3DayWknd

That's the short answer. The long answer is they aren't going to be good because they got burned going all in on football several years ago. The community was divided on just how much emphasis to put one one sport and when the head of the snake left, the rest of the snake died. To build a program takes time and commitment from all areas of the school. If the school wanted to use Deuce Knight Ty Snell to attract other players it could have but the school didn't want to and so he's leaving. What's interesting is that the family isn't staying in Middle TN, but maybe there wasn't a program that allowed him to start right away.

I stand by my recruiter accolade. Evans enrolled at CPA in high school. So many of CPA’s players attended their middle school and live close enough that CPA (and BA, MBA, Ensworth, & BGA) was a legit option. Bentley is pulling kids in from 30+ minutes away. He is hustling. I won’t assume that any of these players are on aid but the school is spending money on a new video board according to people on campus recently. I haven’t been to CPA recently but they never needed bells and whistles to impress me. FRA doesn’t stand a chance against BGA in the fall.

Talk about a rabbit hole. I know the school but don't know what's happening there with its leadership. Went to the website. They actually share notes from their Board meetings which was helpful. Sometime between Jan 28 and April 22 the HOS must have announced that he was leaving or it was announced by the Board that he was leaving. So they needed an interim. Surprised that they would give an interim the power to make such a big change in personnel (an AD and football coach) or such a big change in philosophy that the AD/football coach would quit abruptly. There have been rumors that a school in east TN had identified a candidate from middle TN to start in 2026. IF the school in east TN is TKA, AND the person they have identified is the person from middle TN I am talking about then he is the exact opposite of the interim HOS. I know, another rumor (with an "if" in there too!). But it was being talked about among parents before school got out in May

It's easy for us to talk about the money schools (or maybe families) are spending on getting players to their schools. It's important to remember that it requires the head being all in on the new culture and then getting the teachers and families on board. There will be teachers frustrated with having to teach kids who may not (I am saying "may not") be academically prepared for a private upper school. And there are parents, who are happy to be winning, but it means that some full tuition paying parent's kid is on the bench.

He's the best recruiter in TN since Trent Dilfer.

CPA benefits the old fashioned way - outstanding coaching and reputation. Coach Bentley is out looking for speedy wide receivers. And now that they don't have to worry about tackling Rawls Patterson, here come the St Louis Rams and the Greatest Show on Turf.

GCA (Franklin)

Character Scholarship and Excellence. Like Meatloaf said, 2 out of 3 aint bad.

Football players following Roc Batten to JP2 (after a yr out of state) makes sense on paper. Many D2 schools have enrollment contracts that go binding on May 1 so there was sure to be some activity at the end of April before parents were on the hook for a school's tuition.

Looks like they are loosing some 8th graders. One of them now posts BGA in his social media account

Anyone know who's on the search committee? If memory serves, FRA was pretty public about theirs (or it got leaked). Make-up made it pretty obvious how ambitious they wanted to be.

Bodes well for the soccer programs. Not sure it will help (American) football all that much.

I don't ask this in an aggressive tone - it's a legitimate question and observation. How many Catholic people are there in TN? And how many families in TN want a Catholic education for their child? Historically, catholic schools thrived in inner cities because they provided families (regardless of religious denomination) with structure and lower price tags. Their price tags have gone up to a point that the difference between tuitions isn't the same. In fact, it looks lie DA is about $2k less than Pope Prep this year if I am looking at websites correctly. It will require some serious internal reflection and community involvement. 12 football players each year receiving 100% of the aid they qualify for is a huge investment. Does Pope Prep or any school think the return will be worth it? Go to their website. There is a video from September about the master plan. The first three items discussed are the chapel, academic spaces, and student gathering spaces. All very worthwhile causes and an ambitious and strong plan. So they're making it pretty clear in my mind that the money they need and want to spend in the coming years isn't focused on athletics or FA at a level it would need to be to be successful annually in TN D2 football. My fear - for many D2 schools - is that the costs of running successful athletic programs each year will become really burdensome. Investments will be made - but can they be sustained? FRA makes a good hire but couldn't get past the CPA hurdle and now as CPA leaves AA, BGA has made a move and is now more competitive. At the same time, DA, Goodpasture, and Pope Prep are slipping a bit. Another thread is discussing the challenges at MBA, but in AAA CPA is moving up, Lipscomb got itself in trouble but more importantly, the $ Dilfer was able to put into the program himself has been gone for 2 years now. BA made a good hire but is losing some good pieces that never reached the expectations people had. Ensworth appears to be heading up. And no one can compete with the financial resources of McCallie and Baylor. Yes, as boarding schools they can bring in talent from anywhere but more importantly, they have the money to afford people and spaces. Sustained success is expensive.

LOL. Headmasters are the smartest people walking the streets. Aint no one smarter than them.

The facility was the vision of one dead guy. The school leadership will tell you behind closed doors it's not how they would have spend that much money. They spent it as best they could but aren't invested in what it means to have something like that.