FatCat

Well, On offense, both our FB and RB are explosive (as well as our QB). Our FB exploded for over 100 yards against Portland in the Spring Game and our RB had nearly 100. But, a lot of the credit for their "explosiveness" goes to the offensive line. They were excuting their blocking schemes almost to perfection, and the backs hit the holes very quickly. When any team executes properly AS A TEAM, they can be explosive! Additionally, our TE is emerging as a great pass catcher as the summer progresses. On defense we have quite a few. I would begin with DB Roger Herndon, returning All-Region Linebacker Trevor Dickerson, and three DEs who rotate regularly (Nick Brown, Dustin Cole, Joey Stephens). But, Trevor is also surrounded by two other explosive LBs and we also have a quality Defensive Line that allow our DEs to be aggressive. The above is why we have great expectations for this year. But, potential and explosiveness will do us no good if we don't execute when it all counts. So, I look forward to an exciting year of football and hope our kids can pull it off on the field of play.......especially in our match-ups with Marshall County, Sycamore and Page. It should be a lot of fun in this very tough region!

Coach T, I go back to your post from last week concerning the problems with the Virginia Plan, but I'll be more specific this time. There are at least two parts of this plan that are inherently unfair. The first inherently unfair part of the Virginia Plan is the schedule difficulty. A "small" school that plays in a region that averages over 1700 students per school inherently has a more difficult schedule than the "small" school that playes in a region that averages only about 1200-1300 students per school. The second inherently unfair part of the Virginia Plan goes back to what I said earlier. What sense does it make to have classifications if a "small" school from one region is bigger than a "large" school from another region. That means a couple of schools with a population of 1600 - 1800 could be playing against a group of schools composed mainly with an average population of 1200 for the right to be "state champion". The larger schools could "unfairly" win a state championship due to the gross imbalance of the student populations. But, even worse than that is the inverse. You could have a school that is 1300-1400 students that is the largest in their region competing against schools that average over 1800 students for a "state championship". That smaller "large" school could be the best team in the "small" group category (where they belong based on the numbers) but end up left out in the cold due to the imbalance. Some may say that the first problem I identified (schedule imbalance) will help eliminate the second problem (big vs. small). But, the plan is to take the best two small schools and the best two large schools in a region. So, even though the big "small" school may have a 5-5 record, if they are one of the top "small" schools in their region, they can still beat up on the smaller schools in the "small" school playoffs. Then, for the inverse, you may have a small "large" school that gets to make the playoffs when a true "large" school doesn't because of the schedule imbalance. Coach T, the bottom line is, IMO, that this Virginia Plan is also very confusing and creates an imbalance of fair competition. I don't see how this plan makes anything any better except for not having to break up the existing baseball/basketball regions/districts. Again, I don't know the history behind why the existing baseball/basketball regions/districts are such a big deal, but our existing baseball/basketball district (District 8-AA) includes a bunch of schools that are not considered rivals at all. We might as well have teams from KY in our district. The only ones we care about are Springfield, Portland and Lipscomb. The others might as well be John Doe HS. I am not closed-minded about this, I just haven't heard anything yet that shows why the issues I identified above are not a real concern or why they don't matter. I would greatly welcome some insight so I can understand better! Thanks!

Smokin', Well, you finally got it right! I never said he wasn't our best player. Roger is clearly our best player. However, if you take him out, we still have a quality team. We don't fall apart when he is not in. We have a team....not an individual. That is all we have been saying. IMO, we would miss him more as a DB than as a QB if he were not playing. He is MUCH MORE valuable to us on defense than he is on offense. Giles County can go ahead and focus on Roger all night long. It will do nothing to help you win the game when Roger has the support of many other highly talented players!

First, I want to amend my response to ELA about if Greenbrier had to play privates in the playoffs. Actually, I wouldn't mind because I believe the competition is pretty close between us and the private schools we play in football. We played both David Lipscomb and DCA the last two years in the regular season and won 1 out of the 4 and competed well in all three losses. Having to play those guys in the playoffs would be a great challenge and incentive for our boys each year because our talent level is not that far off from theirs. My response initially is if Greenbrier were to be a rural 1A school having to face what they are facing. That I would not like. But we are not.....we are 3A and can compete with the privates. So can 4A schools. We play tough schools all the time. We play Lipscomb again this year, as well as White House (4A) and Beech (5A). It only makes you better. But, for the 1A schools, I agree that they are at a great disadvantage with similar size privates. Now, as to yellowdog's comment about their being only about 1/2 of the 1A schools left to play football in a 4A system. I don't see a problem with that. As a matter of fact, it would probably be just about right because the further you go down the 1A ladder, the bigger the disparity among public schools alone. And, I don't care what the final resolution of the public/private situation.....you can make a 4A system work quite easily. The classification system we have now is too confusing, too complicated, and frankly pretty darn stupid. You can't keep up with who is in your Region/District from sport to sport, you travel ungodly miles in football and it is difficult to maintain true regional rivals.

BTW Smokin', Now I see why you don't want to tell me what school you play for. If I played football for Giles County, I wouldn't want to tell anyone, either. You guys are horrible......you have a lot of great athletes, but you can't play as a team. We kicked your butt two years ago when we weren't very good and smashed you again last year. I was right when I said earlier that y'all must have been one of the teams that Roger made look bad. He probably juked you right out of your jock strap. But, while you focus this year on not letting that happen again, our fullback will knock your head off.....or one of our O-Linemen. Can't wait to see you on October 31st up here in Greenbrier as we use you for our playoffs warm-up! Why don't you stick to basketball......'cause y'all certainly don't know much about football! Did you guys even bother to show up for the Weight Lifting Competition?!?

Smokin, I guess you can't figure out when someone speaks "tongue-in-cheek". Of course I can't control whether or not Roger plays. I was being a smart-alec. My whole point is that we will beat your team with or without Roger. And I hope you prepare for us with the notion that he is all we have. That will not only ensure a victory on our part, but that we beat you soundly! Now, on to someone more reasonable.....DOMER, I agree with you about Mario Davis. I thought he was a senior last year. He ran over us pretty good last year. His presence will make it much tougher for Greenbrier to win. It should be a great game. Unfortunately for us, the schedule makers did us a disservice by making us play @ Marshall County two years in a row. Not looking forward to that trip again! Tigerman, saying Jared is the best QB is only correct if you are talking potential. He didn't shine last year as he was very inconsistant. Clearly, he has the potential to be great, but until he can execute in the big games, that is all he will ever be......unexploited potential.

Smokin', I noticed you aren't willing to own up to what school you play for. Must be ashamed of your football team......probably Page HS. Y'all talk a big game, but choke when it comes down to crunch time! BTW, I am a parent and my son is OL/DL. See, the linemen know who the offense is.

ELA, I have been on the site long enough to know about not getting into the public/private debate on here. However, without delving into that too much, I agree I would not want to play a bunch of privates in football in the playoffs. I agree that it is inherently unfair to have private/public competing for the same championship. I have been to the public/private debate. Since reading many of those posts, I have done some statistical data that I won't post here. But, I do know that pulling privates out of the mix won't change my 4 classification system at all. It just means only 7 or 8 teams per Region instead of 9 in football. And it makes it even easier for baseball/basketball because then you can easily go with 8 Regions and not have to break it down into Districts. I have not read the posts where the baseball/basketball coaches don't want to go to a 4-A system. But, if that is the case, that is a shame. I would even go so far as to say that who cares. Let's do what is best for all sports in TSSAA instead of making some happy. I guess you are I are too logical for the others to comprehend!

ELA, Not sure where you are going with this, but we don't play any privates in the football playoffs because we are 3A. However, in other sports, we have David Lipscomb in our District. We had to fight them at every level of the BB and SB playoffs this year as both our teams made it to Spring Fling. By the way, I am USMA Class of '89.....Company A-4.

Coach T, If what you said above is true, that makes absolutely no sense. If one school in the AAA (Large) playoffs is smaller than a school in the AAA (Small) playoffs, what sense does it make to even have classifications?!? Sounds like to me that we are making a mountain out of a mole hill. Now forgive me if I am missing out on some historical significance of the classification system here in TN, because I have only lived here for 3 years. But, it appears to me one way to solve a lot of these problems would be to go to 4 classification groups (A, AA, AAA, AAAA) for ALL SPORTS. That should go a long way to taking care of the problem of schools who don't play football and still keep a simple system. Why is TN fixated on having only 3 classification groups?!? Now I have never sat down and tried to work out all the districts/regions under a 4A plan. I know that would be extremely time consuming and not as easy as it was for me to type it up, but I do think it should be workable. But, if that isn't the answer, then there has got to be something easier, not to mention more logical, than the Virginia System. What I have looked at is some basic numbers, though. Based on the TSSAA site, there are currently 285 schools who have football programs (counting the privates). That would equate to about 71 or 72 teams in each classification, giving you 8 regions of about 9 teams in each classification. Then, if you add all the schools who play basketball, baseball, etc., you have a total of 327 schools. That would equate to having 82 teams in each classification that would result in 8 regions of 10 or 11 teams or 16 districts of 5 or 6 teams. Now, call me crazy, but that seems a lot simpler and more logical......you get to play all the same schools in all sports......eliminate having multiple classification systems for the different sports.......and you still cut down on all the crazy travel. Just one man's opinion!

First, To my buddy, Smokin. What school do you play for? As Bobcat56 layed out, both of our backs last year were at 1000 yds and are both now playing football for Div 1-AA teams. If they couldn't start for other schools, how did one of them make the ALL REGION TEAM????? How could they be playing college ball right now? Let us know what team you play for. We'll make sure Roger doesn't play against y'all and see if you can still beat us! Now, cowboys, I agree whole-heartedly that Roger couldn't play QB on the D-I level. His real talent is as a DB. He had 7 interceptions last year and he runs a 4.5 40-yard dash (timed at Vandy Camp). He is 5-11, and about 180 lbs. With two more years of growth (he is only a JR.), he'll be plenty big enough to play D-I as a DB. I have seen and been around D-I players as I am not a student. He clearly has the talent and athletic ability for that level. But, back to the main point. We have a talented team. A one man team can't carry you to second place in the conference. If he could, he would be the one with over a thousand yards rushing and passing and many, many TDs. Roger's offensive stats from last year were nothing compared to that of our backs. Roger is a vital part of our offense in that he is a great leader and the threat of him makes other teams account for him on every play, but when you are surrounded by other talent, you always look better. Both of our backs this year will outgain Roger on the offense as they did last year. And, I say again, Smokin'.......please let us know what team you play for!

Greenbrier has three high quality d-ends, Dustin Cole, Joey Stevens, and Nick Brown. All are over 6'0 and over 200 and all run 40's under 5.0.

Smokin, I guess your name says it all, 'cause if you think our QB carries our team you're crazy. Although he will be playing Div I football somewhere, his best position is as a DB. Our offense is based on great O-Line blocking and backs that can hit the hole quick and exploit it. Roger (our QB) is a great leader and athelete, but would actually help us more offensively if he was a wingback or tailback instead of the QB. But, our offense isn't even our strength. Our D is our strength. You must go to one of those schools that Roger made look bad!

Let's hear it from all of you supporting 3A schools!

No matter how good they are, Marshall County will choke in the playoffs as they always do. Greenbrier may play the bridesmaid in Region 5 (although I doubt it), but they are built to go the distance in the playoffs. They have arguably the toughest schedule in 3A this year. Crockett County and McNairy Central will be tough out of Region 6, as always. Although there will be good teams in Region 4, not sure if any of them have the strength to compete like Trousdale did last year. I also expect that Austin East will have something to say about the 3A champ this year.

Jackal, You are right about it being a fight in the Region this year. I believe without a doubt that Region 5-3A will be the toughest 3A region in the state this year....top to bottom. Of course, the favorites are Marshall County and Greenbrier, but Sycamore has a great coach and could always pull the upset. Page has a ton of talent, but they seem to choke in the clutch. Montgomery Central could surprise some this year as they did last year in making the playoffs. And, it looks like Giles County will get some relief from their usual visit to the bottom of the standings with the new school, Creekwood, joining the Region. As far as the best players go, Greenbrier's Jr. QB/DB Roger Herndon has to be at the top of the list. He is already being looked at by D-I schools. Additionally, All-Region MLB Trevor Dickerson is back for the Bobcats. I don't know much about players from other schools. As far as my prediction for who will win.....my signature says it all!

Don't worry 56, jackal and francis will learn soon enough about 51. But, you would think after the way he kicked their butt last year, they would have remembered. I guess he hit them so hard, they now have amnesia!

I think Portland is still living off their past reputation. I wasn't very impressed with them in the Spring Scrimmage against Greenbrier. The only thing they did well was block three punts when they were not supposed to even be rushing the punter. I guess you have to do that if you don't have much else going for you!