Youth Coach

Aug 29, 08 Knott County Central away Sep 5, 08 Lee County, VA away Sep 19, 08 Hazard away Sep 26, 08 Pineville home Oct 3, 08 McCreary Central home Oct 10, 08 Lynn Camp home Oct 17, 08 Williamsburg away Oct 24, 08 Jenkins home Oct 31, 08 Perry County Central away Nov 7, 08 Clay County home How many wins are foreseen for the Dragons?

HDE, as usual, can say well in 30 words what I say in 300...I should have been a lawyer.

After 15 years of coaching and watching Harlan Co. sports, there is no denying this...with the new facility and the credentials of the coaching staff, HC is definitely putting its best foot forward with athletics, especially basketball. No personal intentions are being stated here, I'm just observing the facts as they are in response to a direct question. As Parcells started everyone saying, "It is what it is."

The 7/8 program cannot be called great yet, but it is true that the current 10/11/12 graders did not fare well at all in middle school (1 or 2 win seasons on most years). The rising freshmen were able to win 5 last year. The 8th graders this fall have won 7, 7, 5 in their three years of middle school so far. Again, no need to get crazy yet, but there should be more pieces for Coach D to work with if they all continue to play. Also, as Bayshore says, there are good numbers at this point and a good mix of talent - several solid linemen in the rising 9th grade class and more skill in the rising 8th grade class. Numbers do mean a lot in Class A, proof being that Coach Donahue's two deepest playoff runs in his tenure (Dunson & Co. in 96 & Greer & Co. in 99), were the only 2 seasons in his tenure where he had more than 40 players on his roster. Hey, I could talk middle school football all day, but none of these guys are taking Harlan to Papa John's this year. Can someone post the HHS schedule this year so we can analyze it?

There were some things the same on defense but Coach Shope seem to try new things throughout the year in an attempt to simplify things from Coach Perry and match personnel (or a lack thereof). Many times the changes only seemed to add confusion to some players. At the same time, when the same scheme was used or not, nothing could overcome the almost complete absence of team speed. When an assignment was blown, instead of a first down or 20 yard gain, it often meant a TD.

The best middle school group that I recall (undefeated in 6th grade and very close to it in 8th grade) would be sophomores if they are still there. I am confident that a tough RB (Hendrickson?) and WR Nunnelley both saw significant varsity action last year as freshmen among others. I would expect an improved team and a very even matchup with Harlan deciding a 2 seed and home playoff game.

I also look for Harlan to simplify things offensively with a few wrinkles in place based on different personnel packages. Things should be a bit more basic on defense with the players grasping things better in the second year of DC Frank Shope's scheme. While there were some seniors, there were many sophomores and "new" upper classmen (Andrew Link, Ben Cornett, Allen Hensley, Kenny Pennington, James Hill) in key positions and leading by the end of last season. Those guys should be much improved with a year's experience.

It looks like Coach Larkey managed to use the available resources to get cooperation and quality representation from each of the merging schools.

Larkey - HC Caldwell - Freshmen Team Can we fill in the other titles?

I'm actually with you on more players getting to play for more/better players later in high school, but it seems by that thinking they would have kept the old West Harlan/Cawood setup instead of dressing so many on one team with New Harlan.

I know we are digressing now, but will the Evarts and Cumberland middle school football teams stay separate or will they join with the other schools with the New Harlan middle school team? That is something I never understood, especially now that the high schools are together anyway.

Would it be Cawood Junior High? But Cawood already has a junior high elsewhere, so would it be Harlan County Middle School? But that might cause friction with the other schools. What is the plan?

Does the 8th grade QB (Barton) play basketball? I assume he would be good on the hardwood too.

I know most on the Harlan Co side believe the added numbers from consolidation + Coach Larkey will equal victory.

Shifting gears, who is on Coach Jones' staff and how long does HC envision Coach Jones being there due to age or retirement?

Thanks for the info...it would be great for Harlan to bounce back to their usually respectable level with a home playoff win and a trip to Pikeville. That would be a huge step in the right direction after last season. To paraphrase Bayshore, the program should get slowly better over the next few seasons.

Shifting gears...has the coaching staff been finalized? If so, who?

Barton of Williamsburg (QB/LB in the 8th grade) should be a factor early and I would think has a chance to be great. I also think Harlan's Vince Bianchi (WR/DB) is as good a skill player as Harlan has had come up in awhile.

Bayshore and I appear to agree upon a 2 seed and a first round home playoff game. Would the new football field possibly be ready by then? I know the regular season games will rotate at the old Cawood/Cumberland/Evarts fields, but it would be electric to open a new stadium with a playoff game.

If Harlan is a 2 seed at home in Week 1 of the Playoffs, would that mean a rematch with the 3 seed like last year or will it be a team from another district? I've lost track of the current setup.

Union should give their recruiter a raise.

I would add my vote to Sears...extremely good.

This would make an interesting column for the sports page..."Greatest Sports Tradition" in the county's history. You could break it down to include high schools like Rosenwald, Lynch, Benham, Wallins, Loyall, Hall etc or you could just keep it to the modern era (post-Cawood consolidation). Harlan would probably want you to include CATS rankings as a category.:lol:

Based on what I saw in spring practice, I look for Andrew Link (junior RB/SS), Jacob Cole (senior OL/LB), and James Hill (junior DL/OL) to take off for the Dragons this year. There are other names to watch as well, but those were three of the best workers this spring.

So, any updates on how open gym/summer practice is going?