red,white,& BLUE

Another phone call and here I am again. I don't care if you guys think I'm slobber knocker. As I said before, I agree with many of the things he has said but I work Monday thru Friday. If you've ever seen me after work you know I don't have an office job with a computer so I can post throughout the day. I'm off now and my boss is gone home so I can use the computer. This is an obvious jab at my son so let me tell you a little about him. He started playing football in the second grade at Madisonville. I didn't coach him there and had nothing to do with how they used him on the team. His coach put him at fullback after asking me if that was OK. In the jamboree, on the first play from the line of scrimmage, on the 30 yard line, they gave him the ball over the right middle side of the line and he ran all the way to the end zone for six points leaving a line of three or four players on the ground.(I have it on film) He continued to be successful at fullback the rest of the year and when I became his coach at Vonore the following year, I saw no reason to move him to another position. He played in little league every year after that and was, I think, very successful. In his freshman year at Sequoyah, freshmen were not allowed to dress for games or even ride the buss to away games. In his sophomore and junior years he played for Holloway.(enough said about those years) Needless to say, he was excited to get another coach for his senior year, and the year started really good. Watch the DVD's from the first 2 or 3 games and you won't see a more fired up player on the field than my son, but that's when they were on him all the time about not faking well and not running hard when he had the ball. His fire was gradually being extinguished by someone. He was getting pretty low and then broke his foot in the fourth game. He was back to full speed for the Howard game but didn't get in until the second half. He played the entire Meigs game and because it was his last game, he was able to fire himself up. He sure didn't get any compliments from the coaches to fire him up. He had, in my opinion, another great game to finish up his football career. He plans on going to Tennessee Tech University in the fall and has put the past few years behind him better than I could have. Right now he's working in Knoxville on a construction crew Monday thru Friday from 7 in the morning until 5-7 at night to earn money for school.(great kid) I doubt that his boss would let him whip out a laptop or something and constantly read and post on coacht.(he is not slobber knocker either) I have always thought of you as a friend and don't appreciate the obvious accusation. If you want to tell me something or ask me something, call me! My number is in the book. That goes for all of you "MEN" who have been taking jabs at me and my family. I'm not afraid to tell you exactly what I think about anything you're curious about. You guys should really use this football thread to talk about football. I'm gone again until someone else attacks me or a member of my family and I get a call from a friend. PS Thanks for sticking up for me SID. PSS I wish my son could have played for Coach Satterrfield for 3 or 4 years and fully support the administration on the decision to hire him.

I am NOT slobber knocker! I would love to know who both foreal and slobber knocker are but I don't. Nobody I talk to knows who they are. I agree with most of what they have posted but I think both have posted things that shouldn't have been posted. My position on the issues everyone is fussing about has never been a secret. From my very first post, both my opinions and identity were what I would call obvious. I have never hidden the fact that I didn't like the idea of parents being volunteer coaches. Even if they didn't have anything to do with the decisions being made, it opens the door for this kind of conflict. It's no secret that I don't like the option. We put the ball on the ground way too many times on the QB/FB exchange no matter who was playing either of those positions and the pitch didn't look any better. My son has moved on now and so have I. I read coacht on a pretty regular basis up until the first insinuation(?) that I was slobber knocker and then went to Roberts Auto Sales and talked to Jeff in person. I explained to him that I was not upset by being accused and that I agreed with sk most of the time but I am NOT him. I told him that I was going to stop reading the thread and I did until I received a call from a friend who called me slobber knocker as a joke.(he knows it's not really me) I don't remember every post sk or anyone else has made but I do remember that I found that some of them were, in my opinion, crossing the line. I don't plan on reading this thread anymore so if you would like to talk to me, don't do so on here. More fussing on here is just going to get another thread shut down and the players and passers through don't need to read about all your problems. Call me at home but don't call me to tell me about what's been posted. I'll be glad to tell you exactly what I think about any subject you want to talk about. Slobber Knocker, I agree with you most of the time but you shouldn't have gone along with mr dave. No hard feelings though. If i ever find out who you are, I'll shake your hand and we'll smile. To anyone who has been offended by Slobber Knocker.....IT IS NOT ME!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with a lot of what you guys are saying about being positive instead of negative and the effect it has on the players and team but there's only so much you can do at home. This year I consistently supported the coaches on any subject my son brought to my attention. When they told him after the Sweetwater game that he needed to sell the fake better, I told him "they're just pushing you to get better." (I've been proud many times when people in the crowd yell, "Go Caleb", then turn to me when they realize he didn't have the ball and say, "I thought Caleb had the ball". I'd just smile and say, "No he's just a good faker." The radio announcers have also mentioned to me that they frequently had to correct themselves because they were fooled by his fake.) When they told him, after the Gatlinburg Pittman game, that he wasn't running the ball hard, I told him "a coach will never tell you that you're doing as good as we want you to do so don't try to improve. It's their job to push you to get better." (I knew that wasn't accurate because after the G.P. game I met the head coach coming up the hill to congratulate them on the win and brag on their program. He commented on the progress we were making and I thanked him. Then he said "Boy that fullback you all have is a horse." I said, "Thanks, that's my son." Then he said, "Well he kept our linebackers beat up all night.") When they told him after the McMinn Central game that he wouldn't be starting next week because he wasn't running hard, wasn't faking well, and he was missing blocks that were causing Jake and Shane to get tackled in the backfield, I told him once again that it was their job to push him to get better. I told him to get out there in practice this week and show them what he could do and don't be surprised when they change their mind about him starting. (I knew that, on 95 to 99 percent of the plays that Jake and Shane carried the ball, he faked over the opposite side of the line so it couldn't have been his missed block that caused them to get tackled in the backfield.) When he didn't get to start in the Notre Dame game, I was the one who was surprised. I told him not to worry about it, that it wasn't really his ability that was holding him back. They were just building a resume for another player and that he would not get to start but would probably play the rest of the game. (Turns out that he wasn't good enough to play the first offensive series but, mysteriously, was good enough to play the rest of the game; until he broke his foot late in the fourth quarter.) At that point, my attitude started to change. With the right mix of positive reinforcement and negative criticism, you can get the most out of a player. Not enough positives and all you do is beat that player down. I had watched my son's fire get gradually put out by all the negativity. I actually felt relieved that he wouldn't be subjected to it until his foot was well. I attended several practices throughout the year and felt that there was only one player who got enough positive reinforcement. After almost every play, at least one of the coaches said something positive to him. It kept him fired up. It would help the whole team to have that spread around a little. At one practice late in the year, a running back carried the ball up the middle for a 40 yard td. He carried the ball in his right arm until he got to about the 10 yard line. At that point, he held the ball out and back in his right hand, taunting the defensive players who were chasing him into the end zone. On his way back to the huddle, one coach slapped hands with him and said, way to run the ball. Another coach said, good run. About 4 plays later, Caleb ran what appeared to be the same play. He broke past the line and linebackers with the ball covered with both arms. As the safety approached on his left, the ball was shifted to his right arm and he stiff armed the safety. the corner came in on his right so the ball was shifted to the left arm but he ran the rest of the way to the end zone untouched.(about a 35 yard run) I sat in the bleachers thinking about how perfectly he had handled the ball and wanted to yell, "good run". He didn't taunt the defense or act all arrogant. He just jogged proudly back toward the huddle as if he knew he'd done his job well. One of the assistant coaches stopped him and yelled "Caleb, you've got to keep that ball covered up." No pat on the back! No "good job!" His shoulders slumped and he jogged the rest of the way back to the huddle with his head hung low. I could feel his disappointment. I'm not saying that you should brag on every player after every play. I'm saying that you can't expect Johnny to do his best for you if all you notice is when he makes a mistake. You can be as positive at home and on these boards as you want to, but your son will never do his best for the coaches until he feels that the coaches appreciate when he does a good job. I think we have a great coaching staff that is capable of turning this program around if they spread the compliments and pride around a bit, but I think it'll be another year before that happens. If the hired coaches stay and see this thing through, '09 should be a very good year! I plan on this being my last post on coacht. These are my final thoughts, ideas and opinions. I apologize to anyone I have offended but nothing I've said is untrue. Call me if you feel the need. Good Luck to you guys next year and in coming seasons.

You're an idiot if you honestly think that making it to the semi or quarter finals is not something to be proud of! Going undefeated all season is something to be proud of without a state title and is not the same thing as loosing every game. I hope (with these expectations) you don't have a son on the team.

I agree 100%. Let's be proud of the SCHOOL COLORS. It would be rediculous to yell LET"S GO RED at a team dressed in black.

It would be even cooler to have BLUE uniforms trimmed in red and white with a blue logo on the helmets. THAT, would look awsome! But wait; neither BLACK nor BLUE are Sequoyah school colors. Maybe we should just stick with red, white and gold.

I don't see how you could pull one age group out of a 4 age group league and stay in the league. I don't know of a league around here that would be a good fit for a situation such as this. It seems that the only way to do it would be all or nothing. Combining the younger teams would give each age group about 40 - 50 players. That wouldn't allow much play time for the B, C, and D string players and would limit the amount of instruction each player got in practice. I think the best solution would be for one of the coaches to visit each school for one practice per week and give tips and pointers on what would help them adapt to the high school ways. We do have a lot of "good folks" in each area who are capable of teaching these kids how to play football, especially if they had the support and guidance of some of the high school coaches. Volunteering to coach little league teams is an excellent way for a parent to spend more time with their child and give them instruction on the field that just can't be given at home without pads and partners. Taking away volunteer parent coaches (at this level) would be a step in the wrong direction but would be a good idea for high school.

I've watched my son play for three different coaching staffs in four years. This past year's group of coaches is by far the best. I wish he could have played for them all four years. They made decisions I didn't like. They called plays that I wouldn't have called. They played players in positions that I wouldn't have. They benched players at times and for reasons that I disagree with. They encouraged attitude (putting down other players and a late hit or two) in one player when I would have made that player run until the bad attitude was gone. They ran a three man front on defense when I would have ran five or more. I'm not the coach! I didn't go to school to be a teacher! In most of these situations, they made a good call and were successful. These guys have devoted their time and energy to this organization and our children and believe me; it's not for the money. I truly believe these guys are here because they want to give back to these kids what they were given when they were in school. I hope they stay for many years to come. That's what will bring success to Sequoyah. Maybe they're not the best coaches in the nation (maybe they are) but if they're not given a chance to succeed they will fail. If we don't stand supportively behind them; in a couple of years we'll be right back where we were before they came. If we support them and accept that they just might know more about football and what's best at the moment than we do, then I think we'll be where we want to be in a couple of years. GO CHIEFS!!

Howard only scored 20 against Meigs, while Central scored 41. How about that fire? Yes, please explain!

Discipline, along with respect, starts at home and should be learned between the ages of one and five. When a child starts school, they are there to get an education. Too many parents these days think it's cute when their child acts poorly. They don't teach them to be disciplined or to respect others and then expect the school system to work some kind of miracle on them. First they blame the teachers for picking on poor little Johnny and then, when he plays sports, it's the coaches fault that he isn't disciplined and respectful. A high school football coach shouldn't be expected to completely fix an attitude problem in four years that parents have been incouraging since birth. This is not just a problem at Central; it's everywhere! Back to the game... After thinking about it for a while, I feel pretty confident that Central will win this game. Good Luck!

You were right on with your prediction smokey. (that really hurt) Polk pulled away in the forth quarter. Sequoyah went into half time trailing 7 to 0. They tied the game on the first possession of the second half. Polk immediately took the lead back and the score was 14 to 7 at the end of the third quarter. After a back breaking drive for 7 more points, Polk successfully executed an on side kick. That drive and on side kick took away what wind was left in the Chiefs sail, along with any chance of winning. They scored again on that possession which took the score to 28 to 7. The Chiefs played right with Polk up until that 3 to 5 minute span and, until then, had a chance of winning. They scored again and then we managed to score in the final seconds to end the game with a final score of 35 to 14. Polk is a very well disciplined team which makes few mistakes but they won't blow you out of the water. Good luck to you guys this week. This game will be too close to predict. GO CHIEFS!!!

This is a very hard lump to swallow. I didn't know Coach Pickett personally but I have seen the team he has coached. Grundy County's football team is a class act and, judging by what I've read on here; Coach Pickett is largely responsible for that. A teacher/coach touches many lives and I'm sure many are saddened by this loss. My heart and prayers go out to all who are involved in this tragedy. May God be with you all to comfort you and give you the strength you need to get through this tough time.

Once again...My Bad. When you said, "now the rest of the year can be used to sort things out for next year", I assumed you meant we should give up on winning any games this year and just look to the future. I don't think it's a bad idea to put some of the younger players in for a few plays here and there to see how they do. A couple of games back, they stuck the Helms kid in because of an injury and I was very impressed with what I saw, but my "football vision" isn't always in line with others'. I didn't notice last week, if he had kept the position or not. I also think that if the good efforts were noticed once in a while, the boys would have more pride and enthusiasm. I know you can't notice and comment on every good play a player makes, but some seem to get no recognition until they make a mistake. (they all make mistakes)

That's right, lets forget about trying to win any games this year and finishing the season with any dignity at all. Screw the seniors. It won't matter anyway. They've been jerked around since they were freshmen. What's a few more games? Let's just give up on this group and start thinking about next year. I DISAGREE!!!! This team deserves more. These seniors deserve more. They've hung in there when almost all of their classmates have quit. Now is not the time to turn our backs on them. This is likely their last opportunity to play football. Let's not jerk the rug out from under them now. I would like to see things come together and progress made but not at the expense of the few seniors who have stuck it out. They should be built up; not torn down. That's when things will improve. Positive reinforcement goes a long way. Have you ever seen a dog that's been kicked around all of it's life? That's what I would feel like if I were a senior on this team right now!

My bad! I took the "superstar" as more of an insinuation than a statement. I see what you mean now. Let's keep supporting the coaches and players. They are getting better each week. GO CHIEFS!!