ShaneJacobs

I regret that I did not answer the most obvious question. Why not play this week? Allow me to offer our explanation. Coach Stowe called me Tuesday around noon. I’d rather not share specific information within our program, but I can be general enough to perhaps provide enough clarification. If we played Friday night, we would be without 6-9 key players (a few would have been game-time decisions). Our streak will end one day, but we will not give it away by playing a very good football team (with almost zero preparation) and some of our best players unavailable. We were (and still are) willing to play opponents who would have talent similar to talent we would have been able to put on the field. I gave Coach Dilfer and a few other schools the same answer. There is no question in my mind that, given some inside information which I won’t disclose, every coach would have made the same decision to decline games with Dyersburg, Lipscomb, Oakland, etc. A team will end the streak. It was almost the best player in the country who did it. If it would’ve happened last Friday (against Westview), so be it. We were fortunate and they almost did it. We will not give this streak away. It will be earned by an opponent. When that day comes, our players and coaches will shake hands and sincerely be proud for that team and their community. Streak or no streak, we’re not putting younger and much less experienced players on the field against a high quality football team like the teams I mentioned above. Doing that would be a completely irresponsible way to run a program. I understand playing Friday seems obvious, but there are decisions that head coaches make who have information about which no one else knows. We’re certainly not always right, but we do the best we can to be as thorough in our decision-making process as possible.

I am Shane Jacobs, football coach at Peabody. I sincerely appreciate anyone who has an interest in high school football. I believe, unfortunately, it has become just about the only aspect of a young man’s life which he must earn. Too many things are given. The game is unfair - the best team doesn’t always win. The most talented, the hardest working, the most prepared, the most invested teams do not always win. It is necessary to be all of these things just to give yourself a chance. And even if you do all of these things, give your absolute best, play your freaking guts out, you still might lose. You still might fail. That’s football. That’s life. It’s not fair. Football and life - it’s not about what happens to you, it’s about how you RESPOND to what happens to you. We preach this every day in our program. The decision to play Lake Co in a potential de facto Region Championship game was simple, a no-brainer. Lake Co kids do not deserve to have that taken from them. I’m not in this business for just Peabody kids (although I love every kid in our program with everything I got). I’m in this business for all kids. All educators feel the same way. I sincerely believe that. The difficult part was how to make it happen. For reasons too long to explain, our Dyersburg game was the only option. I agonized over this for 3 days. I wanted to do right by Lake Co and their kids, but I wanted to do right by Dyersburg, their great coach, and, in my opinion, perhaps the most talented team in West Tennessee. Fellas, Dyersburg is good. They have a special group of players this year. They are for real and will be a nightmare for opponents in November. They unquestionably have a great shot at representing the west in Chattanooga. Playing them will absolutely be an incredible challenge for our coaches and players - a challenge we want, a challenge West Tenn fans deserve to see. My thinking - We guarantee Lake Co a Region Championship game. We and Dyersburg will have (unfortunately and inevitably) more COVID cancellations. Finding a way to shift other games or, and highly likely in my opinion, we will have COVID cancellations at the same time which will give us the opportunity to play this much-anticipated game. If this does not happen, we will lose our home game with Dyersburg next year. A Dyersburg-Peabody gate will potentially bring in $12K-$15K in revenue for our program. That’s a huge risk financially for us. At the end of the day, the streak made zero impact on the decision. The money would have been the reason to accept the forfeit with Lake Co, and that just never felt right. Ultimately, I’m extremely hopeful both games happen, and I really think they will. Taking an opportunity from Lake Co because of money was just hard for me to do. I really felt moving Lake Co to Week 6 gave us the best possibility at both games happening. Heres my request to everyone reading this…When this game happens (not if, but WHEN), please make sure the banter is strictly about football (i.e. predictions, analysis, keys to the game, etc.) When we take cheap shots at others’ communities and/or programs, it takes away from the kids on the field and the limelight they’ve earned. I will personally answer questions to anyone who sends me an email (shane.jacobs@trentonssd.org). Responding on an anonymous forum is much more impersonal and less effective. Perhaps I’ve cleared a few things up. If not, email me. I have no problem explaining any and all of this in more detail. If you love high school football, I’m grateful for you, and I’ll show you by responding to your inquiries.