fromthetop2

It is a shame that we're rehashing all of this again. All you need to know, or can know, has already been said. Coaches are free to schedule who they want, when they can. New coaches coming in (Crawford) come with relationships that may differ from the previous staff. Brentwood is playing Blackmon this coming year and I dare say that this game would not have been necessarily on the radar under Jack Daniels. Jack scheduled Knox Halls for two years because he had relationships with that staff. You can't play everyone every year. There are many reasons why teams schedule certain teams and not others. None of it has to do with being "scared" or "chicken." Did MBA drop Bolles or vice versa. Was anyone scared? Did BA drop Montgomery Lee or vice versa. Was anyone scared? Spend more time solving the riddle of not winning a state championship with 6 D-1 recruits and less on who you are NOT playing next year.

Big Thomas Welch will get the first look. He is tall (6-6) and strong, and has a howitzer for an arm. As a freshman, saw him complete a TD throw that went 60 yards in the air-standing flatfooted in the endzone! Touch is something he has to work on. He got some valuable experience during the playoff run when Austen spent some time at running back. The recruiters who came to practice dropped their jaws when they saw him. The only problem will be do you play him at QB, or does he move to TE or DE as he puts on more weight. They have a very promising QB coming up from the Frosh team in Bruce McCurdy, who is a player. He is short (5-9) but should grow into the job eventually. Behiond all of them are adequate high school QB's, but nothing special. The Bruins have developed into a QB factory since '97 and it appears the run should continue.

Go to www.brentwoodfootball.com and scroll down the bottom of the main page. There is an article about Ray Pelfrey's kicking camp that will be coming to Brentwood in the spring. You can contact Ray through his website information in the article. He is pricey, but if you are serious, Ray is the best of the best. Good luck!

We did not allow them to sit in. The senior representatives were allowed to know who had applied for the job and the most basic of qualifications, such as "Coach X is the offensive co-ordinator at Blank High School" or where they had coached before. They were informed as to the progress of interviews, and often times, the coaches would want to meet some of the players when it got down to the semi-or finals. Not an interview with them, just to get a sense of who they were. Good candidates will surprise you with the knowledge of your team and players. Final interviews need to be done at the administrative only levels.

Got to be careful involving players. The senior representatives should make their opinions known as to what is important to them and the team on the front end; but once the interviewing process starts, their involvement ends. One faculty or administrative representative should ask questions of the interviewee that the "team" would like answers on and basically look out for their interest. This is done for a practical reason-virtually no student is skilled in an interviewing process. Also, there is much give and take in discussions that is not appropriate for them to participate in, as these discussions can get, and need to be, rather "frank." Finally, I've had many coaches say they would look poorly on a school that had students conducting the interview. One said, "Could you have imagined Bear Bryant's reaction if Leroy Jordan was grilling him?" I heartily agree.

The reasons for the contract not being renewed this time around could be numerous. I know for a fact that Coach Crawford did not want a Week 0 game, and if BA had already filled that slot with Centennial, when would BHS have scheduled them (or BA for that matter) if the other slots conflicted? No one is walking away from anyone. Ryan was willing to move the game to BHS for the bigger gate for two years, and a home game at a larger stadium brings in more money than an away game at a smaller stadium, not even counting concession revenue. If Crawford was eliminating contact with privates, why has he scheduled Ryan, which the best information I have is still a private school? The BA-BHS series has been on again, off again before. Yes, it generated great buzz in the community and was a money-maker, my informed sources tell me from this end it just couldn't be worked out in time. But trust me, it will be back in the not too distant future. In the past, the games were not competitive, but they have been very competitive the last two years. The days of blowouts are in the past.

Fair question. . .maybe both figured there was more to potentially lose than to gain from playing. I don't know what type of financial or other dealings played into it, but I do know that the gate for BHS playing at home against Ryan would be larger than the gate BHS would receive playing away at BA. Also, with BHS having a new coach and losing one non-regional contest because they add Ravenwood, something had to give. And taking nothing away from Ryan, but BA in addition to Blackman and Smyrna and the region games is more than you need to prove yourself in a season.

Try a 3.8 and National Honor Society. The kid is an absolute winner. Excellent baseball player as well. Somebody is really missing the boat on him, just like they missed the boat on Bill Whittemore four years earlier. All Whittemore did was become the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. The knock on Bill was he was only 6-1. Same height as Rex Grossman, Jeff Garcia, etc. Remember how tall Ryan Leaf was? Recruiting is such B.S.! College recruiters at the "major schools" don't want to be seen offering a scholarship to a player that isn't in the rivals top ten list; which is about as unobjective list as you can get. He may not be able to throw the ball 70 yards downfield, but if you are looking for 70 yard bombs to win games, your offense has problems!

Hope you can still kick it with us next year FHSRebel27. Brentwood's non-region schedule starts with an opening game with Father Ryan, and they also pick up Blackman and Smyrna. Ravenwood adds to an extra region game for everyone.

It will be real interesting how things shake out. I think Brentwood, Franklin, and Centennial will again be in the hunt. I don't know how much the new school in Dickson County will hurt their team next year. Kenwood was very young and should be better, Clarksville has to replace their best players. Henry County has to be better, but I don't see them challenging the top dogs. They were, remarkably, picked to be the #2 or 3 team last year. Ravenwood will be in the "getting experience" phase. So much depends on which players step up and grow into first line varsity players. Each year you tend to think that "it'll be difficult to replace so and so," and " I don't see how this player can step up." Some how it all works out!

A balanced, diverse attack is important in all levels of football. If you rely too heavily on one offensive philosophy, trust me, you will run into a defense at some point that can stop it. Option and wishbone football has seen it's day because it is easily defensed with assignment football. Wing-T teams die when they have to throw the ball, all spread teams die when they have to get close and have to run it in. The amount of formations and the number of plays run out of the formation, blocking schemes, etc. is really what your team and quarterback can handle. It makes no sense to run 30 different looks if you screw up 25 of them. Nor is it smart to have a few sets and limited options; no matter how much you try to perfect that system. You will run into teams that have better defenses than you have on offense. Your stuck with few answers. I witnessed the most complicated high school offenses I've seen the last five years with Jack Daniels and Les Steckel. Fortunately, we've had exceptional athletes and bright kids at QB that made it work. My view is give them all they can handle. Ultimately, unless you have balance, you won't win championships.

Don't look over your shoulder, because someone is gaining on you. And that someone is. . . Bobby Musser from Brentwood. When he gets in wrestling shape from playing football for the Class 5A State Champion Bruins, this sophomore transfer from Nevada will be in the mix. Technically and mentally, this kid will wear you out.

I've seen it written that character is "what you do when no one is watching." It is an attitude of servitude, and it comes from an unshakeable knowledge of the difference between right and wrong. It is what, in athletics, creates self-discipline. And in team sports, the self-discipline that comes from character, allows the goals and needs of the group to supercede the importance of the individual. It allows the "team" concept to exist.

I am so sick and tired of reading every other thread being about Maryville, or infiltrated by Maryville. If we tried to discuss the cost of footballs, it would inevitably come back to how great Maryville football is. Thankfully some more intelligent Maryville players and fans post rebuttals, but some of you "punk posters" should go back to Instant Messaging each other and leave this site alone for awhile (does your mother know you are using the family computer?). I don't have a dog in the hunt, but the image being projected across the state after your championship is souring folks on your accomplishment. All this bogus chest-thumping will cause a lot of folks to jump all over your when, not if, your program has a decline. Hillsboro has had great success since the current coaching staff has been in place. Let their fans and followers post here in peace.

Fact is that all athletes will use supplements of one kind or another. Creatine is the most widely used supplement and is widely overused. You only need a small amount to acheive the desired effect, however, kids confuse teaspoons with tablespoons and more must obviously be better and quicker, which is a chemical falsehood. Things like Ripped Fuel and the like do more damage than good. We saw it in the cramping of players in cool conditions who were properly hydrated. Our coaching staff tells the athletes that all supplements must be approved by the staff, and playing privelages will be curtailed if you use anything not on the approved list, or mis-use the supplements Our staff actively educates the parents and athletes on the proper role of supplements and nutrition. Don't depend on GNC to tell you what you need. Work with a registered nutritionist, get on a monitored lifting program and the results will come.

It depends on how the team responds. A good coach will gauge what method moves the "horse"; sometimes it's the whip, other times it's the sugar. If they are self-motivated, then a coach can motivate and challenge. If they have no team cohesion or aren't self-starters, then the coach uses intimidation. It is up to the coaching staff to understand that each team is different each year, and each athlete is different as well. By and large I have seen that kids need to be told the "why" as well as the "how" more the past twenty years than before. A coach who can only coach one way will not get the best out of his squad as players or men.

you have got to be kidding. There is nothing super-sophisticated about the Rebel offense, they just execute it very well. Trick plays don't make an offense sophisticated. Not being a coach, you miss a lot of what Brentwood runs or has run. The Bruins ran a scaled down version of the Titan's Super Bowl offense, with some of what they ran at Colorado under Coach McCartney. They literally ran a different offense each week. Ask any coach who had to defend against them, they all said the same thing. Gary Rankin stated "that this offense is being run by a man who knows more about football than the rest of us." Coach Crawford and Coach Hughes last year ran the top two defenses in 5A. Turnover ratio this year was +28, which is incredible. I'm not knocking Maryville, but you can't make the blanket statement that you obviously have the best coaches. You have good coaches who are successful, but they don't have the corner on experience or knowledge in this area. You, my friend, just have the benefit of limited exposure to what really you're talking about.

Biggest loss was Ryan West who played center and IMO, the best High School long snapper I've ever seen. He is an invited walk-on at UT and looks to be the long snapper of the future. His snap time (center to punter) this year was better than the current one.

. . and all the Bruins who made the TSWA 5-A All State team. Austen, Steven, and Ian thanks for the memories of a great ride. For Coach Ron-now we see why Riverdale didn't want you to go. You were the missing piece of the puzzle. You promised-and delivered. Thanks for your passion, your effort, your enthusiasm, your love of the kids, and your friendship. Thanks also to the staff, who share in this honor with Coach, and especially to Les, Big Mike, and Pappy. You were valued additions to Team Brentwood.

You know the real thing that bummed me out about having to reschedule the game against Dickson County? It was having so many of us cancel our Quarterback Club trip to the Bahamas. The positive result was we were able to reschedule. You'll be interested to know, that our treasurer reported that the offshore football accounts were outperforming the Dow Jones, so heck, we can all can finally sit back and really enjoy the team's championship. It was real touch and go there for awhile! Congrats to the Warriors on an excellent season and being a worthy opponent. Who is in line for QB next year?

obviously a typo-Robert went to Brentwood High School.

Well, guess what? If you win your region you get to make those decisions. Maybe someday you might get that chance, but then again, probably not. Frankly, the reason it was rescheduled is because all of our limo drivers were working the CMA Award show that night and there was no one left to drive the players and fans to the game.

. . .and still kick your butt.

Talent and support are two totally different things. I don't care if the entire population of Blount County showed up for the game-that has no bearing on the talent on the field. Who has the best fan support sounds like it should be on a cheerleader website. If fans in the stands meant anything to a record or performance, UT and Michigan would be in the BCS championship every year. I could get ugly and say that since there is nothing else in Maryville, they support the high school, whereas Nashville fans have a lot more to choose from for their entertainment. Challenge the facts-Middle Tennessee Football this season reigns supreme over East and West; more specifically the area near Hillsboro Rd is absoulutely the tops in the state. Take any four teams of the above mentioned area and play all the teams in Blount County-BC would be lucky to post one win.

Forget Maryville or Murfreesboro. You want to know where the real strength of Tennessee High School football is? Five miles either side of Hillsboro Road in Nashville. Check this out and try and top it: MBA (State Champion), Hillsboro (State Runner-Up), Brentwood Academy (State Runner-Up), Brentwood High School (State Champion), CPA (State Champion), David Lipscomb (State Champion), BGA (State Runner-up), and Franklin High School (5-A top power this year). Hillsboro Road is the Aorta of Tennessee Football Power. Nothing can come close!