Time to get off the bandwagon that schools like Maryville, Alcoa, Milan, CPA, CAK to name a few, have this mysterious advantage over others.
What all these schools have in common, whether public or private, is:
1) great community support. Typically these successful programs have great booster clubs who are very active and supportive.
2) supportive administration. I'm not talking about just "yes" men, but folds who understand the balance of what it takes to be successful on and off the field.
3) very good facilities developed OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME because of SUCESS ON THE FIELD.
4) not only great head coaches, but also, in my opinion just as important, a great set of assistant coaches who KNOW HOW TO COACH FOOTBALL and are not some admin son in law or nephew who has their position because of who they are and not ability.
The last time I checked, none of the above are against TSSSA rules.
LASTLY, great players who are not recruited, but players and families who recognize the above and WANT to be a part of a great program. If the above mentioned items are in place, THE PROGRAM RECRUITS ITSELF!!!
Congrats to all the teams who made the finals, even more so to the teams who are in the finals on a regular basis.