Mr.Network

WPBK call of “the shot”, synced up to a great Fox 56 video. IMG_7380.MOV

Coach Jaggers came to the football signing ceremony at the school last night. He spoke to the audience, and afterwards, he stood at the door and shook every player’s and parent’s hand. The feedback on his hiring has been very positive and the community has bought in completely.

It would have been here or somewhere else public before he ever got a chance. He had to tell the team at Larue first. At that point, it’s public knowledge. Better to make an official announcement than let the rumors continue, in my opinion.

WPBK-FM story…. Josh Jaggers, has been named the 12th head coach in the 48 year history of Lincoln County High School football. He replaces Spencer Crutchfield who resigned in December to take the head coach’s job at Garrard County, his alma mater. Jaggers is 40 years old and has eight seasons’ experience as a head coach. Josh’s father, Marty, was the head coach at Lincoln County from 1991-1996, and Josh played one season as a Patriot for his dad. His mother, Judy, was a teacher and assistant Principal at Stanford. After the family moved, Josh finished his high school career at Danville, where he was an all-state lineman and a finalist for Mr. Football in 1999. Josh was most recently the head coach at Laure County. He and his wife Megan, also a teacher, have two young daughters. The family will relocate to Lincoln County. This will be a homecoming of sorts for the whole Jaggers family, and I’m sure we’ll see Marty back on the sidelines (and Judy in the stands) on Friday nights. Welcome back to Death Valley, Josh!

School press release: Lincoln County High School is excited to announce Josh Jaggers as the new head football coach. Jaggers has been the head coach at LaRue County High School for the past 5 seasons and has 17 years of high school football coaching experience, including being an assistant coach for Mercer County football in 2006 when they won the state championship. Jaggers was 30-24 in the past five season at LaRue County including a state semi-final appearance in 2018. Jaggers played for Lincoln County High School in 1996 and is a 2000 graduate of Danville High School where he was a state runner-up in 1998. He was a Mr. Football finalist in 1999 and a 1st Team All State Lineman while playing at Danville. After high school Jaggers signed with the University of Kentucky to play football for the Wildcats. He later finished his playing career at Campbellsville University where was an all conference lineman. Josh and his wife Megan, along with their two daughters, are excited to lead Lincoln County football. “Life is about taking opportunities, and the opportunity to return to the place where I grew up on the sidelines to coach was an opportunity I could not pass up,” said Head Coach Josh Jaggers. “We were blown away by the interest in this job. We took our time with this search, and evaluated the 15 applicants we had for the position,” said Lincoln County High School Principal Michael Godbey. “Josh blew us away with his vision for the program on and off the field. He understands the value of a strong feeder system and has a great track record of helping his players further their career after high school. He will be a great addition as a teacher, coach and community member!” Jaggers will immediately start putting together his staff and getting ready to lead the Patriots for the upcoming football season as the 12th head coach in school history. #WeArePatriots

Josh Jaggers was just announced as the new head coach.

This was a fun thread but the future will be fun, too.

I had to edit it. Spencer was hired later in the year than this when Travis resigned.

Why, because of the speculation here? It’s gone about like it went, but earlier in the year, when Spencer was hired in 2018.

Lemme check….. No, nothing yet.

What does “traditional support” mean?

David has left the program in great shape but, other than that, I’d like to hear the reasons behind your opinion that it is a better job than both Garrard and Lincoln. Thanks.

If you’re twenty-five years old, two years out of college, have a teaching job in your hometown, and working as an assistant coach, then you are way ahead of the game and have plenty of time later to ruin your life as a head coach. Patience, Grasshopper.

And Tim Estes, who took over at LCHS when Marty Jaggers resigned, took two years away from his beloved Lincoln football to be the head coach at Webster County. He got the experience he needed to take over his alma mater’s program when the opportunity presented itself in the summer of 1997.

I’m with you. I hope so, too, and I think the facilities will see the improvements you noted, especially the practice field and the field house. The field house was new but inadequate when it was built in the mid 90s. The two assistants are true Patriots, both as players and as coaches. Levi’s name is etched in the football record book, just as yours is. It is very unfortunate that those guys feel slighted.

We’re here today to honor an average high school quarterback, but one who turned out to be a great coach and an even better man. You are probably saying to yourself, “Wait a minute this isn’t a roast, why is he saying the honoree was an average quarterback?” Well, the truth is that I have a rare home video from our sophomore junior varsity game in 1980, and while it shows that he was average, it shows that I was below-average…… In summary, for years and years of honest, transparent, and insightful posting, capped off by leading the site’s users on the unlikely quest for 500 posts about a school’s coaching search, when the issue seemed dead, I present this Blue Jacket and framed Hall of Fame membership certificate to my friend, and yours @ChiefSmoke!

Just before resigning, Spencer Crutchfield appeared before the school board and asked for certain improvements. The board was overwhelmingly acceptable to his request. Now, they are moving forward with a feasibility study to determine whether to add on to the existing field house or build a new one near the practice field, which is going to be upgraded as well. Other than replacing the home side bleachers, adding some visitor bleachers, putting a second floor on the pressbox, and paving the running track (twice), the football stadium is the same as it was when built in 1974. It is my understanding that field turf will be considered as well, and I know for a fact that local people were willing to help fund it a few years ago, but the uproar over the closure of McKinney Elementary School made spending much money on athletic facilities a non-starter. The school is creeping up on 50 years of age, and the gym is two years newer than that, but the decision makers at the time did a very good job of building a high school and gymnasium that have weathered the years and still feel modern and sufficient.

Always a package deal, or a deal-killer.

Guess they’d rather do grass drills and run hills! You know what I used to like that would either cripple me or kill me now? The flying monkey drill. Where three guys orchestrate a side dive to one side and roll under another guy doing the same thing back towards him. Google comes up empty on a search and it might have been called a Flying Cloud drill. I also liked the bull ring, but didn’t really enjoy the Oklahoma drill that we did without a blocker—it was just a collision at a point between between two tires, with linemen taking turns being the runner or the tackler. “Get lower next time”, would be the refrain as we dug grass and mud out of our face masks while switching lines. People who didn’t do it really don’t understand the blood, sweat, and tears football description that has become a cliche. Back to the subject at hand…… (1) I agree with Seybold and I also expect an announcement next week. (2) I agree with Calico Jack, success will not be tied to a .500 season. Spencer Crutchfield’s four season tenure is considered successful and “a positive change”, but his record was two games below .500 over four seasons. One must also remember that he had a game-changer player three of those four seasons (Darius Napier 2018 and Clayton Davis 2020 & 2021–and Davis had a good sophomore season in 2019). Over that stretch, they beat only four teams that ended their respective seasons with winning records. Anybody putting lofty expectations on the new coach is unrealistic. (3) The new coach and/or athletic director need to work on (i) making sure the new District alignment is as favorable as possible, (ii) creating a schedule that helps the winning record, (iii) rejuvenating the feeder system. Success breeds success and Lincoln football desperately needs success—real success—not hosting a playoff off game and finishing .500 faux success. Let’s get back to double-digit wins and competing for a Region title.

Let’s run the hill from the track around the light pole and back. Two lines, backs and ends in front, and linemen behind. Go hard and we’ll stop after 10 of them. On the whistle…….

I was told someone else would supervise weight lifting if necessary. It was an act of the individual coaches, not the school/program. Weight lifting will continue.

We just need one more at a time. Don’t think about 500, just think about the next one! C’mon, I know you can do one more!

Ax-grinding, misinformation, and subterfuge. This thread would make a good novel. All personal biases aside and as objectively as possible, who do you think is the best coach available to Lincoln? In my mind, it has to be someone with a plan to rejuvenate the feeder program, and probably someone with experience in doing so. The next coach will likely get major support from the Fiscal Court, which operates the youth football league. He will need to be energetic, hard-working and a ground-up program builder. Who fits the bill?

I don’t know. I have never hired a head football coach or been one. Of the two, Rogers has much more experience than Cooper, and is the better candidate on paper. My comment wasn’t as clear as it could have been but what I really meant was that if we knew it was going to work out for the long-term, I’d be fine with both/either. I’ve supported every coach who’s been there and I will continue to do so. The program needs consistency and success, badly. If that’s from homegrown guys, that’s even better.

This couldn’t be more wrong. Don Story, Athletic Director at the time, brought Larry French to Lincoln County. What hires have been wrong/bad? The coach after Larry French was highly-accomplished and sought after. If his wife at the time was not from Lincoln, I doubt he would have come when he did. The Coach after that was already on staff and was a known entity with the admin at the time. He’s a football guy, through and through. Then, the most recent coach was cherry-picked by his alma mater after being seen as successful at Lincoln. Hindsight is 20/20 but the losing seasons at Lincoln over the last twenty years are not a product of hiring wrong coaches, or having coaches who are incompetent. Personally, I hope either Levi or Daniel get the job, turn it all around, and stay for 30 to 40 years and becomes a coaching legend. That’s what the program needs—consistently and success—from a long term coach (and a feeder program that is pumping out Jimmys and Joes like the good old days).