EASTFAN

First, I want to congratulate Morristown West on their win. They really took East behind the woodshed and the score could had been at lot worse if West wanted to it run-up. This is by far the most athletic Morristown West I have seen in years. The only question with them is will they be able to continue control the lines of scrimmages against the better teams they have coming up on their schedule. If West can return to the Don Woods days, where they could whip teams up front, this could be a special year. As far as Morristown East goes, we are going to need to be patient with our new Head Coach. He came into a bad situation having to rebuild the whole offense including installing a whole new system. Under Coach Solver East couldn’t stop the run and against good teams couldn’t run the football. This is a direct result of a bad offseason weightlifting program. In 6A football, you must be able to stop the run to even have a chance of winning. Let’s see what kind of improvement he makes in year two when he has a full year to install a real offseason weightlifting program. On a side note, where are the athletes for East? They seemed extremely slow against West or was West that fast. Once the line play improves East is going to need to get some speed out of the hallways. In 6A football you need a homerun threat, it is just too hard to drive the length of the field against most teams. We may not win but one game this year, but I will support the team anyway every Friday night.

Surely East isn’t as bad as it looked in the 1st quarter against Knox Halls. I 1st want to give coach Slover and his staff credit for the off-season conditioning program. East is differently stronger and more physically up front than they have been in years. But our blocking technique on the offensive line must get better. I have notice that our offensive line is getting called for holding more often than the other teams, because our hand placement stays too wide when we are pass blocking. Even from the stand it looks like a hold, but I believe the line can fix this with better technique during practice. I knew going in this was going to be tuff early on because of having to break in some many young players. I just really surprise Coach Slover hasn’t scaled back his offensive some to make it easier for our young QB to read and develop his passes better. We need to try rolling him out of the pocket some or even putting our best receivers in motions to give him easier throws. Beating Kingsport is going to take a near perfect game from East, but if we clean up the mental mistakes (stop jumping offsides or not lining up correctly on defense for sweeps.) we may have a small chance of pulling off the upset. Have a safe trip DB fan to Morristown East’s Friday night.

I appreciate you understanding were I am coming from. It is never about the kids whom are giving their hearts out ever Friday night for our schools. It always starts at the top when you see year after years of terrible results on the field, when their is enough talent on both of our teams to go at least 5-5. I probably should back off on complaining about the Head Coaching hirer, because I do think they have finally back into a good one in Slover. The administration at East High and School board needs to step up and provide the needed support Coach Solver needs. He has his hand full having to play 6A football, that is why I have been pushing so hard on getting a paid trainer for the offseason conditioning program. If East is going to complete at all in 6A, it has to start in the weight room.

For starters, I have been posting roughly 15 years, but I do appreciate your honest opinion on me being so critical of the past coaching staff. Just to give you a little background on myself. I was very involved with the East School football boosters club roughly 16 years ago. I had a great relationship with Coach Hatcher when he was head coach at East. I would email him during the off-season about how the team was doing and how off-season conditioning program was going. I really respected Coach Hatcher for taking the time during the off-season just to communicate with me about the program, when I did not have a son playing. Yes, I probably could do a better job than some of the Head Coaches Morristown East has had lately, but as an educated man, I understand coaching requires a lot of patience and time commitment. I work in the production engineer field since I graduated from college, so finding time to help coach with my work and traveling schedule is just not in the cards for me now. If you feel I am only stirring the pot on Coach T, you could be right. I have talked to school board members, past principles, even some of the past head coaches face to face and man to man about the very thing you see in my post. Most people know who I am that follow East high Football, and I bet you probably know me as well. I completely understand the limitations Coach Solver is under now with the lack of Athletes Morristown East use to have flowing through the school hallways. My only concern with Coach Solver is he does not have the wining resume to fall back on when you are trying to build a program. I am very impress with his offensive mind, but wining or know how to win is something he is still learning how to do. Morristown West went out and hire Don Woods from Alabama and we all know how that turned out. I want what is best for the program even though I may not go about it in the right way. Do you feel I am wrong with what I see from East offseason condition program? If you have some better suggestion on helping the offseason condition program, please let us know.

I am very afraid Morristown East is going to take a major setback in its football program this season having to move up and play 6A football. I knew when Slover got the head coaching job two years ago he needed to improve the physicality of East offensive and Defensive lines. Coach Solver has done a great job the past two seasons installing his spread offense, but he has failed at improving East’s defense, especially against the run. Even in a Covid-19 seasons, Morristown East could score with just about anybody the played along as the offensive line played well. But the games East’s lost last year were directly related to terrible defense and our offense line getting whipped up front by the other team’s defensive line. At the high school level, you must be able to stop the run, and East could not stop anybody last year. To tell the Truth, East has not stopped anybody from run the football the last 6 or 7 years. I want to give Coach Solver some correct for improving East offensive the last two years, but I was not a really big fan of the coaching hire then and my concerns are even higher now with having to play 6A football. East does not have the kind of Athletes to match most of the school in 6A or even there size up front. The only shot of being competitive is to be a whole lot stronger up front were our lack of team speed in certain positions does not bite us in the tail. I have not seen the improvement in are offseason weightlifting program I thought I would see under Solver. Depending on what is going on currently in our weight room and what kind of QB play East gets, is going to determine if East’s can be competitive in any games this year. I know what happen to Morristown West having to play a 6A schedule the past few years, but they at least could hold their own on the lines of scrimmage. Morristown West issues where they could not stop the pass against anybody, not enough speed, or athletes to match 6A -5A spread offenses WR. I really want East to have a good season the fall and will support the football program in anyway I can. I just wish coach Solver were a little more open and willing to change the off-season weightlifting program, because what you have been doing is not going to work at the 6A level. Please do not be afraid to bring in an outside athletic trainer to help you get this off-season conditioning problem fixed. I know the Booster Club and supporters like myself would be willing to help pay for it if you just ask. Go East!

You needed to be at the Gibbs game to see some really terrible officiating. It doesn't matter, because both Morristown High Schools are use to playing 11 against 16 ( Counting the officials). The only good think about making the playoff is, officials are watched and grade more closely. So, if you are lucky enough to advance in the playoff, the worst officials are normally gone the deeper your team goes.

I can understand your frustration with showboating and disrespecting players on other teams, either by their mouth or actions after certain plays. We had to deal with some of the same issues a few years ago when Coach Wells was our Head Coach at Morristown East. I was not sold on hiring Slover from Newport as our head football coach at Morristown East, but he has done some very good things with our offense. East's can score with just about anybody when their passing game is clicking. This offense is near impossible to stop when our QB Henson is dial in with his passes. East problem is on Defense, we cannot stop anybody. East's run defense is one of the worst I have seen. They just do not tackle well, and when they miss a tackle it turns into a long run. East offense will need to have one of those nights next Friday where they are scoring at will to have any shot of upsetting the defending state champion. That still will probably not be enough, unless Knox Central helps us out with some timely turnover and costly penalties. Is this the game that will be televise by Mark Packer next Friday night?

Watching Morristown west play last Friday night in the battle of Morristown, I think their strength is there offensive line and their defense is there weakness. Morristown East moved the ball up and down the field most of the night, but penalties killed to many drives. West won the game, because they were much stronger than East up front, especially on the offensive line. It William Blount has trouble stopping the run, it could be a long night for them next Friday night. WB should be able to score some points, because Morristown West defense doesn't look that strong. The question is, can WB stop west from running the football and hold it for 8 minutes per drive?

It sound like Anderson Co. had a great scrimmage. I would like some details on Morristown East, did East offensive move the ball? did we score any points, was it more Anderson Co. offensive being really good or was East defense that bad? I am starting to come around on Coach Slover, but I have only seen one scrimmage, and until we beat Morristown West, the jury is still out. I wish Anderson Co. the best of luck this season, and I believe this is the year you guys stop the Greeneville train. I hope you are right about Morristown East making the playoff.

I have been involved with East High School Football program for over 18 years. This includes being an officers in the Booster club and working to raise money for the program just about every year. I have work with the administration over the years and have put in time and my own money into helping the school, coaches, and players to be one of best High School in East Tennessee. If you feel I am whining or bitching too much, I must apologize for that, but you do not know what has been going on the last few years. The administration at East lost interest in having a winning program in football a few year back and Coach Wells probably took most of the blame for it. I am very high on East new Principal Ely as you are for Coach Slover. Like I have said before, Coach Slover is east new Head Football Coach and we all must support him in any way we can. I do understand what kind of rebuilding job coach Slover is having to undertake, along with the prospect of moving up to 6A in a few years. I just know that there is a lot of supporters wanting to get east back to being a good football program. Many are just not as passionate as I am.

I am not criticizing Coach Slover at all, if you read my post above. As you stated, he has only been on the job for one week. I am Criticizing Coach Wells and his staff on leaving it in the shape it is for Slover. That is why I brought up how many of Coach Wells staff did Slover keep and what positions will they be coaching? I am depending on Coach Slover to fix this mess, and I am concern some of these leftover coaches may not help him in getting it done.

I missed out on the meet and greed with Coach Slover last Thursday evening, because I was out of town on business. How many coaches did he keep from Wells Staff? What position will these coaches be coaching? The reason I am asking is because I heard East got whipped in their scrimmage against Knox Karns last week. The offensive & defensive lines got push around again, and East doesn't have any speed in the backfield. Unless Coach Slover address the offensive & Defensive line issues he will have no shot of running a spread offensive. To tell the truth, if East is lacking speed, He needs to try some other type of offensive. I really hope he has a plan for summer workouts and will adjust his offensive and defense to what personal he has. If he tries to run the spread offensive with East's lack of speed and no athlete, East will be lucky to win 2 games this fall. I knew whoever got this Job was in for a complete rebuild of the offensive and defensive lines. Coach Slover has got to find a way to get some of the speed on the track team out for football. I wish him luck, because getting whipped by Knox Karns is not a way to get those athletes out.

As soon as you can posted the detail for Thursday's meeting would be great. I plan on being there.

Maybe he could do something around the end off spring practice. I am assuming the scrimmage against Knox Karns will be in Morristown. That would be a great time to have a meet and greet the community event before the scrimmage. Coach Slover wouldn't have to answers a lot of question, but he could express his vision and what plans he has for summer workouts. Also, how is the team looking this spring? How many players do we have out, and do we have any size and speed?

My understanding is they had over 30 applicants shown interest in the Job, and Billy Seals was never a candidate because of what you stated above. Mike Clownery is he the offensive coordinator for Carson Newman At this point, who was interest or not makes no different. Coach Slover is the head coach now and we must help him in turning the program around. 1st thing Coach Slover needs to do is have a meet and greet with the community. This is something Wells never did, and I believe this had a lot to do with his disconnect he had with people on the East side of town. Many of us do not have son playing anymore, and our only information into the program comes from sources that could be true or not about what is going on in the football program. Just like Coach Slover stated in the Morristown newspaper that he needs everyone from the players and parents, and supporter to buy in. Most of us do not know anything about him, or what type of offensive, defense, or special teams he is wanting to run. How many new coaches will he be hiring? Will any of the coaches off Wells staff remain? Don Woods of Morristown West was the best at connecting with the community. He would have a Thursday night film breakdown session ( only for home games) of next week opponent and a short breakdown of last week’s game. This wasn’t an ask the coach session, he would talk and show film for 30 mins and leave. The booster club would provide drinks and a snack. I just think something like what I described above would get the community connected with Coach Slover and his football program. Everyone would be on the same page come Friday night. It is a lot easier to support the coach when you have an idea or understanding of what he is trying to do. .

I believe you are right as far as East fans expectations for the program right now. The talent level is down, but East should be able to field 60-65 players. There is some talent walking the hallways at East now and I can think of at least 3 right of the top of my head. I even talked to one those kids on why he wasn’t playing football when he was so good in middle school. He told me that Basketball had better coaches, and he had a better chance of go to a D-1 college, then if he plays football. He asked me who on East football team lately has signed a division one scholarship. I told him that D-1 scholarship are hard to come by no matter what sports you playing, and him being around 6 foot 2 inches tall, football might be is best chance at getting a D-1 scholarship. He said he will decide after the new head coach is hired. That is why I have been so concern with the hiring of Slover. We are already having to deal with the new Lakeway School off exit 4, which has hired some of the best coaches for their sports program just about anywhere. That is why many of East football supporters wanted a proven name coach or at least one with a very good winning % at a premier football program. It is a lot easier to get 4 or 5 kids out of the hallways when you can sale a track record of winning and completing for championship. It also can never hurt, if one of your former players made it all the way to the NFL like James Steward from Morristown West. I am not saying Coach Slover is a bad coach or will do a bad job at East. I just think it makes it so much harder to sale a vision then winning results. Coach Slover is our head football coach, so this point on, I will not complain anymore about the hire. Spring practice starts today, and I am not sure how much of Slover system he can install in such a short period of time. Regardless, the weight-room and offseason conditioning will determine East fate this fall. Just maybe, if Coach Slover can show some result in the weight room and on the field, this fall. Some of those kids walking the hallways will want to be part of Coach Slover football program.

I am not going to debate, if Wells was a better coach then he gets correct for. Bottom line is he didn’t win enough games, and his teams were soft and very undisciplined. My concerns are we going down the same road with Slover. Let’s give him a chance is the same crap I hear from principal Johnson 5 years ago. I told him to his face that he made a bad hire. Wells didn’t know how to win, and his pasted recorder at Campbell Co. proves it. Their will be no honeymoon period at Morristown East for Slover. I want East to complete for championship and I understand this year team is low on talent and winning 5 games maybe the best Slover can do in year one. But their needs to be some type of progress on the field, like being more physical, discipline (not making stupid personal foul penalty) and a plan with the middle schools and freshman football programs. As unfair as it is to Slover, 18-44 is just not going to cut it at Morristown East. We will see this fall if he was the right hire or not, it is just hard for me to believe he will do any better at East than Newport. He will have the same problem trying to get kids out of the hallways and buying into his system he had in Newport.

I hope you are right about Coach Slover, because he can only sale his vision to east’s players with the resume he is carrying. The problem with Morristown East the pass 4 years has been they are too much of a fitness team on both sides of the line of scrimmage. East hasn’t been physical up front since Wells took over coaching 5 years ago. Based on what I have seen from Newport the past few years, it looks like the same fitness offensive Wells has been running with maybe better play calling. Caleb Slover teams hasn’t shown the type of physical spread offensive in his 6 years at Newport, why would it be any different at Morristown East? Greeneville is the best example I have seen the past few years running a physical spread attack. As much as I am disappointed in the hire, I am going to give him a chance to prove me wrong. It will start in are offseason weight room. Because East hasn’t looked like a team that know were a weight room is since coach Hatcher lifted. With all the size east has had last year up front, and they would continuously get physically whipped just about every game on both lines of scrimmage. That is coaching, when your lineman cannot bench their own body weight and they play with terrible fundamentals. We will find out real soon, if Caleb Slover is the right coach for East High. Their 1st game is against Morristown West, who we haven’t beaten in over 5 years. The main reasons we are 0-5 is because Morristown West has whipped East on the line of scrimmage and to some degree out coached Wells every year. I just like to see some progress with this team in the fall, like our strength and conditioning and discipline when we take the field.

Caleb Slover the Head Coach at Cocke Country High school has been hired as Morristown East new Head Football ball coach. To say this is a surprise would be understatement. He was 18-44 at Newport with only one winning seasons ( last year 7-4 team) and Wells was 21-33 in his 5 or 6 seasons at Morristown East. He must have been great in his interview, because is resume as a head coach is just plain terrible. This is very disappointing East couldn’t find a more polishes or proven coach than Slover. I could be totally wrong, and Coach Slover could be the best football coach east’s has ever had, but based on the last 5 years with Coach Wells I wouldn’t think so. I really had very high hopes for East High new principal Ely, but this hired doesn’t make any since. I thought East wanted to complete with the big boys and make deep runs in the playoff. Is there anyone out there that things Caleb Slover is the man to do it? Please respond.

Wells was the wrong choice to take over East Football program when Coach Hatcher lifted. The fault falls directly on East's administration. I try to talk too Principal Johnson after he hired Wells, that I didn't think he was the right guy to more East football to the next level. I was proven right, he wasted more talent than just about any coach East has had in the last 20 years. He couldn't win at Campbell Co. and he had more talent to work with in Morristown and still could win. What make matter worst was Morristown West has been down the past few years and he couldn't beat them; his record was 0-5. 2 of those years, East didn't score a single point. Yes, the new private school is going to take some of the better athletes away from both schools, but the right coach could turn thing around. East has to hire a new principal (This is a good thing) before it can look for a new Head Football coach. I will have to disagree with the statement that there isn't support and the parents are always throwing the coaches under the bus. I have been an East High supporter since my son played there 16 year ago, and I travel to just about every football game. The reason some parents get upset with the coaches is because they lie to their sons. Repletely lying to people and messing over people children will get most parents upset. Enough on the past, it is time to move forward. It is going to take the right coach to take over the program now, because the talent level is way down. Coach Wells did a very poor job with offseason weightlifting and conditioning that the new Head Coach is starting at ground zero. East has over 1600 students, so getting more players out is priority # 1. 2nd he got to do something with our middle school’s feeder programs. Our middle schools run whatever offense or defense they want and most of these kids have no clue what to do when they get to high school. East's next head coach has got to get the middle schools to run his offense and defense. I cannot speak for everyone on the East side of town, but for the right coach, many of us are willing to put our money where our mouth is. Finally, we need a coach that has won a state championship or at least gotten their. We would be happy with one of the top assistance coaches from Maryville or Greenville, if they want to give Morristown a try. Knowing how to win is half of the battle.

I am hope their is a change at Morristown East, 5 years of avg. win total of 3-4 games a year and being 0-5 against your crosstown team Morristown West should warrant a head coaching change. East has over 1600 students and Coaches Wells is luck to have 50 players come out. Our schools best athletes will not play for him. He didn't win at Campbell Co. and now we know he cannot win at East.

They will if the money is right. Getting one of the assistance coaches to leave programs like Alcoa, Maryville and Greenville require support from community and the school principal . Also, they need money and freedom to hire a few new assistance coaches to help turn program around. No-one is going to take a pay cut and then take over a losing program without having away to bring some new coaches with him. Of course we can keep what we have and go 1-9 next year!

The funny part is the same bad luck has been following Morristown East every since Wells became Head Coach. Just about every game its we would've or could've done this or that the game would be different. It is bad coaching when every week you keep turnover the ball and cannot tackle. East has to be leading the region in turnover per game. At some point there has to be a root cause for all this bad luck. I rest my case!

Game went just as I thought it would, another RB (Cole) rushing for 300 yards. Nothing is going to change until Morristown East removes Wells as head coach. He has a career losing record at Campbell Co. for over 10 years and has done even worst for Morristown East the last 5 years. He is 0-5 to Morristown West and in 2 of those years we didn’t score a single point. Same problem every year, East cannot stop the run and offense cannot score. Wells doesn’t know how to win because he never done it. He still hasn’t figure out the need for a real offseason conditioning program. East gets whipped on both sides off the ball just about every game because of not using the weight room in the offseason. Yes, East has made the playoff, but they have backed end just about every year. I believe East has only had one year where they had a winning record going into the playoff. Speaking of the playoff, East got in one year by beating Cherokee and back-in two more years because Boone & Crockett were suspended for post season play because of fighting. I really do not understand why Coach Wells is still Morristown East head coach. He should have never been given the job in the 1st place, because we already knew what we were getting based on his years at Campbell Co. East is 1-6 again this year and I see no-way they will back into the playoff this year. They will have to win their remaining three games and that is not going to happen. There will be a New Head Coach for 2019 season, I just hope the principal hire someone who has won or at least coached on a championship team. I would go after the assistant coaches at Maryville, Alcoa and maybe Greenville. They all know what it takes to win a state championship.

You maybe on to something, why do we have two high schools anyway? With one big high school we would bring the whole town back together. The biggest benefits would be taxes payers money would be able to be spend on hiring more teachers, improving advance classes, and helping kids learn English when that is not there 1st language. I am sure it cost a lot of money keeping two high schools going. What about the saving in overhead cost like reducing the number of assistant Principals and cutting out one Principal all together. What about increasing our teacher pay? I know there pay is way behind other city simpler to Morristown. I would like to know what other people think.