GR8BigBull

What? I do not know much about Atlantic College but I still doubt it. Even though Pikeville College beat them 63-0, there are a lot of factors to consider. First off, Pikeville was pretty good this season playing to a two point loss to perrennial power Georgetown College BUT losing BIG to ST. Francis in the NAIA Playoffs. YES! I personally did see Pikeville College play this season. That team was loaded with size and speed. The RB was very fast and strong, ran with reckless abandon. They had a tight end that had to be 6'-7" and could roll. The QB was very fast and a threat to go all the way. Their D-Line was huge and quick as cats. I have experience with high school players as well as small college and DI-DII players on a regular basis. We will never see a matchup for obvious reasons but I will go to my final resting place knowing that the possibility of a top notch high school team beating a college team of any level is very slim to none.

NO! NO! NO! All opinion but I believe if you read all the replies and really analyze the possibilities, you would have to agree. The age, maturity, experience, size, strength, etc, etc, etc, would be too much to overcome. I will state the only instance I think this COULD happen. If a senior laden high school team were to play against an upstart DIII team with strictly true freshmen and no experienced QB to play. Then MAYBE! Just MAYBE!:fight:

Twenty plus years ago when I played there while at KWC it was a pretty nice facility. I do not know what it looks like now but I would bet there are many facilities much worse.

Rash Satdium is a very nice place to play football. Served as home to Kentucky Wesleyan for years. Reminds me a lot of Manual Stadium, hopefully someone can get the turf down at Manual Stadium too. (New lights would surely follow)

If we ALL come back down to earth and look at this rationally, we can all say, "most likely not!" IF,IF,IF can lead to alot of ridiculous scenarios where this and that can happen and yes, Superman could have squeezed a lump of coal and created a diamond! Regardless, take a DII or DIII team that has played for more than a season and you have "men" across the roster. That alone makes a huge difference. Now take the fact that even most DII & DIII teams are a collection of some of the better talent off of high school rosters across a broad recruiting area. It is here that I think you can find your answer. It is not likely that a high school level team would field enough talent that physically could beat 11 college aged men on either side of the ball. IMHO!

Everybody in the district wishes he were gone, but no he is there for his senior season. Making big plays on varsity since his freshman year makes it seem like he played for his four years already.

Beaumont still plays running back for Male doesn't he? I guess since he is an every down player that splits out wide to receiver that we all forget about him as a running back. He is a terror turning the corner on sweeps and is plenty strong to get tough yards between the tackles. With the loss of Anderson at QB, I have heard much talk about the offense changing and Beaumont getting more carries. Don't count him out of the race as best RB.

All those headhunters in one video, Tatum, Atwater, Lott, AND Largent!?! I remember that hit by Steve Largent on the Bronco's DB that intercepted the pass. I agree it is a shame that the majority of the hits on the video would be penalized and/or fined. How about the hit Tatum put on Earl Campbell and the one that Campbell levied on the Ram's Linebacker.:fight:

Nehemiah was a world class sprinter in the late 70's early 80's. Decided to play NFL football for the 49ers. Short lived career after numerous dropped balls and the aversion to going across the middle and a couple hard knocks, Renaldo "Skeets" Nehemiah hung up the helmet and went quietly back to track to finish his career. "Bullet" Bob Hayes for the Dallas Cowboys gained a little success as did Tim Brown and some Tennessee Volunteer football/track guys. Overall though a "track" guy has a huge disadvantage in physically being able to withstand the rigors of football training and practice, let alone games.

The straddle technique does not meet requirements in most powerlifting governing body's rules. The bar "must be horizontal in front of feet" is stated in most rules. Sumo is a recognized method of deadlifting, it does meet the basic requirement the the bar be placed in front of feet prior to start of lift. The straddle technique is generally a "safe" deadlift.....If taught correctly!!! Most of the lifters at the state meet using the straddle technique locked out too early (knees) and used ALL back risking very serious injuries just to gain those extra pounds. If it is a safety issue I agree 100% in using the straddle but I feel it is strictly to gain pounds on lift totals. I have taught the straddle technique to young lifters once they were ready to start deadlifting, sit on the bar, place feet slightly wider than shoulders and look straight upwards. Very good way for lifters to gain strngth and go conventional after gaining the lower body strength to handle some weight. Still I would prefer even the younger, inexperienced lifters to learn conventional deadlift and hone that skill.

This is exactly my point. Overall opinion has changed dramatically in the past 4-5 years as well as 15-20 years. Most programs have increased flexibility and speed training incorporated into their weight programs. Short explosive movements that enhance those fast twitch muscles that are over looked in contemporary weight training. Lighter sets with higher reps worked in throughout the program. Elongating specific muscles to add flexibilty,etc.

Remember Renaldo Nehemiah? I know that you will say that he was not a typical track guy playing football, but he really was. I say again that I am talking about the old school speed demons. We all know now that "track guys" have found the need for strength training and supplements(?) I am talking about a kid (with 6 months in the weight room) who can bench his 155 pound body weight. Believe me there are a lot of track guys that would be hard pressed to do that in high school.

I did not say "athletic guy" as I would have to say anyone would want the athletic guy. I said "track guy". The athletic guy would be ideal, we have to try to teach these guys how to get strong and athletic. The latter (athletic) is hard to teach as they say. I have had the "athletic" guy on teams before, he is the guy that "piddles" in the gym (if he ever goes) but when the day comes to max out he benches 300 or 400 and squats a house. Played with a couple running backs like Wendell Stewart (Doss & U of L) and Troy Thomas (McClean County HS) neither weighed more than 205 lbs. either.

Give me a track guy versus a player that powerlifted and weight trained as a football player in high school and I'll take odds on the experienced lifter to make it through a college playing career. (Successfully) My point in saying this is, too many kids that DO get to play at most any level of college, are overwhelmed with the strength programs when they arrive in college. The speedsters that are remotely experienced in the weight room stand a much better chance of making the transition to college football player. I state this with all due respect to Male High School players, they have produced many heralded D-1 players in recent years so I am not trying to knock speed and sheer athletic ability. Tony Driver, Barclay, Bush, Montrell Jones, Sergio, Travis Waters, Brandyn Brown, NOW Beaumont! I would like to hear the perspective those guys have on getting comfortable in the weightroom at Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Tennessee, and Louisville.

While I think this WAS a problem of the past, there are a lot of programs that DO NOT incorporate good flexability and agility moves with the heavy lifting. With a strength coach like Bob Maddox, I would not expect that to be a problem. Not only is Maddox experienced in strength training, he is well versed in the application of strength training in athletes (specifically football). I would feel that there is a problem with some strength coach that is not of a football background. Our program incorporates an agility program that includes working the hip flexors to increase the explosiveness in football specific movements. Kicking legs over hurdles and squatting under hurdles as well as box jumps and other drills to improve quickness. Everybody has their preferences as far as what type of program they believe is best so you see alot of different things being done. I would never want to go back to the "stone age" and think that you cannot lift weights and be athletic, although I still tell players about "when I played".

Male will not be at a loss for talent. As usual they will be loaded with speed. Look for a couple different weapons working at QB. They still have Beaumont, Overall, Williams, and heard that maybe Justin Green will be playing again. That still sounds scary to me. Beaumont and/or Josh Williams or others at QB would pose a threat to run more unlike the past 3-4 years with Blackerby and Anderson more of the 10-12 yard drops and screen packages.:madman:

Real impressive lifters at this meet. A kid from Russellville (165 lb) attempted a 605 lb deadlift. Got it off the ground just didn't finish. a very well run competition with 433 lifters and 28 schools represented. Finished with 600 lb. lift and 250 lb. bench.

I agree that the importance of spring football depends on the coach's emphasis. If your team has adequate numbers then you are looking at enjoying the benefits of TEN full practices. That is almost three weeks worth of full practices through the regular season if you have a full practice on Mondays during the season and upwards of 5 weeks of practice if you only really go full speed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays through the regular season. Regardless, if your team has an organized winter program then, the coaches can see those gains made in winter ON THE FIELD. Depending on how your basketball teams fared in the regionals the you are looking at no less than 8 weeks of winter programs to take out on the field for spring football practice. Most people know that significant gains can be made in 6-8 weeks of good, hard work in a weight room and conditioning.

I can not believe that the baseball players out there are not playing in fall leagues, spring leagues, etc. I have coached baseball and I know of many avenues a coach can travel to find all the extra tournaments for a school team. He may not be the "coach" of said team but they are playing well into October. These kids are still playing organized ball well into the summer with Babe Ruth and "select" teams as well. The basketball players are playing in summer leagues and spring tournaments. Now we are trying to make a case for getting rid of 10 extra practices for football(?) because it puts pressure on kids to make a decision. I can honestly say that the coaching staff I am familiar with has a hands off approach to the kids that are playing other school sponsored sports. I can not say that attitude is reciprocated by other coaches. There seems to be a lot of pressure from the basketball coach to lock these players up for 4 years. I have seen a lot of these players with potential given a pass to the varsity level as freshmen and given a false sense of hope that they are the next Jordan or LeBron. Seen a few good football prospects waste 2,3 & 4 years by not weightlifting. This in itself puts football in Kentucky behind the typical football power states like Texas, Georgia, and Florida. Yes, Spring football does make a huge difference as someone else already stated, an extra 40 practices or so in a four year career. We already get less practice time with the football players in Kentucky than any of the surrounding states. High school in general these days resembles a college atmosphere more than 20 years ago. I think we expect the students to be more decisive in other areas and this makes them prioritize their schedules more. All the club teams for Volleyball, Basketball, Baseball, seems like it is okay to occupy all the time available for these sports. Taking a physically (and mentally) demanding sport like football and give coaches the least amount of time to prepare the kids is not sensible.

A very good question. I am sure some bean counter in the Lottery can tell us to the penny what has been contributed. Can anyone within the state board tell us what that money (to the penny) has been spent on? I know there are more than one set of Hearnses that have gotten their grubby paws on money that should have bought computers or books. Regardless, the bottom line is that too much money is spent on a lot of "FAT CAT" administrators that could be replaced by a few modest, hard working, honest people. It is a perfect example of everybody expecting the most out of something (sports) that we are willing to support the least financially. Almost like wanting to give free cheese to people but complaining about taxes.

Sometimes the money sources are scared away from contributing to certain programs. What I mean by this is that an alumnus may wish to contribute "x" amount of dollars to a single program at a particular school. Word of such a generous contribution gets around to other programs and possibly the AD. Next thing you know there are 5-6 more coaches and booster presidents calling this same generous alumnus and "hounding" them for their share. I have seen this happen at at least two schools. Regardless, their are so many things that the public school programs need more than upgrading their fields Most public school football programs do not even have an annual budget to purchase neccessary equipment year to year. An ambitious coach starting at a school as a new head coach should ask for the moon because they will not get anything after the courtship and honeymoon are over. Many coaches sell candy and gold cards just to have the money to pay for needed uniforms and equipment upkeep. These are not excuses just facts. Until the local boards decide that extracurriculur activities are important enough, to allocate a reasonable amount of money, then there will be little hope for facilities being improved. We know all too well that there is only a small percentage of parents in public schools that are willing to work through boosters organizations to get the essentials taken care of via fundraisers. Again, the system allows the deadbeat parents to take advantage of the hard work of the few. Every child should be allowed to participate but the price should be the same for all. Back to the topic. A very generous gift was recenetly left for a local program from an alumnus. This gift was a substantial amount but is quickly tapped when you start talking about new lights and/or field turf. Jefferson County will not budget any money for the general upkeep and renovation of a football field.

Not yet. There is talk of an assistant within Jefferson County and a candidate from Colorado being the frontrunners. Unless the guy from Colorado has ties from around here, he can't have a clue what he is getting into. I asked if maybe this coach came via Washington too. Maybe Gary Barnett? LOL!

He could live in the Fern Creek area and have a 30 minute drive or less. Not a bad drive at all and it beats the sitting in the parking lot called I-65 and I-264 for rush hour. Nelson County continues to grow and has alot of the amenities you don't normally see in smaller rural towns, a SUPER WAL-MART! and a big Lowe's.

Coach Bruner did a lot of good things at Southern during his short stay. He is a good motivator and a player's coach, should not have a problem finding the kids that want to play for him. Hope he can cut through some of the political trappings at Nelson Co.

The real question at WKU is, who is expected to step up first? Brandon Smith is a very tough kid and has proven time and again he can lead a team and take a game on his shoulders. KJ has a little to prove in that respect as he has had the luxury of some "big" playmakers to throw the ball to. I do not think you can find a much tougher High School QB than Smith was at Boyle. He could hurt you running the ball as well as passing the ball. He was not afraid to take a hit. KJ can run with the ball but is an awful big target to take big shots. He will need to get tougher and be able to play through some of the pain and little injuries to lead them at WKU.