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I heard that Jefferson County is scrimmaging Farragut today. Can anyone confirm this?

Saturday 6:30 at Bearden. I think the saturday game has something to do with Bearden's graduation.

Farragut will advance well, because they are Farragut. Jeff County will come limping into Bearden after a poor showing with the bats against DB. They had a huge win against Science Hill and were a little flat against DB. Bearden is on top of their game now and playing well. I would say the Bearden line up is full of guys that can hit. However, with the game being played on Saturday, Jeff Co. should get back some pitching. With that said, Bearden is the favorite. Jeff County has done a remarkable job getting as far as they have gotten this year. JC will play hard and do their best to compete, but I just feel like it would be a fairly big upset for JC to defeat Bearden.

It will be interesting if Warner's Patriots face Bearden on Friday. Is he still in contention for the job at Bearden?

Speaking as someone who is not a parent, but close to the Jeff County program, Warner has a lot of positives. Nobody will work harder on facilities, raising money, (which is hard to do here)and working with and practicing his players. He worked very hard last year getting players signed. He can and will be tough on players during practice and games but always hugs them up and talks with them later. He upgraded JC's schedule this year to include teams such as Germantown, Soddy Daisy,DB, and Science Hill. He has had a lot of talent the last two years, probably more last year. He still has found a way to win 27 games. JC will be just okay next year and then have a down year, but then the talent picks up again. I really dont know why he would leave. I can't really speak to the character issue you bring up. He is a competitor and wants to win.

Much of this is only speculation, but I am reasonably sure Warner will not be going to Bearden. I am not so sure that Warner will remain at Jefferson County.

Coach Warner has done a good job at Jefferson County the last two years. He has greatly improved the facilities and won several games. His team is 20-6 this year against much stiffer competition. However, it should be noted he has had the most talent the last two years that JC has seen in some time. If he has been offered the Bearden job, will Jefferson County do anything to try to keep him?

Jefferson County has recently signed 4 guys to the next level. Blake Ballinger RHP/outfield to Carson Newman. Jake Farr SS/RHP to Walters State. Colton Bales C/1st Chattanooga State. Casey Henshaw RHP/outfield to Chattanooga State. Congratulations to these four guys. There should be a few more from Jefferson County before all is said and done.

The weight room is all important. That goes without saying. Even though JC has fallen behind in the weight room, the lack of size on the offensive and defensive lines has limited what could have been accomplished the last couple of years. This will be a critical hire. Either JC will begin the road to recovery (and it will not happen overnight) or they will continue to decline. As far as I know Bearden and Greenville are not on the schedule next year, and that should help with overall record, but I think it will still be tough. Dr. Walker and Rogers are making the calls now. They certainly do not lack confidence. I hope they get this one right. They seem to have made a god hire for the baseball program. It is sad to see Kisabeth and Anderson go, but maybe JC can move forward. I played for Kisabeth and someone very close to me played for Anderson. Kisabeth is a good man and did much for JC football, but the time has come to either move forward or just be another team that plays on Friday nights. Over all the upcoming junior class is kind of weak. The upcoming sophomore class has some potential at the skill positions. The upcoming freshman class has good size from Maury and some good skill players from Jeff. Hopefully, JC can turn the corner.

OHS, I am on your side. We want the same thing. I would just encourage you to not paint with such a broad brush. Everyone is not grumbling, complaining, and putting players down. I know many of the boys very well, and believe me I pull for all of them. Remember that many of the season ticket holders are in their 60's and 70's. Some are older. They are probably not going to make a lot of noise even if we were beating an NFL team. I am sure there are a few who can not move past their playing days, but most I talk to earnestly want the team to do well. Maybe you are closer to the program than I and know more, but I am just giving my perspective. Go Patriots

I do not think that it is productive to talk about who is a "hatriot" or who can't make it to their seats. As a patriot alumni and one who played on that field back in the day when patriot pride really meant something, I can tell you that nobody wants this program to be successful any more than the guys who played there and built the program into what it was in the 80's and part of the 90's. OHS needs to understand that the guys who are former patriots want only success for this program. Friday night was great. There was an incredible effort from players, and coaches made great adjustments for this game. With the players we have, we are a veer based team. We were never going to be a spread team. Goins and DK compliment each other well in the backfield. Each has a set of skills. 17 is a good passer, and runs well enough to keep defenses honest. Coach Anderson talked about finding their identity. They have found it. Now they need to perfect it. Build on each game, and get ready for bigger things down the road. Hats off to the defense. They shut down the run. Pass rush was good. I am not sure how good SC really was. They had not really played anybody yet, but I am sure they are a pretty good football team. Last week I asked the question about what adjustments would be made. Coaching staff nailed this one, players played hard, and there was a positive result. Build on what players and coaches have accomplished.

I would have to agree with just about all of this post. The purpose of the new offense was to get the ball into the playmakers hands. DK can't get into open space, 10 has seen the ball very little, 17 has had to rush most of his passes. These things are happening because we are getting whipped up front. Looking at the size of our o line as compared to the size of most defensive fronts, this was probably the year to stay with the veer-option. At least a decent running game lets you control the ball, make some first downs, and keep the other team's offense off the field. I give a lot of credit to our three defensive lineman for playing hard. I think they try to use good technique, but 190 to 200 pounders have their work cut out against guys who outweigh them by 40 to 80 pounds. The 3-5 defense worked a lot better last year than this. I will say again that JC has played two outstanding football teams who have the ability to make teams look bad, but I expected us to look better. I have heard that someone else will be calling plays on offense this week. I wonder if we will go back to the veer. If so will 10 return to qb? 17 has done a fair job of throwing the ball when given time.Do you change your defensive scheme? These are all hard decisions to make. I am also tired of reading about players needing rest. These games have been decided early. I really hope JC can turn it around an maybe pull off something big against SC. At least show up and make it a game.

It was not a pretty game. Hats off to Greeneville. They are really good. We helped them get started with fumbles, blown assignments on defense, and losing contain on their qb. I am a patriot fan. I support the players and coaches. However, I am confused. I thought the reason to move 10 was to get him the ball. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think he touched it all night. I realize he cramped up in the 3rd quarter and had to leave the game. I can't say it would have changed the outcome, but he never made a play. Offensive line is going to have to get better. This is a tough first three games. I am hoping to get better and get ready for Bearden. Does anyone know about the injury to 44?

Any word on how the summer workouts are going?

It was my impression that the new coach would be hired by the new principal. It may be that the announcement will come when the new principal "officially" begins his new job although I have heard he has done some interviews.

Spring practice begins today. Any news. I heard some of the coaches are no longer coaching and that there will be different freshman coaches. Has anybody heard anything for sure?

Just my opinion, but I think part of the big drop off in hitting is we have finally played some teams with decent pitching. Patriots seemed to lose focus somewhat when they had to play Cocke County followed by the two Junior High teams from Kentucky and I believe Ohio. Patriots have some capable hitters, but the pitching they have faced has gotten better as well. I imagine they will see pretty good pitching the rest of the way.

I did not see either game with Seymour. I saw the scores were 4 to 1 and 4 to 3. Were the pitchers for Seymour that good or did the patriot bats just go cold or a combination of both?

I have not seen every game. I heard about the "play day" at Gibbs. I saw both games with East. JC was lucky to win the second one. I saw the game with Halls. I don't think we are at their level. I have heard there have been several errors. I think the previous poster makes some interesting points. I have hoped that many of the things he mentioned were not true. I had heard them before. However, as this season goes forward, I am afraid that some of what he says is true. A head coach or any coach for that matter should be independent of any parents or clubs or whatever. The best players should play. Other players should be worked with and played when possible. It is my understanding that the JV has only played games that have lasted 5 innings. I hope that is not the case the rest of the year. Maybe it was because the first couple of games were so cold.

I wonder if "therealjuice would be willing to share who these qualified former alumni would be who are interested in coming to Jefferson County. I don't think it will be Quarles. Don't think Brown will leave Mo West. Don't think it will be Case. Don't know that Hutchison is highly qualified. So who would it be?

Lineman makes a couple of good points. Jeff County has thrown the ball more the last year or two. Perhaps they should up their passing attempts a little more. However, I think their decision when to throw could be better. Jeff County threw very few times last year on 1st or 2nd down. I do not have numbers to support this, but it seems that when they did they were very successful. Much easier to throw when the whole world thinks you are going to run. Contrary to what many believe, there are many passing plays that can be ran out of the veer offense. It does not have to be a run only offense. Ask Coach Turner at CN. This is especially true when the tight end comes out of the game and we insert the slot receiver which in my opinion we did not use effectively last year. You can even put one back out wide and have a four receiver set. With this said, I do not think that Jeff County has the right personnel to be a pocket passing team. We do not have those type of linemen. Nor do we have the personnel to be a pro set I team. We coould possibly run some version of the spread option attack similiar to what West Virginia runs. As I have said before, the biggest problem last year was not the offense that was ran, it was ball security. I don't care what offense you run, you must take care of the ball. I am not advocating for or against the veer offense. I know that we have only medium sized lineman who are reasonably quick. We have receivers who have good hands but are just average to maybe slightly above average speedwise. I know it is important to keep the defense off balance and that means doing something they do not expect you to do. The key is to make the most of the personnel that you have.

IMAC stands for Inter Mountain Athletic Conference. Other posters can probably better fill you in on what the old IMAC used to look like versus the new IMAC.

Sounds like the Patriots control their destiny. I was not able to be there. Who looked good for Jeff Country.

It is my understanding that the fall scrimmages will be with the same teams as last fall probably at different sites than last fall.