Cactus Jack

I would support Ron Gray returning. He is good with the offensive line and that was the biggest contributor to the fall to a 5-5 season this year. Ron was very disappointed when he did not get the Head Coaching position a couple of years ago and like a lot of us, acted and said things before he thought about them in that dissappointment. But, after seeing the team play this year and realizing that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the hill, he would like to return, and contribute to averting another season like the last. The biggest obstacle to him is some coaches on the current staff have issues with Ron, and perhaps rightfully so, but its time to put the program first, and all work hard in this critical off season to return Oak Ridge Football back to competitive status. Ron Gray would help do that. Ron also has a lot of good offensive ideas drawing on his experience as offensive coordinator from the Lussier and Gaddis years, which would utilize the type of players we have coming back to the best of their abilities.

Farragut won the game, but they by no means dominated it, unlike the 39-0 pasting given to them last year at Blankenship when they were 8-1 and the Region title was on the line. This was simply not Oak Ridge's year, and it showed Friday night, past Oak Ridge teams would have cashed in on the two early Admiral fumbles and it would have been time to crank up the Lexus and go to the house in Fox Den. But not this year, the Wildcat offense sputtered all night and the defense fought but could not hold when faced with the late punt blocks, even though they effectively shut down the Admiral offense all night. I would like to congratulate Eddie Courtney, he is a class guy and a good football coach. He now faces a tough first round opponent in Bearden and may face a 2nd Round trip to Kingsport should he get by the Bulldogs, end of story by then. For Oak Ridge, there must be some reorganization, hard off season work and some sleeper players to step up to avoid another year like this one, a good team appears to be two to three years away, with the talented freshman class. The Wildcats must return to the days when they can run the football consistently to win. Good luck to Coach Stanton Stevens in the months ahead.

I agree with Cats Meow...the root of the whole problem is Bailey and Green, they put Coach Stevens in this position, they may be spearheading the underground move to deemphazize football in Oak Ridge, there are people in these positions who would like to see football go down here...so vote against every school board member next election if you love Oak Ridge Football too...this was not just a down year, this team should have finished at least 8-2 with a playoff spot, doubt if they would have made Murfreesboro, but they would have had the opportunity to try. Whether Coach Stevens stays or goes, he will need better administrative support, and there can never be the fiasco of picking a committee to hire a coach and then be ignored as Bailey and Green did in 05.