CasualBystander

So let me get this straight, Smith committed 7 personal foul penalties and still.... Won?

Iceman, you hit on a key topic; Trapp's arrogance. I'll give credit where credit is due. Trapp took a dead program that nobody wanted, and weathered a long tenure. For a young man, who never played football, he has done an impressive job teaching himself football, but he has reached his peak. He is aware of his shortcomings behind closed doors, and is why he does not hire competent coaches. He is afraid to be revealed as an incompetent coach who lucked into a head coaching position. The same way he controls the narrative around expectations, is the same way he controls who he coaches with. If you are the smartest person in the room... Then find a new room. Trapp however, is completely content being the smartest person in the room the same way he is content with 4-5 wins and blaming it on lazy high schoolers.

Iceman, I need to buy you a beer.

As stated earlier, DeKalb does not retain or develop talent. The youth you speak of will never become seniors, this program does not retain kids. The attrition of 2017 was solely attributed to a new coach (who has since been removed), but we are still seeing quitting & dismissals in 2018. Of course, we are being told it it due to lazy kids. When we experience similar attrition in 2019, what will the excuse be then? Which when coupled with the earlier statement of not retaining coaches either; then we must ask what is the common denominator? TigerPride does not retain athletes TigerPride does not retain coaches What does TigerPride retain? Who is the common denominator?

Even if they closed out with 3 wins, and this is a big "if". No, I would not consider 5-5 successful. No, I would not consider 3 wins over teams with a combined win total of 3 an accomplishment. The problem is, it will be spun as an accomplishment, but it is not! It will be another 3-7 year leading to a first round playoff exit. The true problem is; and this is a problem with most rural football programs. DeKalb is nepotistic & incestuous. Trapp can continue to underachieve, and blatantly not place the best 11 kids on the field as long as he plays the political game. He is a DeKalb County boy, and sadly that matters more than coaching ability.

3 Wins (playoff record of 3-9) in a 14(?) year tenure is less than impressive. Especially when we factor in how easy it is to make the playoffs. Which brings us to the question of talent versus expectations. As Iceman has stated, by referencing the "playoff wall". Trapp has controlled a narrative which sets the expectations (and overall goal) of the program as simply making it to the playoffs. This narrative is dependent upon people not understanding one region win results in a playoff birth. So in a way, "Tiger Pride" is meeting programatic expectations; albeit very lackluster/ignorant expectations. However, select individuals recognize these lackluster goals because they expect more from a 14 year Head Coach, and they understand the potential talent within the area. This is also compounded by the fact much of this talent is not playing. This talent may be walking the halls, or it may be stranded on the sideline (as I believe DCHS is staunchly against placing the best 11/22 on the field). Iceman, makes an excellent point in noticing the lack of assistance in terms of Coaching. Which is the largest red-flag in my opinion. Is this an inability to ask for help? An inability to evaluate coaching talent? An inability to work with others? No matter what the explanation, it is why a change is needed because after 14 years we have all seen enough.

Amen, the teams on the DCHS schedule are all in similar situations. Hence I do not believe a talent gap is the explanation, but I do believe the coaching staff has reached its limitations, been figured out, or stagnated. We all can look around the state of Tennessee, and find rural counties who have found ways to be consistently successful. Dekalb is no different, and those of us inside the area can look to the success of the other sports within the high school as the goal, but football is still lagging behind. We can no longer buy the lie; it is the kids' fault.

I don't think that optimistic view on DCHS, absolves them from consistently underperforming. How long can "Tiger Pride" live off that play-off win? Especially, in the face of failing to live up to expectations. With all this said, I understand Iceman's hot seat diagnosis.

One could say they are young, but they were young last year. They seem to stay young. There is an apparent lack of retention & development. I would add, they have experience on the in their front 7 on both sides of the ball.

I don't know much about Smith County, but I can speak to a less than stellar resume at DCHS for Trapp. 1) under .500 overall record 2) 0 region titles 3) 3-9 playoff record (1-3 as the higher seed) These are facts, but when coupled with another under-achieving year, a carousel of coaches year after year, appearing to not be well coached once again. This is one of the weakest districts in 4A, and when Dekalb has not won one region title in 14 years... You do the math.

Can somebody explain why Dekalb's inconsistency? Maybe the only form of consistency they possess is the ability to consistently underachieve? Has any other team squandered more talent than DCHS has over the past decade? Dekalb entered the season as the favorite to win the district, but yet here we are calling for Smith County to win the "Toilet Bowl" by numerous scores?

I would argue that every game comes down to what happens between the tackles. Games are won within a yard of the line of scrimmage on either side. If this wasn't true wouldn't Indy be undefeated? Because their skill arsenal would win all games? This game will not be won by the number 10s, 3s, 4s, and 80s... It will be won by the men wearing the 60s and 70s.

Shouldn't this game be at RAVENWOOD because it was at Franklin last year?

I think Centennial is one of the few teams who is athletic enough to handle IHS' explosive offense, and Rector's blitzes can keep the IHS QB off-balance. The question is: Can the Eagles stop Sanders on the ground?

Both teams have struggled to stop the run at times, so CHS is not physically dominating up front which is a good thing for IHS. But CHS' run game also tends to take IHS' DBs out of the equation, unless Centennial is determined to get to the edge in which case it's athlete (Sanders) on athlete (Gaulden).