redskinthruandthru

OK first off i am a loyal viewer of this site and read a great deal of posts that are available throughout the day. Now i know that you look at my information and see that i have only posted one time. Well guess what, that post was about the hiring of a new basketball coach at my beloved alma mater. So im gonna spill some things that i have noticed and would love to get some response. As most of us around these boards know it is almost a bad omen to get on here and talk about coaches and the way they do things, but i have seen all i need to see of our new coach. I went to nearly every loudon game last year and i left in sickness due to the state the team was in. Lets face it, it starts with coaching. Now as mentioned above, I have seen all i need to see of Wells. I watched Shane a great deal while he was in the middle school rankings at FLMS and also a few times at NMS. He has his act together. He does the small things that make the big things easy. It is amazing when you watch the difference in the team from last year to this. Now granted in Loudon Basketball you have never had to worry about hustling, playing hard and being prideful about your school. But if anyone has been there to see the victories over Hancock County (a sophomore hit a 70ish foot shot to tie the game at the buzzer) or last friday against the Mavericks of Anderson County, you can tell these kids are on a different level, they have their leader back. Realize as well, they defeated hancock county without their football players dressed. They are now back, but not in the shape Coach Wells needs them to be. This team has special written all over it. But the question is, with all that talent on the team, can the attitudes of those having to sit on the bench more than they would like be turned into positive energy and positive team vibe? I know that some of these kids have egos the size of the city of loudon and a great deal of that comes from their parents saying that they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, but its a fear none the less. I am hoping that the kids on that team realize that when you have something this special, it is important to understand your role and do it to the best of your ability. I know that a great deal of change has taken effect since Coach Wells has taken this job, i believe he has lost 3 players already to this point from strict competition as well as some off court problems. He holds these kids accountable for every little thing they do and thats a great thing. As a parent i sometimes look at it from a perspective that i may not have done a good enough job of it at home. So when you look at this team play, watch them closely and see if you notice the great deal of change. Im sure you will. Now thats all the good things. I want to talk about something that i would really like to discuss. For a long time during the hireing process (even last year) when Well's name came up i was very skeptical of the possible hireing of him because of his ties to lenoir city. Granted as a Loudon Grad and athlete, we dont like LC that much, well at all, lets just leave it at that. But I understand that you cant hold him responsible from where his parents raised him, but i think he has a home now. I have watched coaches come and go throughout the years (mitchell, mcdonald, etc) and it has come to my attention that this has to be one of the hardest places to coach in the state, heck maybe even the country. We are so reluctant to give new people (outsiders) a chance to woo us. But after further review and like i said, i have kept my mouth shut since the summer I would like to give Wells and this years redskins my full aproval. I would really hope that the other old fogies in loudon will be as forgiving as me and realize that we have a great coach and hopefully we can make him feel at home. Im sure beating AC on friday didnt hurt his cause. Good Luck Redskins.

I dont know who the other candidates are for the upcoming position but i have to think that the coach you are speaking of BigOrange has a good chance at being the front runner. I really feel that he knows the kids very well that are upcoming varsity players as he has coached them for a year or so and made that program in the middle school very successful. The difference in him and the guy that is there now is that they very much respect him and would do anything that they would be asked to do. It is definately a mess down there right now and not too many coaches would be jumping at the chance to coach there. But im sure whoever takes the job has some choices to make....... first off, will any of them be able to get the best players from that area to come back and commit to high school basketball again? If so, how will the current players respond to the guys coming back? To be honest, i feel the Coach Wells has the mentality that he could win these guys over. The parents in this place are the worst i have seen as far as being supportive of a coach, that may be because of jealousy of playing time, or maybe too many dreams not being lived out by their sons. Who know? But any coaching position that is taken, parents are the epidemy of the evil as we know it. Wells has some good connections down here and i think that he has the right people on his side when it comes down to having the chance of getting this job. I think he is still rather young..... maybe 28 or so and is someone that dedicates hisself to whatever he is doing. There is no one that would work harder. That guy spent day in and day out with those middle schoolers and made them the great players they are today. Not too many coaches are willing to do that for their kids anymore. The good thing about being young and being successful is that you can mold your own discipline issues and deal with them the way you want to and dont have to follow anyone. This guy can lite a kid up with the best of them, but if you ask any of his past players the guy does it with class, he never cusses kids, he never hits kids, or does anything to that nature, but he gets in their minds and makes them correct themeselves. He also has had the diversity of coaching young girls and that is a new task in itself. This guy has the respect of many young athletes because of his discipline styles as well as his styles of coaching. Lastly, my true feeling about this issue is that with Wells being so young and talented..... if we dont snatch this guy up, we are going to lose him to the Lenoir City group or another school in the area and we will be kicking ourselves later on for it. This guy can coach, he is a winner, he wins the kids over in their hearts where it should be, and not always in the hallways. This guy doesnt need to be looked over, he can bring the nation back to a level that can be very much respected.