GBKEES

This statement here is one example of the nonsense posted by S. Pitt people. It's obvious that if the Ryan man was going to get what he wanted he would have gotten a true all purpose running back that could do it all and a few more lineman for depth. The WR's we got are nice ball players and will add depth there but we already had that covered pretty well.

Central seems to struggle early on offense every year of late but would look for them to be very tough on defense and score enough to get through. I look for Powell to be the team to beat this year in 5A. Powell vs Greeneville in the first Thursday Night Rivalry game should be a great game. I'm a closet South Doyle fan so I hope they do well and believe they have the talent to make a run at it. In 4A you have to believe it will be Greeneville and Anderson Co again. It goes without saying that Alcoa will again be unstoppable after returning most of their starters from last year. Austin East should be good but they're in the wrong region along with Gatlinburg who should be a solid team. Greenback is looking pretty good again with a solid senior class. Coalfield will challenge them again this year for the region title and Oliver Springs will be competitive along with Harriman. Maryville will be the team to beat in 6A if they can get past William Blount.

Curious here about the "19" starters..... If Little Johnnie started on offense and defense would that be counted as two starters returning or will there be 19 different kids returning that started last year?

As has been said over and over on CoachT individual players does not a team make. People seem to be dismissing the fact that GB graduated 16 seniors, most of whom were starters and picking up a few good players will not replace that. There is certainly potential but they must stay healthy and come together as a team to be successful. Right now I think they're a top 5 team but until they put on the pads and get a couple scrimmages under their belt there's really no telling how they will gel. South Pitt is obviously the preseason team to beat out of the east, NO question!

Pay attention BIG. Pretty sure all these guys were starters at previous schools, some on both sides of the ball at 5A and 6A schools getting all the playing time they wanted. One is and All State LB.

True! #53 is going to be fun to watch this year... He just started working out this year and is getting stronger and I love the way he plays on the offensive side of the ball. Puts me in mind of Cade Mays at Catholic a couple years ago.... NASTY!

Josiah will be a senior this year. Blue Grey goes by the grade you just completed. Looking forward to watching him this year for sure!

Healthy is going to be the key for sure. Not a lot of depth at this point. I was glad to hear of an 8th grader with the ability to possibly contribute on the line. I didn't think an 8th grader should play high school football until I saw Bubba last year!

Trace has been talking to several D2 & NAIA schools and a few D1 that show good interest, although he will be back at DE this year (which is where the interest is) if everybody stays healthy. I heard Josiah and Belcher has been talking to some also.

I appreciate the humor, you have quiet the imagination! The guy I spoke with was a nice guy and we talked for a bit but what I said is verbatim what your guy said. I can understand his thinking for sure because when any team (much less a 1A team) loses 16 seniors, mostly starters, you should expect a drastic drop in talent. GB will be different for sure and as has been said on here they will have a lot to work out in these first games but I do expect them to be competitive.

He is definitely hitting the weights and is as strong as he has ever been. He can also tell you what the other boys are lifting also as it seems like they are always competing with one another to get stronger. He has lost almost almost 20 pounds (per coach Ryan) since this time last year and has gotten more flexible. You're right about these guys working hard in the off season, these players meet in the morning before school and stay after organized workouts to run and/or to work on individual needs. I know Meigs Co and S. Pitt (if we make it there)will be favored in those games but it did catch me a little off guard when he said they weren't concerned with GB. Looking forward to a more exciting regular season this year and if we stay healthy anything is possible!

The word must be out about GB being short and slow. Spoke with a guy from Meigs Co at a camp this past weekend and asked him how his team was looking for 2019. He told me regular season should be a sweep like last year and that the only game of concern was S. Pitt. I had a Greenback shirt on that he noticed afterward and said "No disrespect but we're not really concerned about Greenback". I said "That's good" and wished him good luck in their season.

The school my son transferred from is now on their third coach in three years and have only won 2 games the last 2 years. It was/is in complete disarray and everyone pointed the finger at someone else, coaches and players. We didn't leave because of playing time as he was playing both sides of the ball the whole game as a sophomore and rarely came out but I could see that he wasn't learning about the "TEAM" aspect of the sport or how to be a "WINNER". I watched fights on more than one occasion among teammates during games while he was there and arguments among coaches not to mention the AD. I didn't make him leave but we did give him that option and the only regret we have is that the move wasn't made sooner. Most all his friends(teammates) were happy for him when he left and some wanted to come but didn't have the means. He learned more about football and playing as a team before the season started than he did in the two previous years. I want my son to be able to recognize when he is in a bad situation and that he don't have to stay in it. It wasn't about individual goals for us and he showed that by playing out of position all year because his coach told him the team would be better if he did, so he complied willingly and got to learn a new position and different aspect of the game.

Scott Branton has been promoted to Head Football Coach at Seymour High School.

I don't question his character as it seems he is doing what he feels is best for him and his family. But to say it's not about winning and/or money is a bit of a stretch. It doesn't say Apopka HS was telling him he had to change his coaching style but he just couldn't win at the level he was before the rule change. I don't blame him for moving/transferring to better himself but don't see how you can blame it on a rule change.

That was the first thing that crossed my mind. Seems like when he couldn't win...... He transferred....... For more money!

Exactly!

Actually that's exactly what you do. You certainly shouldn't quit a job and then start looking for a new one.

Being involved in a disastrous high school football program where coaches don't put the players best interest first or they are playing kids out of position or simply don't understand how to coach or playing kids that shouldn't even be playing or lack the organizational skills necessary to be successful or telling kids one thing and doing another is the real reason kids end up at different schools. There are a lot of coaches that constantly put kids down and blame the kids without building them up. You can coach hard without belittling the players. There has to be a balance between the negative and positive when coaching. The buddy coaching is a real thing at the high school level. I don't believe that anyone in Blount Co is actively recruiting players but I do believe players and families are moving there so they can participate on a successful and winning team and learn the game that they love. I hear/see people say that kids need to stay where they are and just tough it out and parents are teaching them to be quitters. I certainly don't agree with that and believe it's far from the truth. Why should a kid stay in a bad situation when they have an opportunity to better them self. If you as an adult have a dead end job or the boss is constantly putting you down are you going to stay???? Of course not, your going to find a better company (Alcoa-Maryville) to work for. If you want to keep the good players at your school you need to get a coach that will create an atmosphere that is beneficial to the kid as well as the team. One that can evaluate talent and put the players where they need to be instead of where mom and dad want them. A coach that understands the game and what it takes to win. Yes our boys need to be team players but they also need to play to WIN.

The players I have talked with say the practices and study time has been very serious this week. This is my boy's first year but he said he hasn't seen it this serious around there this year at all.

I read it in a newspaper article somewhere that 3 and 6 had 130+ tackles for the year. The stats from this year are online and they seem pretty accurate.

This LB talk got me to thinking . I actually thought that #55 was our leading tackler and he was for the first half of the season and is a close second. Our DL makes a lot of tackles, 160 total to be exact compared to LB's at 104.5. This is according to the on-line stats. I'm no statistician but that seems like a lot of tackles for a DL. There were a lot of games where the LB's have few tackle because the RB's weren't getting past the LOS. I wasn't around last year so I don't have a point of reference here so I have a question. There were two LB's last year that had 130+ tackles, why is that? Is the line play that much better this year? I know Gilbert was a great LB but most of the time the RB's are getting stopped before they get to the LB's. I know #3 hasn't played as much defense this year because of the early injury but he is at only a fraction of the tackles he had last year. DB's have made their share of tackles this year but the majority of them have been against the passing teams as they should be. Anyway. Just curious. Either way it works because rushing yards have been hard to come by for opposing teams since the first game.

I've looked at the forecast 4 times today and it's been different every time..... Right now it's 60% chance of rain on Friday per "The Weather Channel" app. This morning it was 90%.. I believe I'll just take a look in a couple days!

I hope special teams, mainly kickoff and punt coverage, will be a point of emphasis this week.

Oakland may be hosting Farragut...... It'll be a good game this Friday in Maryville, definitely not a gimme!