futurecoach

1 minute ago, StraightShooter said:

I hated to see that Tay went down at the beginning of the game, and Newport dug deep to win without a star player. Kudos to the Wildcats. Thanks to 859 Sports radio. I enjoyed listening. From a listener’s perspective, it sounded like the refs had no control over the game.

They definitely were letting both teams play. Which in my opinion was not a bad thing, and I rather the refs let them play and not call everything in games like this. The better team won. 

Congrats to Newport! They definitely are the best team in the region and did it today without a star player. Most impressive thing was their defense today. They definitely have a shot to win state, and I know I will be rooting for the Wildcats to bring another title back to the 9th region. 
 

Congrats to the Jags on a great season, just unfortunately fell a little short again. We May see this same matchup for a third year in a row next year. I believe if Cooper had won, it would have been the first time in history that a football team, boys basketball, and girls basketball from the same school all won the region. Can shoot for that again next year. 

1 hour ago, MaddenCurse44 said:

The face of the city! 

The face of the city is Burrow. 

10 hours ago, theguru said:

What does 2024 have in store for Joe Mixon?  I thought he had a great year for the Bengals.

I like Mixon but they needed to get more explosive at the RB spot. Mixon yards per carry hasn’t been great, doesn’t really break big runs even when he does get to the second level, plus struggles in pass blocking. I love his passion and energy, but I think the Bengals saved money and possibly will end up better overall at the RB spot with Moss and Brown. 

On 3/10/2024 at 2:22 PM, 16thBBall Fan said:

Great win yesterday, LOVE my Cats, LOTS of good things today to like, good job by Cal, still hoping he’ll devote some practice time to EOG situations this week!

I know you mentioned you been to a few practices, which is really cool btw.  With that said, unless you have been to every practice. How do you know they haven’t practiced EOG situations?

1 hour ago, New Colonel said:

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

Which to answer your question on why more teams don’t opt out, is because usually at most it may just be two games a team would be running away from. Since usually at most only two teams in district that may be head and shoulders better than you. So no need to opt out. Plus as I have mentioned, the schools may believe just like I do. That opting out would hurt the program more than help and hurt numbers too. 
 

I can definitely get on board with those that want to completely get rid of districts all together though. 

4 minutes ago, New Colonel said:

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.

Then fill you non district schedule with a bunch of winnable games. Some of you are acting like the whole 10 games is against your district. When the fact is at most there are usually only two teams in your district that may be head and shoulders way above you. So if you go 1 and 9 with only one district win. Then well maybe you need to change your non district schedule then to get more wins in non district, since you went winless in non disrict. Which if you are already going winless in non district, then dropping out of district doesn’t help you either. 
 

If teams are already automatically making the playoffs. Then well that means they are in a district with just 3 other teams. So that 7 games against teams in non district. So, this whole conversation comes down to 2 or 3 games. So just schedule down in your non district for those 6 to 7 games then to help stack wins to build confidence back up. 
 

13 minutes ago, barrel said:

I would have to go through the realignments over the years where they publish who are opting out of district play. 
 

As far as getting fired after a district win goes. One of the coaches I know the team won a district time for the first time in 15 years. Beat a 5A team for the first time in 15 years. Won their way into the playoffs for the first time in over 15 years. 

Which coach and which school was that?

20 minutes ago, barrel said:

Which teams that have dropped out of district play have had their numbers hurt by doing so? 
 

There are a lot of coaches that have gotten district wins for the first time in a long time that either ended up fired within a year or so or did not see an improvement in numbers or support. 

I’ll be honest I don’t know all the specific teams that have dropped out of district play. Which programs have dropped out of district play seen their programs and numbers get better when playing out of district? 
 

Also I’m truly asking which coaches are you speaking of that got fired shortly after winning their first district game in a long time? 

55 minutes ago, GoBucks97 said:

Lloyd had a great successful season, and play very hard. But let's not act like the 9th wasn't way down this year outside of the big 3. You usually have Highlands, Conner, Dixie, St.Henry, Holy Cross all teams that can compete at a regional level and all were down this year. I just don't know if being in that next group of #4-#7 is holding much weight this year. Region was down compared to most years, and why you seen a result like this.

See I don’t think the rest of the region was down. It just the region legit had 3 top 10 teams in the state this year, all very capable of making a run to win State in Cooper, Newport, and CovCath. So I don’t know if it is as much as the rest of the region being down, as it is more just the three top teams were just that good this year.

The Jags dominated in the second half, after a pretty even first half. Hopefully Yamil is ok for Cooper and can play Tuesday, as it looked like he may have re-injured his shoulder at the end of the game. 

5 hours ago, rjs4470 said:

Like I said, it's not the right decision for every team that is struggling. And the things you mention like kids leaving for other schools or choosing not to play, are already happening to those teams. You said it before...kids and parents aren't stupid. The teams that are or would be considering this option already are struggling to find something to play for (at least how you define "something to play for") 

Where we disagree on apparently is I think those numbers get even worse if drop out of district play and even more players start going elsewhere. 

1 hour ago, New Colonel said:

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. 

If you are a program that hasn’t won a district game in years and hasn’t been to the playoffs in years. Simply making the playoffs even with losing in the first round can help build the program and show making strides in the program and also help then in getting numbers back up. 

Just now, rjs4470 said:

You are absolutely right that kids play sports for "something". And those somethings could be anything and as I mentioned, for most kids it isn't about wins, playoffs, etc. They aren't limited to the things you mentioned that are centered around wins (although many are). I come from a large school (almost 3k students) and we had a roster of nearly 100 guys, some of which didn't get more than a handful of snaps in 4 years. Their success was measured way differently than the starters. It's up to the HC and his staff to figure out what those "somethings" are and put their kids and team in the best possible position to accomplish those goals. And for some teams, pulling out of district play may be exactly what does that. Just because you won't get a chance to get a district win or make the playoffs, doesn't mean that you are playing that season for nothing. There are far more "somethings" in the game of football than just district wins, playoffs, or state titles. For many, that "something" is just the love of the game and your teammates.

As I said before this is something we will have to agree to disagree on. IMO I think you would see less players play, and end up hurting the program more than helping by dropping out. I believe more kids would view it as nothing to play for. Plus future kids and even parents of kids would see that school not even playing in districts and playing for nothing and would send their kids elsewhere. I just don’t think there is much positive to come out of it at all. But once again though, neither one of us is obviously going to change the other one’s opinion on this lol. 

9 minutes ago, rjs4470 said:

I completely get it. While I'm all for teams opting to drop out if they wish, it would be tough for me to make that call for my team. Here's the thing.....like you said kids aren't dumb. And just like they recognize that dropping out of district is a sign that your leaders don't think you can compete, they also are just as likely to have recognized that well before the decision to drop out was made. Most kids already know if their team is "good enough" to have something to play for after game 10 or 11 well before the season starts. And those that don't sure as heck mostly know it by mid season. And guess what....most stick around anyway. 99% of players will never ever sniff a state title, many will never experience multiple playoff wins, and many will never win a playoff game....in essence they are from the get go starting off with nothing to play for.  And they still come out and stick around. Playing a non district schedule probably won't get any of the teams that opt to do so to even a .500 season. But pulling a couple (or more) teams off your schedule that will curb stomp you will make the season more enjoyable and safer. And they in reality won't be missing any opportunities or playing for any less. Most high school kids aren't playing for state titles, playoff wins or a college scholarship because for some no matter how hard the work, how hard they try or how much they want it, it's just not going to happen.  They are playing because the enjoy the game and everything that comes with it. If guys didn't play because they didn't think they had a chance to win, there would be an awful lot of schools that wouldn't have football teams.

Kids play football and sports in general because they enjoy the competition for it and trying to play for something. Even if that something is to win a district game for first time in 5 years, or making the playoffs for first time in years. Those are accomplishments that even players can look back on and think they did something. Rather than a season of playing for literally nothing, where literally can’t even be optimistic or dream about having a chance for anything more cause you are done after game 10 no matter what if you drop out. 
 

Now I could be on board though with no districts at all, and just using RPI or Calpreps to determine who makes the playoffs. However, while things are the way they are. Then I do think the the majority of cases that a team dropping out of district play doesn’t help things at all. 

Great win! Plus something else they know now they need to work on in regards to end of game press breaks. I rather that happen now in a win, than in the tournament.  
 

I said this back after the lost to LSU that UK would be anywhere between a 3 and a 6 seed. UK has now definitely given themselves a chance at being a 3 seed. If UK makes the finals of the SEC tournament I think they will be a 3 seed.  If not, then I think they will be a 4 seed. 

4 minutes ago, ChiefSmoke said:

I've enjoyed reading the comments. 

My Dad's first season at Mercer(1974), I think they were not in district play... but back then it was different. Bottom line, they played teams like them, and won 6 games.. first winning season in school history. I think back then that was a good thing for Mercer... BUT back then playoffs were pretty remote for most programs. Only the district champ went and there may have been only 3 or 4 classes.  

Generally, I would say it is very rare that not playing in the district is a good thing. But, when you say "Never" or "Always" most of the time, you are wrong. 

After reading the comments here and on facebook, I do think the solution may be doing away with districts and seeding regions by RPI or CalPreps. That way, you are always "in" the system. But, you schedule teams that fit you. If you want in the playoffs, you better play some good teams. 

Yes, it will be tougher for the really good teams to fill a schedule. They've got the resources and support to make it work and get it done. They will be fine. It will also give them great seeding in November...which is what is most desirable for those programs to begin with. 

Now this I would be fine with. If want to do away with districts all together and use just Calpreps or RPI, then that’s fine. I just don’t agree in most cases with dropping out of district play. 

9 minutes ago, barrel said:

I have never seen a team hurt by going nondistrict. I have seen teams get hurt by getting skull drug by teams in n their district. There are parts of the state/schools that are aware of who is in their district. You might be surprised how many fans and players are unaware of things like who is in their district or even what class teams are in. 
 

Let’s take Boone as an example again. Let’s say they play Scott the first district game and lose. Now they know they aren’t making the playoffs and get to look forward to getting hammered by 2-3 more district opponents. Halfway through their season they know they don’t have anything to play for in some people’s eyes. 
 

If your numbers are low for your class and you have to play freshmen and sophomores on Friday night against D1 kids that isn’t helping anyone. If you’re nondistrict where you can schedule schools with similar rosters it is easier to build off of those freshmen and sophomores. Now when you return to district play they have experience and more out of season and hopefully success on the field. 
 

I know I’m not really going to change probably anyone’s opinion. I know from living it what it’s like. I also know there are a number of coaches that have similar feelings. Many believe districts need to either be structured differently or to get rid of them. Especially now with the RPI. 

As I have said in my longer post, I can probably guarantee I have lived through a lot worst experience with this than you may have gone through. 
 

Which you are right if say they lose to Scott, then yeah those last couple games may be rough. But you are wanting to go non district for maybe 2 or 3 games at most that may be too difficult? 

Which I do believe kids definitely would know if their school dropped out of district play. Kids aren’t dumb, they would know that their school also doesn’t think they can compete, so why stay there? Why play? 

Football is a long year when you count off season conditioning, then all those practices just to play at minimum 10 games. Most kids aren’t going to be willing to go through all that, when there is literally nothing at the end of the tunnel to where you can accomplish something if you win. Water down your schedule to 7 and 3 and your reward is nothing cause your season is over. I don’t see that getting kids out. 
 

I don’t see why people think should jump out of district play because of maybe 2 district games that may be unwinnable, 3 at most. That leaves 7 other games, 5 of them being non district games usually where you can water down your schedule to try to stack wins. 
 

As you said though neither of us is going to change the other opinion on this. I do enjoy hearing the other viewpoint though, and just have to agree to disagree. 

4 minutes ago, rjs4470 said:

Using Boone as an example, if they were to pull out of district they could still play Scott and Conner if they wanted to. But them playing Cooper, Highlands and Dixie aren't games that are going to help them, at least in this cycle. This is all about having better control over your schedule and trying to build.

So for your example you are going to drop out of district because of 3 games? That’s silly IMO, so we will have to agree to disagree on that. Plus doesn’t Dixie lose a lot from last year? So I’m not sure if can put Dixie in that category with Cooper and Highlands. 
 

Also if you are still going to play Conner and Scott. Then might as well stay in district, because if you win them you are in the playoffs. Which even if you lose in the first round, making the playoffs is an achievement that would get the players more excited than literally going into the season with no hopes or playing for anything.  Dropping out of district play tells your players that you don’t think they are good enough, gives them nothing to shoot for, plus as I have mentioned I believe it would hurt numbers more than help. So will agree to disagree on this. 

14 minutes ago, sportsfan41 said:

He and Reed are interchangeable for me today.  They don't win with either of them out.  Edward's was solid, Dillingham made a difference and made Tennessee uncomfortable having to guard him.  Would be nice if Tre Mitchell could get it going again, would really help this team down the stretch. 

Honestly he was at his best when he played the 5. He just doesn’t seem to fit that well when having to play the 4. 

43 minutes ago, barrel said:

The “lesser” teams are trying to play competitive football. They would be trying to play teams that are similar matchups. I’m just throwing teams out there but does anyone think Scott HS, Gallatin, Pendleton, Boone or any number of teams are going to make a playoff run anytime soon?

When you go nondistrict it’s for 2 years. You can get a pretty good idea where you might be in 2 years. 

Your numbers aren’t going to go up if you play non district. Players aren’t dumb, they would then know their own school doesn’t believe they can do well. So why even play, especially when playing for nothing at that point? Plus how do you even know if you go non district if you are then ready to play in district in two years. If your whole schedule is water down, you have no idea. 
 

It is simple you water down you non district schedule to build confidence, then you find out where you are at during district play. Dropping out of district is not going to help with much of anything and most likely will hurt the program and numbers. 

2 hours ago, rjs4470 said:

What is it that they have to play for? Is a yearly 60 point loss in a game(s) you have zero chance of being competitive and a good chance of getting hurt really something to play for? District play hurts the really good teams and the not so good teams by forcing them to play games they get nothing out of.

Despite what people constantly say about how kids can learn from adversity and all the life lessons football teaches, these forced matchups don't teach anybody anything. Football is ultimately a game, and wasn't developed as a way to teach someone about life (although it certainly can). It's a game, and the purpose is to compete and have fun. These games are neither competitive or fun, and ultimately hurt participation in the schools that come out on the wrong side of these blowouts.

Dropping out of district at least allows teams to be able to better manage their schedule and put their players in positions where they have a better opportunity of having success.

If you are not in a district you literally have nothing to play for, and nothing to look at in regards to if you accomplished anything. Plus honestly you are telling your players that basically you don’t believe they can get better and giving up. 
 

Usually at most you may have two teams in your district that is just far and out better than you and  if you are in a very tough district which is very rare you may have 3. The other district games should be the ones though that you are working towards getting better at. Plus you definitely can’t schedule down in non district play to try to give your team some confidence. So use the non district part of your schedule to try to schedule wins. 
 

IMO Boone is the perfect example. Yeah the last couple of years they had no chance against Highlands or Cooper. However, Conner one year they were right there and barely came up short. Last year very Scott was a game they definitely could have won. They just fell short. If you don’t play in a district, I don’t think that helps get kids out at all, because they also then see that even the school thinks they aren’t good, so why play? In district play Boone has had a chance to get district wins and even make the playoffs, just fell short. If you go out of district, how do you even know if you are getting better to where you can then come back to district play? It is simple you don’t know. 
 

You start small and try to build. First try to get that first district win. Like for Boone their goal should be this year to say beat Scott and get that first district win. That is a step in the right direction to build off off. Then the season after that, try to make the playoffs. Doing stuff like that gets participation up more and saves the program more than dropping out of district play would. 
 

I know me personally I been through a rough stretch than probably anyone on here when I played. We were still 4 classes then, and was in a district with Two top 5 times in the state at the time in NCC and Beechwood and we had a 33 game losing streak and got pounded by those schools, and in fact got running clocked by almost everyone during that losing streak. My junior we got down to 13 players. I guarantee you if you dropped out of district play after that, the program would have folded and no players would have came out, because you were not playing for anything then. Instead of running away, we got a new coach that did slowly build it back up. First broke the 33 game losing streak, took our beat downs to Beechwood and NCC still, but found away to beat the other district teams to make the playoffs. That accomplishment and work saved the program and got even more kids back out. 
 

Running away out of district play is not helping kids, and it’s not helping a program. Getting out of district play isn’t going to help numbers grow either, because kids aren’t dumb. They know at that point the school doesn’t believe in them, and literally playing for nothing. 

I see zero reason for a team to drop out of district play. I know a lot of people on here have always talked about how it was better when it was 4 classes and teams had to “earn” their way into the playoffs. Well people do realize back when it was 4 classes, there were districts that were stacked and teams would have to play teams in district that just wouldn’t be close. Yet now we have people want to make excuses and drop out of district play? Yes it’s tough, but there is still something to play for. There is absolutely nothing for kids to play for, if drop out of district play. 

On the road, in foul trouble and still up 4 at half. I’ll take it. I love Mitchell, however since he has came back he hasn’t brought much to the court at all. He is at his best when he has been at the 5. If he is not going to be at the 5, then UK is better when Theiro is at the 4 not Mitchell. 

10 minutes ago, FrankNicodemus said:

I like the Jags!! 
 

I believe Coach Sully might be one of the best coaches in NKY. Love watching him coach a game. With them 100% healthy I think they will be a hard out in the 9th. Too much firepower in my opinion.

Plus I want @futurecoach to be my allie in this battle!

I’m all with you on this. 😁