OwlPride

Brady gets as much recruiting mail as Jacquez and was an official visitor at Auburn this Saturday as they are recruiting him hard. Bennie said last year he has the potential to be the best he has ever coached. Stump rated him one of the top juniors in the state. These are all facts not opinions....

I don't think it's right for Loves High School Football and others to blame the qb for all of the team's woes. Bennie has to share in the blame.Has the qb struggled? Yes but part of the problem is Ooltewah does not what they want to do on offense.

We had a great frshmen team two years ago and last year. What difference does it make? The new school is opening next year....

Brady Reed is a 16 year old kid....Bennie Monroe is a grown man that is the face of the program. All I have ever seen you do is get on here and dog Brady Reed and try to make him the scapegoat for Bennie Monroe's failings. Talking a little football?

You would think, but this gets back to the way they choose to run their football program. They would rather run around and talk about the next big transfer than encouraging the kids already there. Last years's freshmen team went 9-1 against primarily a jv schedule but they have 15 left? Houston, we have a problem....

Listen Miss or Mister, Coach Monroe does NOT even know the names of his players! Football has passed him by and he can no longer relate. It will be a great day when he passes the torch to somebody that knows how to build a program. I get sick of him acting like a spoiled brat. Need I go on? Can you tell I'm ready for a change?

What?! Let me predict the future for you. Bennie Monroe is going to ride off into the sunset once this junior class graduates. You notice how many sophomores are on our roster? Bennie Monroe does not care about the kids, he does not care about Ooltewah. Where does the man live? I believe we have coaches on staff that ARE NOT being allowed to coach and certainly have no input on player personnel. Bennie Monroe only wants to feed his selfish ego. Let's also remember his success was at the AA level. He also coached a lot of fone, upstanding citizens at Cleveland didn't he? Let's call a spade a spade and lay off a 16 year old kid. This is high school football not the NFL. This is a message forum that should not be used to bash kids. Monroe is a grown man.....that acts like a child that should be held accountable.

Hammer meet nail! This loss needs to be put squarely on the shoulders of Bennie Monroe! Ted Gatewood built this program and this guy is doing an excellent job of running it in the ground. Does Monroe actually think it makes him look smart by running the wing t one week, the spread the next, the I Formation the next? No wonder there is mass confusion on the field. It's not like we're playing with McCallie calibre talent if you get my drift. Brady is becoming Monroe's scape goat and it's not right. This program needs a CHANGE! Let the coaches coach, MONROE! Also kudos to Maplewood for providing an enjoyable atmosphere.....can't say much for the facilities.....but Ralph Thompson is a class act. I'm standing around before the game and the head coach comes up to me and talks for about 10 minutes and we talk about the guys that are being recruited from Maplewood, his time at UGA where he played, the UGA-Bama game etc. He is an absolute class act, doesn't take himself too serious, and is a heckubva motivator and coach. He's a guy that when his kids grow up, and they're working every day.....they will actually have fond memories about. Imagine that! I am now a Maplewood fan and will be rooting for them the rest of the way.

that young qb for William Blount is going to be a good one.....the future is bright for the Govs!

The biggest thing hurting the team is the two open dates at the beginning of the season. From this point forward, I expect the Owl offense to be more in sync.....simply because we will be playing every week. I don't think wholesale changes are needed....just a little tweaking. I would like to see Sammy Seamster with the ball in his hand more often even if we give it to him out of the wing T. I/m not so sure he wouldn't be our best tailback if he played the position. In fairness to Brady, the coaches were bound and determined to run until we had to throw on third down. Not alot of qb's can make a living by only throwing in obvious passing situations. I thought Brady threw the deep ball well and I thought #4 ran a poor route and gave up on that first deep ball. If teams want to crowd the line, I think that plays to Brady's strength which is without a doubt throwing the ball deep and that's going to allow us to take some shots. The pic he threw was not neccesarily his fault. The coaches are going to have to reconsider playing so many of their starters both ways. Is Johnny Myricks playing both ways better than Tracy Hunter one way? Tracy started as a sophomore at cb and now he plays mop up? That's just one example. I think you need to coach these younger guys up and start getting some of these backups in earlier to spell the starters....notice I said some. It is also becoming obvious that we might have a couple of players that might be better off moving to another position. They are good football players but don't appear to be suited to play where they are currently playing. The one that comes quickly to mind is a starter on defense and needs to be getting up field rushing the passer instead of retreating in pass coverage and trying to play sideline to sideline. But what do I know about this crazy game? I just make observations.

I want to make myself perfectly clear. There are kids that got a chance last season as sophomores that would not have gotten a chance in most years. Even Coach Monroe said his quarterback was not ready last season and should have been playing jv ball. I agree and it's great to be in a program where you don't have to play sophomores. As far as backups are concerned in the McMinn game, if you look at the film, you'll find that we played mostly starters with the exception of the last 45 seconds after the on-sides kick. A hail mary pass could have occurred against the starters. Don't pin that on the backups Red4life....you know better than that. Furthermore, my son is a sophomore, plays behind the so called "chosen six", doesn't complain, comes to practice every day to get better, works hard in the weight room, has a 4.0 gpa and is ranked in the top 15 of his 475 member class. No worries here.....he's happy competing in jv and actually understands the purpose of school is to get an education.

Ooltewah DID NOT freely substitute and it never has and never will under Benny Monroe. There were rumblings thru the crowd this past Friday about the starters continuing to play deep into the 4th quarter. Whoever is trying to say we were playing our backups is absolutely, 100% wrong. The problem with this team is going to be depth or shall I say, lack of depth. You cannot build depth if you don't look for opportunities to allow backups to play. The other night was a perfect example. A lot of our starters were beginning to tire when McMinn started moving the ball. Blount will be another game where Monroe will have the oppurtunity to rest some guys and let the young guys get some experience, but if his track record is an indication of the future, it will not happen. I have followed this situation closely since his arrival, and if there is a complaint about his coaching it's that he doesn't play many backups. This past Friday was the best game the Owls have played in two seasons. Kudos to Monroe and staff for catching the Warriors flat footed. This team will go as far as the defense and John Long's leg will take them. I still question whether we have the running game to beat the better teams and I question whether we can make key plays in the passing game with the game on the line. I am concerned about the number of players going both ways. I doubt there are any AAAAA championship contenders playing as many as we do.

It doesn't matter what position you go out for. If there is a need, the coaches will generally put who is available and most suitable to play that particular position. The problem I have with coaches in general is that they tend to fall in love with who isn't there rather than the players they have. I have heard for months that the coaches were trying to get Flanders to come out. I also heard they wanted Nathan Cagle to play qb and begged another player who shall go un named(because you will laugh) not to quit. You hear crazy stuff....

That's all we need is another player going both ways, especially a player who has practiced with the varsity a total of two weeks since sitting foot on campus. As far as I know, he didn't practice in the spring. I guess he will have to make a believer out of me because I don't see what the hullabaloo is....yet. Now, don't interpret what I'm saying as dogging the young man because I'm not, but I saw him play qb as a freshman and I understood perfectly why Brady Reed transferred from Baylor. Frankly, I know freshmen and jv ball don't always translate to varsity ball, but Manning was a better frosh qb than Flanders. I know different years...different supporting cast etc. but that's my .02 cents. I think Flanders will find a spot in the starting lineup.....just not at qb. I think there is at least one spot on defense that is up for grabs between about four players. There are two other spots that are concerning on that side of the ball, but he is not going to play there.....I don't think unless we change our scheme. With the way football is evolving and everyone running the spread, your linebackers have to be able to cover backs and receivers. This is going to bear watching the next few weeks. I understand Flanders is getting rep time at qb and he might have a package to run but Brady Reed is the qb unless we lose to McMinn and Bradley and it's attributable to the qb play. I think the coaches know what Brady can and can't do and don't expect that to happen.

Where do you people come up with this stuff? What makes Corey Flanders so special? The fact that he did not play as a sophomore? He was injured two weeks into fall practice after not competing at the varsity level last season but he might be the best athlete on this team?! With apologies to the young man, he is not the best athlete on the Owl team. Now, he might become good enough to become a solid contributor, but this kid has no where, and I mean no where near the speed of Seamster,Myricks et al. His speed is closer to the second and third team receivers than to that of Myricks and Seamster. Jeez....talk about setting up a kid for failure. I think the Owls are headed for a 6-3/7-2 type season.

The score is not indicitave of how we played. I believe we have alot of work to do on both sides of the ball. The defensive line is playing outstanding which is masking some of our shortcomings. I believe #38 has earned himself a starting spot somewhere as he plays with a lot of heart. I would like to see #7 perform on Friday night as he does against the cannon fodder aka as the scout team. I love the energy #20 and #36 bring to the defense. #5 is just a sophomore but looks good @ returning punts and knows how to make people miss. Offensively, we are a work in progress with so many new starters at the skill positions. Our passing game will improve once the qb and wr get on the same page most of the time. I'm beginning to think the wr's aren't always where they should be which causes the qb to look bad. This area should improve dramatically in game #2.

Eagle, Rhea had nine total yards and one yard rushing. Your qb would have woke up in the hospital this morning had it been a real game. Ooltewah's speed was far superior to Rhea County's. Ooltewah stopped themselves....

Ooltewah is going to be very good IF they stay healthy. Jacquez is a one man wrecking crew. When the offense gets Gino Norwood off the disabled list, it is going to be dangerous. Brady has shown flashes of being a bigtime qb but still needs to become more consistent(doesn't everybody?) Johnny Myricks appears to be the most improved player on the team. He has gone from a guy that was basically a jv player as a junior to a top receiving threat. With Norwood,Myricks, and Seamster at wr, is their a better group in the state? Walker Valley is very,very much improved and has begun to tap into Cleveland's talent pool. They will upset somebody they aren't supposed to beat and may be playoff bound. I know they played a Notre Dame team that was absolutely pathetic, but I have watched Walker Valley scrimmage and last night comfirmed my observations. Baylor MIGHT win one game. How does a school that prides itself on having one of the nation's top athletic programs become so bad? Who cares about golf and tennis except Lookout Mountain people? DO SOMETHING TO MAKE YOUR SELF BETTER OR GIVE IT UP! If Baylor played Notre Dame, they might win two games because this Notre Dame team is AWFUL. Their backfield might not make it thru the season because their line play is atrocious. Brainerd was without a doubt the most unorganized team and were more athletic than Baylor and Notre Dame, but played bad football. Boyd Buchanan had the best qb of any team on the field. He was throwing to a number of targets that were Ooltewah transfers. Imagine how good he could be throwing to bigtime talents like Norwood and Seamster? East Ridge is very young at the skill positions and I believe they will struggle. Lastly, and I don't mean to dog a kid, but is there a more over-hyped and over rated player than PJ Hubbard at Soddy Daisy?

Maryville? Why do they always avoid moving to 6A?

Boxing and jiu jitsu, huh? That's big...

It's likely his Dad doing the bragging.....sad.