jbwill2

While I certainly agree with the notion that a high school football coach's first responsibility is to mold young people into solid adult citizens, I think it is important to note that job performance (measured in wins and titles) must be taken into serious consideration when judging a coach. If there is a math teacher in a school who is a good role model for the students but is not very good at teaching math (as evidenced by his students consistently performing poorly on math tests), then I'd be in favor of removing him, since he's "not getting the job done." While football is not nearly as important as math, I think the same concept still applies to a coach "not getting the job done" (i.e. not winning on the gridiron).

Was this held at The Syndicate?

Is Chapman currently an assistant coach at Breathitt?

Someone mentioned that Crawford got an award named after him... was it called The Clint Crawford Award, or something else? Also, what award did Tyler Miller receive? If anyone knows of any other awards that were not listed above, please post them, since I will be posting this information on the Highlands football website, and do not want to leave someone out!!!

Is this the full list of awards/award recipients for the banquet? Any JV or frosh awards given?

And regarding the length of the awards banquet... ... given how much time, effort, hard work and dedication these kids put into the football program, I think it's only fitting that these kids be given all sorts of praise during the banquet!

Well, as someone who can't get to any Highlands games, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LOVE these Highlands football highlight videos!!!! I got the one for the 2007 season, and if anything I thought it was too short! I still pull it on and watch it from time to time... it's probably my favorite "movie." I will call the school to order the 2008 version tomorrow!!!! Go 'Birds!

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I thought that on occasion, Clay Cecil played some DB his senior year. I seem to recall that in the Trotwood-Madison (Herbie) game, Tony Guidugli did a lot of QB'ing with Cecil playing some defense. Who will Bardo's backup QB likely be in 2009?

If this game were played at the end of the 2009 season, then it would probably be one of the very best (and maybe the best) interstate games in the midwest area. However, I think that the game being played so early in the season will hurt Trinity's chances, given that they are having to replace a lot of talent and experience in some key positions. As we've all come to know, Trinity at the end of a season is often very different (and better!) than Trinity earlier on in the season.

Does Spencer Bankemper play LB on defense? Any chance of him being a defensive starter in 2009? Also, if Will Bardo becomes the starting QB this year, will he focus exclusively on offense, or will he continue playing in the defensive backfield?

I believe that Highlands holds its annual football awards banquet pretty soon (maybe this Sunday?). When/where is it going to be held at this year, and could someone post the various awards and award winners afterwards? Thanks!

Let's hear some talk about Highlands' linebackers for 2009.

Are you serious? Is this real???

I wonder if this (i.e. having small(er) schools participate in the Herbie) makes financial sense? I'm thinking that schools of this size would not be able to sell a lot of tickets. However, if the Herbie did set up some small(er) school Ohio vs. USA match-ups, then I would think the chances of programs like NCC and Beechwood getting invited as the "USA" representatives are good, since BW and NCC are local and have a good chance of drawing pretty good fan support (compared with a similar-sized program in a farther-away state like Virginia or NC).

Is it time for high school football yet???

Well, I remember hearing something about adding some small(er) school match-ups to the Herbie in 2009, and that Beechwood had been considered for this. I wonder if this has something to do with what you heard about NCC?

Um.... it's good. Seriously though, Tony G. really stepped up his senior year and played great in the playoffs (and in the Border Bowl). He will be missed in 2009.

I totally agree! If you're not going to a school, you shouldn't be playing sports for that school.

Yes, he was one of 100 finalists for a national QB award named after Joe Montana.

I am not aware of any formal offers to-date. Hopefully, this will change.

I love it!!!! I don't care who ya are... that's funny right there!

Mike and Mike are pretty bad at what they do, and their ignorance of sports history is striking. Real media people who cover sports know these kinds of things... these two guys don't. Instead, one of them can't stop talking about how great the Jets are and that other one can't get beyond the topic of Notre Dame football for very long.

Question... I looked at http://www.highlandsrecruits.com and noticed that it had Brandon Roller listed as the 2008 district player of the year... is this definitely the case? I would have thought that the district player of the year would go to a senior.

Here's one observation that I have... This past March I sat in on one of Highlands' spring football practices (and was fortunate enough to sit with some BGP'ers). I have never sat in on one of these before, and I was surprised to see how (relatively) smoothly it went. Most of the plays seemed well-rehearsed, and I expected that it was going to be much more rag-tag, given that it was just March. I was told that since the Highlands freshman and JV players from the previous season had the "Highlands" system of practice/playing hammered into them so well, it really made these spring football practices "high yield," since a lot of time was not wasted in teaching more basic fundamentals. It was at this point when I thought that the level of practice proficiency I was witnessing (in March) was probably higher than many programs ever reach, even late in their seasons. In other words... one hour of Highlands practicing in March (or Trinity, Beechwood, Saint X, etc) is not equal to one hour of practicing for a lot of other programs. I'm not an expert, but I suspect that when it comes to practice, efficiency matters.

I just finished reading a new book that came out, entitled "Gridiron Dynasties." It is written by a high school football coach, and he goes through and discusses 12 top-level prep football programs all across the country. FYI Cincinnati Colerain is one of the 12 programs highlighted (they are the only area team mentioned). Has anyone else read this book? If so, I am curious to see how these 12 programs compare with some programs in Kentucky, with regard to time spent on football-related preparation, conditioning, etc.