WarriorFan

All this tells me is that if the public schools cannot compete with private schools in Division I Class A and AA, they just kick the private schools out so they can bring a championship to the table. This is so weak. This just brings the public school system sports down further than it already is. It goes to prove that if you cannot win, you create a system that allows you to win. The private school Division II is much stronger than class 4A or 5A...much less in any other classification. It is a shame that Division II State Championships will not be broadcasted on TV as Division I. Maybe the public could see that Tennessee schools can actually play with the other major programs in other states. Division I is horrible. This whole situation is because of Brentwood Academy's dominance of State Championships in the past. Even Coach Satterfield at Trousdale County admitted in the Tennessean yesterday that he decided that it was better to play up in Division I 3A than to play down in Division I A and 2A because of the private schools. He knows that he cannot win. The old system of the past was best for all the schools in Tennessee. The one coach I have total respect for is Maurice Fitzgerald of Pearl-Cohn. He has said on numerous occasions that the private schools belong and that there should not be a division between public and private because the competition makes the system better. I wish all the adults would stop crying and put public and private schools back together. There is not enough schools in Tennessee to run 8 State Championships in TSSAA.

If you only think you can win the district, that is what you will get. BA thinks about winning the State every year. Their goals are different than other teams. Whatever the mind concieves, it will achieve. Don't think small!

Attendance records are not posted on the TSSAA.org site for State Championship games since 1998(2nd year of the Division I and II games). All other State Championship records before 1998 are posted for all classifications. Is it because they know how bad attendance has become at State Championship games because of the split? I believe so. 3 years of attendance totals do not take very long to enter in the system. Total attendance for the 1998 State Championships were 46,500. 1997, total attendance was 57,500. 1996 attendance totals were 58,000. 1995 attendance totals were 77,500. I do not think that estmated attendance totals decreasing over the years are a fluke. The TSSAA knows that attendance is horrendous at State Championship games now, and that is why they don't post it anymore. The TSSAA should not hide the fact that attendance has dropped, which causes revenue shortage in ticket sales and the overall event. They have had to go to another location to play the games, as well as get another sponsor. Revenue wise, I bet the ship has been sinking for several years. People no longer have interest because the best schools no longer play each other. Get public and private schools back together. The rivalries before the split were awesome! [Edited by Brandon100 on 11-11-02 8:16P]

Tennessee High School Football in all classifications is the weakest it has been in the 25 years I have followed. It is a shame!

In the Friday, November 8, 2002 sports page, Coach Satterfield of Trousdale County is quoted as saying he made a decision for his team to "play up" to Division I 3A to keep from having to play the small private schools in Division I A-AA. Trousdale County is undefeated, and averaging 43 points a game to their opponents 5 points a game after 10 games this season. Does this mean that Coach Satterfield knew he could win in Class 3A because he felt it was a weak division? Is Division I A-AA a better classification? I would hate to think if I was a coach that I chose to play schools I knew I could easilly beat by simply moving to a higher classification. Trousdale County is most always a powerhouse, and I think that on most given years, they could play, if not beat many good Class 4A-5A programs and some Division II schools, both large and small. I think the article about public-private school separation shows how silly grown-ups can get over high school football. The thought of Coach Satterfield among others is they cannot compete against private school programs, which is ridiculous. The schools that have given Brentwood Academy fits over the last 25 years have been Alcoa, Marion County, Brownsville, Marshall County, Maryville, Smyrna, Austin-East, Cleveland, etc. They all have wins against BA. It is not the big, bad Oak Ridge's, Germantown's, Jefferson County's, Murfreesboro Riverdale's or Oakland's of the world. BA normally chews these schools up and spits them out. If you don't believe me, go check the scores of games where BA and other large schools in this state have played. Most every school I have mentioned that gives BA problems have been traditionally small public schools, and many of them in rural areas. I know, as I have followed BA football for 26 years, as well as played in the program for Coach Flatt. Small public schools can compete on a level with private schools. We do not need to be crowning 8 state champions as we do now. There are not enough schools in the state to substantiate it. Tennessee High School football has suffered tremendously because of these silly adult decisions. The competition and rivalries are nowhere what it was in the past. When there was no separation, a BA-Riverdale State Championship would bring in 25-30,000 people. Now, a 7-10,000 crowd is huge at a state championship. Division II normally plays in front of 2-3,000 now for a state crown. The interest is not there anymore. There are way too many winners for state championships. Let's get back to the way it used to be, with maybe 4 classifications total, but no separation. Separation is silly and childish. [Edited by Brandon100 on 11-11-02 7:58P]

I agree...The Austin East Team of 1986 had amazing atheletes. I saw the state Championship against Brentwood Academy. Even though BA pulled an amazing second half comeback, AE held them at the 1 yard line to win the game. AE had some Sunday Players! Leroy Thompson (Penn State), Von Reeves(UT). Another good team from the East was the Alcoa team of 1989. Billy Williams(UT), a great QB(Rusty....), Shannon Mitchell(Georgia). Great talent!

Obviously, you were not around football in the early to late 1980's. Of course, we all want to think our own era was the best, but when 20 years go by, memory fades on these teams. If you ask Carlton Flatt, I am sure he would tell you the same about the 1980's teams. The Brentwood Academy teams of the 80's had better atheletes than the teams of the 1990's and 2000's(believe it or not). I know because I was there. All-American QB's Kent Austin(Ole Miss),Tim Jones(Kentucky), as well as Mike MacIntyre(Vanderbilt), Jeff Brothers(Vandy), John Snow(Yale) were highly touted by many Division 1-A schools. Bubba Miller(Tennessee and Philadelphia Eagles), Jeremy Spivey(Tennessee), Jason Patrick(Texas All-American Decathlete), Jimmy Hockaday(Georgia and one of the top high school recievers to ever play in the US),Gregg Johnson(Penn State), Robin Perry(Tennessee)....and the list goes much deeper. I could go on and on. When I was there in the early 1980's, we went 52-2 with 3 State Championships. My brother's teams in the late 1980's duplicated this record. Brentwood was USA Today rated in the top 10-15 consistently back then. At one time 1983, it held the nation's longest winning streak. The talent was unreal. It was nothing to see Bear Bryant, Johnny Majors or whoever come to our school to access talent. Carlton Flatt is the "real deal". He is very hard nosed, but gets 110% from his players. If you check, many of his players go on to do great things. Yes, he would bust your tail on a daily basis, but when you matured as a man, you realized that he really cared about his players. This man is one of a kind, he was very hard on me individually, but I appreciate and respect him. He is a quality man. I am happy and proud to say I played for him.