kyball26

I think a great coach is a great teacher. Being a great player doesn't mean you are a great teacher (and therefore a great coach). An interesting question would be who are the great coaches (at all levels) that never even actually played football? Anyone know any?

Excellent choice by the Devils. They are getting an excellent teacher and coach. I hope she gets the support she needs and everybody gets behind her fully.

Mandy Layne from Fairview? She would do a fine job. She's a good coach and a good person for the girls to be around. Any other candidates other than Layne and Roark?

Congrats!!! Love those Colonels. Coach Andy Frye is a great person for young people to be around.

Hard to say about Greenup with a new coach. Raceland will be a good solid team. Russell will be good but I don't see them being as good as recent years. Ashland will be a pretty good team. Boyd County will be good up front if they can replace what they lost in the backfield. Fairview will be a solid team. East Carter has the potential to suprise but I think Lawrence will be the biggest one in the area. They played pretty well at times last year.

Fairview was a fairly young team last year. Most of their line is back as well as backfield. Replacing the QB and the LB (Jones and Johnson, I think) will be tough. Should see improved line play as most of them are back. I expect Fairview to be solid as well as Raceland but LCA has practically everyone back from a good team. Don't know what Paris or Nicolas Co. has back but LCA has to be the heavy favorite. I expect Raceland to surprise after losing so many to graduation. Can't say this far out but it could be a good battle in this district for home playoff games.

I think AAU football or any other form in the "off-season" is a terrible idea for the kids. I would hate to think I would lose a kid to injury due to this. It would adversely affect the smaller schools where a greater number are multi-sport players. It would be tough to lift properly during this phase, also. You would need to be in a maintenence phase of lifting while playing instead of trying to peak in S&C. If you don't, the risk of injury is greater. I see problems in the level of coaching for this. I would rather the high school coaches provide the instruction in-season. I think kids need the downtime mentally and physically. As a former multi-sport athlete, I would resist this. I think we need to encourage the kids to play all the sports they want while in school and make the most of their time in high school by doing all the activities they can. AAU would potentially lead to more injuries and stale athletes physically and mentally. There is already too much pressure to participate in organized activities on the kids.

I think you can make an argument that most of eastern Kentucky is analogous to the Big 10 (with exceptions) while places like the golden triangle of Lexington, L'ville, and Covington are more like SEC. That is why teams from eastern Kentucky tend to have problems as they get deeper in the playoffs. When an eastern Kentucky team does get some team speed (Bell Co, Belfrey, Russell, and on) they do well. I would like to see more emphasis on speed, quickness, and agility in eastern Kentucky training programs. I think it does no good to have a speedy RB when your line can't get to a LB to block him.

Actually I think we fully agree. I fully understand what you are saying. There are socioeconomic reasons why, in my area, Greenup and Boyd will have problems competing with northern Kentucky or L'ville. I was speaking to generalities. The Ashland area has pretty much the same demographics so a Boyd will be better than a Fairview or Raceland over time. The smaller schools will sometimes have really good teams like Raceland does this year but year in and year out they won't be better just because of the numbers. Coaching can equalize things somewhat but ask any coach and he will tell you it is a lot easier being a good coach with good numbers and good athletes than fighting the numbers every year.

I disagree. There should be no question that if you are pulling from more kids then your chances go up a lot. The schools you name are exceptions to the rule. Most of those have advantages not enjoyed by others. Trinity and St X are all male and still much larger than coed schools. Being private gives advantages it is best not to get into here. Beechwood is in a densely populated area relative to the rest of the state and I'm sure they get their fair share of kids moving in that are good football players and want a shot at a title. Bell County is interesting because they don't fall into the same category as these others. All are very well coached. If you are a typical 1a school, by the end of the year injuries large and small will have a greater affect since depth is so affected by numbers. Many of the 1a schools have to share athletes with other sports and the facilities tend to get better as you move up in class. Their are many advantages. Year in and year out larger schools will be better in general.

You have to consider the situation. Boyd had a 4th and short and if they would have taken a knee or not picked up the 1st they would have given Fairview the ball with time left on the clock and up less than a touchdown. I'm a Fairview fan but there is no way you take a knee there. They ran off tackle and Fairview didn't tackle him. No problem with BC or coach Evans on that one. Hard fought game with lots of mistakes both ways. Not the way you want to go into the playoffs. You want momentum and polish on the fundmentals. Congrats to both teams on successful seasons.

You can run nearly anything and be successful IF you block and execute. That's all offense is - blocking and execution. Certain offenses are more suited to certain types of athletes and can be more efficient but if you block, you can run anything. Block and execute better than the other team tackles and executes defense and you win, all things being equal. I wouldn't personally run the Franklin offense at Greenup, but it really comes down to the blocking/execution thing. I thought they did real well running the wing-t under TJ Maynard but I guess that is water under the bridge.

Lewis County is a much improved team this year (at least was at the grid last Saturday). They had over 50 dressed, which is good for them. Fairview showed pretty well in their grid Friday. I look for Fairview pulling away at the end but a closer game than last year.

Was there an issue with getting basketball players or other sports out to play football? Without knowing, I suspect this may have played a role. There is a lot of pressure in some schools for coaches to try and hoard athletes from other sports. Rose Hill is too small for any of that to be going on, not that anyplace should be doing it.

Heard from a very knowledgeable member of the Orange Nation that Johnson Central was completely dominate in the scrimmage. Not that it is a bad reflection on Raceland. I've heard that Raceland played pretty well and more than competed w/ Pikeville. Wish I could have been there to see it. If the Rams stay healthy they will have a good chance of beating everyone on their schedule.

Craft going down would be a shame. Scores in a scrimmage mean nothing and tell you even less about a team and how they perform. Coaches go into most scrimmages with a list of things to work on and kids to look at. I hope Greenup can perform (I'm not a Greenup fan but like to see all the area schools do well). They have some decent numbers out. They always have good kids in the school but getting them out is a real struggle.

Heard they are running a new offense. Anybody know anything about it?

I think the key is following the letter AND the spirit of the law and be never putting yourself in a position to accused of being unethical. These are kids and it is a kids game. Our behavior, especially that of our coaches, needs to model the kind of behavior we would want our kids to exhibit. Watering a field until it is a sloppy mess to win a game completely misses the point of what we should be doing. There are regulations about noisemakers (cannons, music, etc...) I believe. I never thought of a cannon as an advantage. I've never seen a cannon throw a block or make a tackle. It is more about providing a fun atmosphere for a Friday night and that is great.

Ivan McGlone at Russell. You would think his teams couldn't get a first down against a strong wind in listening to him.

Having had the priviledge of coaching against Coach Ross and being around him a bit off the field, I offer congrats to Rose Hill and commend them for hiring a quality person. Whatever the success they have on the field will be far surpassed by the success they will experience by having him as a role model and leader. I look forward to seeing back on the sidelines and in the hearts of his players.

Fairview was never much of a power in the district, though they have had a few good years here and there. I look for Fairview to continue to be competitive with their best years ahead. It looks like they lost some good kids to graduation that could be hard to replace. I don't know if they can contend this year since Raceland and LCA will have strong teams but they will be improved up front with nearly everyone back. They will have question marks in the backfield losing their two main backs and their QB trying to come back from a bad knee injury. Defensively they will be similar - better up front with question marks at LB. If some kids work out, they won't be push-overs.

I think Daniel Armstrong from Fairview will be a Colonel next year.

Congrats to all three. I've enjoyed watching them play.

I would add Tim Hammonds. I know it is a diferent era but he was as good as any I've seen recently. You didn't have to score 45 points back then to beat a team so the stats are pretty meaningless in comparing.

The way I understand it Cooksey stepped down. I know it must be pretty tough to be both head football and basketball coach. He should be commended for taking over a week before practice started and giving the effort he gave for those kids. Make no mistake, it was about those kids. Garry McPeek is the principal and will not be the head coach. Rex is the AD. I believe Nathan McPeek has been named interim head coach until a permanent coach is hired. If Nate is chosen, they've made a wise hire. He is a good one. Fairview will compete and continue to play hard. The district is loaded but every game must played one game at a time no matter what team you are talking about. I'm sure the coaches will continue to build on the legacy left by the former players and coaches. Good luck to everyone in the upcoming season and I personally look forward to some great games out of this district.