ColumbiaBlueNScarlet

And it all can be prevented if coaches choose to use stern language without using "a few choice words"

That's the only thing I don't like about the new system (we were 3A last year, so the wildcard system is new to me). It allows TSSAA to make decisions about matchups and playoff rankings. In the old system, it was all in the hands of the players and coaches. You knew that if you finished first in Region 1, you were going to play the 4th place team of Region 2. Btw, I meant GP instead of PF in my last post.

There is one scenerio where TSSAA would be forced to put them in the same quadrant. I would consider teams from Districts 1-4 to be geographically in the east quadrant. Austin-East is in District 3, and Alcoa is in District 4. Districts 1-4 get a total of 7 automatic bids. If there are not more than 8 playoff teams from Districts 1-4, then Austin-East and Alcoa would have to be in the same quadrant. That doesn't seem likely with CAK, Loudon, Pigeon Forge, and Kingston. So howdoitknow, you're probably right.

It will be interesting to see if Austin-East and Alcoa end up in the same playoff quadrant. The winner of this game represents the east.

I don't have a comment about getting the best talent at Carter to play football, but not having to play kids both ways is nice... not necessary, but a nice luxury. If players have to go both ways, you just have to get them in shape to do it. Fulton, Alcoa, and Catholic all have players that play on both sides of the ball.

When Coach Stephens took over in 1999, he was a young head coach. He called the offense, and Graham called the defense. They improved every year, and won the state championship in their third year (2001). Consistency with the coaching staff is a big reason they won the championship; having an unchanging coaching staff is often times the foundation of a good football program... this is true at every level. Coaches learning to work together helps to build a program. Look at Buck... he has been to the state championship game five times and won it three times since 2002, but he's been head coach since 1992. His winning percentage for his first 10 seasons was 43%, but it is 81% for his last 7 seasons (career winning percentage is 61%). Permberton has had a good winning percentage throughout his career at Catholic, but it took him 7 seasons to win the state championship. Coach Graham is a good coach, but he hasn't had a good side kick for any length of time. This season is Graham's fifth season as head coach, and he will have his fourth offensive coordinator and third defensive coordinator. Even with the coaching staff changes, Graham has managed to improve every year. 2005: 7-5 lost in the second round (note that he was hired in either June or July of 2005 as head coach) 2006: 7-5 lost in the second round 2007: 9-4 lost in the third round 2008: 10-3 lost in the third round Austin-East is on the verge of becomming a dominate program again. Graham is continuing to grow as a head coach, and his coaching staff is becoming more stable. You ask me what could be the problem with AE... I ask you to name a program that hired a first time head coach that won the state in his first five seasons. There may be some, I don't know. Answer the question in December and you may be able to say Coach Graham at Austin-East. Something else to consider is the following: 2005: AE lost to the 3A State Champs 2007: AE lost to the 3A State Runner-up 2008: AE lost to the 3A State Champs When you've got that kind of competition in your region, it is tough to make it out... especially for a new head coach. I'm looking forward to seeing the continued progress of Coach Graham and the Austin-East program this season.

The mark of a good team is finding a way to win close games. Should the game have been that close? Probably not, but all that matters in the end is the W.

That's funny. I'm not going to give my football resume, but I was a good football player. I was an all-state performer at Austin-East, and I was fortunate enough to receive a free college education.

If Carter has such an "outstanding program," how can Austin-East "handle Carter... without breaking a sweat?" I don't understand how you can give Carter praise in one topic, then disrespect them in another topic. I also have a problem with your use of the phrase "outstanding program." No disrespect to Carter, but their "outstanding [football] program" hasn't done anything in playoff football. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Carter has three playoff wins in school history. They have never won a second round playoff game. If this is an "outstanding program," what does the other end of the spectrum look like? Govolsknox, I understand trying to be a good sportsman and giving respect to an opponent, but you have to be consistent.

And one more thing Govolsknox. This is what you said on the ~Carter Green Hornets 2009~ topic... If Carter has such an "outstanding program," how can Austin-East "handle Carter... without breaking a sweat?" I don't understand how you can give Carter praise in one topic, then disrespect them in another topic. I also have a problem with your use of the phrase "outstanding program." No disrespect to Carter, but their "outstanding [football] program" hasn't done anything in playoff football. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Carter has three playoff wins in school history. They have never won a second round playoff game. If this is an "outstanding program," what does the other end of the spectrum look like? I understand trying to be a good sportsman and giving respect to an opponent, but you have to be consistent. Since I'm talking about Carter, I'm going to post this in both topics.

Congratulations on your three region championships. Did you get three different ring sizes, or did you get all three rings for your ring finger? It must stink to go from 14-1 as a freshman to 4-6 as a senior. Is 2001 when the partying replaced playing ball?

You've got your opinion and I've got mine, but nobody is going to "beat the daylight" or "wipe the field" with Austin-East. They can play with all of their 2009 opponents. I'd be willing to bet that most of the Alcoa faithful doesn't expect to "wipe the field" with Austin-East. I know Fulton doesn't expect to "beat the daylight" out of Austin-East; they are always in for a fight, and vise versa. I encourage you to watch an Austin-East football game live, and see if you have the same opinion. You should check us out Saturday after the CAK/Grace game. If you come early, you can check out Fulton too.

Kingston beat Austin-East in 1998, but everybody beat Austin-East in 1998... big deal. AE was 1-9. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Since 1997, Austin-East is 9-2 against Kingston, which means that Kingston is 2-9 against Austin-East. You mentioned region titles... I'm not going to talk about those because they don't mean anything to us at Austin-East. Let's talk about state contention. Austin-East: 3 state championships (1983, 1986, 2001) Kingston: 1 state championship (1973) - 36 years ago Kingston: 4 time state runners-up (1971, 1972, 1981, 1998) Austin-East 2 time state runners-up (1985, 1987) Okay so you were the state runners-up more times than us, but we've both gotten to the big game 5 times. That just tells me that you can't win the big game. You are talking so much trash about Austin-East that I almost want to play you in the playoffs, but like I said in another post... we want to play the best competition, and we would rather play Alcoa in the Semi-finals.

Austin-East would have a good season regardless of the schedule. Let's talk about weak schedule... Kingston dropped Catholic, Anderson County, Fulton, Austin-East, Livingston Academy and Oliver springs. Kingston picked up Alcoa, CAK, Loudon, McMinn Central, Lenior City, and Cumberland County. I'd say Kingston's schedule is weaker... they don't play the 3 teams that gave them their 4 losses from last year. Austin-East dropped Webb, Anderson Co., Kingston, Scott, Livingston Academy, and Stone Memorial. Austin-East picked up Ooltewah, Morristown East, Gatlinburg Pittman, Gibbs, Union County, and Pigeon Forge. If Austin-East's schedule is weaker, it's not by much. We still play the team that gave us 2 out of 3 of our losses... and you add to that one of the best teams in 6A. Just because we don't get the opportunity to give Kingston two losses this year doesn't mean that our schedule is weaker.

Yeah you should replace Alcoa and CAK with Pigeon Forge and Carter... make your schedule even more weak than it already is. I wish we played Alcoa and CAK or Loudon every year. At Austin-East, we want to play good competition.

"kingston was just a few plays from playing in th boro..." that is a stretch at best. You talked about Kingston losing to Catholic in the regular season... had Kingston won that game, the Region 2-3A rankings (#1 Catholic, #2 Austin-East, #3 Anderson Co., #4 Kingston) and playoff matchups would've been the same. Kingston lost in the second round of the playoffs to Austin-East. They didn't even lose to the State Champs. Just like 16 other 3A teams that got put out in the second round, Kingston only won one playoff game... that does not qualify as "a few plays from playing in the boro." It takes 4 wins to get there and 5 to bring home the hardware. Having said that, I think Kingston will surprise some people in District 4. It's hard to compare lasts year's 2A and 3A teams, but we'll see how they match up in a few months.

Cussing does not have to be a part of sports. It probably is in a lot of instances, but there are some programs on the high school and college level that have coaches that do not allow that type of language. You can get your point across without using curse words. I agree that using curse words does get the attention of people, but there are other methods that work. Also, not using curse words doesn't make a person quite, timid, or not intense.

Alcoa, Loudon, and CAK are in Class AA, District 4. Class AA is comprised of Football Classes 3A and 4A. In the playoffs, the aforementioned teams will all be 3A. Take a look at the TSSAA website: http://www.tssaa.org/allclasses.pdf

Staying healthy is key. I hope the players at Goodpasture have a good season.

Good to hear that you have several young men that are working hard to be good players. What you said in your original post is "players to consider at Goodpasture for state recognition." When I hear "state recognition," I assummed all-state performers, and the thread is about "all-state caliber names." Which Goodpasture players do you think will be all-state performers at the end of the season?

So ... On Offense you are going to have all-state performers at four skill positions (QB, RB, 2 WRs, 2 FBs) and 2 OL. On Defense you are going to have 2 DL, 2 LBs, and 3 DBs that are all-state performers. How many all-state performers did you have last year?

Chance Jones graduated in 2009 Travei Pryor is a DE/TE Add to the list: Devante Hawkins LB (Austin-East) Ravon Farris DE (Austin-East)

Check out the Austin-East Football website: goroadrunners.blogspot.com