Veteran

I've been watching Nashville football for some time and have to observe that the Irish give as good as they take, most years. It would appear that their physical talent seldom measures up to MBA, Brentwood Academy, or Ensworth, and yet they appear to be competitive most of the time. Perhaps they would be better if some of their bigger athletes like "In Hoc...." hadn't quit the team.At least, that's what I hear.

I’ve been an observer of Nashville football for several years. I have some notion about how the high school game is played here. I was fortunate to grow up in a small Georgia town, played high school ball and also played at the next level. I coached a little college ball, but the pay was poor and I had a family, so I left for jobs that took me to California and Texas. But the point is, I know enough to watch a game intelligently and I can tell which teams are well coached and which are not. And well coached teams are a tribute to the head coach AND his staff. Head coaches are only as effective as the men they surround themselves with. I know which teams are fundamentally sound and which are not. I know which teams are coached well and which survive because their talent pool is so deep. It’s not hard to tell which teams play disciplined ball. Maplewood played great defense, Overton was technically sound but rode one horse to death, Antioch is usually sound but material was lapparently lacking last year, Hunters Lane looked like a team in search of an offense but they’re usually sound. So those schools must have qualified assistants. Who has the best public school staff? One last observation: The large private schools seem to be almost collegiately prepared. How do they get great assistants?? Which private school has the best staff?

From long and steady viewing of the Nashville high school, a few observations are readily apparent: 1. Coaches are not hired for their knowledge of the sport. This has been especially true since individual principals became the deciding factor. Far too many principals have far too little knowledge of athletics. How many principals are really concerned with a winning program? Success starts at the top of any organization. 2. Coaches in Nashville are limited in choosing qualified assistants. Good assistants are few and far between in Nashville. They are also limited in the number of assistants. 3. Money is a primary factor in good programs. Money for weight rooms, money for enough good equipment, money for athletic fields, money for the little things that comprise a program. 4. For sure, the good old days are gone. And while there may be occasional exceptions (Pearl-Cohn and Hillsboro), state championships will be rarer and rarer. 5. And one last observation on a different topic. It seems that we're a low grade restaurant when the key contributors are a fork and a spoon. The former seems to belong to a galaxy far, far away and the latter lives to stir things up! All we need is a knife to cut things off!

Don't be surprised if the new coach at Maplewood was not a head coach at another Metro School last season. Let's see: Spears from East Lit. to Hillwood, Mose from Hillwood to the Creek. Who does that leave to shift schools?? Anderson, nope; Woodward, nope; Campbell, leave East Nashville-never!, Marino, possibility? Talent better at Maplewood than Cane Ridge or Glencliff?? Oh yeah! And where will Broome land???

I haven't heard any new talk about the McGavock job other than the same rumor about Bush that I heard last week. However, I did hear that Bush had been seen leaving the principal's office at McGavock late one afternoon last week by one of the assistants at Raider Town. I understand that Bush is an old hand at being called to the principal's office, but at another school??? So what does this mean?? Perhaps, ignorant the Fork be. Or sneaky the Bush be.

Let's have a little discussion of the following: 1.Best Current Metro Head Football Coach? 2. Best Metro coach of the last 25 years? 3. Best Metro coach of all time? 4. Best Metro team of last decade? 5. Best Metro team of last 25 years? 6. Best Metro team of all time? 7. Best Metro player of last decade? 8. Best Metro player of all time? 9. Best current Assistant coach ? 10. Best assistant coach of last 25 years (All you youngsters might have to call an old timer.)

Fork, I'm not proficient with Yoda-ese, but if I read this right, Jason Bush will not be coaching this next year. Will he stay at Antioch, or will he have to move to make room for a replacement? Metro used to have a rule that said if you quit coaching, your teaching position could be used to replace you. Meaning Bush could be in an elementary school in Bellevue next year if Woodward pushes the issue. Right? That's a shame. Metro loses another good coach.

Back to the topic at hand: McGavock's head coaching job? Is there a qualified Metro coach or assistant to take this job? If so, who???

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.

I have no idea who the spoon and fork are, but I repeat that I've heard Jason Bush's name in connection with the McGavock job. Heard that at the Metro central office. I agree-as long as he doesn't have to write an essay as part of the application-or read one for that matter.

I understand that there's a team that has not been mentioned as a contender that may very well be at the top when all is sorted out: Antioch. I hear the Bears have reloaded with an excellent running back and a better offensive line. They did beat the Bobcats last season. Also heard they're losing Jason Bush who has an excellent chance at the McGavock job.