Im a Long-time reader and first time post"er" I guess you could say. But after the Seymour debacle last week, I have to vent a little..I will remain nameless, in fear of coach retaliation toward a player that is a relative of mine.
I played for the Smoky Bears in the early 90's before coach Brewer arrived, and I have a strong sense of Purple Pride! I am very close to the program and haven't missed many games in several years. What is happening to this program is EMBARRASSING! The problem isn't with the players, it is LINGO! These players have competed for championships all through youth league and middle school. They have been winners with every coach except LINGO! The problem isn't X's & O's necessarily (except defense)... The leadership is lacking. The accountability is lacking. The discipline is non existent. Lingo has belittled, berated, and insulted these kids so much that they have no respect for him anymore and don't want to play for him.
Some coaches regularly miss practice. Some coaches are never there during summer weights and conditioning. Also, lets remember his off season staff reshuffling! He brought in the "de-facto" head coach in waiting from Northview and named him the defensive coordinator. Even though we had co-defensive coordinators by title, everybody close to the program knows who actually ran the defense and it wasn't the POLITICIAN! That decision costed us our best defensive coach and our best player to leave the program. Lets see how Lingo's defensive shakeup has worked out...
Jeff County = 53 points (Most points they have scored in a game)
Heritage = 24 points ( Most points they have scored in a game)
Central = 55 points (Most points they have scored in a game)
South Doyle = 60 points (Don't feel bad, they have also scored 61 & 62 points this year)
William Blount = 51 points ( Most points they have scored in a game)
Gibbs = 55 points (Thanks, Lenoir City they gave up 56 points)
Morristown East = 21 points ( YAY, offense sucked that game)
SEYMOUR = 41 points (OBVIOUSLY MOST POINTS THEY HAVE SCORED)
Thats an average of giving up 45 points per game!! (5 of the 8 teams have scored season highs agains SC defense)
As you can see, the head coaches decision making, lack of leadership, lack of discipline, and lack of accountability is why we are taking a nose dive! Take from this what you want, but these PLAYERS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM! They play with great effort, emotion, and heart! They are just lacking the other intangibles that the head coach is supposed to provide! Good luck to the future and GO SMOKY BEARS!
