Straplock

Coach Flatt will be at BA until he doesn't want to be at BA. He has earned the right to leave when he wants. There's no dissension. We all pull on the same side of the BA rope at the end of the day. It's just a fact. CF is going to do things the way he see fit and he will until he walks home from the BA campus for the last time. The kids will be prepared, in shape and ready to do battle. Many of them will play better than they were really capable of. He is a great football coach. So far, he just hasn't shown me that he can compete coaching wise with the man on West End Blvd. I will say this however, if BA does do what it looks like they should have done 2 years ago and put Bowker at QB and open it up a little. They will be hard to beat by anybody on the schedule - the big red included. Thanks for the dialog.

Flatt seems to run the same plays over and over w/ the same defensive scheme. Examples: He had one of the best fullbacks in the country. In the clinic bowl last year he had about 5 carries. He had one of the best TE's in the country, He never touches it. The best pure athlete on the field ( in my opinion it's tyler griffen ) and he has him handing the ball off to a guy that fumbles 3 times or more a game. Tyler should be more involved in carrying or catching a football like he was in middle school. Let's face it, the quarterback coach was a former long time starting pro quarterback and Flatt called all the offensive plays. You figure it out. Defensively, you can't beat Rutledges offense by a read and react defense. You have to split gaps and go after the guy w/ the ball and put them on their back. The guys who play at BA are quick and strong. They can get after people if they were allowed in the defensive scheme to do it. I just don't think Flatt can out coach Rutledge. Our guys win games over the other opponents by just being better athletes, not better game time coaching. My opinion.

I assure you that if Burris is not playing it's not because he doesn't want to contribute. I know him well enough to know that he is a great kid who plays to win at everything he does. Let's remember, there were only 4 9th graders who traveled w/ the varsity 4 years ago. Forte, Butler, Burris and Griffen. He's been a starter since his Soph year. Burris shouldn't have played last year with his shoulder. There's a good chance that choosing to play last year hurt his baseball chances for college. There is zero reason to screw that up even if you are a great player. As far as the season goes, these kids have won a ton of games together and they're upset at always losing to Rutedge/MBA in the final game. I believe if Flatt will get out of the way and let these guys play football the way their capable, they will get the ring that they've should have had at least two of the last four years. By the way, I hear that Turner is going to play Wide out. He does run a legit 4.5.

The truth is that neither team dominated the other in the last match up. I personally can't wait to see the game that really matters. Either team could win. It should be close either way but if BA fumbles a ton and they give up big plays to a very good MBA team, it could be bad. I'm looking forward to seeing all these quality young men and coaches try their darndest to win a very important game. I will tell you that both of these team are on a very short list of the best in the state of TN....

I believe this has a chance to be an incredible game. Both teams are very even and determined. If the BA defense doesn't give up the big play, BA wins. If BA turns the ball over ( like they're plenty capable of doing ) then MBA wins. It's as simple as that. Also, I wouldn't discount the fervor that this BA team has to win the championship. They've been there 4 years in a row. They seem pretty hungry to me. I say BA wins 24 to 21.

I meant to say a point there in the "3rd and 4th" quarter not the second. I don't think the titans crowd could have helped them in the first half.

For those of you faithful enough to post when you got home from Memphis....That's awesome. So how big are some of those CBHS guys? They made it very difficult for our Defensive line all night. My take on the BA game is this. BA looks like world beaters for the first half. After that, they come out flat and let CBHS back into the game by fumbles and poor play. Part of that is that CB is a quality team with quality players but a big part was poor execution on BA's part. That kind of second half play on Saturday will put them on the outside looking in. They have to come out with more intensity next week and I'd be shocked if they don't put together 4 good quarters. That game promises to be a war. I can't leave without mentioning the incredible lack of support that the CBHS team received from their students during the game. They had 300 or so on our side of the field in the endzone goofing off and checking out girls while their team was in the game of their life just a few feet away. Their team deserved more support than that for the incredible season they had. There was a point there in the second quarter where some fan momentum just might have helped these guys make a real game of it.

I believe that this if the Purple Wave was that good they would have beat BA by 30 the first time w/ all the fumbles. However, they played MBA close and they have a great player on the Defense and they are at home. BA still wins this game by at least ten points as long as it doesn't rain and the radar looks like it's going to hold off. I say it winds up being 27 to 10 BA.

Who the heck is Cloudland and Midway? Many of the players mentioned I'm sure are talented but the best two way player in the state has to be playing against the best competition. You'd be hard pressed to find a better player than David Hulbert of BA ( 6:1 235, legitimate 4.5 ) is the best blocking fullback in the State, period and he's one of the best defensive players in the State...he is being recruited by tons of folks and who knows which side of the ball he will wind up on. He's going to make some big D1 school very happy.

Forte benches 385 and he's still 15 years old. He's 6:2 285. He is strong as an ox and a great kid.

Holbert isn't 6:3 but he is 6:1.5 in his sock feet. He will be able to play wherever he wants if he keeps his grades up. He would have to be one of the best two or three players in the state.

Not enough has been said about the BA defense. They have been pretty impossible for most of the season...Turner,Dunlap,Butler(Coltharp),Taylor & Lawson up front and then dominating linebackers like Mustin & Hulbert and then the secondary...no one really throws on Mctorey. the sophomore Little and then the hard hitting Tyler McCullough reincarnate..Tyler Griffen and Willis make for a pretty imposing unit. They got enough penetration up front last night to upset the QB's timing...all those fumbles weren't just because he was playing bad. He was hit most every play and sacked several times and when he threw he usually had a hand in his face. Congrats Defense..

Goodpasture is obviously a quality team and well coached but they haven't played the same level of competition as BA. BA's off weeks have been against quality 5A programs like Brentwood and St. Xavier of Ohio, Their preseason was against the likes of Oakland and Franklin County. This that if BA is ready to play, they should win like they did at Baylor. BA 38 Goodpasture 14

I didn't see a response to your question about Coach Flatt & BA...so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I think that the Board of Trustees and the new Headmaster underestimated the perception (good and bad) of a Coach Flatt returning as head coach. As a matter of fact I know they did as stupid as that sounds. Let me first say that these are my opinions as a BA Parent with some first hand knowledge of what happenned but they are my opinions. The whole situation from a PR perspective was handled as poorly as anything as I've ever seen as a 20 year Marketing Professional. They just saw some things repeatedly happening that they didn't like with the kids. They also questioned some of the decisions that Tom was making ( none of that wasn't talked about because they didn't want hurt Tom Moore either ). Trying to be objective about his staff, Mr. Masters sat there and saw a guy they were paying a ton of money - who obviously was one of the best pure football coaches around -sitting on the sidelines. He originally stepped aside to try and neutralize some of the chaos around the TSSAA deal. Curt couldn't imagine why Flatt wouldn't be utilizing his gifts with the kids in the sport he loved. Unfortunately, that decision would adversely effect Tom Moore who was a super good guy, but that's just the way it was. That's what I believe happened. I can tell you that I was not in favor of this move but understood it. I can also tell you I underestimated the impact Coach Flatt can have with the kids as it relates to Football. It's been pretty amazing. He may be the best i've ever seen at being a football coach. I just wish he wasn't the AD which is a story for another day. Sorry I was so long winded.

Thank you for your intelligent remarks about BA. I'm in for that waiving the 10K except mine is x2...i believe it's worth it however, regardless what we ever do on a ball field.

David Holbert at BA is a load as a Junior, 6:1 in his sock feet and a cut 230 and runs a legit 4.5 - 4.6, he's getting letters from all the big schools in the country

I would have to agree...they have an awesome facility over there in Memphis

I believe gobigred is right in his analysis except for the slow part of the BA defensive line...The line looks slow because Pittman's defense is a contain defense instead of an attack defense so the guys look a little cumbersome..it's designed for the linebackers to make all the plays...fisher did have some critically dropped passes that could have made a difference...

BA is not looking ahead when they have a one loss tough team staring them in the face in Chattanooga. These guys have lost two one point games and understand that on any given night anything can happen. I'm sure they fully expect to get to the Clinic Bowl and a chance to pay back McCallie but they aren't thinking about anything but being ready for Baylor. They realize that these days reputation doesn't mean diddley, the only thing that counts is tons of talent and sweat focused on one goal of winning for 4 quarters. Then you get to try and do it all over again the next week.

So what school in the state has the most D1 prospects? I'd nominate Brentwood Academy which has 5 legit Seniors, 2 Juniors and 3 legit Sophomores and 2 maybe Sophomores...