LCgrad

Very true statement.

Pearl wins most of their games because of speed they have that few teams can match. Solid line play negates that when there is no where to run. They are also pretty big up front and easily dominate weaker teams. My personal opinion is that Rankin and staff are much better coaches than PC's and the Alcoa players have much better technique.

#1, #3, #7 come to mind. #3 is crazy fast and quick, but very small. Runs very hard and keeps churning. Low center of gravity keeps him on his feet. He'll get away from average tackling without much trouble. Alcoa will need to play the gaps well to stop him up the middle and string the sweeps all the way to sideline or he will turn the corner. #7 plays WR and can get open if the QB can get him the ball. UT offered him a couple of weeks ago. #1 is just a good player and fast enough. I expect Alcoa to win but to me the more interesting match ups to me will be along the line of scrimmage. I'm interested to see how well Pearl plays against what I expect to be very good O and D lines for Alcoa.

To me the biggest reason Giles needs out is because all the other teams in Region 5 are 70 miles away in Nashville. It's also killing Giles football revenue because Pearl, Republic, Whites Creek, East, and Stratford travel poorly. We drove to Nashville 5 times this year during regular season and playoffs. It's too far away and makes no sense from a rivalry standpoint. TSSAA has pretty much killed longstanding rivalry games with the constant realignment of the regions. Giles is on the Alabama state line and playing in a Nashville Region, which makes no sense.

Point taken bobcatd. That's what we all want to know. I have an inside ear, but no news today. Maybe the offer is out and the committee has been sequestered until it's official.

Who allows work study? BGA? What's wrong with that? I see no advantage there. Again, BGA is not in the same private school division as CPA, and BGA doesn't compete for state championships against public schools. Private schools are not all the same. There are 2 divisions and they have different requirements. Anyone can pay and go to BGA and play. Not so at CPA.

For private schools like CPA that do not offer tuition assistance for athletes, the athlete must live within a 25 mile radius of the school. This was told to me by someone that explored sending their son there to play. This allows CPA and schools like them to compete in the same division as the public schools. So what you have is enough parents that can afford the $16,000 + a year tuition, and live within the school zone, that send their kid there. They play for a winning team, get a better education, and top notch coaches. It is completely fair and above board, and those schools are closely watched by TSSAA to make sure they comply with the requirements. Most of those kids will not play at the next level, so it's not like they are loaded with superstars. They are however, very well coached, and that is the main reason they win so many games. Edit, I think 20 miles is correct for the radius.

Yes and no. We had some seniors we won't miss terribly but one linebacker will be missed as well as our tailback that had to play quarterback the last several games. He was a freight train. I think he finished the regular season ranked 2nd in rushing in 4A. Both of those guys lead by example and worked hard. There are a few good players that were juniors that will be back and I thought our JV team and younger players played harder than the varsity this past year. They just were not physically ready to compete at the level needed. We may be really thin at receiver unless someone steps up, but that won't matter if the new coach runs a wing t. D-backs need to learn how to cover and actually turn around a look for the ball. We were a little small back there and didn't tackle well either. Hopefully we can get that fixed next year.

Alcoa is a huge anomaly. A 2A school playing up in class 3A (or they used to be 2A, not sure how big they are now). More kids standing on the sideline than The VOLS. I swear it looks like almost every boy in the school is on the sideline. Not to mention one of the best and winningest coaches in the state. So unless we find ourselves with a coach of that caliber and get half the boys in the school to play ball, I'm not holding my breath that it will work out for Giles as well as Alcoa.

I was there, and yes in some ways we could match up. Your team was very well coached. Not to be smart ####, but in years past we would have probably beaten you. We were a severely handicapped team on offense and our defense played poor most all year. The coaches just couldn't get it figured out and we were gashed for big plays often. Line play was not consistently good on either side of the ball. You are correct about the coaching and we will hopefully get it right and be better coached next year.

You guys went undefeated for a reason. Really good team. Hard nosed and relentless attack on both sides of the ball. But as I have been saying, it will take more than that to beat the kind of teams that have been winning 4A titles the last 7 or 8 years.

I need to look this guy from Munford up. They other one I am told is from creek wood or something like that. Another poster mentioned they should go after the coach that was at University School of Jackson. I read some about him. He's had a successful career. Don't know what offense he runs though and what he was doing at a small private school may not be successful in 4A. I know the guy at Forrest is a good coach, but again I don't think the wing t will get us to Cookvile.

What you say is true. Giles was 4-7, Stone was a 10-0 team. The outcome was as expected. Giles was not a good team this year. They didn't even have a quarterback the last half of the season. To my point, and since you mentioned Stone Memorial. They were put out the next week by East Hamilton. I don't know what offense East runs but they were out the next week by a Marshall County team running a spread. When a Run oriented team runs across a balanced offense that can physically match up with them on both sides of the ball, they are likely beat. Most defenses don't see enough good passing games in the regular season to be able to stop it in the playoffs. The players simply don't have enough experience defending it. There are exceptions, but not many.

It's not that it doesn't work, but I don't think throwing the ball 5 times a game is going to allow you get past the 3rd round of the playoffs most years. Oakland is one of a few schools that is huge with lots of talent, as are most all of the Murfreesboro schools. They can line up and pound you like Nebraska used to, and most teams they play will not have the ability to withstand that for a whole game. Giles Co. doesn't have enough of those kind of athletes at the point of attack right now and I am not sure that they ever will on a consistent basis. The bottom line is Giles won a lot of games running a spread style with somewhat undersized players. Good coaching, team speed, and a swarming defense that didn't miss many tackles beat Greenville in the title game, and played a great game in the semi's against Fulton a couple of years later that they could have won. When that coaching staff and philosophy left, they wins left with them. It;s been mostly down hill since.

If what i have heard is true, they are leaning toward a coach that runs the Wing-T. If that is what we get, there won't be any more trips to the title game for a very long time. Teams that win titles in 4A and up don't run this. It will be boring to watch. It will also pretty much guarantee we won't be beating Marshall County anytime soon as long as Osteen is there. Unless we are totally dominant on offense and defense, we'll probably never make it past the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Sad. It's amazing to me that many of those on the selection committee have seen what it takes to win big and be competitive with Fulton, Greenville, etc. (not talking about anything underhanded) but, would consider hiring a coach that runs an offense that will likely never yield more than 7 or 8 wins a year. In my opinion, and admittedly limited football knowledge, the Wing-T is for 1A, 2A and 3A. So, if this is what we get, be prepared to maybe have a nice team most years, a good one occasionally, but probably never a great one that brings home the gold ball. Apparently the same logic that brought us Coach 1A Walt Smith is bringing us another coach and scheme that will not deliver what parents, players, and fans want. Yes, do I hear some of the players are not happy with the direction the coaching search is going either. We can say goodbye to the days of quarterbacks like Bo Wallace, Al Cobb, and Trevor Holder. Receivers like Zack Bailey and Kenton Baker who were among the top in the state, as well as those like Lucas Harrison who was a solid receiver, and could have been top tier with better coaching. I wish Coach Flippo could have been here to coach Trevor Holder at QB. I may be wrong, but I think mediocrity is on the way. I would give Coach Flippo a shot before going to a run oriented offense. At least we would have a more traditional offense that was run/pass balanced. You know, like any good high school, college, or pro team is. My .02. Feel free to bash me. I'm so sick over it right now, piling on won't make a difference.

With the coaches Giles has now, they likely win 6 and maybe 7. Columbia, Lawrence Co., and Kenwood, possibly Shelbyville. By the time they lost to Kenwood, the head coach had lost the team. The kids are playing harder now because they like remaining coaches and want to play hard for them. D line is playing harder. The return of #33 at linebacker after the third game stopped a lot of those up the middle runs for big yardage. O line has also done better lately at making holes for #24 and #5. Play calling is better, but with limited time the current OC has had since taking over the offense, there is only so much he can teach during the season. Hope he is given the opportunity to stay next year. If they can shore up pass defense, they will be ok. If the Cats are fired up Friday night, they may surprise some folks.

My vote is normal behavior, unfortunately.

Winning, or lack there of, was just part of it. You must be either related or a friend of coach Smith's to even care enought to post. What you don't know of, are the many things that he did that rubed people the wrong way. People will put up with a lot of crap from a coach if he is a good coach, but that was not the case. Him publicly blaming the players for last weeks loss was the last straw. Why put up with that if you don't have to. The buck stops with the coach and I don't think he was exactly known for taking blame for anything. Think what you will, but if he was humiliating your kids on the sideline of your team and you like it, then maybe you should lobby hard for him to be the next coach at your school. I wish him well but am glad he is gone.

Job well done by the Bobcat players and coaches tonight. Coach Flippo called a great game and the boys executed and scored on their first 8 possessions. Coach Blair's defense had a rough night but stepped up when they had to in the second half to get two stops in a row and then sealed the win with a stop on Spring Hills last possession. A great win for all involved.

Wardawg, coach Smith was his own worst enemy in some ways, and I am sure you know that. I didn't hear what he said on the radio last Friday night because I was at the game, but from what I was told, that was the last straw and the new administration decided not to wait until the season was over. I Don't like a mid season firing either but I do understand why it happened. It was evident in his 1st year as coach that he wasn't as good as what we had become accustomed to. Each year since then the team has been less and less competitive and now this year, no wins, and we have played some pretty bad teams. Combine that with him yelling at kids on the sidelines so loud that the opposing fans and coaches hear him, and apparently not doing enough to build depth and strength across all positions, it was going to his last year here. Do we have as much talent as we have had in the past? Maybe not. Do we feel like talent has been developed and maximized? No. Does the team need more discipline? Definitely. As for you, We appreciated your fire on the sidelines while you were here, and your guys always played hard and well. I for one hated that you left, but I know that got you closer to home. Hope you are well, and no, you don't know me.