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Just saw Maryville HC Derek Hunt's interview talking about the current/ "new" landscape of HS football... pretty funny that stuff. I hope he's not being serious. If he is, then he's completely unaware of what his coaching assistants do on their off time. Also, he mentions kids playing for their hometown team, but they sure don't mind sweeping out every hometown kid from every high school around them for the past few years, now getting up to the big leagues and still trying to act like he knows nothing about it. It's pretty funny. Maybe he does, maybe he just turns a blind eye to it, but funny stuff from Coach Hunt. Perhaps a little sarcasm from Coach Hunt, brought out his inner Lane Kiffin, some would say.

This is my last ride I’ve had three sons to play for the Mustangs. My youngest will be a senior this year #21. Maybe the fastest and most athletic of the three. Used to have some good debates with Duckman back when my two oldest played. Hope to go out with a bang this year.

The Hodge Effect, as coined in Dresden, will be seen in the mentality of the quality of young people his program will inspire for years to come in McKenzie. Yeah, they got a good one.

Which is why nobody should give them much credence before the season begins. However, the same teams tend to hang around the top of the rankings. I like to use Massey about mid-season on for head-to-head comparisons.

Booger when Rankin came from Smith County, Riverdale was at the bottom of the heap. He built RHS from scratch with Rutherford Co. players, not players from Nashville, Woodbury, Chattanooga like KC. KC inherited a semi-final team that McDaniel left him and he added his recruits from all over to supplement his success. Rankin is by far a better coach and more ethical coach.

I don’t think Sonny gets it right in the middle of the season.

Pot meet kettle. Is this the most ironic post in the history of all of CoachT?

Long faces still, just wearing them a shorter time.

I can agree with the "eye test." And it goes back to the second part of what I said about doing what no others want to do. Regardless of the rivalry, McKenzie and Huntingdon have great coaches, and communities that buy in and support not just our student athletes, but ALL phases of our school system's. I didn't grow up in Carroll Co (From White House in Sumner Co) but am a Bethel transplant and the support in these two towns is phenomenal. That is another huge reason of the success.

All good points and I agree that an indoor facility or turf field is not the reason for success but the eye test says Mckenzie and Union City and Huntingdon and Trenton don’t look anything like 1A schools in football.

It has been discussed moving it out to the high school. I think the only way that will happen is if we build a new elementary. Otherwise, I think it stays where it is.

could be fear Booger just sayin

Well, I meant when they were little, but you not wrong. LOL.

The success or lack there of has no correlation if you have an indoor facility, or artificial turf. That is asinine. If that is the case, lets take Gleason, Greenfield, Dresden, Westview, Gibson Co, and what other power house basketball programs and make them move up because they all have really top notch gyms. Dresden probably being the oldest of them all. Does that gym have any reason as to why they are good year in and year out in basketball? NOPE! Want to go the same road for baseball and softball? In all classes, especially 1A and probably 2A, cycles ebb and flow. As for McKenzie, we have had a stretch of athletes, in all sports, the last 5 years that may not ever come through again. Oh, and just so you know. That facility we built has been in the planning stages long before that first silver, then gold, then silver ball was placed in the trophy case. It was not the building that put them there. It was endless summer workouts. Practicing in the gym when it rained. Staying after as groups and doing that little extra. Oh, and here is one...not being afraid to do what others choose not to do which is dedicate themselves to get better. Not to mention having solid flag, and tackle leagues. Oh and by the way, on that note, we have had kids from other towns come over to play with us, and we welcome them. It's rare I get on a tangent.

I was going to post this a while back, but I couldn't get it to sound good, and I may not be able to now. I hope Mike's family doesn't mind .... I want to echo part of what Geno said above. For those that didn't know Mike, or those that just had dealings with him on here or social media, let me mention a few things. Mike was a few years younger than me and was in my sister's class. When they were in early elementary school, my sister and Mike walked out of the school building together. When my sister got in the car, my mom looked at Mike and just said "that's so sad." We didn't know what she meant, so we asked her to elaborate. She went on to tell us that he had a disease that may not let him see high school and how he would possibly never be an adult. Now, I know medicine has come a long way and they know a lot more about CF now, but this was in the early-mid 80's. We were looking at a kid that would possibly never be anything more than what we saw. So, when he got to high school, it was special. And he took advantage of it, playing sports even though his condition probably made it rough on his body. But he was a competitor. He wasn't the best athlete, but he gave it all that he had. He went on to graduate high school, another milestone that no one was sure he would make. Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, this happy moment had its downside as well. Someone can correct me, but I think Mike was sick during graduation and had to sit away from everyone else. But he was there. He worked for it and cherished the moment. After school, he lived life like most of us. Had some fun, acted a little crazy at times, was the life of the party at times. Still, he lived life with passion and a competitive spirit. Maybe a little too passionate and competitive at times, but those are stories for another time. But he was that way, because life that we took for granted, he knew was a gift, and he made it count. I know he got into it with fans on message boards, but that was just him, that was his passion. He loved South Pittsburg. He loved Tennessee. You didn't have to love them, but don't say anything bad about them to him. That was that passion and competitive spirit. He became an adult, a slim chance that was ever going to happen. He got married, had children, still that passion for life lived on. I never really knew his wife or kids, but I know he loved then with that same passion. Unfortunately, his later life wasn't as fun and joyous as early life due to the toll CF took on his body, but he keep fighting. I know I've said passion and competitive spirit way too much in this post, but I honestly believe that's what kept him going, defying the odds, living life as long and as happy as he did. The fact that he made it as long as he did, that he was able to do everything he did in life was truly a miracle. And he made the most of it every chance he could. I don't want this post to sound cheesy, I'm sorry if it did. I just wanted to give some of those that didn't know him a little insight. There's others that knew him a lot better and that could tell more than I can, but so many have kept up with him on CoachT since he started getting really bad over the last few years that I wanted to let them understand a little more.

No doubt Rankin is the GOAT in TN. About the only category he is not tops, is winning percentage, GQ has that honor. As far as comparing him to KC, well KC took over two programs that were doing pretty well (both had winning season across multiple years before he arrived). Rankin on the other hand, built Smith County, Riverdale and is in the process of turning BB into a powerhouse (all three had consecutive losing seasons, before his arrival). Tough to argue against that. KC will be HOF - but can he catch Rankin in total wins - depends on how long he wants to go, and how long Rankin wants to keep adding to his totals.

Graduation gutted Dresden. Returns one single offensive player, an O-lineman & he ain't a Senior. Depending on scheme, may return 3-ish on the D side & Hodge left town. Dresden still has lots of size & talent. All of which had to deal with an incredible senior class last year every day in practice. So, they know how it's done & what it takes. New Coach? Have no idea. I'm biased & ain't gonna lie about it. I hope Dresden gets it togther & has another great season. They are still stocked, lots of unknowns on how they gel with the new coach in town & how his system works on the field & how the kids adapt to being starters???? The kids have done very well in JV the past few years just lacked in game time because of such a big Sr class, lots of which had started for years in their respective positions. May go 2-8 this year? But if they come together, could be a very hungry (awaiting their chance) surprisingly tough team. Anxious to see.

Our game against Sweetwater will be an emotional one I bet this year for the kids. No one wants to lose against your previous coach. And the coach won't enjoy losing to his old team. On a side note it was stated last year that Tyner had a young team. If that's true they could be gunning for the one seed this year. Guess we will know in a few months. Good to see you on sir.

As of July 2nd, 486 victories in 42 years https://www.wbir.com/article/sports/high-school/hs-football/gary-rankin-national-high-school-hall-of-fame/51-503e905d-56fc-45c8-9709-d65f6e94b7d2#:~:text=Gary Rankin has 486 victories,football coach in Tennessee history.

Those look like a weatherman's predictions.

Y’all could be twins.

Glad you're back beerman!

Auggie, so Dean Fisher's 7 loss season before Rankin came in was better ? You better check the history. And while you're at it, did you pull the plug for KC's bathtub water this morning ?

you think he will have homework? better be watching film

Beat Oakland AT Oakland, eh? They might need to talk to the Mairvul folks about that. 70-1 at home under Creasy. I like the confidence tho

Tech is a pretty big jobs sector in Texas as well

Prayers for the family and the entire Greenback nation.

Might be an unpopular opinion but I’ve never been a fan of having multiple preseason scrimmages. Especially for a small school like East, where a couple of injuries could tank your entire season. I know scrimmages are important, but 3 scrimmages and a jamboree just seems like overkill to me

Im going to presume that it is merely a name issue. Whatever the name is doesn’t matter. Cleveland. Higher Calling. Cirque de Bosken. No effect.

Prayers From Hampton, a true Pirate and from all thats been said,Great person. Prayers to all concerned.

Right!!

How can anybody, even a computer, rank teams before the first game has even kicked off?

Deepest Sympathies to the Allison family Fair Winds and Following Seas

Tennessee National Team RECAP: 2024 U.S. Marine Corps Junior & 16U Nationals Total Registered = 104 Women (16U/Junior) = 30 Men (16U/Junior) = 74 Total # of All-Americans = 14 Women’s Freestyle = 5 Men’s Freestyle = 2 Men’s Greco = 7 Total # of Finals Appearances = 7 Women Caroline Hilton (16U – 130lbs) Janiya Johnson (16U – 155lbs) Ella Murphey (Junior – 190lbs Men Hudson Chittum (16U – 88lbs) – Both Styles Ryder Smith (16U – 215lbs) José Cordero (Junior – 100lbs) Total # of Champions = 1 Women’s Freestyle Champion = Janiya Johnson (16U – 155lbs)

Congrats to our 2024 Team TN Fargo Greco-Roman All-Americans! Junior Division Jose Cordero - 100 lbs - 2nd place Hunter Sturgill - 150 lbs - 4th place Jarvis Little - 132 lbs - 7th place Max Norman - 165 lbs - 8th place Cadet Division Hudson Chittum - 88 lbs - 2nd place Titus Norman - 150 lbs - 6th place Zachary Little - 157 lbs - 7th place The Junior boys finished 12th in Greco and the Cadet boys finished 18th.

Booger you have to understand that Auggie has a boy crush on KC. In Auggie's mind, KC is greater than Vince Lombardi.

Correct. ER football program has done nothing outside of 2022 and 2023 seasons. Brooks needs to win it all this year before the groves studs are gone and the window closes on him. Zach will be back next year but can’t impact the game at DE like Isaiah can at RB.

I am very familiar with the MBA academics. Rest assured that very few public school students have a clue as to the homework load of the upper tier private schools.

Grow up

With exceptions, most of Rankin's team weren't loaded with talent. If LOD was still here, he'd tell ya how they'd consistently win in the trenches despite being smaller than their opposition. Rankin 9 title games in the 5 class era, a few of those in years where they probably shouldn't have. Creasy did did win 3 consecutive titles (something Rankin never did at Riverdale) but he also had a 3-4 year head start, Oakland just needed that little extra oomph to get to the top. Both will be remembered as truly great coaches and I don't think one dynasty is any less impressive than the other

I don’t know about that one blazer. I’ve seen Knox West in person the last three years (actually sponsored one of their flag football teams over the summers and know quite a few of their players and parents). I think Greeneville could have beat them last year and three years ago with Gudger and company. I don’t think they would have beat their team two years ago and might have been the best team to come out of Knoxville. I know comparing scores isn’t the best indicator but they beat AC by 1 last year and lost to Alcoa by multiple TD’s. Greeneville looked better against both of those common opponents. West wasn’t suppose to win it all last year with how much they had lost off the team, the year prior they were a better and more dominant team.

Hard to debate who has/had better dynasty, Rankin or Creasy. But with that said, Rankin built the Riverdale Dynasty. Oakland was already on the right track when Creasy took over. It would be better to compare Alcoa Dynasty to Oaklands. Just my opinion. Time will tell but I don't see anyone overtaking Rankin anytime soon.

I believe he was from South Carolina, trained with a crew in Chattanooga, but had planned to wrestle at a National powerhouse when he hit HS.

Looking forward to seeing Sweetwater in action this season. Seems like there is a ton of enthusiasm for this year’s team. Friday night lights let’s go.

Sitting on my fat #### and watching too much high school football over the years. Maybe three good 6A teams last year? One or two good teams in 5A and 4A, and then Alco. Are there other standout public teams? For the past several years, it has looked to me like the privates are better. Maybe there are some great public teams that I never see in the championship?

And East has been a bottom feeder for most of the schools existence despite having insane levels of talent. 2 good years and now you act like East is a 10 time state champ. For the record I’m an east robertson fan. You’re just coming off super arrogant lol.

break it down for the T nation Augustus Booger just sayin

It should not really matter what High school program they are going to wrestle for they Represented TN very well. 7 total All-Americans in freestyle. Also we all want to grow in the sport to better our state if we worked together instead of throwing shade at each other we could make that happen. Coaches and Parents with egos only hurt the kids. Iron Sharpens Iron.

In those games, Oakland also pistol whipped Maryville at the line of scrimmage, wouldn't have mattered who was carrying the football. Horton was a WR. Oakland has also lost their share to private schools, a problem East TN teams don't have to worry about. Contrary to popular belief, there is actually plenty of talent at the other schools in RuCo, Rockvale just had a kid commit to UGA. What separates Oakland is the coaching is just is so far ahead from the rest in the county and a old school mentality. Creasy rightly gets alot of the credit, but his DC his entire tenure he's had an elite DC as well. They took GQ's model at Maryville and improved on it. Everybody wants to be associated with a winner. Oakland won't win like this forever, just like Riverdale didn't either, although i don't think there will be nearly the drop-off that Riverdale had I grew up watching HS football at a time when transfers were rare, but people are just gonna have to get over it. If you don't adapt, you'll get left in the dust