extremefury

Oak Ridge's secondary should be tops, with Coffey being the leader. The only weakness would be the Bingham kid. He was just a sophmore and did have some key plays, but he gave up a lot of big plays also. Teams started to exploit that at the end of the year. With that being said, he had good position, but heigth hurt him at times. Hopefully Speas as DC will bring a tougher mentality to a secondary that played a lot of soft zone. Also the D-line didn't help by not putting a lot of pressure on the QB. Even in the 2nd game with DB we only sacked Ferguson one time and had a few pressures, but it had more to due with him being-off then our D-line pressuring him.

Well said. Also a good source of scholarships for the none blue-chip athletes in this area was the Division IAA schools. But with ETSU dropping football, Austin Peay football is non-scholarship, UTC thinking about dropping football, and MTSU going D1 etc, there are not many options. Also out of state Division IAA schools would rather recruit locally. All schools below that are limited in scholarships so they also tend to recruit locally. As far as the Oak Ridge kids, they've had their share. Year before last they had Booker, Stevens, Hordell get scholarships. This past year seniors, really didn't have any college potential athletes besides Mitchell and Mullholand. This years group should have some. As far as D1 prospects the one with the biggest potential would probably be Revel Coffey. He has the size and athletic ability to play corner at a lot of schools. Speed and tackling will be a big factor. Gulmire and Blair may get a look from lower tier D1 prospects like MTSU, Louisville, Memphis State, etc. They are good/great high school runners, but size and speed may limit them. Both have good speed, but most schools would rather take a 6'1'' 220lb rb back that runs a 4.4 or faster forty rather than a 5'10'' 185lb running back who runs a 4.5 forty. The one exception would be Gulmire, he could get a look from bigger schools due to his experience on defense. He probably could play in someone secondary as a strong safety or nickel back. But again size and speed may be a factor. One thing that should be a plus is Coach Stevens track record of getting kids scholarships. In the last 5 years AE has had more kids offered scholarships than OR.

Sorry to hear that. I played against him in high school and I rember him going to Auburn. One thing I remember was a big article on him. I think it had something to do about him having to quit Auburn and take care of his sister(s). It just shows that sports really just plays a small part in life.

I know this is not the same subject, but what ever happened to Cory Lewis the Gallatin qb in the mid 80's that played at Auburn?

I don't know about offense, but coach Speas whom I would assume will stay was his defensive coordinator the year they one the state, so he may take over the defense.

dmoyer1, I agree. Go Cat's

I call it like I see it. I'm not the one making it a Stevens issue. My last post was in response to someone who said Steven shouldn't have been a finalist and the other such post. The one in particular was in BIG RED letters, looks like it got deleted. But if that wasn't a Stevens issue then you tell me what it was. May be that's why it got deleted.

You all kill me with this 3A, 5A stuff. When I played there was only 3A. 5A is nothing but a watered down system to bring in more money for the TSAA. A good thing to look at is the recent vote they had to scale down to 4 classes during the season, but during the playoff move back to 5 classes. 5A schools just have more athletes to choose from and more depth to compete year in and year out. At anytime one can beat the other and that is the only game that matters at that time. We should have learned that from our loss to Anderson County. Although I'm sure that everyone on hear loves Oak Ridge football let's step back and take a look at what really have we accomplished since the 1991 Championship. 1991 State Champions at 3A 1992 5-5 1993 11-3 1994 13-1 Undefeated Regular Season 1995 11-1 Undefeated Regular Season 1996 12-2 1997 8-4 1998 10-3 1999 12-1 Undefeated Regular Season, Region 2-5A Champs 2000 11-2 Region 2-5A Champs 2001 6-4 2002 9-3 Lori Neimeyer kicks extra point, 1st points by a girl in OR history 2003 12-2 Region 2-5A Champs 2004 12-2 Region 2-5A Champs WOW! Looks like all we can really celebrate is a a bunch of undefeated regular season, region champion ships and a girl kicking a extra point. I don't see any "5A Championships" But everybody seems to be walking around with their chest poking out saying whoopee we're Oak Ridge. Well if those accomplishement satisfy you then Stanton shouldn't have any problems. I for one want to win, and quit having to say wait for next year. I support Stevens, and I think he is the right choice. All he has to do is average 11 wins and 2 losses for the next 14 years and he will be okay. That's what the last two coaches did, and you all seem to consider them great. But I'm sure that the standards will change for him, all of a sudden we will expect more. HECK BE HAPPY YOU ALL WANTED TO SETTLE FOR A COACH WHO WAS 5-5. That's what you really need to be questioning.

Back in the day Oak Ridge vs Central, Summers vs. Helton 1991 playoff. No that should have been the State Championship Game.

I heard he did apply, but I also heard that the committe did subvert their decision. Word has it that on Friday, they were prepared to announce that the coach from Baylor would be the next head coach if he accepted and that coach Stevens and Gray were in the top three. Gaddis was not mentioned. (Was this just a smoke screen to appease the Stevens and Gray Supports.) If that is true then what happened over the weekend to make Gaddis such a front runner. "And as all of the people here say, this came from a reliable source". But again it couldn't be true, because some think that others are not as priviledged as the them in getting information. It goes back to this precious committee of 7 that so many seem to trust and who has been leaking information throughout this process. Some committee, seems to me they couldn't keep their mouth shut long enough for an official announcement. That is why we are at this point. They seem to be sitting back and letting Green and Carringer take all of the heat. If they are so passionate about their recommendation, then why don't they reveal themselves in a public forum, so that the real community can question there thought process. Then we can truely get to the bottom of this. I am not as confident in this committees decision as some of you all are, and I'm sure that there are a lot of others. Like it or not Stevens is our coach. Go Cats!

Good point. It seems like every year those two teams finds someone to replace the one that just left. This subject is so subjective. Their are a lot of things that factor into it besides the skill of the individual player. Strenght of opponent, stength of O-Line, field conditions, type of offense, number of big plays etc. I can say that both are impressive and are deserving of consideration. The one thing you probably could say about all the good backs is that if you put them into the other ones shoes, they could still get the job done.

Wow, seems to be a little biased don't you think. No there is no difference. Just because you say she has not scaled down her job, just because her kids went to Oak Ridge Schools, and just because she hasn't gotten a job she should be able to make decisions on what goes on in Oak Ridge next year. Same principle, she will not be here just as Green. The bottom line is she won't be here next year, so tell me again, why she should be able to make decisions that effect our future and not Green. I'm no supporter of Ken Green and I could care less about him, I just think it's funny how people feel that their view is the only view. That's the same mentality that has gotten us to this point. Now who does it look like has an agenda. Seems to me that everyone has their view and they will do or say anything they want to justify it. I can't fault you on that, it's your right, but I also have a right to my view. With that being said, I have a lot of respect for Coach Lussier. I played for him when coach Young and Gaddis were here. His son Chad was our water boy. I think that he and his family have represented the community well. I wish him and his family well.

I'm new to this post and I live in Oak Ridge and played for Oak Ridge under Coach Gaddis. I don't have a problem if that is there choice, but I do have a problem with the lack of consideration that they seem be giving coach Stevens. It's comical to sit here and read this post about Ken Green blocking the selection and having a hidden agenda. 1. If anybody has a hidden agenda it's that so called committe. You place so much faith in it but since we don't know who's on it then how do we know that they don't have a hidden agenda. Why because you all say so or may be you all have the same hidden agenda. 2. Who says that that committee represents all Oak Ridge fans. Who, you all whom seem to think you know everything. My phone has been ringing off the hook with people who don't think this is the best route for Oak Ridge's future. 3. How do we know that Coach Stevens didn't perform well, oh yeah the committee that represents everyone says so. Like someone said before, I bet that some of the are the same individuals whom condemed him before, but for some reason he's the unanimous choice. I guess that in there mind, that choice is the best choice as long as it's not "Stevens"? I wonder what agenda that falls behind. 4. Like it or not Ken Green still is the principle. I don't think that any of you will find that in his contract it says stop doing your job since you will not be here next year. I don't remember hearing people complaining when the paper said that Mrs. Lussier would be leaving, but she would still be making decisions on teacher hirings next year. Oh but that doesn't count because it's only about our kids education, not who their football coach will be. Who ever the next coach is I will support, not just because of "Football" but because of the kids playing football. Football has opened many doors for a lot of my friends and for that I am greatfull.