WesVLT

Please read the post to which I responded. Context will help. The poster dismissed the league as irrelevant based on his personal prejudice. I felt compelled to respond with my own opinion, which is that the league is widely perceived as elite and should therefore not be ignored. I have good relationships with coaches at every level of play and deeply respect the work that goes into winning football games. My defense of DII is not an attack on any other classification.

They're.

I came here in defense, not attack. If my league is attacked and dismissed, I'll defend it. George Quarles is the best coach in Tennessee, regardless of classification. There are great teams in every division. But pound for pound, DII-AA is the deepest league. So when someone uses baseless innuendo to say it doesn't count, I'll respond candidly.

Heaven forbid a handful of law-abiding private schools increase the level of play and threaten public schools' chances at winning trophies. Line up, play ball, and forget about who pays tuition and who doesn't. This anti-competitive mentality doesn't even exist in many other states -- such as Kentucky. Unfortunately, Tennessee prep culture has perpetuated a sense of gold-ball entitlement that waters down the playing field rather than truly leveling it.

Schools like BA, MBA and Ensworth would welcome a DI reunion with open arms. I salivate when I think of the local rivalries that would be restored: BA-Brentwood/Franklin/Ravenwood, MBA-Hillsboro/Pearl-Cohn, Father Ryan-Overton (they already play, but it would count)...and so many others. It would usher in a golden era of Tennessee prep football, and the public schools would be far more competitive than some likely fear.

Thanks for leaving us out. Widescale "recruiting" is a myth, and we'd still be playing with the public schools -- 5 games to the championship -- if you hadn't booted us out. Carry on with your comparison of the regions, but lose the prejudice. DII-AA plays the best football in Tennessee, and it most assuredly counts.

My ideal solution, short of combining DI and DII, which will likely never happen: Consolidate TSSAA football to four DI classes. Keep the DII classes as they currently exist. Give DII the autonomy to choose its championship site, within reason. Play the DII title games at the same site, on the same afternoon/evening, the Friday following Thanksgiving. Everybody is out of school, and a convenient venue/time would keep teams from having to travel on Thanksgiving Day itself. If Vandy were the host, a Friday game would mean minimal interference with its preparation for a Saturday home game. Friday after Thanksgiving: DII-A: 3pm DII-AA: 7pm Play the DI title games the following Friday and Saturday night, the first weekend of December. Friday 1A -- 3pm 3A -- 7pm Saturday 2A -- 3pm 4A -- 7pm Both sets of games could retain the same sponsors and have the same media coverage. There. Was that really all that hard?

Your attitude mirrors that of the TSSAA: Telling us what our interests are and why we should adapt, rather than listening and fostering collaboration and workable solutions. Perhaps if DII were better represented (or represented at all) on the Board of Control, it would have the ability to voice these issues and receive better answers than "This is the way it is...after all, it's one time a year." When zero DII-AA schools are within an hour of Cookeville -- and many are more than 3 hours away -- it is not reasonable to schedule their championship game on a weeknight far from their campuses. Is it a miserable trip for the Nashville private schools? No, merely inconvenient and suboptimal. But how about MUS, who appeared in the last two title games? What about the Chattanooga schools, for whom there is no direct, easy route to Putnam County? Why not hold the game in Nashville the preceding Saturday? It's a central location, a great venue for walkup ticket purchases, and a much more amendable time of the week. The TSSAA is locking DII in the basement and then wondering why it isn't showing up for dinner. Turnout will never be good -- even for the best division in the state -- if the organization perpetually relegates its title game to such a terribly inconvenient time and place.

I'm proud of Coach Henry's team. They're outmanned, but not as severely as many thought they would be. They're hanging tough and making this a game.

I knew Carroll was on the Webb staff, but I didn't know Julian was too. Both are exceptional guys, as is Meske of course. I'm thrilled to see them doing well. They treated me superbly during my Knoxville reporting days.

Shouldn't you be busy preparing to thrash CPA? Good luck to Rankin and the team today!

Heck, I'd settle for MTSU if the TSSAA wanted a slightly more intimate venue. But Cookeville is central for nobody in DII. I would deeply enjoy watching the powerful private schools split from the TSSAA and form their own league. The good public schools rarely play us anyway.

Don't feed the trolls.

You may have been looking at the wrong campus -- they also have an elementary school. BGA plays every sport on campus and has outstanding facilities.

This game is shaping up nicely. I'm not sure BGA has an answer for Brant Mitchell up the middle.

Hypotheticals are one reason message boards thrive. Those fantasy matchups can be a lot of fun to discuss; unfortunately, they often turn into mutual denigration rather than engaging discussion.

We still lurk and comment from time to time. Although I've lost some of the class I used to display in my younger years.

Cole and Drew are extremely deserving. Congrats to both kids and to all those nominated.

Preseason scrimmages are hardly fair points of comparison. Would Ensworth have beaten Maryville in November? I'd bet so. But it wouldn't be a blowout, I assure you of that.

Most DII coaches would give their right index fingers to schedule strong in-state teams. Props to Science Hill, Liberty, Pearl-Cohn and the other select few squads who don't hesitate to schedule us. They are in the minority. I would love to see more good public-private matchups.

Could Maryville hang with any DII team on a given Friday? Probably. But I'll agree that the Rebels would struggle against the weekly grind if they found themselves stuck in DII. People look at some teams in the league and wonder why they're inconsistent. One main answer: It's the parity that exists (below the top spot, for the most part).

George Quarles is smart enough -- and his teams consistent enough -- to be competitive against any DII team late in the year. But I politely chuckle at those who think Fulton or Alcoa could hang with BA, MBA, Ensworth or MUS. Once they realized they couldn't just run up the gut for eleven yards per carry against d-lines with players faster than their backs...it would be over.

Coach Alston has shown me enough that I'll never doubt his coaching, no matter who he's playing. Kudos to the Owls on another fine late-season push.

MBA is talented, strong up front, and led by a tremendous senior in Euverard. I think they'll give up some points to a good Baylor offense, but I think they'll score more. MBA, 38-20.

Ensworth, 35-14. I have deep respect for the MUS program, but I think Ensworth will overpower and outlast the Owls.