Coach

Lebanon has made a great hire. Coach Harp is an outstanding coach and will do a great job for Lebanon. I have heard him speak on several occassions and he is a well respected coach.

Sullivan South should not have to travel to Columbia. This mistake was made by the TSSAA and rules can not be overlooked to patch a mistake. They should redo the two quadrants immediately and fix the problem. I have been told that the TSSAA is willing to pay the travel expenses for Sullivan. No other school will receive this benefit and I'm sure Sullivan just wants it done right. Several schools will be effected by this but it is the right thing to do in fixing it. The system needs to be fixed so these mistakes are prevented from ever happening again. If this is allowed to stay as it is there is no intergity left with this oranization.

There is going to be problems with anything they try to do. I personally liked five classes. The main reason a change took place was travel. I have thought about this over the past few years and realize schools only travel five times a year in football. Basketball, baseball, softball, and other sports travel 3 times as much and there is no change in their classes or schedule. Football is also different in that it is the only sport that all the teams are not involved in post season play. Whatever is done every team should have a fair chance at competeing for a playoff spot.

Bigster you do have a tough game this week.

District seven will never have Red Bank in it. This district was setup as a payback to Board member in this district for his vote to go to six classes. Mr Carter made a special trip to Chattanoga to arrange this. Signal Mountain will be moved out as soon as other schools move up in District 6. Forget about a reshuffle.

I have talked to several of the coaches on the football committee that recommended changes and their hands were tied on what could be done. There are four Board of Control members that do not want a change and it will stay this way until schools get fed up and demand a change. Talk centered around going back to the old system will modest changes but the Board would not budge. One of these Board members is retiring and could really change things if right person is elected. The four year cycle runs out in two years so any change now must take place next year. Point to remember is half the schools like this system and half don't. Football is the only sport in Tennessee that you have to qualify to get in the playoffs. All other sports allow everyone in. Football must be treated differently in how they choose their playoff teams and herein lies the problem. One thing is for sure this dog and pony show isn't working.

Every Coach in the district knows that South Gibson is coming in and they have voted to split the district into 2 subgroups. The TSSAA will decide if it will be a North/South split or East/West. The coaches in the district know what's up and want the East/West split. There will be no classification changes for two years. I wish I was wrong but have talked to a few who will be making the decisions tomorrow. Barring a miracle only 20 schools will be moving up or down. Football committee will make recommendations after the championships are over. Booker T. Washington and Memphis Northside will be moving down to Single A that will change things up some. Signal Mountain will move up in East Tennessee to 4A and will help 2A out. There are several more but can read about it Friday morning in paper.

There will only be adjustments made to districts with teams going up or down 20%. South Gibson will try to appeal going up but it won't happen. They will be placed in the district with Milan and create a 10 team district. Coaches want an East/West Split for 2 subgroups. This will put all 3a Teams along with Obion in one group and the 4A in another.

Lost Ole Dad must be the most bitter person I have read about on here. You do nothing but tear your school down with no consideration for how it affects the kids. It is very evident that you have a bone to pick with the coaches at Riverdale. Be a man about it and go talk to them or better yet head on down to the board office and apply for a position. Your name sums up you completely in that you are lost in the past. Give it a break and quit tearing down everything that is done in football at Riverdale.

Young coach you make to much sense for those involved in decision making in the TSSAA. Not only does Alabama do a good job but most of the states in the southeast. Those that make decisions think football is much better in Viriginia. In this article (www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/mar/19/coach ... artner=RSS) 2 coaches on the committee are real critical of what we ended up with but failed to attend meetings. The only change was taking out the automatic qualifiers.

TSSAA selected the list from coaches submitted by the TFCA and TACA coaches association. They will be released tomorrow.

First let me say the committee has been conducted under the utmost secrecy. No input from any other coaches and a mostly hand picked group that the TSSAA (Board of Control) limited from the start. They will recommend and it will be passed to take the top 2 in each district as automatic playoff teams. The rest of the teams will be based on their record. The TSSAA tiebreaker will be used to break any ties. For those who have scheduled well you have an advantage.

I have given my thoughts on this subject several times and will inject them once more. Everyone has a solution to this situation which usually favors their school. Why not look at the states in the south that are similar and see how they do their classification and playoff systems. Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi are about as close as you get to our situation but the TSSAA looks to other states for answers (ex. Z Plan-Viriginia). Why not consider what is best for the kids and our state. The problem with the TSSAA is it is an administrators organization and often out of touch with athletics. Coaches handle those areas and really have no voice. I have written Mr. Childress about the current situation and he is unwilling to take a stand because of his newness to his position. My advice to him is if can't stand heat get out of kitchen. We do need new leadership on the Board of Controls where 2 men are controlling what is going on. Check the papers every time someone has a different thought than them. I believe one person who realizes he made a mistake is Mike Reed and he may be the one person who can help straighten this mess out. No one will ever be completely happy no matter what system is in place. My hope is one where every school has a fair chance at competiting and having a chance at making the playoffs.

Coach Elrod did not retire but was told his services were no longer needed. Head Coach called him on the phone and said he had decided to take the offense over.

Enall I know that you are great with numbers and have done alot of work on this plan. Why is a rating scale that Virginia uses to reward smaller schools in playing bigger schools not used? You have done alot of work on comparing schools through the years and would you agree that smaller schools are at a disadvantage playing larger schools.

Enall if you have District 12 in 3A where Whites Creek (5A) and Maplewood (5A) come in 1 and 2 will they still take 2 teams from CaneRidge (6A) , Hunters Lane (6A), Antioch (6A), and McGavock (6A)?

I agree with you 100% and really don't think it has anything to do with money though. The director decided 5 years back he would push this plan and leave his legacy. In time he will be remembered for doing one of the dumbest things he has ever done. Great strides were made for football and now with one swing vote going the wrong way it has taken a big hit. One person you can complain to is a person who lives near you. He has been ironclad in his support for this from day one. He along with four others has decided the fate for all schools in Tennessee. All five had something to gain in supporting this plan. I might as well spill the beans and let you decide for yourself. Let's start in the west with one vote where the BOC member owed a big favor for their school being kept out of the Memphis district in basketball. Talking about travel problems, why would a school be scheduled to play in a Middle Tennessee region when they sit beside Memphis? Second is a BOC member who is situated in Middle Tennessee whose school gets beat every time they cross the Davidson County line by a certain school. They feel travel is a problem but the trip to Nashville is mostly 4 lanes. Third is a BOC member who works a 100-day contract but is still able to remain on the BOC. The by-laws say you must be full time, yet they say full time is 100-day min. Every school system in Tennessee would say a person on a 100-day contract is part time but our association says it is full time. Check the Tennessee Code Annotated on this definition. Fourth we move farther east for a BOC member who voted for the plan after our association had a meeting in his area and explained the plan. It just so happens that his district is made up entirely of 3A schools and no 4 A schools. The only thing I can say about the final BOC member is he wanted to stay with schools near him when his school moves up. I wish we all had that choice through the years but we don't. Most of these BOC members were contacted and urged to vote this plan down. Some of these BOC members would not accept calls from anyone. The TSSAA was told about problems in contacting some members and were told that their issues would be listened to. I see schools losing the ability to group schools by enrollment. We will classify football schools with schools that don't even play football; most states have gone away from this. The regular season is very important in that it will decide who goes to the playoffs. All other sports get to go to post season no matter what their record is. The thing that bothers me most in this plan is schools in one class during playoffs will decide the fate of schools that fall in another class during playoffs. Some schools will benefit from this plan and many will not. It will be a nightmare in finding a non-regional schedule for most schools. Travel has become the scapegoat in this plan and we all need to remember we travel only 5 times during the season. Playoff travel may increase for the smallest classes to unbelievable distances.

You need to understand the plan before you start getting onto people for beating up on the little guy. Under this plan teams only have to win one to get in the playoffs (Milan vs. Westview example) and the other team can win 5 or 6 games and may have to stay at home. This is only one of several teams that fall in this category. There are several teams that only have to win 2 games and some three. Do you not understand that schools may have to play schools twice their size to get a good seed in the playoffs. The schools that were really taken care of under this plan happened to be schools who had an administrator voting for it. I don't believe Milan or Westview have ever backed down from anyone.

I didn't mean Lynn was yours and hope you didn't take it that way. I have a real problem with him and have since he has been on the board. He has been a total yes man for whatever the director has wanted. Many coaches have tried to talk to him and it has been to no avail. Hopefully he will be voted out and someone else will take his place and vote the way the membership ask. I am no fan of this plan but will live with it until we change again. I don't see Maryville having any problem with this plan or anyother plan they devise. Good luck this year.

Everyone in district 11 will play. 2 teams from 6a will automatically qualify for playoffs and 1 team from 5a. You can get in as a wildcat if you schedule well. Teams from 6a will play in class 6 playoffs and team from 5a wll play in 5a playoffs. Record from district play will determine if you come in one of the spots.

First we all need to remember that Mike Tribune, Chuck West, Ike White, and Brian True are to be commended for sticking up for the little guys. They are the only four that listened to their member schools and voted the way their schools wanted them to instead of what was best for their own school. I know several coaches that tried to contact their board member and were constantly told they were unavailable. They emailed them and never received an answer. D-Daddy is right in saying that this was a Ronnie Carter instigated issue. It is his brainchild yet he said in the paper that he was not pushing a plan. In the same Tennessean article "Carter said. "The very nature of classification is trying the best we can to create competitive equity and a balanced playing field, knowing full well it never gets completely level."??? What is balanced when a school is mandated to play a school in a higher classification and it determines if it goes to the playoffs or where it will be seeded? Where is the equity in this format? He is right in saying we may never get to a level playing field because this plan is out in left field. I agree with D-Daddy that considering travel in football is ridiculous when you look at the number of games that the other sports travel. Football is played on Fridays and other sports play 5 days out of the week and half of them on the road. Carter picks up another championship game to make money on and has no concern for those he shafts in this plan. When did Virginia become our model for playoffs? All Board members received a letter from a college coach who told them how bad this plan was. He told them how coaches from states who used this type of plan all wanted to change to our current playoff system. Why did they not listen? We have gone back 17 years and will use districts in a 3A system for regular season. We decided back then it was a bad plan and did away with it. We have gone back and will classify by basketball districts instead of football playing schools. No way to get even number of schools in each classes this way. Carter says we may have six classes may have 5. Why have so many if's in any system. Member schools should make the decision on major issues instead of 5 men. I hope schools will remember those responsible for this the next election for Board spots. Change in the playoffs may be good and may not. Same goes for leadership by those who won't listen.

Your own Lynn Brown voted for it.

I have heard from reliable sources that classification will stay the same with one exception. The multiplier is in great danger of being removed. I fear the loss of it will lead to more rumblings about a split. Tennessee has a good setup currently and the more complaints the TSSAA hears the more they tend to screw it up. I like the current system except the 2A Z plan and don't care about multiplier one way or the other.

I will be attending Gridiron clinic at Riverdale Feb. 29 and Mar. 1. Was a great clinic last year. Go to www.gridironclinics.com for more information. If coaches stay at Vista they will have a social Friday.

Before you start feeling sorry for yourself consider that you don't have to play one private school in the first three rounds. Quadrant two and three have to deal with them.