osunut2

I agree that this is likely related to athletics and keeping someone(s) eligible. But there is a LOT of state/federal education $$$ tied up in grade promotion/graduation rates, so there's a part of me that thinks this could be associated with that.

I can't imagine that it would make them better, unless there is some magical "addition by subtraction" happening.

It will impact Farragut either way. Some kids that are currently zoned for FHS will be shifted into a new school zone. I live on the very far west end of Farragut, and my kids would be zoned for this new school, even if they build the school north of I-40.

I don't think anyone expected the kind of exponential growth that Hardin Valley has seen in recent years, but I agree, KCS was somewhat short-sighted when they built HVA. Some of that was budget-related though; heck, they had to scrape together the money to build the football complex, as well as the baseball and softball fields, in the 11th hour. If I understand correctly, KCS is expecting to build another high school on this end of the county in the next decade, either on the west end of Hardin Valley or the west end of Farragut. The new school would relieve overcrowding at both HVA and Farragut HS.

I'm sure he does, although I think he was mainly looking for a longer-term deal with the Bengals, not a one-year franchise tag/stop-gap option. Lot of chatter that he ends up in NE when it's all said and done.

He's 70. Cut the guy some slack. You are right about one thing though. They are going to have to get in the recruiting game.

Yup, according to the Census Bureau, Florida, California, and Georgia are the top three states where folks are coming from. But if you also factor in those leaving TN for other states, the net gain from Florida is relatively small, and it's actually negative for Georgia. Based on net gain, California and Illinois are where we are gaining the most folks from. The secret is definitely out. According to the annual U-Haul statistics, which is also a pretty good migration indicator, Tennessee has been a top 6 growth state every year since the pandemic (2020 - #1, 2021 - #3, 2022 - #6, 2023 - #5).

HVA is massive, and it's only going to get bigger. The amount of farm land that is being developed is just insane, and there is so much more to come. The growth on that side of I-40 is easily outpacing what's left to develop in Farragut (McFee/Choto).

I hope you guys can recapture some of that glory, but I think many programs statewide are suffering from the same issue, regardless of how successful they are. Sure, the most successful teams are usually going to bring in the bigger crowds, but times have changed now that most high school games are on TV (or streamed). Even some of the perennial powerhouses aren't filling their stadiums like they used to. Unlike college football (or the NFL), there aren't enough fans to mask this. High school football attendance is down everywhere. And in more suburban/metro areas, there's just a lot of other stuff competing for our attention.

For the most part, CC lacked the overall athleticism year in and out that was needed to be able to run Price's offense. I think they could actually be more successful with what Pemberton brings to LaFollette, especially if they can get better on defense.

He did a phenomenal job of keeping the talent at home. That's always been an issue at SD.

Completely agree. The student body cross-section is very similar to Farragut, but the emphasis on football is very different between the two schools. As successful as Farragut is across multiple sports, it'll be interesting to see if that emphasis changes at all whenever Eddie Courtney decides to retire.

Wow. I guess you can scratch him off of Central's list.

I saw it advertised every week during his Thursday night broadcasts, and they talked about it a few times on 990 in the afternoons. But I don't think I've seen any other advertising. Hopefully the rain holds off. We're supposed to get a lot of rain overnight.