New Colonel

They try to pass too much, and try exotic plays in situations where it doesn't make sense. And I have seen coaches disagreeing with each other on the sidelines about what play to call while the players are waiting and visibly agitated which leads to delay of game penalties.

They should redo the defense since their defensive coordinator Chris Mobley left to take the Head Coaching job across the river at Gamble Montessori High School in February, then a month later accepted another Head Coaching job at Purcell Marian in Cincinnati. Dixie needs to do figure out what kind of team they want to be. They can be an absolute force if they decide to make better decisions regarding scheme, especially on defense. Their defensive scheme lost them games last year, plain and simple. Against teams that were close to their talent level, or above, they would run press man coverage and get absolutely torched. The Beechwood game especially was the biggest example of that. But they kept running press man zero. People in the stand would be yelling, well, here comes a big play because they are in press and bingo, it would happen. They have really good numbers and really solid buy-in from the kids from what I'm hearing. They have some solid looking dudes. I would love to see Gregg moved to RB and just feed that beast of a human the ball 30+ times a game. He's simply too big and strong to not run the ball that much, and they have a backup QB who IMHO is more accurate with the ball. I love the idea of going quick, no huddle.... more snaps and means more opportunities to score. But, there's no need to be "cute" all the time. There's nothing wrong with smash mouth football, and smash mouth is VERY affective when you can combine it with quick tempo. I wouldn't call Dixie a "pitbull" by any means, but they have the ability to definitely become one. They need to get out of their own way first. And when they do get over the hump, they have the ability to stay there for quite a while as I know there is talent & numbers in the Middle School coming up. Hopefully this season can be a statement season for Coach Burke and the Colonels.

Thanks, I didn't know they did it last year. I know they are in different classifications. From a coach's standpoint it seems odd to me to have that scrimmage knowing that both of you are going to be even more vanilla and extra careful not to tip your hat too much knowing you will see each other again. But I get finding teams at your competition level wanting to scrimmage you and I guess that's the most important aspect. Highlands wouldn't get anything scrimmaging someone like Dayton and Dayton wouldn't get anything from that scrimmage either (not throwing shade at them).

It's strange to me to see a team schedule a scrimmage against a team you will see in the regular season.

Seems like an absolute slam dunk hire. Crazy praise from Mueller which says all I need to know. Makes you wonder why Scott didn't promote him to be the guy......but oh well.... Boone County's gain. Best of luck, and Rebel faithful be patient. This won't be an overnight transition. There will most likely be growing pains, and he'll probably anger some along the way.... but such needs to be done to rid Boone County of it's losing ways. Great job with this hire!!!

Didn't realize he was that high. Anyways, most of my feelings about Mixon is just how he is as a human being in general. And #1 rusher during that time just signed with the Ravens.

Good riddance to Mixon. He has under-produced the past few years. He has negativity associated with him due to his antics off the field. He is slow in hitting the hole, can't run outside, and can't block to save his life. He was bringing the team down. We will see what Bengals do with RB spot by signing Zach Moss, a backup that we will pay 4 million a year. I don't understand what the Bengals are doing right now.

I think one thing needs to be stated clearly here..... Playoffs in Kentucky are WAY broken and simply making the playoffs should NOT be the goal of any team..... PERIOD. Making the playoffs in Kentucky is about as low of a bar as it gets (unless you're Indiana). I've done some looking at last year's numbers to prove my point, I double checked them but still could be slightly off, so if I goofed slightly, someone please correct me. I believe there are 222 schools playing football according to KHSAA. There are 6 classes, with 32 teams each making the playoffs (Exceptions for the 31 teams in 1A and 3A ). That’s 190 teams out of 222 making the playoffs. You have over an 85% chance of making the playoffs in Kentucky. Like I stated it’s not that difficult. In 2023 across all classes…. 4 teams won ZERO games that made the playoffs 9 teams won only 1 game that made the playoffs 15 teams won only 2 games that made the playoffs 15 teams won only 3 games that made the playoffs 15 teams won only 4 games that made the playoffs. So, out of 190 playoff teams, 58 had losing records. 30.5% of your teams had losing records in the KY playoff system. In 2023….. 34 teams were 5-5 and made the playoffs (I didn’t count teams that were 5-4). So, out of 190 playoff teams, over 48% of your playoff teams didn’t even have a winning season. Let that sink in. Only about half of the entire state’s playoff teams had winning records. And there are people that think making it to the playoffs is going to “bring in numbers.” It’s really, really bad at the lower levels where in both 1A and 2A Brackets You had only 12 teams that had a winning record in each bracket…… TWELVE! 12 out of 31 and 12 out of 32 I’m really surprised that way more teams don’t opt out of District play just so they can hopefully win more games. Winning games increases rosters…. Simply making Kentucky’s ridiculous “playoff” system doesn’t really help any program in any way since over 85% of teams make the post season.

I can get behind this. Teams definitely need to schedule better.

Focus on getting as many wins as possible. That's what gets numbers up. Not going 1-9 with your only win being a district win and making the playoffs. Look, you can go 0-10 in some rare cases and still make the playoffs in some Districts..... so big deal, you made the playoffs..... you think that's going to increase your roster numbers? Dropping out of district and winning maybe 3, 4, or heck even 5 would be much more beneficial for your program than winning 0, 1 or 2 and making the playoffs because it's so watered down. Kids want to win. Simply ask them. Ask them if they'd rather win 1 game, make the playoffs, and get beat down 60-0 in first round..... or would they rather win 3+ games. I promise you the vast majority would rather win 3+ games.

Great conversation and I see it both ways. But let's be completely honest, making the playoffs in KY isn't difficult, and if that's your crowning achievement as a football program, you have HUGE issues and dropping out of district play would definitely be beneficial as getting absolutely curb-stomped by a top tier team in round 1 isn't going to help your program in any way.

You are quite correct with the rural districts in KY and the pay. The same is true in every state.... ridiculously low pay. What district did you come from and where are you in NKY? Hopefully it's a better situation for you and your family here in NKY.

No, I'm not. Starting salaries area all relatively about the same in NKY, Cincy, Louisville, and Lexington. It is how one progresses through the salary schedules. The KY schools give much smaller yearly raises than OH schools in general. You really start to see this disparity around year 10 of experience. For instance, my wife works in Kenton County. She makes what I and many consider a good salary. She has her Rank I and 15 years experience. Her good friend has the exact same education (45 credit hours above a Master's Degree) but has spent her career in Cincinnati Public Schools. Her friend makes 25k and change more than my wife. I'll list beginning salaries and max salaries below for some KY schools, and Cincy area schools. It's really hard to tell someone they could make hundreds of thousands of dollars more over the duration of your career for driving 10-30 minutes further into a neighboring state. And I miss-spoke when I said Kenton County was the best paying.... Erlanger-Elsmere actually maxes out slightly higher than Kenton County. Kenton County -46,916 86,063 Erlanger-Elsemere- 42,753 87,586 Ft. Mitchell (Beechwood)- 43,360 75,795 Jefferson County - 47,096.47 95,112.09 Fayette County - 50,085 104,498 Cincinnati Public - 50,199.78 110,972.53 Oak Hills - 46,761 105,211 Forest Hills - 49,011 103,505 Indian Hill - 47,311 115,619 Wyoming City - 46,356 114,962 Princeton City - 48,406 105,282 Loveland City - 45,492 103,949 Sycamore Local - 47,798 106,075 Mason City - 47,999 112,222 Lakota Local - 51,589 107,055 Southwest Local - 45,879 104,595 Norwood City - 46,078 101,529 Three Rivers Local - 44,957 102,704 St. Bernard - Elmwood Place Schools - 45,907 100,995 Even the lowest paying district in Hamilton County (Cincinnati) maxes out at 90,154 The point is, schools in KY have a really difficult time keeping teachers. I know this is especially true in NKY, where most schools are scrambling every year to fill numerous jobs. Many schools are still hiring teachers the week school starts, and many of these teachers bolt across the river into Cincy because it's truly life-changing money when you add it up over a career of 30 or so years.

The 20-30 thousand I was referring to going over the river into Ohio. It's about 10-15 thousand difference going from NKY to Jefferson and Fayette Counties. Kenton County has the highest pay in NKY followed by Ft. Thomas. Those same teachers would make over 20k more in most Cincinnati districts (not all though). I know there are some coaches with long tenures, and it's no surprise that the schools that give their coaches time ... At least 5 years almost always find success. Of course at most, there's still going to be some natural ups and downs, and schools should realize and expect that. It is definitely about players, and nobody gets into high school teaching and coaching to get rich. But it's really hard to turn big pay increases, especially when you are younger, have more student loans, young kids, possibly trying to buy a house, etc. And you are very right about the extra duty salaries in NKY, HUGE disparities salary.

Solid analysis. They looked so good against Beechwood and Cov Cath when they were just trying to pound the ball..... Beechwood especially. Dixie OL had Beechwood DL on ice-skates. Effective offenses don't have to be creative.

I agree with this! That's another big reason I want him at RB..... easier to put RB on defense than QB.

Something that doesn't get mentioned on here very much with these NKY jobs is salary. It's hard to find and retain a lot of these guys as teachers when if they go across the into Ohio, they make 20-30 thousand more immediately. I know the salaries aren't terrible in NKY compared to other parts of the state, but when you compare them to let's say Jefferson County or Fayette County, all NKY schools are SIGNIFANTLY below them..... even though the NKY schools are located in a much higher populated metropolitan area. These schools wouldn't have quite as much turnover in teachers or coaches if they would get on board and get their salary schedules closer to the Ohio schools or the big county schools in KY.

Typically, I am with you on not moving a fairly successful QB for their senior year. However, I am a firm believer that you put your best 11 on the field. Fields is definitely best 11 and is more of a pure QB than Gregg. Why waste Fields' talent this year just so Gregg can play his senior year at QB. Gregg will probably get college looks, but they won't be for QB. Help both Gregg's prospects and your team's by moving him to RB. If he's playing RB, you can also give him more snaps on Defense; because having your QB play defense is just asking for trouble.

I hope Fields is the starting QB. I think he throws a better ball. And with how big and strong Gregg is, he'd be my running back and I'd run him 30+ times a game. Make teams load up the box to stop Gregg which will open up the big plays off of play action. But that's me.

I much preferred coaching in places like you mentioned, where the kids are from backgrounds that most of us can't even imagine. Yes, the team meal was definitely more important than just about anything else. Yes, kids missed practices and weights because they had to work so rent could be paid. Yes, I got phone calls in the middle of the night from local police about someone that did something really stupid. But in coaching those teams, you really, really make a difference in their lives. Yes, the support is very low from the athletic dept, admin, parents, and community..... But I had a much better time dealing with all those struggles than when I coached at what most would consider to be "Powerhouse" programs. There is so much contentment, "spoiledness" (yea I made that word up), and "me first attitudes" that you deal with at those winning, blue chip schools. Someone is always stirring up drama at those places, typically some angry mom or dad that thinks little Johnny is a D1 athlete when he doesn't even start JV. When you have a down year or struggle against tough competition, everyone knows better than you and is calling for your head. In the places that struggle, people absolutely love the work that you put in and actually appreciate it, and you have much more opportunity to change lives. Sure winning is great, but give me the teams with crappy uniforms, horrible weight room, and overall bad facilities all day because those kids will run through a brick wall and into oncoming traffic for you any day of the week.

Awesome to hear. You don't hear that much the in the past 20 or so years that head coaches are actually doing great things in the classroom. Good for him!

I saw the false start, but I swear the official signaled delay of game.

Highlands is really good, but coaching is an issue at Dixie. How do you get a delay of game on your first offensive play? You're first play should have been decided days ago? Does Burke not go by a play script at the beginning of the game like everyone else? Secondly, why did they have 6 in the box against a team they knew were going to smash the ball down their throats? Good luck to Highlands, they look like Dale's old teams and are rocking and rolling.

Thanks!

Ugh. Thanks. So I guess that means the ever so lovely convenience fee.