholic, CAL, St X, etc.

It’s a been a philosophy thing more then not having the talent or coaches to run that particular offense IMO.

The Aces have as many championships as Owensboro in the last 20 years. 0! But they may have played for more championships then Owensboro has in the last 20 years. And they may be .500 head to head against Owensboro in the last 20 years. Idk if me using Owensboro Catholic as an example has upset you but I also used Paducah as an example. And I could have easily used Bowling Green as an example. I mentioned Gavin Wimsatt because you said other schools had generational talent at QB. For Owensboro Wimsatt was a generational talent. Every program is different. You’re absolutely right. And every coaching staff has a different philosophy for their program. Doesn’t mean it’s the best one for that program. Just means it might be the one that coach is most comfortable using. How did Coach Beaty at Trinity come in and take them to new heights with that offense? Bowling Green used to be straight wishbone/broken bone. It’s more than one way to win games. I hope this next coach at OHS understands that.

The Aces have as many championships as Owensboro in the last 20 years. 0! But they may have played for more championships then Owensboro has in the last 20 years. And they may be .500 head to head against Owensboro in the last 20 years. Idk if me using Owensboro Catholic as an example has upset you but I also used Paducah as an example. And I could have easily used Bowling Green as an example. I mentioned Gavin Wimsatt because you said other schools had generational talent at QB. For Owensboro Wimsatt was a generational talent. Every program is different. You’re absolutely right. And every coaching staff has a different philosophy for their program. Doesn’t mean it’s the best one for that program. Just means it might be the one that coach is most comfortable using. How did Coach Beaty at Trinity come in and take them to new heights with that offense? Bowling Green used to be straight wishbone/broken bone. It’s more than one way to win games. I hope this next coach at OHS understands that.

The Aces have as many championships as Owensboro in the last 20 years. 0! But they may have played for more championships then Owensboro has in the last 20 years. And they may be .500 head to head against Owensboro in the last 20 years. Idk if me using Owensboro Catholic as an example has upset you but I also used Paducah as an example. And I could have easily used Bowling Green as an example. I mentioned Gavin Wimsatt because you said other schools had generational talent at QB. For Owensboro Wimsatt was a generational talent. Every program is different. You’re absolutely right. And every coaching staff has a different philosophy for their program. Doesn’t mean it’s the best one for that program. Just means it might be the one that coach is most comfortable using. How did Coach Beaty at Trinity come in and take them to new heights with that offense? Bowling Green used to be straight wishbone/broken bone. It’s more than one way to win games. I hope this next coach at OHS understands that.

Owensboro had Gavin Wimsatt 4-5 years ago. The offense looked a lot like it does now. Also go look at what Owensboro Catholic has looked like for the last 20 years. They have a QB throw for 3,000+ yards almost every year. I believe the kid coming in next year will put up huge numbers as well. It’s the system. Owensboro has struggled at developing QB’s IMO. The one year the offense seemed to be really wide open was the year the QB transferred over from Owensboro Catholic. By the time he got to Frederica Street he was fully developed and the offense just had to be catered to his talents. He set all kinds of OHS passing records that year.

I understand your view I do but we’ve dealt with some player movement for at least the last 30+ years in Owensboro. We have 4 high schools all within a few miles of each other. So we’ve sometimes had kids that couldn’t crack the starting lineup leave to go where they could play. Or a kid may have friends that they grew up playing AAU basketball, or travel baseball with, all be at a rival school. So a kid may transfer to be with his friends. I look at it like someone changing jobs. If you’re not happy where you are currently you have the freedom to go find happiness. IMO the only thing a school system, or sports program, can do is try and create an environment that appeals to kids and families. Just like a corporation has too. For sports I think you do that by having an exciting brand of ball. A nurturing culture that emphasizes the well being of the kids, morals, and education. A program that promotes their athletes by giving them exposure through 7 on 7 tourneys, college camps, recruiting help, etc. And finally a program that fosters a brotherhood amongst the players and former players.

Lol If you haven’t noticed there’s quite a bit of player movement in the Greater Owensboro area. Sometimes it has helped OHS but more recently it’s negatively affected us. If the next coaching staff will adopt a more wide open approach I think we’ll reverse the loss of athletes and May start attracting kids from out of district.

Why would you say that when there are plenty of examples of schools spreading the ball around and still winning? Let’s look at Paducah Tilghman. The Tornado were pretty loaded this year. Lots of studs to feed but the staff figured out a way to get it done. They had 6 kids with over 30 catches! 9 kids with double digit receptions. Then they had 7 kids with double digit rushing attempts. For comparison sake Owensboro had one kid with over 30 receptions. And this kid lead the team in receptions with 41. Followed by kids with 25, 18,15,& 14 receptions. On the rushing side Owensboro had 3 kids with double digit rushing attempts. Now do you think any of those kids from Paducah are wanting to leave the program? I personally doubt it because they’re getting opportunities.

I tried to explain some of this earlier in the thread. I now have some of the info to show my example. I believe talented kids are leaving Owensboro because the offense is not varied enough. We have had trouble consistently getting the ball to our playmakers at Wide Receiver for a while now. Let’s use the Crowe kid as an example. In 2023 as a Junior at OHS he had 16 carries for 153 yards with 6 rushing TD’s. He also had 28 receptions for 432 yards and 5 TD’s. So that’s 44 times he touched the ball in 14 games. An average of 3 touches a game. In 2024 he transfers to Catholic and has 35 carries for 404 yards with 4 rushing TD’s. He also had 60 receptions for 1063 yards and 22 TD’s. So that was 95 times he touched the ball in 15 games. An average of 6 touches a game. Maddox while at OHS as a Sophmore had 2 receptions for 6 yards with 1 TD. He transfers to Catholic and has 29 catches for 381 yards with 5 TD’s. (This while missing multiple weeks with knee injuries.) And I don’t believe it was a situation where they went to play with less talented kids so they were targeted more. Catholic had another 1,000 yard receiver in Waryn Ebelhar. Cameron Woodard had 600+ yards receiving. Miles Edge had 32 catches for 338 yards. Then Edge, and the QB Atwell, combined to rush for almost 1400 yards. In 2024 Owensboro attempted 209 passes while rushing 286 times in 12 games. Catholic attempted 447 passes while attempting 274 rushes in 15 games.. There are a lot of Red Devil fans that feel Catholic’s offense does a better job of giving their playmakers opportunities. And has for a long time. Catholic doesn’t play a regular season schedule as strong as Owensboro does most years. But outside of OHS playing CAL, and Bowling Green, the schedules aren’t much different. There’s an offensive philosophy that has been in play that no longer fits a lot of the Owensboro players, parents, & fan base. There are just so many die hard Red Devil fans many parents refuse to move their kids.

Looking at it from the positive side for the next guy in charge. 3 different coaches have made it to the title game since 1986 though. If it’s not going to be Coach Hall I still want Rector hired.