Cactus Jack

On 2/23/2024 at 9:44 AM, oridgecat said:

Big step back, they lost the qb and the whole van full and Coach Jay Graham.  

Reckon the Year of the Dragon is over....

On 12/6/2023 at 1:09 PM, footballknox said:

Powell is losing their entire o-line to graduation minus one.  I wonder if they have boys to fill those shoes.  They had one of the best o-lines in the state. 

Thats for sure, they had a great offensive line, those guys looked like 5 fire hydrants with no spaces between them, May be a big issue for Powell this season, although they will have their QB back.

On 4/3/2024 at 4:12 PM, blazer1set said:

DB 2024:

Aug 23   Farragut (L, 0-1)
Aug 30   @ Greeneville (L, 0-2)
Sep 6      West Ridge (W, 1-2)
Sep 13    Jefferson County (W, 2-2)
Sep 20    @ Asheville (NC) (W, 3-2)
Sep 27    @ Morristown East (W, 4-2)
Oct 4      @ Elizabethton (L, 4-3)
Oct 18    William Blount (W, 5-3)
Oct 25    David Crockett (W, 6-3)
Nov 1    @ Science Hill (L, 6-4)

Looks about right, I think the Indians will get an opening win vs the Ads, they were down last year and I am not sure if a rebuild is in order with Bearden and West skimming the West Knox talent away from them. Jeff County was good last year, not sure how many starters they lost. Maybe the Indians can get the Toppers this year, I watched last years game on TV and they just got out athleted by the Toppers. 

I think they will find a good back, maybe not a Dozier, but I think one that can do the job. Same way with the receivers. I think Coach Rang is an excellent judge of talent from what I have seen and he will put the best players on the field. 

As for the indoor facility, I hope there are plans down the road, I know in the new world of wide open recruiting, facilities matter. I was very glad to see the nice updates to the track facilities by the way, track has always been a big part of ORHS Athletics, as the poster said, going back to the track championships in the 50s and 60s, A lot of football players run track and it helps them become faster and quicker in the fall. 

On 3/31/2024 at 9:23 PM, BarneySox2007 said:

They would still have their cow pasture football field had Pilot not donated the money for what they have now. The whole place is a nightmare to get into and out of during football games. The visitor side is the worst I have ever seen in my life. 

Agreed, the way the field is turned you get the evening sun blasting right into the press box making filming a nightmare there, plus its so low.  The field is land locked and parking is a nightmare too. Seems like Knox County could have done a lot better there with the design and the quality. 

I think this upcoming team may be pretty good, they will definately be better up front and if they can replace Dozier, Heyward and Rembert, they can be real good. They have the same strange schedule, but this time with 5 straight home games. The road games at Jeff County, Powell will be tough to open up with and the back side at Bearden is the tough game there. 

One question I had if anyone knows: There has been some talk of an indoor practice facility in the past, with the new track area now more of a track area, that kind of leaves a need for a football practice area. Just sayin....

I wonder if any of the $$$ are going into the athletic facilities??

Good choice for them, hes paid his dues and earned a shot at the job, He still will have Dad around for advice. Main thing it looks like he will have to deal with is keeping Farragut football kids in Farragut. The recruiting juggernauts are waiting to pounce. 

Having known Coach Courtney for many years, I can say he is a class act and I wish him the best in retirement. Nick Saban may have started something with 70 something coaches, he realized that the game is changing as money penetrates it, with all the transfer action in Knox County, I am sure Coach Courtney saw the same thing as Nick did, 

Stanton will do a good job AE is a good fit for him and he is a good fit for AE. I wish him success.

I think its good he is giving some new teams some exposure as well. He will get around to some of the usual ones once playoffs start...

That job has gone into radio silence....I guess the Stanton Stevens (sure to be hired in January) deal has fell through. Kirk to Enterprise....status Mr Spock

Sounds like he might be a good hire, hope the administration and the players will give him a chance out there.

Coach Pemberton has been pretty good where ever he has coached. His Wing T may be a good fit for Campbell County as they usually have good size up front, they just need to add the skill to it. The WIng T gives teams like that a chance to control the ball, shorten the game, and win.  The Price twins had a good run up there and gave them a lot of good wins and certainly did a great job with the facilities and raised the interest in football. I thought last year they were way short in skill position players and it really cost them.  I thought they made a good move toward Grace, they will do well there. 

22 hours ago, wingman10 said:

True.

HVA is THE dumpster fire right now.....

On 12/20/2023 at 12:24 PM, HTV said:

HVA is just not a good football job. Football is way down the sports priority list there.  Until the discouraging of students playing multiple sports ends from some of the coaches there football is going to be playing shorthanded.  

No offense to some guys, but they need a younger coach with some energy instead of an older coach looking to find a place to end a career.  

With HVA being one of the top 10 or so high schools in Tennessee in terms of enrollment there is absolutely no excuse for not being competitive in football.  

 

HVA is not a good football job. Coach Miner gave it a good try, but I understand kids just aren't bought in and don't want to practice hard or give effort. After they started losing, they went in the tank, plus add to that the schedule is too brutal with Bearden, Maryville, Bradley, Farragut to not be ready to play every Friday night, Heard some of the parents were brutal too, that can drive any coach to quit, and there is no way you can please them all. Administration has got to be bought in too, and there seems like a lot of turnover there now too. 

I thought Brad Taylor was bound for the college ranks as an assistant or coordinator??  When I saw HVA play a couple of times, I didn't think they had the talent or the depth to play in their Region. Coach Miner did as good a job as possible with what he had available. HVA will need the right coach and the right players as well. 

Lenoir City is a sleeper that the right coach could awaken.  They are getting new houses built all around there and probably more good players. This might be a good fit. 

One of the great coaches in Tennessee High School Football, his teams were always tough and well coached. I was always impressed when I saw them about how you could lay a board across the backs of the offensive line because it was so straight and aligned so well. RIP and condolences for his family. 

18 hours ago, WaCoJaCo said:

Thats correct. Not this year or anytime in the near future. I expect he would have to string about 5 losing seasons together before there would be enough pressure for him to resign. And 5 losing seasons are not out of the question. The little leagues are worse now than they've ever been, the middle schools have been among the worst in the area for the past two years. In other words, the cupboard is bare for at least the next 5 years. And you can't really blame Christian for staying on. He's not close to retirement age and he's not going to get hired and paid anything close to what he's making now. Add to that the fact that no "replacing coach" would come here without replacing most of the assistant coaches and having full control of the program from the ground up. We all know that would trigger WW3 in Kingsport with the "Good Ole Boys. Ain't never gonna' happen. 

He also added one other thing, he said that DB needs athletes, not coaches.

35 minutes ago, SweetScience said:

Whiny #### parents are a monumental problem in HS sports today. Worse than the kids ever thought about being. Living their best lives vicariously through little Jimmy and Joey.

Absolutely!! many years ago, I was thinking about getting into coaching and teaching, and leaving a good job to try that. But listening to the parents even back then allowed me to see the problem with all that. They don't understand how rare the so called D-1 athlete and player is and how few actually get college offers and even fewer than that will ever see the NFL. Most will hang up their cleats after high school. I can only imagine how much worse the parents are now.

When I tried to play in junior high, my Dad told me that he didn't want to hear anything from me complaining about where the coach was playing me etc. "You play where he tells you to play, do what he asks you to do. and if you do it well, you will play" I wasn't very big or very fast and I just wasn't that good, but I was at practice every day and did what the coaches asked me to do, and I finished out the year, but that was it, I knew where I was. 

3 hours ago, oridgecat said:

Sweet job lined up in the Ridge.  I don't expect to see him on  a sideline next season.  

If so, good for him. Coaching is a hard profession and highly stressful too, especially dealing with parents!! Jeff is a smart guy, he will do OK in the private sector.

On 12/11/2023 at 12:35 PM, TrojanFullback27 said:

Central needs more of a defensive minded coach 

Might want to consider Jeff Miner who just resigned at Hardin Valley. I think he would do quite well at Central as they have a lot more athletes than HVA and he is very good on the defensive side of the ball and he has some guys he could bring with him who are good coaches. 

On 11/30/2023 at 12:56 PM, DBKPT93 said:

I heard Gruden is interested in returning to Knoxville since he wasn't given a shot with the Vols

Yeah, I heard Gruden was sighted at Littons with Central alums and a big cheeseburger, fries and a cold draft beer....

GQ apparently has taken a job at Austin Peay as a coordinator I heard yesterday.  A good DB friend who is pretty much in the know does not anticipate any coaching changes at DB this year. Just not going to happen he said, unless the current coach elects to retire or resign.