WestTNFBCoach

I thought Jacobs was the booster club president at Covington High. How did he manage to land a head coaching job when all he has ever done is cut grass, coach freshman football and softball? Sounds like someone must have owed him something fierce. I know several people in Tipton County and they were shocked.

There have been rumors circulating about Major being out at Briarcrest. Is there any truth to this or just another crazy rumor floating around? If it is true, would Jim Heinz take over or would that be a temporary solution to a long-term problem? Who else might be interested? How about Vogel at CBHS? MUS has several possible candidates in Chubb DC, Rogers Co-DC, Finney OC and McKay Co-OC. Jeff McFerran at Bartlett was an assistant at Briarcrest, might he put his name in the mix? Are there any coaches close to retirement that might go after it? Charlie White at Germantown has to be close to retirement age. Who else might be interested? Would Briarcrest look out of town or out of state for a replacement?

Cordova High must have Stevie Wonder has a Principal and Helen Keller as their Athletic Director if they are allowing the head coach to bring over ineligible players. Memphis is the wild, wild west for sure!

Hmmmmm...this is tarting to sound a lot like Phillip Bussey. Last time I checked, the high school coaches do not actually pick the college that make scholarship offers to their kids, but since you asked, I know he did everything and more that he could to get him a D1 scholarship. Being a coach I also know that while Coach D thought Ryan was a D1 player, many college recruiters thought he was too small(5/10-165) and since Ryan did not really want to play CB, most scared away from him. Coach D was more shocked than anyone because he thought that Vanderbilt, Miss. State, Ark. State, MTSU or Memphis were all going to offere him, but with a coaching change at Ark St. and Vandy that might have hurt Ryan. I do know he sent film to EVERY SEC school, ACC school, Sunbelt schools, Big Ten school, most Big Twelve schools, most C-USA schools. He was on the phone constantly and he got heat from other parents at Cordova because they thought he ONLY tried to help Ryan. I know John pushed that kid on every D1 school from Tennessee to Ohio to Texas To Florida to Missisissippi to Indiana to Colorado to Alabama to Virginia to California and every place in between. Now, let me ask you a question, do you really think Ryan would have won the Old Spice Player of the Year for Tennessee without John's letter of recommendation? Or what about the AutoZone Liberty Bowl John Bull Bramlett Award? Coach D talked to everyone about Ryan Heaston! He bragged about that kid to anyone that would listen! You obviously don't know anything about the recruiting process if you think a college signs kids because their coach sends film and makes hundreds of phone calls. If that were the case, every kid in Memphis would sign D1 just ask their parents how good they are, but the fact is that only 15 young men signed with D1 schools this year in Memphis. Ask Memphis why they didn't offer him, I Coach D asked multiple times.

Obviously you don't know who has been in charge of recruiting for th the last 11 years at Cordova. Every film that has gone out of that office has be sent by Coach D. Just for the record he normally sends film to 150 to 175 schools each year. How many times have you sent out that much film visionaire? Just curious is this Wayne Randall or Jim Dotson? Most of us thought that visionaire was Dee Alsbrook. I know for a fact that all of those kids from 2000 and 2001 all say that if it wasn't for Coach D, they never would have been signed. Even Coach Crutchfield will tell you that Coach D was in charge of all the recruiting when he was the head coach. You might not like him and you might think he is a bad coach, but they guy is proven at getting his players signed, ask Murphy Fair! The evidence is there in black and white. As far as the Coach D getting the job over there in 2005, I have a lot of insight in that situation as well and since I know several of the players that have played for him and many of them live close to me and attend church with me, I can tell that the players, parents and booster club members together went to the administration on his behalf. Ask the players and parents and many others who they wanted, he didn't have to ask anyone to stage a rally for him, they knew how much he cared and how hard he works. You might not like him for your own reasons, but he does work hard promoting his kids and I know for a fact that many college coaches have said that he does a great job of getting information out on his kids. Some say that "bugs them to death" and makes them tell them "no" before he will stop calling. He might not have won the state or even the district but they have had a 8 win season and they made the play-offs every year until this year when they went 5 and 5. I guess that you have to win the state in order to be considered a good coach.

Probably because of all the great things TACA does for high school athletics in Tennessee. All Star Games for Football, Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, Baseball all cost money and time to organize and acquire funding. Facilities, housing, feeding athletes cost money. The coaches/school directory costs money and TACA produces these booklets as well. Coaches receive insurance protection for over a million dollars should they be sued by a parent, player or whomever should there be an injury, death or situation that might end up in court. Also, the hospitality tents for the State Championship Games in Cookeville and Murfreesboro are provided by TACA and the sponsors they associated with TACA. There is strength in numbers and the more coaches that join TACA for $25 or $30 the more power coaches have when it comes to decision making time with the TSSAA. $25 or $30 is not much for all of the benefits, I do not of any members that regret joining.

The coaching staff from both teams get together a three or four weeks before the game and they select their teams. The number of players at each position is determined by that particular staff. You could any number of players at different positions, but the total number of players is 44 per team and usually 1 alternate for each position, in case someone is unable to participate.

Head football coaches across the state are sent nomination forms and those coaches may nominate as many players from their team as the wish. Unfortunately, some coaches nominate 7 or 8 players from one team and sometimes those teams are 1 and 9 or 2 and 8 or something like that and then it takes a while to go through all of the nominations. In any event, all senior players are eligible, provided their coach is a member of TACA (Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association) and as long as that player is in good standing with the TSSAA.

First of all, I did not blame anyone, nor did I say anything negative about Tyler Rice. I never said he was the player that made any of those comments. I was at some of the practices and I was on the sideline some during the game. I can only speak about what I saw or heard first hand. There were several college coaches at all of the practices and I know what they said to me. One coach remarked, "some of these kids need to raise their game to the level of competition." Another coach said, that he has seen "a few kids of both teams shut it down against this quality of competition." Also, I am not sure if you were on the sidelines or at practice, not that it matters, but I know for a fact, that I heard those players make the comments I quoted. I also know that one player took himself out of the game and his coach asked him why he took himself out and the player would not respond, he just kind of stood there. Later on in the game, another coached attempted to put back in the game and this particular player declined. I was three feet behind him, I KNOW what I saw and heard. I didn't realize it ws classless to tell the truth. Secondly, I never blamed the kids for anything, I simply stated the facts about what happened. I think it is unfair to blame a coach for turnovers or penalties. Granted, the coach is in charge, but how much control does he have in regards to turnovers? I apologize if my comments seemed to degrade or criticize any of the players. This was not ever my intention in my earlier comments, nor these. I just know my experiences in other All Star Games and sometimes kids can get lost in the mix.

First, I would like to commend TACA, Bill Marbet, Jason Lovell, Murphy Fair, Coach Brewer and Coach Olive was all that they do to make this All Star Game the event that it has become. Those individuals, along with Carson-Newman, Toyota, Russell Athletics, Gatorade, and others have made this game something our STATE can be proud of. It seems like with each year the game becomes bigger and better! Having said that, I feel compelled to address some of the criticism of the All Star Game. Since I have been both a player and coach in multiple All Star Games, I believe I can offer some insight and maybe even explainations to some of the comments. First, I want to respond to the comments about one of the young men that did not play at all. It was unfortunate that he did not play and knowing Coach Wiley as well as I do I can tell you that he would have NEVER intentionally not played someone. Sometimes kids hide on the sideline--even All Stars. There was one particular young man on the sideline that made a comment to one of his teammates, "now I know why you didn't want to go into the game" and another young man said, "there is nothing I can do out there (on the field) to help us." Sometimes players realize that they are not as talented as some of the others on the team. Maybe he was the best player on his team, town, or county, but that does not necessarily mean he is talented enough to compete with some of the best players in the state. It is not a shot at the player, it is just the facts. Regardless of how much or how little someone played, they are still an ALL STAR! It is an honor to even be selected for any All Star Team and this was the State wide All Star Game, meaning they are one of the best 88 players in the entire state. This may or may not be the case, but they are the players representing our state. Next, a comment was made that the West Coaches were "awful." The fact is that three of those coaches have won state titles, some have won multiple championships, but now they are awful. How crazy is that? Five of these coaches were on the West staff the previous two years when the underdog, West Team defeated the East Team. These coaches are called awful because someone didn't like the amount of playing time or the offensive scheme run in the game. They were good enough to beat the East two years in a row, but now they are no good. How can anyone critize the coaches? Unless you were there everyday at practice and witness the players they were working with and saw them in person in drills and on the field in scrimmage situations, how could anyone possibly know who should have been playing and who shouldn't have been playing? Is it even reasonable to say a coach would "play favorites" when he is trying to win a football game? That doesn't even make sense. I want to win a game, but I am going to play one player over another even though one is better than the other. Are you serious? Of course everyone should play in a an All Star Game, but some players might have been hiding in the back or maybe they were afraid they would make a mistake and didn't want to risk it. Either way, I know the HC did not purposely not play someone. I would just about guarantee that 99% of the players involved with this All Star game had a great time and loved the opportunity to participate, even if they didn't play as much as they thought they should have. It is a great opportunity for anyone. Memphis has an annual AutoZone/Liberty Bowl All Star Game (most of the best Memphis players choose to play in this game so that their families can attend or so that don't miss so much school) the exact same weekend as the Toyota/Tennessee East vs. West Game. It involves only Memphis High School All Stars, but each year there have 12 to 15(or more)Division I commitments that play in it and while it is a great game as well, the players do not get the same opportunity to meeting and compete against the top players in the state. They do not room together, eat together, and participate in all of the fun activities that this game has to offer, nor do they receive all the clothes, bags, shorts and t-shirts that this game provides. There just is nothing else like this experience in the State or even in many other states for that matter. Remember that when you want to make negative comments. As far as the offensive scheme being run. These players are suppose to be All Stars and you would hope that they would be able to play in any system, but sometimes a coach might nominate a player that really shouldn't be on the All Star Team. maybe he stretches the truth about a players skill set or maybe he says a player is 6' 2" when in reality he is only 6'. It happens and it is tough for the coaches to evaluate some players because of who that play against or maybe no one knows much about the player at all. The All Star Coaches have to go by the word of the recommending head coach. Maybe the coach has no idea how much talent there is around the state or maybe he just thinks his player is alot better than he is, but the All Star Coaches can only go by what they are told or what they have seen. Plus, the offensive scheme of the West Team is solid. It was very successful at moving the football down the field. Did Coach Wiley or any of the other coaches throw interceptions or fumble the football? The West Team should have score at least 21 more points, but turned the ball over. Is that poor coaching? Not that the kids wanted to fumble or throw interceptions, but how can the coaches be blasted for those errors. Coach Wiley was getting blasted for talking to the officials, but what you probably didn't know was that he was arguing over the alignment of the East Defense. The east was playing with a 4 technique and a 7 technique on the goal line, but they should have been playing with a 9 technique and a 5 technique. Plus, they had walked their outside LB's down to the heels of the EMOLOS. This too is not allowed. Coach Wiley was explaining this to the officials and the official's response was, "what is a 5 technique?" and then another one replied, "I'd like to help you coach, but I have no idea what a 7 technique is." That in itself would make any coach angry I would think. Officials are calling the game and yet they do not know the rules or the positions on the field. I think most people would be frustrated by this. Rather than getting on a website and bashing the coaches or criticizing the game. You should ask yourself, "what can I do to help make this game better and more successful?" It is easy to rip something you know nothing about. What if these coaches came to your job and told you everything you were doing wrong and how you should do it this way or that way? How would you feel? This is exactly what coaches across the state and country put up with everyday. Everyone knows more about their team than they do! Everyone is an expert about their particular sport. Everyone knows their son is SEC material or should be playing more. The coaches apparently don't know anything. All of these experts blasting coaches on a daily basis, while the unappreciated, under paid, and over worked coaches are always to blame for any losses, failures, mistakes or when things don't turnout the way a parent thinks it should. Are you serious? It is no wonder why so many people are getting out of the profession. This was a great week. It should be a celebration for everyone involved, but still people want to focus on the negatives. Rather than complaining about what went wrong, discuss the good things that happened. Talk about the opportunity it provided for 88 young men and the memories and experiences they will have forever. Build up or shut up! Again, CONGRATULATIONS to All of the ALL STARS on both the East and West Teams, their coaches, the supporters, Toyota, Russell Athletic, Gatorade, TACA, Carson-Newman College,Jefferson City, Dandridge, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for hosting this fine event. The entire State of Tennessee should be proud to have such a game! Support everyone involved and work to make it even better!