If this thread is about Metro Football, then let's observe the following:
1. Metro football started downhill about the same time that smaller, community based high schools were absorbed into larger comprehensive high schools. While that tends to produce larger bases of athletes, the resulting loss of a sense of community more than offset the gain. Just what is the McGavock community or the Hunters Lane community compared to the old Goodlettsville, Dupont, Madison, Litton, or West communities?
2. The exponential growth in the number of private schools provided a second impetus of loss. Say what you will about about recruiting, the number of athletes attracted to the private schools from the public schools is staggering and consequentially detrimental to Metro schools.
3. It seems that Metro schools no longer realize what a huge rallying point a succesful athletic program can be. Metro is worried about one thing:test scores. Athletics have become a necessary evil in the eyes of local administrators.
4.There is little money to invest in athletics. Coaches cut their own fields-uncompensated. Coaches keep weight rooms open after school-on their own time and uncompensated
5. Metro has failed to attract new coaches and failed to adequately train the ones it does have. There was a time when coaches were promoted from within the system. Now it's "Let's go to California or Texas."
6. And finally there appears to be fewer and fewer kids willing to invest the time effort that it takes to be a football player. Inner city kids may be more succeptible to this than rural kids.