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I would agree with you if it was in fact 1 or 2 bad years. The last time AE had a winning record was 2019. Over the last 4 years they are 9-34. I hope they make the right hire because Knoxville football is better when AE is winning

AP Poll's especially this early are a joke, You have a top 4 ranked 4a Team being beat by a not ranked 3A team before they released the Poll. The same team that won against that 4a team lost to another 4a team thats not ranked the game before. I wish more Ap voters actually looked at who teams have played and not what their actual record is

You are correct but other than playing Coffee County in the first round I wouldn’t say beating Bartlett (who beat Beech the same team that beat Bearden earlier in the year by over 20 and the tournament favorite) and then beating Bearden in the Championship was an easy draw. The poster made it sound like DB won it all when there wasn’t some high quality players in that tournament.

You do realize that when DB won the State two years ago there were players like Brandon Miller, Amarr Knox, JR Jacobs, Jarred Hall, etc. at the Glass House. Stop trying to down play what DB did at the highest level of Public School basketball in Tennessee

He will do good no matter where he went. I knew he was special when i saw him as an 8th grade RB at Alcoa and just carrying people like a man among boys! At least Tennessee won't have to face him every year like they would have if he ended up at Bama.

I saw that commit yesterday and wish we could have kept him at home. Going to a great program no matter if I'm not a big Harbaugh fan

The kid graduates in May so maybe saving money but wouldn't be at a different high school next year

He ended up being Alcoa's backup by season end and pulled them through some games during the season. Great Kid and Family from what the Alcoa fan base has told me. He wasn't the QB that threw 3TD's or ran for 1 against you all in the state championship game. That was Eli Graf who will be back next year.

I picked the wrong Bill lol. Yes, loved coach Brimer to death and enjoyed him as my freshman football coach. He knew a lot more than just the game and loved all his athletes

I think your talking about Coach B and Basketball that took 3 Greeneville teams to the State Tournament in his 10 year run at GHS?

I definitely think it could if they hire the right coach and build some nice facilities to attract athletes from all over the Tri-Cities. I think the bigger impact will be the School Voucher Program Governor Lee is trying to implement statewide that would allow 20,000 students who would get taxpayer money next school year to attend a private or home school. He has also called for all K-12 students to be eligible for vouchers beginning in 2025. Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act, offering $7,075 annually for each participant.

Not having to be 6'4 and playing QB has shifted over the years with the offenses people run these days. (Even the stats you linked have the average QB at 6'2) You also don't have to be 6'5 and 340lbs to play offensive line now like you use to be in the Power I era of football. I agree I named exceptions but to think if you 5'11 you can't go play D1 football is crazy. I never said genetics didn't play a factor but have seen kids work their tail off to make it D1 and actually start that didn't have superior genetics. I've also seen 6'6 340lb Oline that have the size for D1 football and be recruited but are soft as Charmin and never sniffed playing time. The point i've just been trying to make is that hard work and believing in yourself can get you to the D1 level and its not all about being super tall or just a big body person. (Baker Mayfield or Stetson Bennet are great example as a Walk On to lead great teams in their college career) I agree 100% with your last paragraph. I was one of those 5'9 205lb MLB that ran a 4.7 and had offers to go play at the Carson Newmans, Tusculum College, Maryville's and other D2 and D3 schools but also was a realist that there were no 5'9 205lb MLB in the NFL and decided to attend UT (Had academic scholarships that eneded up cover everything except 10k over my 4 years. Won quite a few intramural championships playing with former teammates and with former players that I had played against in High school. ) instead of having to pay back a smaller school probably quadruple that If chose to play at a D2 or D3 school.

Nowell is originally from the Germantown part of Memphis too. Memphis breeds some of the best basketball players in the Nation

Telling a former high school coach who had kids go D1 that I don’t understand football recruiting, ok buddy. You probably think DB is doing things right also I guess Baker Mayfield, Doug Flutie, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, or Bryce Young were too small to play D1 QB (all are 5’11 or smaller and started over taller QB’s in college) and play in the NFL. Or a Local player like Cade Ballard who started for Army at QB Last year or Cameron Hite who is the starting TE at Wake Forest who I saw bust their tails to get to D1 in their nutrition plan, lifting, and speed training. Hard work trumps talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

Carolina Invitational at Fort Dorchester. It's SC not Florida

I guess we have a difference of opinion since i've seen many kids bust their tail that normally would have been a d3 or d2 player (Like their parents or their parents didn't even play in college) that play D1 football. Size, Strength, and Speed. can all be made better because once again I've seen what a good nutrition program, weight program, and speed program have done for athletes. Well funded and letting a Coach run the program the same way Maryville and Alcoa runs their programs are two different things. DB hasn't had championship level coaching in the TSSAA play-off era. DB is a good program not a Great one and a lot of those wins have been beating up NE Tennessee teams over the decades. See we definitely have different views because setting a Championship expectation on a school the size of DB isn't unrealistic. (If your coach doesn't have those expectations then he needs to be fired yesterday) That's the problem with DB they are ok with being Ok like Waco has said for years now. Go ask those players at Greeneville or Betsy if winning championships is fun and how much work and sacrifice they have put in since kids to get to that point.....and then go ask a DB player and I bet you get a different answer on what is fun. Different Culture's breed different mentalities

Have you every thought that maybe D1 athletes can be built if they are in the right program from the ground up? (Not saying genetics doesn't have a role). I can agree DB was better 20 years ago but maybe thats because those kids had bought into the program and the leagues and things have changed when it comes to the DB program than it was 20 years ago sorta like how the priorities have changed at Greeneville and Betsy in 20 years too but in the opposite direction. The current starting TE at Wake Forest is from Greeneville and wouldn't think he would be a D1 TE but worked his tail off from when he was little and the same goes for names like Ballard, Everhart, Youngblood, Albright, Gillespie, Dabbs, Young, etc. Over the last 10 years Greeneville has sent 20 kids to 16 different D1 Programs (https://twitter.com/GreeneDevilsFB/status/1737926988495511735/photo/1). I would agree with the Oakland Comment over the past 5 years but not Knox West (Who lost to Alcoa 24-7 a team Greeneville was tied with 7 to7 almost at half. West also beat AC 8-7 when Greeneville beat them 28-17). CPA also was beat by Pearl Cohn this past year and Upperman was an inch away from tying that game in the 4th to force overtime who beat Greeneville by 7. So to say No team east of Knoxville could compete against Knox West or CPA is not factual at all. Yes, Alcoa is the anomaly when it comes to student population but not the rule (Alcoa also has the program set up the way i have talked about multiple times that DB needed to do and still loss to Maryville last year). I don't agree with "You either have to be a large population center or have folks to move to play at your school to be elite." Give me a student population of 2,500 students, a great coaching staff, and free will to run the program from the pee-wee league up and i can guarantee you I would have that team competing for a championship

I don't believe that one bit or Greeneville or Betsy wouldn't have the state title they do. (I know it's 4a but some of those Greeneville and Betsy team would have went toe to toe with Oakland and Maryville especially the 2018 Greeneville team that had kids go to UT, VA, Furman, Marshall, Army, Wake Forest and Knoxville media believes so too having them ranked the 4th best team ever to come out of this area in the TSSAA play-off era. Also had the 2010 Greeneville team ranked #15 and the 2017 team ranked #17. Betsy's 2020 team came in at #20). It comes down to starting from the ground up in Pee-wee leagues and coaching kids up like i've mentioned many times now. Letting a good coach run his program that way and DB and SH could compete with the athletes they have in both Hall ways. You have 2,503 students at DB and 2,380 students at SH so you can't say there shouldn't be just as many athletes at those schools when both are in the top 5 largest schools in Tennessee.

I think if DB would hire a good coach that comes from a winning program and let him RUN (Thats the problem) the ship then there is no reason DB couldn't be winning championships! A good coach knows what it takes and will start from the ground up in the youth leagues and trickle up like ive posted on here before. It's crazy what buying into a program does, Greeneville was 4-6 and missed the playoffs before they hired McCurry from AC Reynolds that had won a State Championship. He put the infrastructure in place that is still there today and brought back Ballard as the OC and the rest has been history.

You took it the right way and truly believe that. Might piss off some of the Old heads at DB but it would start from the pee-wee league up and feel like they would be pulling more kids out of the hallways as they do now. The coaching staff wouldn't have to worry about players going both ways with 2,500 students to pick from like they do now.

Yes, both play where the TSSAA assigns them like most schools and they are no longer playing up a classification like they use to before the TSSAA went to 6 classifications. Greeneville has played Alcoa after going to 6 classifications and are 1-1 against them. Maryville is a different animal with 1,718 students. My point still stand and when you have a larger school populations (2,503 for DB) then the probability of having more athletes is higher. (Its probability). If Greeneville or Betsy had 2,500 students with their coaching staffs I bet they would be competing for championships in 6a

Here is the thread if you want to read. Certain things were mentioned why they went from Norris to OR. I personally don't believe it was true

You are correct. NCAA Division 3 is where you can't give athletic scholarships but can give academic scholarships/aid.

Lambert is a great Coach but he went and was the D Coordinator at University of the Cumberlands which is NAIA not NCAA.

And lost 23-12 which wasn’t a bad showing at all against a State Champ. I've already laid out what needs to happen at these 5a and 6a schools in the Tri-Cities but until you all do something about it, your statement is right. It’s not like Greeneville and Betsy have been State Champs for forever or just breed insane athletes, they took the formula from schools like Maryville and Alcoa and replicated it because they were tired of getting beat by them