82Wildcat68

That seems to be what Blade thought as well. Now, I liked Blade a lot. I thought he was a good coach, and he turned the program around on the field. But, he definitely didn't believe in talking it up in the community. As a result, public support for the program dropped. As for the kids, they are teenagers, they need someone to get them pumped up. That is a technique Gaddis uses, it was a technique Hale used. Argue with it if you want, but it works.

I would say he would be shocked because he expects to win every game. Would you prefer a coach who expects to lose? Words have meaning. Guarantee means what it means, shocked means what it means. If we had has a coach that projected a little more confidence with his players against Maryville these last two years, we might have had a better outcome.

Even back in the 70's and early 80's, we didn't have great size. Hale's offenses relied on quickness and finesse rather than pushing people around.

I have heard him speak publicly on several occasions. I have never heard him "guarantee" winning. He has said he would be "shocked" if we lose a game, but I haven't ever heard him guarantee anything.

The pass defense looks more aggressive under this staff.

Still playing the third game. Defense looks good for the most part. Offense has improved from last 7 on 7. All the QB's have done faily well but nobody has really separated themselves still.

At the last 7 on 7 the kid from Coalfield stood out to me as the passer with the best accuracy and ability to stretch the field. He made some questionable decisions, but he is young. Given that Gaddis is not a big passing coach, it will be interesting to see how the different QB's handle the running game and respond to getting hit.

I talked with Saunders at the BBQ. He's committed to getting the kickers ready for Farragut, but he's still not come back full time.

Haven't had an opportunity to watch this week. I know when Gaddis spoke to the Booster Club last Tuesday, he was happy with the progress at this point. He did not think they would do two-a-days. They started in shoulder pads Monday, and will he full pads next week, so it won't be long until we can get a better idea of what we have. They are still evaluating several positions. Still rotating 5 QB's.

7 on 7 tournament Thursday at 5:00 at the practice field. Not sure who all is playing.

The turnout could have been better, despite it being on Channel 12 for a week, the Oak Ridger for three days, the Observer, and Facebook. If you have ideas for improvement, get involved with the Booster Club and make them happen.

There was an ad in the Oak Ridger which ran Wednesday through Friday.

They were there yesterday for the last 45 minutes or so of practice.

I don't know much about the four new ones. Wyatt, Muench, and Graham have been with Gaddis for awhile. Tillman was at Austin East for 13 years until last year, when he went to Farragut. The rest were all on Blades staff, and as far as I can see, are good solid coaches.

For those interested, I think the breakdown of coaches is: Wyatt - QB and OC Miner - ILB and DC Meunch - Imterior O line Russell - TE Tillman - RB Colquit & Graham - one inside rec, other outside. Thompson - DL Younger - DE Pace - OLB (I think) Spratlin - CB Mitchell - Safeties I could have Sprat and Pace switched, not sure about that, but I know they're both defensive coaches.

We need to get people into the reserved seats that will make some noise. I don't consider myself obnoxious, but I do like to do my share of yelling......not a big fan of noise makers, but to each his own. We have sat at the top of the hill for years, but with a kid playing, I just can't see as well or feel the game as well from up there. I like being close to the field in the lower stands, but you're really not quite high enough down there. We'll see how it goes.

That's the spirit.

You're right about the reserved seats. The average has to be up there. They don't yell, and they stay home when it's cold or wet. The guy that blows the train whistle said last night at the Booster Club that they also get mad when he blows it because its too loud. We're probably getting seats up there this year, so maybe we can liven the group up a bit.

I've been telling you guys over and over that this team will be fine. I've been watching the upcoming juniors and seniors for 4 years. There is a lot of talent there. If they get past Farragut, they will have a little time to get experienced. By the playoffs, they will have a full season under their belts. Some of what Gaddis says is no doubt "power of positive thinking" stuff, but on the other hand, things aren't nearly as bad as most of you on here have made out. Another thing is, a lot of working with high school atheletes has to do with psychology. As someone who played in 80-82, I can tell you that we never EVER played in a game where we didn't BELIEVE we were going to win. We believed that because it was drilled into us that if we played our game, we would win, and losing wasn't acceptable. From the time we started winter workouts, we expected the season to be 14 weeks (there were only 4 play off games) Now, saying you are going to win doesn't make it so. But, I think we would have a couple more wins against Maryville and Riverdale if we had not been beat psychologically before the game ever started.

I was there. He said "I am more encouraged than when I first got here". He is excited about what we have, and although we have a lot of work to do, he is happy about where we are after just a week of practice. He does not know right now if we will do two-a-days. He said he has a formula regarding how many practices he wants before the first game, and with starting so early in July, we can get that many in before the first game. We "might" have two or three days of two-a-days, he will decide later on if we need them. He said we will be young and inexperienced starting out, but he expects a "deep" playoff run, and he said by "deep" he means 5 games.

Watched two of the four games. The defense played pretty well. Got good coverage most of the time. Most everybody we played had to work to complete passes on us. On offense, we struggled. That's understandable, considering the offense has changed and the players are getting use to a whole new system. No one QB stood out. The kid from Coalfield threw some good passes, and seems to be able to stretch the field, but they all need work. The receivers dropped a lot of catchable balls.

According to Younger, that's what they did when he and Gaddis got to Henry County, and it paid off when HC won the State.

Russell is their position coach. They practice their blocking assignments with the O line and breakout separately to practice the passing routes.

While there are technically "Freshmen" and "JV" coaches, they use all the coaches for all three teams. With this number of coaches, they have enough to have separate ones for offense and defense. While the varsity and JV are doing offense individuals, the Freshmen will be doing defense drills. Then they will switch. That way, all players are coached by the same coaches.

5-8 Monday through Thursday. For anyone interested, there is a 7 on 7 at Maryville College on Sarurday from 1 to 4.