briarcrestsaintsfan

I hope for White Station's sake that they don't hire former Briarcrest coach Joe Hamstra. He was the worst football coach since the invention of the forward pass. He set Briarcrest back five years at least. I hope Major Wright can turn things around for the Saints. I believe he can provided the politcs of the athletic program don't get in his way. It would be nice to see Briarcrest back in the playoffs again soon. I wish White Station best of luck in their search for a new coach and I hope they find a good one.

pigskinred, I don't know Major Wright personally, but I do know he is a great coach. What you said about him being prepared for the "big money people to pressure him to play their kid" is absolutely right. I have seen it many many times, not only in football, but baskeball as well at Briarcrest. I predicted several years ago that Briarcrest would suffer as a result of the politics involved in their athletic programs, and sadly that has come to be true. I know what people on the outside will say. They will say that we moved up in divisions, which is true and is also true it was harder. However, we only made that much harder by not playing the right players based on talent, but rather by whose daddy worked in the office, or who wrote the big check or paid for the locker room, etc. It is my hope that Major Wright will be able to ignor the big money people and play the the players based on talent. If the big money kids are the most talented, then play them, but usually they aren't.

brosbaseball, how could a member of the former "Super 7" lose to a new small school that has only been in existence for a few short years? I guess those state titles Briarcrest won against inferior talent (at least according to you) look a little more impressive now don't they? The next time you take it upon yourself to degrade another school's accomplishments in football perhaps you should wait until CBHS wins a state title in football, if you live that long. Just remember you started this.

Briarcrest Saints congratulations on your season. I guess the class of 2008 didn't lead you to a state title, but at least you beat Southwind. Better luck next season and keep your chins up.

With ECS faltering recently against CBHS and MUS and Briarcrest being a very weak team, which team do you think will take the last playoff spot?

hsbaseballfan you are right as far as the way financial need is determined. There are a couple of third party agencies that private schools use to determine the level of need. However, your ascertion that "if a rich alumni wants to step and pay the way for a kid" is totally against the TSSAA rules. Let's say for example tuition at a private school is $10,000 per year. A family, an athlete or non-athlete applies for financial aid. The third party agency will determine what level of financial aid they are eligable for using whatever factors they use. Let's further say they determine that family should receive 50% financial aid. The TSSAA rule is that family must pay the other 50% or $5,000 per year. It is against the TSSAA rules for a rich donor to pay that $5,000 for that family. There obviously are ways to get around that, such as the donor makes a donation to the "athletic fund" or the "annual fund drive" and the school then uses that donation for the other half of the tuition. This is based on a conversation with the TSSAA. It was stated at Briarcrest that no one received 100% financial aid, but I can tell you that the rumor was that there were some heavy hitters that were stroking checks to the school to cover some athletes. Of course they also alwys said they didn't recruit athletes either, which is a joke.

I agree with you hsbaseballfan. No one in their right mind, when asked, would refer someone to send their child to a Memphis City School. If someones asks a question about which school to send their child to, that is NOT recruiting. However, when you have coaches call families at home and asking them to send their athletic child to their school to play a sport and, "not to worry about the tuition", that IS recruiting. I don't have any firsthand knowldge about BA, but I can tell you it happens at Briarcrest. I also wounder how a kid from Airways Jr. High can afford to attend CBHS without a lot of "financial aid"

I too have read The Blind Side, which was mostly true, but some of it was a little distorted. I do believe what Briarcrest did for Michael Oher was a good thing because if he would have stayed in the situation he was in he would be in prison, dead or standing on the street corner at best by now. Briarcrest was recruiting players before Michael Oher came along. They are really into the basketball recruiting business currently. The problem with recruiting, other than being against the rules, is that when you have families that have paid full tuition since kindergarten and their child has played on the sports teams since the 6th grade and suddenly when they get to the 10th or 11th grade a new "student" shows up from the inner city and takes their place on the team, they tend to get a little upset about it. Everybody wants to win until it effects their child in a negative way. It is a very sensitive situation at Briarcrest and and other private schools as well I would think. Lastly, I believe there was a long lasting court case involving BA and the TSSAA wherein the courts ruled that the TSSAA could have rules prohibiting recruiting by private schools which was the result of BA recruiting players.

You are right DarkHorse. I only spoke about private school recruiting because my son went to a private school in the Memphis area, where recruiting is rampant. I have heard of some public schools recruiting, but not nearly at the level of the private schools. The public schools in memphis are so bad that everyone is trying get out of them.

I read the article and if these allegations are true it is aweful. I wonder how a high school coach can afford to support the family that he lives with and his "secrect family", I didn't know high school coaches made that much. I college coaches do. The players getting special treatment with grades, etc. is not anything new or only happens in Hoover. It is a reality that many programs look the other way on a lot of issues when it comes to athletes. Think about all of the thousands of dollars private schools give in "financial aid" to athletes. If the TSSAA were a serious organization and wanted to enforce the rules about recruiting there wouldn't be very many private school programs that wouldn't be guilyu of breaking the rules.

It also reminds me of the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones. Coaches need to coach and players need to play and parents need to stay up in the stands.

I don't think you sound like an "a-hole", as what you said is correct. That team, regardless of what brobaseball may think, was very good and could compete with anyone. The whole program, for the reasons I have already stated has been demoralized. There is no enthusiasum, no spirit, no pride. I hate to see this program where it is now because it didn't have to be this way. There really was talented players on the two teams that Hamstra coached, but due to his ineptness and the politics at work the most talented players didn't get to play. I am not saying we could have beaten MUS or CBHS or Brentwood Academy, but I think we would have been more competitive than we were had the proper players been playing. Moving up in divisions was very difficult and hiring the wrong coach was a disaster. Something that was told was that in his second year he had all new assistant coaches for the most part, but they were hired by the president of the school not him. I found that to be a disservice to him and not a way to run a football program. Yes, there are hundreds of athletes in this area that would love to have the facilities that the Briarcrest kids enjoy and it is a shame the administration and some parents have let get to this point.

You are most welcome. I know coach Hamstra was trying to do what he thought was the right thing and some people thought he did and others did not. I know it was a divisive decision by its very nature. The problem would have been had he come back he would have taken someone's starting position and then that player and his parents would have been upset. But at the same time we could have used his talent. So he really put the school, the team and the coach in a tough situation. I also understand young people don't always do the right thing and they sometimes change their mind. So this was a tough one no matter how it had gone. Hamstra's asking the seniors and then not going with their opinion was hard, but I think the decision had to rest with the head coach.

I will be happy to. Michael is a great athlete and it was loss to Briarcrest. After Michael's soph. year he said he was going to concentrate on baseball and not play football because I think he thought he had a better chance at playing baseball in college than playing football. He didn't work out with the football team and didn't go to team camp in the summer before the start of his junior year. It is my understanding that the coach, Joe Hamstra asked him to play, but Michael respectfully declined. After the Bridges game at the Liberty Bowl he asked to come back to play football. Coach Hamstra asked the senior players what they thought. They said he could come back, but he would have to do extra work (run sprints, etc.) to make up for not being there through the summer, but they were fine with him coming back. They all knew he would be a big help to the team. This is where is gets sketchy. Hamstra thought about it for several days and then told Michael he had decided it wouldn't be fair to the other players who had worked all summer so he said he couldn't play. This decision was very controversial amoung the Briarcrest football families. I don't know what the right thing to do was, but that is what happened with respect to football and Michael. I also understand that he had some problems with the Briarcrest baseball coaching staff, but I don't know any particulars on that. So he decided to change schools even though he would have to sit out of varsity sports his junior year. He transferred shortly after the start of his junior year. I think the decline of the football program coupled with the politics and the coaching led him to change schools. He is a very gifted athlete and I wish him all the best. I hope this is helpful to you.

I agree with you, it is very difficult to move up in divisions and still be dominate. However, what I was trying to say was that with the mistakes Briarcrest has made in the last three years they have only made it harder to be competitive in the larger school division. I do think brosbaseball was belittling Briarcrest, or least that is the way he came off sounding. It's funny when you think about the fact that the CBHS quarterback used to play for Briarcrest. I find that ironic given how little credence brosbaseball gives to the Briarcrest program.

Well said. It is important that the level of competition in the west improve so the western teams can be competitive in the state playoffs. If Briarcrest can't win a state title then I root for CBHS or ECS or MUS or St. George's to win. I have friends who have kids at each one of those schools, many that used to attend Briarcrest. When they left I was sad, because they are good families, but at the same time I understood why. They were fed up by the things that were going on at Briarcrest. I have said all that I have said out of love for Briarcrest and in the hope they can turn things around. I am optimistic they will.

Icadad, I appreciate your support. I am not bashing Briarcrest nor am I disparaging CBHS or MUS. My whole point is that I understand Briarcrest moved up to the larger division and the competition is much harder. However, Briarcrest has played CBHS and MUS many times before they moved up, so they at least tried to play a competitive schedule over the years. Those are two very fine schools with great athletic programs and great history. My whole point is that while Briarcrest moved up to a much harder level of competition it made many mistakes along the way which has only served to make it that much harder. The hiring of the former President and the hiring of Joe Hamstra compounded the difficulty of moving up in divisions. I am not trying to be down on Briarcrest at all, I am saddened to see what has happened over the past three years. I only said what I said about CBHS when brosbaseball started making fun of Briarcrest winning state titles in the lower division. I have all the respect in the world for CBHS. But like you and I said we played in that division because of the number of boys at our school. I wonder how CHBS or MUS would fair if half their student body was replaced with girls. Your history lesson was a very valuable insight into what I was trying to say. The downturn at Briarcrest is twofold, one moving up in divisions and the politics at the school have combined to hurt the football porgram. Hopefully, they will be able to hire a President that will come in and deal with these situations. I am worried because of the large number (I heard 127 kids left after last year), which is a large number for a school of their size. Lastly, I don't want anyone to think I am being critical of any school. All of the private schools in the area are fine schools. I was just talking about the problems at Briarcrest. If your child makes a mistake it doesn't mean you don't love them anymore. You have to point it out and help them learn from it, which it what I hope Briarcrest does in the future.

Briarcrest beat them, so they must be pretty weak. CBHS slaughtered Briarcrest, so it may turn into a reinactment of the St. Valentine's Day masacre unless your coach shows them some mercy.

I did look at the records and I did see how many times Briarcrest and ECS have played for and won state titles. Many times between them. However, you failed to answer my question, which was, when was the last time CBHS won a state football title? So I guess the real question is, based on your glowing acclaim of the "Super 7" how many state titles in football has CBHS won in the last ten years against the "Super 7", sounds to me like it is the Super 6.

You're right, Briarcrest does have some good people and great facilities. Carly Powers is a good man who cares about Briarcrest. I hate to see him going through such a tough season. CBHS is also a great school. I have several friends whose kids go there. I think Coach Locastro is a fine man and a very good coach. I wish them much success in football.

If I remember right, the last year he was here BCS did beat Christian Brothers and did go on and win the state title. When was the last time Christian Brothers won a state title in football? Point made. It is a little unfair to be critical of Briarcrest because they were in the lower division, which I believe is based on the number of students at a school. They did what they were supposed to do, that is play for state titles almost every year. I can safely say that Coach Freeze was a much better coach than Joe Hamstra. And I don't think you can argue that. What hurt Briarcrest other than Freeze leaving and moving up to the larger school division was the hiring of Bill McGee as president of Briarcrest. The changes that he made have been very damaging. When you have well over 100 students leave your school to go to other schools it is a problem. Gee I wonder if that had anything to do with them running him off.

I don't know about the underclassman, so I can't comment on their talent. However, at Briarcrest it doesn't seem to matter about the talent. What happens is that the influential families kids will get to play even if they aren't as talented as someone of more modest means. If your dad works in the office at Briarcrest or is on the Board or gives a lot of money to the school you will play no matter what, even if there is a more talented player that should play ahead of you. I know that this sort of thing happens at other private schools, but at Briarcrest it has just about ruined the football program. What needs to happen is they should play the best players and tell the parents to stay out of the coache's office. I don't have a problem with Coach Powers' son playing at all. He should not be penalized because his dad is the coach.

What has happened to the Briarcrest Saints? I thought this year's senior class was supposed to be the best class ever at Briarcrest, at least that is what Hugh Freeze said when they were freshmen. I guess they aren't as good as he thought they were. I am afraid that it is going to take years to rebuild the football program at Briarcrest. I hate to see a once powerful program be so down.

I agree with both of you. It is vital that all of the Division II-AA teams in the West be as strong as possible. It won't do CBHS or MUS any good at the state level if everyone they play during the regular season is weak. I too root for the teams from the West to do well in any state championship tournament. If CBHS or MUS is playing for a state title and Briarcrest is not then I cheer for those schools from our area. I think we are all on the same page as far as this is concerned. A rising tide lifts all of the boats. So if all of the teams in this area of DIIAA are good it helps all of them.

It's funny you should mention Touhey as I wasn't referring to Big Mike. What Briarcrest did for him was the Christian thing to do and after all Briarcrest is a Christian school. He was a unique talent in high school, especially at that level. No one ever questioned his playing. However, in recent years there have been players that played that were being played for reasons other than their talent at the expense of more talented players. I do agree that the fundamental changes need to start at the middle school level. Patience is not something that the big money donors and other connected people have at Briarcrest. This was proven last year when a group of parents tried their best to get Hamstra fired in the middle of the season. It saddens me to see Briarcrest go the way it has gone recently. I think it shows a lack of leadership on the administration's part to allow the politics to rule the school.