ftbllfan23

Ah, more Coach Ham bashing. There seems to be a club, so tell us, are you the VP, Chairman? From the stories I've heard from his past players themselves Coach Ham is one of a kind and has literally worked himself to the bone year after year at every coaching stop. His legacy isn't Ws and Ls. So give it a rest. It may be old school cliché, but could you even walk a mile in his shoes? The man has retired from coaching, let him be. Even on these measily message boards.

I think what swift is trying to say is that it's not just the parents calling for a change right now. It's teachers other coaches and players. I could be wrong but that's what it seems like he's saying. I've said before the root rot is at the top but there are obvious issues going on out there.

For YOUR information, I simply stated to give it a rest about your displeasure with a specific coach in the area that isn't even coaching anymore and how that school and other local schools won't turn around just by having a preview in a book promoting their kids. I didn't, however, say anything about historical data. I love a good, solid, factual informational write up about schools, especially athletic programs, but, I suggest you curb some of your statements if you want the respect of all types of coaches and their different from you personality throughout E TN. But, carry on. . .

Come on Barney, you're going to have to let some of this go at some point. It's your go-to issue with one coach every. single. year. and he's no longer coaching. Don't you think that after all those years he coached, he knows a bit about Murphy Fair? maybe give it a rest. Promoting kids in a book that basically nobody gets/reads isn't and wasn't the issue or even 'one of the reasons'. Lots of schools promote their kids and they still aren't signing to play after high school nor are they having winning seasons. You know the root of the problems at some of these schools just as well as I do. Money, social media and fancy preview books won't fix everything.

Looked as though discipline was an issue as well.

Yesterday evening, my neighbor's son said there were hundreds of student tickets donated anonymously to HHS and they were handing them out to encourage everyone to attend. I'm glad HHS pulled the win. There's still work to do when WB puts 20 on the board and hasn't been able to accomplish that yet this year. But I guess a win is a win. However, I believe Central pulls this one out.

I'm not a parent of any Heritage students past or present and never coached. I'm not sure why I was singled out and others weren't. @oridgecat I am a Blount county resident just like many others that enjoys high school football. I would rather not be categorized or grouped in this situation. You voiced your opinion, as did I and many others and I was the one attacked.

Wanting someone to hold a man accountable for the position he's in, is not calling for a firing. I did not personally attack any man's wife or say he should be fired. Let's not take anything too far, and as for your quote about casting stones, remember that next time you think you know who someone is. I'd hate for you to threaten someone innocently that has nothing to do with your agenda on here.

If nothing is done and this is swept under the rug so to speak, it's not going to be good. Does Heritage have it in their budget to hire a PR team? They seem to have found money multiple places miraculously once this coach came in.

Yeah and being an undergraduate football assistant at a university isn't the same as claiming he was a Defensive Staff Assistant. 1yr at Powell, well I'm sure he single handedly led them to that state championship. He's got so much experience under his belt after that one year that he's leading their weight room at HHS. I've seen videos from that. You've got kids maxing out all the time, not in proper shoes/clothes, it's an accident waiting to happen, but, he's one that loves the camera and loves 'Ozzie' I'm not bashing the guy, but, he's not handling things appropriately in that regard and he seems to have quite a bit of growing up to do. I honestly hope he takes a job elsewhere for his sake to grow and learn from true coaches, especially considering he was the one Osovet grabbed at the Maryville game on the live stream. He was called out on twitter after taking this position at Heritage by some current and former players, even parents. This know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy back and forth is pretty risky at this point for these kids. I hope there are no major injuries and I hope they aren't filling their heads with ideas of constant letters of recruitment and offers. I'd hate to be one of those parents right now - especially after last night's exposure.

Bearden, huh? What's that saying about the company that you keep?

Every one on here knows what you were inferring and eluding to after saying I must not have been in many locker rooms. If your stance is that you trust this coach and these actions are 'okay' by you, then you have no point coming to his defense. Trust the process, right? Good luck with the process. It's getting pretty thick.

If that's a motivational speech, I'd be concerned at what a reprimand speech is. I also wonder about the discipline aspect if they're allowed phones so easily in the locker room, but then again, we know that this staff and those so enamored with them are all about social media.

I did no such thing. You inferred such. You and your newly established account on here should probably take your support for these actions and character elsewhere.

Maybe that kid felt it was the only way to get the situation taken care of and exposed. Maybe that was the last straw for him and he's trying to protect his teammates. Or maybe he thought he was being cool. Either way, terrible look. Can you imagine being one of the other coaches on staff? I wouldn't stand for these kids to be talked to like this. I would 100% say something to Coach Osovet. I hope the administration does something or makes a statement about the video, or will it be another flashy graphic posted on social media trying to cover it all up.

Going on the immediate defense and deflecting the issue at hand, then degrading a group of kids that work their tails off day in and day out (as color guard is not a piece of cake and takes incredible endurance and skill) is pretty immature. Since I'm just an old man that lives in Blount Co with no ties directly to any school, I'll let you believe what you want. Won't be too hard since you believe in this new era.

Oh, so you motivate your own children this way? I've been in my fair share of locker rooms, but I've never heard a coach talk to his players motivationally speaking in regard to HIMSELF. it's not just the language, it's the tone and implication. 'I'm a good ******* fighter' This is more about Osovet proving himself than him motivating these boys.

Like I said before, that's not an argument. Whether these kids have heard worse, doesn't mean the people in position of leading them and guiding them should be acting this way. By your standard of argument in this case, then I guess every show on TV, classroom, youth team practices and even the sermon on Sunday morning can include all these words. You know, since they've heard 'em before.

College and NFL do not have 14 yr olds in their locker rooms. So that argument falls to the wayside.

Whether they see or hear worse on TV has zero to do with this. You are supposed to put people of character in your classrooms and in your locker rooms especially at this level. This is a completely different situation. If you are to mold and teach young men, this isn't it. Not to mention he's portraying something he isn't teaching. Did you read the excerpt from the Daily Times I posted? This is also the coach that used specific quotes from these message boards in his press conference when he was announced as head coach. He cannot himself eliminate outside noise and therefore is instilling more garbage in the heads of these boys. We are all allowed to have differing opinions but, like @camppacksaid, GQ wouldn't do this and I'm pretty dang sure Hunt, Nix, Reeves, anybody in the area for that matter isn't making it abundantly clear their team better not embarrass THEM (not the school, but selfishly THEM) by losing a rivalry game. I would hate to know my son (or grandsons) are sitting in that locker room listening to that trash. Not one thing he said was motivational, not one thing he said had anything to do with actually setting the tone for rising above the 'outside noise'. I'm sure this morning will be filled with damage control at HHS.

From TDT this morning... “(The rivalry) has obviously gone on here for a while,” Osovet said. “To be honest, we’re treating this like another game. Any time you have a rivalry game, it’s more for the fanbase and for the community, but I think if you let it get too involved into your everyday football activity, it gets you out of your rhythm. You’ve got to treat it like another game. You’ve got to eliminate the outside noise..." There's more, but, you all get the idea.

It's sad, honestly. I wonder where the folks are that were defending him, claiming he wasn't the 'cussing coach' and was motivating and just what this team needed. Sorry, but if this is the 'new school', I'd take 'old school' over it any day.

Everybody has different versions of 'old school' and what that entails. As for the major walkout, that wasn't as major as you would think. It's just what people want to talk about. The root of the problem, no matter who the coach is, was established and put on blast the past couple of years. Hammontree was told no to expanding his staff, no positions, no teaching positions, and we all know what happened with the field house. Other threads mention the depth of concern for the program over the years and I've been one to mention quite a few things not just of the administration changes & county changes over the tenure of Hammontree. It is always more than us in the community sees. But even this new head coach has said that he came in and told them if he was going to coach there, what he needed, it's just sad that they listened to him and nobody else because of who he is. The kids deserved it before now. He tells everybody that will listen that he's not once been told no. Whether that's good or bad, yet to be determined. I'm glad things are changing for the kids, but the same old blame game of coaching isn't truly fair, especially when you see the actual difference in Shad and Hammontree. Like others have mentioned, that's night and day. Hammontree is still teaching at Heritage from what I've been told. He has the strength and conditioning classes for athletes and students and actually takes care of all the athletic fields on campus. That's incredible dedication to the overall good of HHS. That man deserves a lot of respect.

A lot of us have wondered what's going on with the uniforms, none of them actually match or coordinate with the helmets. it's odd. As for the 'cussing coach' comments, I've been told he was talked to in regard to his language and to tone it down. The Mountaineers almost pulled out the win against Cocke Co last year, a failed 2pt conversion kept them from winning. I was looking up the articles from that week/game last year from TDT to see what all happened, and realized that was also the week that Coach Hammontree lost his oldest son to COVID. Hoping the boys grab their first win at home tonight.

It's on Facebook and Twitter. Another Nassau Community College former coach.