4warriors

I can handle, you just don't have the whole story-on why they left or why a coach was asked to leave this year. Unfortunately, this forum can't put all those details on the table so the school ends up not having the whole story told-only way to handle personel issues though. I like Coach M too--this ended up being what was best for the school decision-and it shouldn't have been a surprise

Good question--everyone has to share at CAK if the players are interested in doing more than one-we're too small not to. Kolinsky, Fromke, Houser all played football and baseball-may have been more.

Huh? Are you talking about this year's seniors (KK, Fromke, )? No current baseball/football players are quitting that I've heard of.

Not all of the truth in your comments--that's why they say the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth. CAK wanted and needed an on-campus coach and that was clearly defined to everyone three years ago and since. Tough spot for everyone. Coach M is a good man.

He can't recruit at CAK either(if you mean give financial aid to get them to come). No financial aid is given to any HS student that plays sports. Big change for Coach as talent pool is tiny compared to Farragut. Younger players may apply to CAK due to Coach's rep.

I don't know what he meant by timing, but if you saw the Admirals play--they are loaded up with talent for the next classes as well.

FootballDad said all that needs to be said.

Over 50 applicants, several interviews and a high quality hire!

You are so misinformed or mean spirited it isn't even funny. Bribes and donations deciding who gets fired!!?-I've been over there for a long time and it just doesn't happen. Some like to blame or tear down when they don't like or understand something. Whew!

Never seen that happen there. Again, it's easy to assume that worst when the school can't tell their side of the story.

CAK can't offer that kind of money or anything close to it--FootballDad is right---most teachers and coaches coming to CAK don't leave and appreciate the overall environment. The baloney about CoachD getting fired by one guy or because of one guy is just that--baloney. CAK benefits are good, but no pension. Salaries are comparable to public.

CAK continues to be more than about w/l-as long as the program is doing everything possible to be the best it can be with the resources they have. That is the question, and a fair one I think, that admin is asking of the whole athletic department. What constitutes running an effective overall program will probably look different than that does in a public school that has a deeper talent pool, playing schools their same size, etc. Those things are not true for CAK--the multiplier has them playing teams twice its size. It would not be good leadership to watch the environment around you change dramatically and say, "well, we'll just keep on doing things the same way." This move didn't happen overnight. This move was not forced by KNaler or some other individual. What leverage do they have? No big donor was involved. I don't think ENaler was going any where. The school has never operated that way and I see no evidence that it has now. It is understandable that people might opt for that reason if certain people say it enough and if the coach is a well liked personality. Unfortunately for the school, it is at a disadvantage since it can't really tell its side. No parent is going to get rid of G or anyone else.The school isn't going to either if they put forth the kind of effort that he, Gum(track),Bradley, Pifer, and others do.

Understand about not becoming all about winning at any cost--I agree as I believe all do who are in any position of authority there. That's not the issue here. There is a difference between doing everything you can to be the best you can be(pretty Biblical) and winning at all costs (not Biblical). It appears that the challenge being given to the coaches is not "you'd better win more games" but rather "are you/we doing all that we can to overcome the challenges of playing schools twice our size with a limited talent pool (limited because of who we are(Christian private school that doesn't give athletic scholarships). There is a big difference between approaching a sport from a program point of view vs simply being a good or even great coach during the season and game. You mention if other coaches will have to look over their shoulders. I don't think so--take G for instance. There is a small talent pool for soccer in the sophmore class and not a lot bigger in the current 8th grade class (not counting Holt and Thompson). Will he be able to maintain his past record? I don't know, but I know no one at that school will talk about G leaving if he doesnt win the Region or has a losing record.-No way, no how. Football-going to be an interesting year--toughest schedule yet and a young team. While Coach B doesnt have the time or record under his belt that G does, there is no way you will find a coach that is better prepared than RB.(or gets his team better prepared.) I believe from most people's point of view, if he keeps doing that (pursuing excellence) then the record will take care of itself-even if it isn't great. Parents do have to realize that we aren't Webb or Brentwood Academy, etc. My experience is that most do. Finally, you mention growth. You're right-growth has it's challenges. The option is not to grow. If you didn't then you wouldn't have high school building, you wouldn't have the full range of sports and extracurricular offerred, you wouldn't be able to offer the experience and education to more people(kind of selfish-as a parent, there are days I'd like that but it doesn't seem right), you'd still be in modulars everywhere, etc. etc. The hard side of it is having to review the athletic program with an eye towards change in order to still pursue excellence, not knowing all of the parents or students (like we both used to), etc. After being here when it was smaller and now bigger--I'm still here and will stay. CAK isn't perfect but it is worth staying involved in and helping to swim in uncharted waters. That goes for alumnus like you too-I hope you feel that way and it sounds like you do.Thx My problem with this is it sounds exactly like something Webb would do. As far as I know, CAK is not about being the biggest or the most dominant school at particular sports. Theres a reason that the official school seal has the words "Values Scholarship Character" under it. Its been noted that theres a reason kids go to CAK instead of Webb, the basis of that is the open Christian leadership. Im not saying that whoever they get wont be a good Christian role model. Im sure he will be. People have been citing G as their example, but I think thats truly unfair. Of course G is a great man and a great coach and I hope my children get to play for him one day. With that said, its very easy to say you want a "good christian example of a man" when hes been to the state title game every year hes ever coached there and is 5-1 in those games. Is that the expectation of the next basketball coach though? What are his expectations? "Getting over the hump"? That has been used as an excuse for dismissal of other coaches in the past, one that stands out is the old baseball coach but look where the baseball program has gone since the dismissal. When will Rusty have to look over his shoulder because his teams have yet to beat Alcoa? You said you want former students to try and remember the good times we had there instead of dwelling on individual times like these. The problem with that is OUR school is not the same school that is sitting on the hill now. That can be a good thing in some regards, for example, teachers that have been sharing classrooms and have been out in those miserable modular buildings for years now have their own classrooms, and other teachers have been able to move into the bigger classrooms that they need to teach more effectively. It can be a bad thing too though. I knew everyone in my class, and the classes above and below me while I was there. Can any student say that anymore? Theres a certain charm that the school once had that has been lost in the shuffle of the growth and development of the school. I hope it will return, like I alluded to, I have every intention of sending my children there. But I want my kids to attend the Christian Academy of Knoxville, not Mini-Webb.

As you know Coach, out teachers didn't get a raise either and our tuition was kept at a very low increase-lowest in many years.

If they are in D2 then they can and do get financial aid. I also know plenty of parents who sacrifice cars, houses, vacations, etc to get their kids in a private school.

1)Hardin and maybe Morse unless he is at safety 2)He wants the QB and is working hard that way-that is a significant hole at WR. Not very deep and very little experience there. 3)wherever he wants-can he play all of them? My opinion only-has to get a little tougher to play both ways-and we'll need him to at least rotate. Gives us options-have you seen him throw the ball? Not saying he can be at QB but halfback passes look good--"Walker to Houser!!!! TD" 4)Whatever he wants--best player on team-yes, I know it's hard to compare "skill" positions with line, but-he is. 5)Interesting race--Coach B puts a lot of stock in prep/homework,etc. Epperly quit bball to work on being the QB. Colby is a very good athlete and will start somewhere. Jordan the same. Arm stength and reading will be key I think. More so than the last few years depth will be a real issue-particularly with the upgraded schedule. Conditioning may be a big key. For what its worth, this crew of sr/jr seem to be very hard working, more so than even two years ago. I do believe they'll be the best they can be which is all we can ask. Really important to get off to a good start --need to build some confidence. Cody not playing (if he sticks to that) is a big loss-would be great at WR or RB or DB or LB maybe. Tough to have one of the best 4x100 crews in the county this year and only two of them playing football.

Well, I can't take it any more. These points are in response to several comments: 1)We'll never fully know the school's side of the story since this is a personnel issue-as we would all want if it was our job, they will be very careful with any comments. 2) Because of that, rumors, distortions, partial truth, and inaccuracies tend to take on a life of their own-driven by only one view of the situation or decision 3) I do know that Coach D's integrity, faith, and basketball knowledge were never in serious question. This decision had nothing to do with that kind of thing. 4)I understand ex-players passion and being upset about a coach they liked being asked to leave. I would also ask them to consider the fact that they don't know the whole story-the school's story hasn't been told and probably won't/can't be. 5)Let me pose a hypothetical situation to you for consideration. Let's suppose that an organization (school, business, club, church) has grown quickly and is changing significantly. Let's also suppose that the environment that they operate in is also changing quickly. The leadership sees these changes and knows that unless they carefully consider all these changes and re-examine their organization and how it works, they may not be able to meet their goal of excellence(let's define that for the moment as doing the absolute best you can given the resources you have). After they discuss that carefully, look at what other organizations in similar situations are doing, carefully research they issues, etc. they come up with changes they want a particular division or ministry or whatever to implement. They go to the person who heads up that function and over a number of months, describe what they want to do. That person says "no, I disagree" or " I don't see value in that" or something similar. Question--if that is where the situation ultimately ends up---what should the leadership do-keeping in mind their job is to look to the future and make hard decisions-not just keep on doing the same thing necessarily? 6) To the teacher that posted the negative comments about the school and administration---why do you still work there? If you are truly afraid of your boss and think they'd fire you if you went and talked to them!!??-my gosh, I'd be gone in a flash if I were you. Having been in the school for a number of years-there has never been a rash of random firings. You ought to go talk to your boss or his boss or someone on the board--I know some of those folks and not one of them would do what you're talking about. You're supposed to be a leader-for the overall good of the school and it's mission-please act like one. 7)CAK is a great place but not a perfect one. I would plead to the ex-students to keep in mind the many, many good experiences I know most of you had. I know you disagree with this decision which is perfectly fine. Don't jump to conclusions about reasons or only consider one side. The people in administration are never going to make a decision to hurt the school and I know have the long-term interests in mind. You don't have to agree with them, but don't be like the rest of the world and demean them because you disagree.

From someone who has played them for four years--yes, I think this is Alcoa's "weakest" team in a while but---They are still very, very good. Their D is very, very fast. We have a good QB with a very good arm--he can't throw the same passess against Alcoa's db's that he can the rest of the year, including BB and Loudon. Offensively, they are not as good as when Cobb and Lanxster (sp?) were there but they still have excellent athletes at TB(best we faced). Sam T at WR is great. Great place to play, fans are generally respectful and fair. Missing the hamburgers and fries though will bad--I save may cholestoral diet for the week when we play there. Don't come intimidated or you will be down fast. They are younger-only 10 seniors I believe so they are loaded up with some very talented "younger" players. Good luck to both but we'll be rooting our Region, so go Tornados

What!!!

Part of this (CAK's schedule) has to do with Elizabethton calling first and offerring to play. Combine that with CoachB's difficulty in finding games last year, I assume he went ahead and agreed. CAK's schedule is anything but easy---we have 400 kids playing up with schools that have 700 or more so playing schools with over a 1000 isn't real smart if we don't have too. Powell is looking for smaller schools to play and hopefully beat just like everyone is since the out of region record will be very important in who makes the playoffs next year. Boyd dropped us--don't know why-probably the same issue--out of region record becomes pretty important.

Oh and by the way, our guys will tell you they enjoy playing Alcoa partially because the players are generally class acts--they still don't like losing though--evidence the number of players upset after the game.

Good point, particularly since an on-going discussion at a school our size is if the best athletes should play both ways. Both points of view have merit but I think Coach Bradley's view is the best overall for us and he is flexible -- we had a few guys play on both sides at times this year.

Big difference early was CAK stopping Alcoa on offense three straight times to start the game. Speed kills and that's what made the difference in the end. One of the fastest d's around. You don't know CAK's offense if you think we can play it safe-we can't run it up the middle consistantly against the vast majority of schools we face.