Navy21412

It's definitely happening in the private school world, especially in Middle TN. You can read CPA coach Ingle Martin's comments from last week on his views of the current state of affairs in D2. In my social media I keep seeing an ad from a Nashville area private school offering a free football camp to anyone over the Christmas break. Maybe it's geared toward little kids who need to get out of the house and get some exercise. Or maybe it's a way to get a bunch of talented players on campus to meet the coaches and get a tour of the facilities.... I will say, if you start running a program where you plop newcomers into the roster, and those kids take jobs from kids who have worked their way through the program for many years, ultimately you will do more harm than good to your program. Kids will choose other sports besides football and the huge commitment that it requires. It will really hurt your pipeline of homegrown kids. JMO.... and Go Navy Beat Army!

yes, MBA had a 10 point 4th quarter lead and couldn't close the game out. There was a head scratcher of a decision to go for it on 4th and 5 at midfield with maybe 5:00 to play and a 4-point lead, and then what looked like a busted play that was swarmed by McCallie. After McCallie took the lead, MBA was in position to retake the lead deep in McCallie territory and fumbled the snap on a 4th and 1 play. Was a really sloppy 4th quarter from MBA. This is a much better MBA defense than the one from that night. I'm sure it's also a much better McCallie team. What is so impressive about Potter to me--2 years ago they win running the option. It was a thing of beauty to watch. Now last year and this year, they run a totally different offense with the same results. Potter has just done an incredible job there.

Haven't seen either of Briarcrest or CBHS this year, but otherwise, there's not an outcome tonight that would really shock me. Baylor may have figured out its formula against Ensworth last week--pound RB #34. 44 carries, 250 yards. That dude is a load. Stick with that formula, don't get too pass happy they absolutely can win tonight. MBA is just super conservative...they get behind, they are in trouble. Have to control clock and win with defense. MBA has an excellent kicker in Wren Jacobs...wouldn't surprise me if this game came down to FGs. FRHS has some tough dudes on defense who can really tackle, JP2 has Minchey and a really, really good head coach, BA looks a lot different from when MBA faced them in October, McCallie is McCallie and the Potter story is pretty incredible. On the doorstep of 3 straight titles...would that match what White has done at BA since Potter left BA?

I think you make some good points. For example, as I mentioned before, that Ensworth team from either '11 or '12 had Taverres Jefferson, Corn Elder, and Orleans Darkwa all in the same backfield. Jefferson played at MTSU, Darkwa at Tulane and Elder at Miami. Both Darkwa and Elder played in the NFL. I can't imagine another team in TN history had two guys in the same backfield that played in the NFL. I think from '98-'00 the only game that MBA lost was at Jackonsville Bolles in a literal hurricane. And I agree with difference in size, speed, training, coaching today versus the old days. On the other hand, none of the teams today (public or private) had to survive the gauntlet of the old 3-class playoffs. Just for grins I took a look at those '92 3A play-offs. It's incredible what it was like back then. 9-1 Maryville lost in the first round. Undefeated Cleveland played undefeated Riverdale in the second round....That undefeated Stratford team beat 8-2 MBA in the first round, and was honestly one of the historically great Metro teams going into the play-offs of all time and lost to HC in the 2nd round. I don't think anyone in the field had a worse record than 8-2; all the teams in there were really good. Public/private you had MBA, Father Ryan, Baylor and CBHS in there...CBHS made it the furthest to the quarters. Times change, probably for the better....but those were some amazing play-offs back then. Nothing like that today.

I don't think they should feel any pressure to play up; do whatever is best for your program. But don't start yapping in public that those guys are ducking you when you had a chance to join them in D2-AAA. If that's what you want there's an easy solution to getting there.

That's a little much..."hate"? not from me....but I'm bothered that a guy who has been here for 2 years publicly calling out teams that have been doing this a long time for not scheduling his team when he decides he wants to play them. We've been dealing with scheduling issues for 25 years since the public/private split...calling people out like that and implying "they are afraid of us" just not my cup of tea....

of course he could have...if Dilfer wants to move LA up to Da-AAA (like Knox Catholic did) he could do it tomorrow. He chose something else....BA, Ensworth...they have similar enrollments and they chose to play up...and have for years. Not up to the rest of us to accommodate a Californian who has been coaching in Tennessee for 2 years.

LOL....

The 1992 Gallatin team is the last team that ran the table 15-0 in the 3 classification system. In '93 Tennessee went to 5 classes and in '97 split the publics/privates. That Gallatin team will always be the last that won it all with a perfect record only 3 classes and everyone playing together. Can't believe with all the talk of '93 Cleveland no one has referenced the Cobb twins and the infamous kick return against UT in '96. Still to this day the most "costly" play in Tennessee history when he (Keith?) as a Memphis Tiger returned that kick for a TD and knocked UT out of a New Year's day bowl game. $8mm kick off return at the time.

I was always told that Cookeville (or whatever entity represents the city) made revenue guarantees to the TSSAA that other cities weren't willing to match. I.e., whatever they missed on ticket sales, they would just past the hat around in Cookeville and make up the difference if they were short. And that's why the kept the BCB for so long. No one that I ever talked to liked the games being there--coaches, administrators, fans. I never really minded it the couple of times I have been; it just wasn't conducive for crowds. No walk-up crowd at all, and no really good reason for all but the die-hard fans to make that trip. I always thought if you are going to play it in a small town like Cookeville then at least rotate the games among a couple of different small towns. Or split them up among a couple of locations each year so that some teams aren't playing on Thursday morning. I know it was broached a number of times with the TSSAA by private schools to stage their BCB at another location (with the TSSAA getting the same economics) and it was a non-starter.

Oakland should it run the table and win the 6A title will have put itself in the discussion with victories over CPA, LA and Riverdale before the play-offs event start. Best teams I have seen: '90 Lincoln County '92 Gallatin '94 Riverdale '95-'96 BA '99 MBA '04 Maryville (so many good Quarles teams from that era; maybe a different one is the best) I can't remember the Ensworth years but maybe '11 or '12 when they had Jefferson, Darkwa and Elder all in the same backfield...

I'm optimistic about Chattanooga. I read some of their plan and their goal is to make the event fun and interactive around the stadium and designed to generate a walk-up crowd. Still when you cram 9 state title games into 3 days, probably only Saturday is the best chance to draw a walk-up crowd of any significance. This year, CPA-Lipscomb (should they meet for the title as expected) would be one of the most interesting games of the year for the championship, but it will be held (I assume) Thursday afternoon so pretty minimal chance for it to generate a walk-up crowd. Seems like the TSSAA solves its annual problem of low attendance at championship games by just adding more games (and tickets sold).

Final MBA 30 Ensworth 14. Ensworth may have finished the game with over 200 penalty yards. I counted 7 personal foul penalties called and there should have been at least 10 more. I have honestly never seen anything like that before....

that is well said. There has been no shortage over the years of coaches who were successful and hard working at other stops take a stab at Metro jobs and not succeed. These coaches didn't forget how to coach or stop working hard once they arrived at the Metro school. Kurt Page was successful at Father Ryan and couldn't do much at Hillwood; now Tom Moore, successful at BA, is taking a shot and struggling in year 2. One thing I said years ago was that when the public/private split happened, all of the schools in Davidson County (public and private) that have histories together should form some sort of "alliance" and agree to work together to build a strong Nashville football community. The private schools should not only be good citizens and help the public schools but also seek to build a competitive environment within the county that is to their benefit. Share resources, help with camps, 7-7 leagues, youth leagues, fund raising, etc. Solve problems together. Build a system of local rivalries that benefit the Nashville area. Instead, everyone went their separate ways, and it is way too far gone for a solution like that to work now. I am grateful that MBA and Pearl Cohn have preserved their annual game which honors the first integrated game to be played in Nashville. PC gets the gate every year; I don't know how much that helps but it has to mean something or they wouldn't keep doing it. And now they have won the past 2 meetings, and MBA will be an underdog for the foreseeable future.

Having watched both teams a little, and seeing CPA up close, this looks like a strength on strength game. Oakland has James the best RB in the state, and CPA has an excellent front 7. They are just fundamentally really sound. They do a great job getting off blocks and making tackles. When we (MBA) played CPA we couldn't get anything going with the run game. There was just nowhere to run. The D line doesn't look that big but they beat blockers and clog holes and let the LBs clean up. Those LBs led by Patterson just don't miss a lot of tackles. I think Ingle still values coaching and practicing the old school way and it shows. Against us, the CPA offense bogged down because I think they were resting Patterson on offense some. He and Law together are a pretty strong duo running the read option. Two great teams, will be fun to watch.

I think this is going on everywhere. No one is practicing tackling like they used to. Not sure if this is somehow forced upon the coaches, or if it's a choice coaches are making to limit injuries and concussion risk...I think the only thing they can do now is use the first 3-4 games to figure who can actually tackle and who can't. It is a tough problem for these coaches to solve.

As much as I want you to be right, I think it's a bit of a stretch to say BA is struggling athletically. They were the runner up in basketball last year and lost in a pretty shocking upset to MBA in the championship game. They have everyone back on that team and I assume they will be huge favorites to win the title. Football for this season isn't up to their normal standard but I would need to see several years in a row like this before I believe they are really down. One thing I will say...seems like playing against them over the years--7th, 8th, 9th and varsity, the numbers that are on those teams seem way down, at least from what you would expect at BA. That looked like as small a varsity team I have seen BA field in the 30+ years I have been closely watching them.

I'm sure there are plenty of valid reasons why those kids left private schools to go to Oakland....but that is......not one of them.

Just curious, what is Buck's connection with Oakland? Why is a guy who played in Metro and whose dad is a long-time Metro coach sending kids to Rutherford County?

I think in general, parents are looking for more than what a typical K-8 school can provide versus what a high school with a junior high can offer. FR could do the same with it's facilities and resources if that's the choice it made. I'd be curious to know, what's the state of athletics at the parochial schools these days? I know it has been a struggle at the non-parochial K-8 schools to field a football team at all. A couple of years ago, we played against an 8th-grade all Catholic team, which wore purple jersies and played home games on campus at FR. That team was really good. Does that take the place of those schools playing against one another?

Again, outsider perspective so I'll leave it to the insiders to determine if any of this is true...I write only as one who thinks the world is better when there is a robust healthy MBA-FRHS rivalry that is one of the oldest in Tennessee... --A former FR assistant now coaching in 6A told me that (to your point) the student body mix really changed when the campus moved from Elliston Pl to Franklin Road. Obviously that move is a huge positive and major upgrade, but less a draw for some of the city kids who were the backbone of the program in the 80s-90s. --In the late 90s, Brad Gioia at MBA made 7th grade the de facto entry point for all applicants. Before, 7th and 9th grade were more or less equal entry points to the school. That meant for the parochial school kids, the decision for where they want to go to high school moved up, as they are all k-8. Around the same time, you started to see more and more parochial school kids (including a lot of great athletes) matriculating at MBA. Back in the day, those kids (and there weren't many) who chose MBA from St. Henry came in 9th grade. If there were kids from Christ the King, St Anne's, St Bernards, etc., I don't remember them; now, the halls are full of kids from those schools. So MBA is getting a sales pitch in front of these kids in 6th grade, with the expectation that you have to take a spot now in 7th grade if you want one. So FRHS isn't getting to make a competing pitch to these kids. I think if FRHS had a 7th-8th grade where it could get these kids on campus at that point, it wouldn't lose as many as it is to MBA. Plus, you get 2 extra years of player development where you have them in your system and strength program. There were a bunch of parochial school kids on the field for MBA playing against FRHS Friday night, and I think it's been that way for many years. Regardless, Nashville is booming and Catholic families are part of that growth. Don't Vrabel's kids go to FRHS?

Sir, Thank you for writing this. I am an MBA alum and now parent and completely agree. The MBA-FRHS rivalry was everything that is right in HS football. I am clearly of your vintage and spent the week explaining to my son the importance of this game. As for the game, FRHS acquitted itself very well. MBA has had its issues over the past few weeks but moving the ball has not been one of them. FRHS really did an excellent job on defense...MBA did much better against McCallie the 2-time defending champ than against FR. A lot of tough dudes out there. My outsider comments: --FR suffers from not having a 7th - 8th grade, which I think every other D2-AAA team has --MBA has a ton of parochial league kids in its student body. Way more than the 80s - 90s. Cant believe some of the last names on our roster, including a lot of FRSH alumni's kids. Not just the starters, but a lot of kids buried in the depth chart at MBA that would be contributors at FRHS... anyways, great to see purple and red on the field again....I miss that game at Vanderbilt every other year.

I don't know what Lipscomb's deal is, but Pearl Cohn beat MBA in a blazing heat despite having maybe 1/2 the number of players MBA has. MBA had no one playing both ways; best I could tell, most of Pearl Cohn's guys were playing both ways....including Brown who never came off the field that I saw. No need for them to do that against a private school two weeks in a row.

Hats off to Coach Brunetti and PC....really tough group of kids out there....and Barion Brown is good at football. PC is going a long way this year.

random observation--Holy (bleep) just saw a shot of the crowd at this game....incredible....well done to both teams. Have to assume by all the banners hanging in the end zone game is at Maryville. So great to see such a scene like that in Tennessee...