Mr.Network

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

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. 

2 minutes ago, ckyguy said:

Just had a parent tell me their kid and the rest of the team found out the hire from Twitter… Could the admin not let Josh speak to the kids first? 
 

Congrats Coach Jaggers! 

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. 

4 minutes ago, GCHS said:

 A lot of similarities to the Garrard hire, as well.

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

12 minutes ago, Seybold24 said:

This has to be the oddest job search and hiring process I believe I’ve ever seen…. 

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

1 hour ago, Cary Grant said:

No news?

Lemme check…..

No, nothing yet. 

2 hours ago, NotMattJones said:

MUCH better facilities at Mercer. Easier schedule with 3A and Mercer's district. Middle school has been stable for years. The program has traditional support right now. 

The Mercer job is miles ahead of Lincoln. Garrard will come closer when they make the facilities upgrades that are planned. 

I think Mercer also has a more steady flow of athletes coming through the school, which helps. The job itself is ahead of Lincoln and Garrard, IMO. 

What does “traditional support” mean? 

5 hours ago, EagleRare20 said:

I figured this thread would blow up with responses. Been pretty quiet...IMO mercer is a better job than both Garrard and Lincoln...

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. 

18 minutes ago, Calico Jack said:

Jay Cobb, Bob Sphire, Dudley Hilton, Mike Holcomb,  Sam Harp, Chuck Smith, Joe Jaggers, Marty Jaggers, Lance Gregory, Colt Phelps  etc and countless others out there that I’ve forgotten to mention come to mind with the point I’m about to make in being first time head coaches that had to make a move maybe outside their comfort zone as young assistant coaches either newly married/young family/not married/no family that uprooted where they were from to become head coaches for the first time:

Jay Cobb- From Western Kentucky in Webster County and his first head coaching job was in the mountains at Knott County Central.

Bob Sphire- From just south of Louisville in Meade County and his first head coaching job was also at Knott County Central.

Dudley Hilton- From the heart of Central Kentucky and his first head coaching job was in the mountains at Breathitt County which was a first year program.

Sam Harp- From Frankfort who took his first head coaching job in far, far WKY at Calloway County.

Mike Holcomb- From Bardstown KY who took an assistant job under aforementioned Dudley Hilton at Breathitt County and a few years later became the head coach where he stayed for 30 years.

Chuck Smith- The pride of Jeffersontown HS in Louisville who got his first chance almost in Tennessee at Allen Co- Scottsville.

Joe Jaggers- From Caldwell County in western KY and first head coaching job was at the once Old Kentucky Home in Bardstown.

Marty Jaggers- From Trigg County in western KY and first head coaching job was at Lincoln County.

Lance Gregory- from Bardstown who up until a few years ago was the head coach at Graves County High School which is almost as far west in KY as you can go.

Colt Phelps- from Ashland and just finished his first year at Green County, about 4 hours from where he grew up. 

Point is? There are jobs to be had for all of the younger generations, some get jobs in and around their home area, but many have to go to a place that isn’t exactly “home” in order to come back around home.

 

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.

4 hours ago, LethalPG said:

This will be my last comment on the situation.  I don't care who they hire, but as a former/proud alum that played on some of the most successful teams in school history it is incredibly sad that Coach Rogers never received a formal interview.  Not only, was he one of the most storied players in school history he has been apart of the program for the last decade as a coach in various roles including offensive and defensive coordinator.  Even if they had no intention on hiring him, that process could've proved valuable for him moving forward, and was merited based on the work that was put in (and results).  If not for a couple injuries to key players, last year's team would've finished with 8 or 9 wins.  To close, best of luck to the next coach, but it will be an uphill battle as various area schools are improving their facilities and investing in their programs and Lincoln County still can't produce a feasible practice facility surface for their players.  The grass quickly turns to hard rock dirt throughout the season, but we want to talk about the pride and tradition.  Invest into the young men that wear the red and white.  Death Valley is a special place on Friday nights, and I hope the program will continue to improve.      

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. 

56 minutes ago, ChiefSmoke said:

Being tight with @theguru is some times a double edged sword. Lol 

 

Best of luck to Lincoln County, LaRue County and Coach Jaggers... whatever happens. 

 

Also.. congrats to me... 500th reply on the 2022 Open Job: Lincoln County thread. I think this means automatic induction into the BGPreps Hall of Fame. Our jackets are royal blue & red. Would be honored if @Mr.Network would do my induction speech. We go back to 1980 and this is a Lincoln County moment... 100% 

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. 
 

3 hours ago, okie1 said:

I disagree, If momma is a teacher or works in the school, most schools/administrators understand they have to make this happen.

Always a package deal, or a deal-killer.

4 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

 

It doesn't look like fear is motivating this group. Things slowed down a lot after these two posts.

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.

3 minutes ago, ChiefSmoke said:

461.  Grass Drills in Death Valley tomorrow morning in single digit temperatures if we don't hit 500 .... soon.  I don't have a team right now. Nothing I would enjoy more than blowing a whistle and pushing some guys through a long session of up-downs.   🙂

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…….

56 minutes ago, Seybold24 said:

I don’t think the weight room got shut down because of a no interview, I think maybe everyone is reading to much into the fact that weight lifting has been cancelled (including myself) Could be just another reason why it was cancelled, sometimes things come up in life as well, these guys have families too. 

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.

2 hours ago, ChiefSmoke said:

I think we got 500 in us, easy. Let's go for it.

#NoPainNoGain

 

 

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?

37 minutes ago, ckyguy said:

Do you personally think Cooper can be a head coach and have success? It’s nothing against him at all, but I just don’t think he’s an option to lead the program. He is fairly young and from the people I’ve talked to close to the program have said he has very minimal knowledge of the game. I just don’t think he’d be the best hire at this time. Not saying he can’t do it, but I think he still needs to get some time learning from other coaches before he’s considered. 

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. 

2 hours ago, Hazlett72 said:

Well the parents are the ones who got Larry French here and we see how that worked out compared to the hires of the administration. Lol ! 

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).