4th and long

I haven't seen much on these teams in a while I was just wondering how spring football went and what is anticipated for the upcoming season? How was the reception for coach French at Boyle?

I think Boyle County is getting close to making an announcement

I would think the Boyle job would be a good one. You may not win a state championship but should certainly be competitive in the region every year and it is a good system to work for. Nice kids, supportive system. any thoughts on this job?

Forums are a lot of fun and can be a great time arguing about favorite teams rivals etc. However, something we forget and something I am guilty of, is that when you respond to a statement or question you fall prey to the misconception that you are in a conversation with another individual. And while you may make a comment in confidence to one person the reality is many others are a part of the conversation. Because we do not e-mail the same as we speak statements can and often are taken out of context or something meant as part of an open discussion becomes very personal. It is very easy to read something and fire off a quick reply without considering the consequences of your actions. If you were in a group you likely would have better self-control and keep your mouth shut. As demonstrated by this feeble attempt to explain myself I cannot acurately dialogue in this format and I do not want to be the cause of misinformation nor any other form of misunderstanding. Therefore I will not be posting in the future.

BCPride06 Absolutely! I could not agree more. Chris Pardue is one of the top offensive coaches in this state and much of Chuck Smiths success is directly attributed to his offense. TOGETHER they built a powerful successful program. for whatever reason the program could not sustain itself. At least to this point. Maybe it is because Chris does not have a counterpart like chuck did or maybe, and this is what I believe, people were so sure things were going to fall apart that they made sure they did, consciously or unconcsiously. I really think Boyle should have a good team this season. I hope Henry Clay is overlooking them. No wait I hope they're not so we get their best punch, because Boyle will give them all they want tonight.

purplepride92, the difference being that Chuck Smith took over one of the worst programs in the state in any class. I believe they won only one or two games in the previous 3 years. Chris Pardue took over a highly successful program and was asked to maintain a high level. Note that i said maintain a High Level not win state championships! I think that Rebel fans, myself included do not have unrealistic expectations but do expect the team to be competitive every friday night play Rebel Football which is very disciplined and physical and go until the whistle blows. It was mentioned by soneone that Boyle was competitive with BG until they had 3 turnovers. Chuck called those mental mistakes and were usually rare when he coached. I want to add that I do not believe all the problems are Chris Pardues I think some of the Assistant Coaches have hurt the program both in their coaching style and in their off field behavior. If and When Chris leaves I fully expect assitant coach(s) to be shown the door. IMO

I really think that anyone at all close to the program new that whom ever followed Chuck was doomed to comparison and in all likelyhood going to have a short tenure. We all knew it however, it ws impossible not to give coach Pardue an oportunity to be the head coach because he earned that right by doing a great job for chuck. The reality is that very often the coach that follows in the footsteps of another very successful one fails. I think the school system has been very supportive of this staff but unfortunately the program did not sustain itself, as expected, and it will be time to move on.

I am not in anyway implying that the Rebels could have maintained the high level of play they did during the streak. However, I have watched many, many Boyle football games and there is a far cry from the intensity, desire, attention to detail, and fun that existed during chucks tenure. Even during the early years chuck found a way to get young men often with less talent to play at a high level. I firmly believe that if chuck was still around this team would have been much more competitive than as of late. Of course the mentioned great athletes helped the cause but it takes 11 kids on the field to be successful and not all of them were great players. I also know in this time of political correctness we should look for the good in everything and ignore the negative but I guess I'm too old school for that and think the program has fallen too far to let it continue. I will conclude with one final thought. Just look at the atmosphere around the program, on the sideline and on the field and honestly ask yourself would this be happening if Chuck smith was still the head coach?

I really do not want to hurt any feelings but the program would not be anywhere near the shape it is in right now. Yes, Boyle co. had some talented athletes but anyone who knows or played Boyle during Chucks era knows that his kids overachieved. He got more out of 165 lb. guard or slow wr. than anyone I have ever seen. Flat out he got kids to play together and overcome individual weaknesses and play like a machine. Boyle did not beat themselves. I can say with reasonable certainty that if things don't change dramatically this season changes will be made. Like I said I do not want to ruffle feathers, I personally like all the coaches however sometimes things get so broken that the only way to fix a problem is to clean house and start over. IMO

I don't think anyone was making too much of the RB just curious as he is filling some extra special shoes. He worked hard for his yards! Yes the line was a little suspect but expect they will improve along the way. Mercer seems to have some depth at the lineman position which will also help the big boys. Additionally, it was a tad bit hot for the big guys. The kicker did a good job, I don't think he had to make one tackle last season. Russell co. could have easily added 14 points with those returns. This too can be fixed.

How many yards did Yeast have? How bad is Hunter Robinson(SP?) hurt? Is it a long term injury or week to week?

cold weather fan, I agree I think the Titans will continue to improve throughout the season. It would have been unfair to expect them to come out of the gate like last season. Sadly, however this will happen all season. I also agree that mercer seemed a little flat and that could be because of the opponent and the fact they expected to win. On the other hand it is the first game and one could also expect a team to be excited to play anybody. All in all it was a lopsided win and something to build on for next week. Should be interesting to see this team from Tn. The Titans should not expect to walk over these guys as they probably don't know much about them.

Wow, I must have watched a different game because I thought Mercer looked pretty average against a weak opponent.

I don't know anything about the team from Tn but I did not think Mercer looked very good Sat.

Please correct me if I am wrong but I am hearing disturbing news that some of the issues that plagued last years team are starting to show their ugly heads already this season. I hate to hear this because I for one thought the Rebels would or could have a good season. How did others see the Madison cent. scrimmage?

If Mercer gets back into the bone I think they will drive the field and control the game. Big difference this year is they will need to sustain their drives and play mistake free football. They do not have the skill players to take it to the house at any moment like last season. I think the big question will be the Titan defense. They have looked a little suspect so far. A lot of new and untested players on the field. However, if the offense can put long drives together it will take some of the heat off the defense and give the boys some time to come together. It has been a while since I have seen Russell Co. play but my gut tells me Mercer will win by a couple TD's.,

I have heard that Danville is a little down this year????? I was not at the scrimmage but was told that Mercer lacked a little intensity until the coaches challenged them later. Hope this group isn't living on last years success. they need to step up and establish their own identity!

does anyone know what the new mercer field will look like? I have heard they are wanting an all purpose field like dunbar

pldgreatno2, you seem to be taking this awful personal. After Boyle won their first state championship they were a different team. they had a quiet confidence that helped them defeat teams with better talent. I only said that I thought mercer players seem to have developed the same self confidence that boyle did after their first win that should help them to be successful at the 5A level. I also said that mercer was one dimensional because they could afford to be. They had enough talent to win, often big, by running the ball. It was also fortunate they could do what they did as they had to get a number of new players on board in a relatively short period of time. I was at the state championship game and think that both teams were seriously hurt by the weather. Regardless, mercer won that game too. But don't get wo worked up, I too am a rebel fan but am willing to make positive statements about other schools. (even Admirals

One factor that mercer has that Boyle also had when they moved up is confidence. they "believe" they can play at any level and this is a BIG reason Boyle was successful. When a team truly believes something, and I'm not talking about the false talking and chest pumping that goes on before evey game, I'm talking about a genuine belief that you are better than an opponent it covers a multitude of sins. I also think that even a loss or two will not dim the confidence of the titans. As an outside observer mercer has the kind of swagger that boyle did and it carried the rebels quite a ways. As I posted earlier I do not think mercer will be 5A state champs but I do think they will be a consistent challenger for a while to come.

Mercer embarrassed south Laurel last season. they also return a whole lot more than people realize. Just talked to their strength coach last week and he says the returning lineman are much bigger and stronger than last year and have had a great gains in the off-season. for those that argue that mercer will not be able to simply run toss sweep in 5A I think it can be safely argue that last year they kept it simple because they could. I expect mercers offense to evolve this year as the players are more familiar and comfortable with the staff and each other. Do I think they will be 5A state champs noway but I do expect them to win their region and battle into the playoffs. won't be long and all the questions will be answered. One other point the staff feels the monkey is off their back, the real pressure was winning last year as expected. this year there are no expectations other than to play hard and do their best.

someone please post pics of the Boyle rings

I think if you investigated mercer's staff you would find they had a typical number of full time coaches. As with any winning program there are a number of want to be individuals that hang around and do odd jobs but are by no means actual coaches. coach jaggers being the kind of person he is probably tried to make some of the over flow feel a part of the team. I doubt seriously mercer had 20 paid coaches on staff.

I heard that Mercer is putting in a new offense to utilize the incoming athletes. I'm sure the bone will still be their bread and butter however, I hear they are changing quite a bit. I think they will be solid on defense as well, the question will be the youth in the secondary.

Welcome rebelmom, however, as an outside observer of boyle co. I, like many others, noticed a profound difference in the demeaner and confidence of the rebels last season. For what ever the reason they did not act nor play "rebel ball" they played more timid and without confidence. I am not bashing the rebels rather making an unbiased observation. I genuinely hope to see the rebels return to form next season but all the excuses in the world cannot change the fact that to many outsiders the rebels were not the same team. I should add that I saw many games last season and excluding the Danville game the rebels did not measure up to the heart of past teams. IMO