The [{RUMBLING}] Raider

Sounds like a great game! What did you guys do against Bradley the other night?

Walker Valley picks up a district win in extra innings against Ooltewah 3-2.

Overall, there have been very competitive games among the district. Yes, there have been blowouts, but overall there has been good ball. The seeding off the regular season results are nice, but anything can happen in the District Tourney, especially this year. Lets not forget that a (15-19) Rhea County team handed a solid Walker Valley team a loss in the tourney last year.

The District 5 AAA tournament will be very competitive, I don't think that anybody would be guaranteed to go a certain length in the tourney. Soddy Daisy, obviously appears to be the frontrunner for the District again, but I think there are a few teams that could create upsets. After Soddy Daisy, it's really scattered. The one thing defining the district is that all of the teams show flashes of being great, then turn around and be the completely opposite the next. No consistency so far.

Cleveland is in a very tough situation now. Losing their starting quarterback for the season, and having to replace him with a freshman is a huge loss. Then you have to rumors looming about two transfer players, supposively from Soddy Daisy. The rumor there is that they do not have a permanent address in Cleveland. One of those transfer players if of course their running back Mobley. That's a huge hit for Cleveland. If he is ruled ineligible then the 2 wins they have will be forfeited, which could could leave Cleveland to another losing season, and the worst season in Cleveland history... for the 2nd year in a row.

Cleveland returns plenty of players with experience. At least 10 starters, and at least 6 that were rotated in a lot in varsity games. Didn't Rhea County move up to 6A?

1. Hillsboro.

2. Henry County.

3. Mitchell.

4. Knoxville Catholic.

5. Melrose.

6. Sullivan South.

7. Beech.

8. Centennial.

9. Knoxville Clinton.

10. Cleveland.

 

ruse?

I think Cleveland will be very interesting this year. I believe that it could go two way, they do very good or they're mediocre. Cleveland returns four senior offensive linemen, several skill backs, and three defensive linemen. The inexperience part of Cleveland will more than likely be the linebackers. With a new coach at the helm I think Cleveland may actually live up to their hype, which is something they have not done in a while!

Interesting........three of the top four are staying home this year.

Definitely agree that it is a surprise to see all of the Chattanooga AAA softball teams are staying home this year. That never happens!

Slaughter is a good offensive coach...but 1 year of experience as a head coach leaves questions...kinda like The Univ. of Tennessee and Lane Kiffin...a lot of questions????????????

From what I've heard, Slaughter is going to keep the veteran guys of the Cleveland coaching staff which will definitely help him along the way. I wonder who the defensive coordinator will be... I've also heard that an assistant from Red Bank is coming to Cleveland.

From what I have heard, the administration tried very hard to get a high profile coach. They tried to get Coach Monroe, Coach Rankin and Coach Crawford among some other PROVEN head coaches. The point is, it was too late in the season to lure an established head coach away from their current program, unless they happened to catch them in the right situation. Not many would be willing to leave their current programs after already having spring practice to move in this economy and start over. I think Cleveland is lucky to have Coach Slaughter. He is a good coach. I bet it wasn't easy for him to leave Soddy and his players. Better get on the band wagon and support him or this program will continue to go in a different direction.

Definitely Agree. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

I have heard reports that atleast one has transfered to South Pitt and maybe several others will also transfer out. Not positive but just what I have heard.

The kid transferring to South Pittsburg is Coach Wilson's son, so obviously that makes sense. From what I've heard the players like the coach and the system he runs will more than likely keep everybody at Cleveland.

Monroe doesn't want the job and we can't go back to the past and the what ifs. When Rankin wanted the job back then he didn't have a championship. Now with his wins you have to whine about the past. Cleveland got a good coach considering the timing. I like the hire and I'm excited about the upcoming season. I think Slaughter could go a long ways with our guys. Give the guy a chance.

I believe he already did have a couple of championships from Riverdale before he applied, but that's besides the point, I agree that we need to look towards the future with Slaughter.

I've heard that Cleveland will hold spring practice sometime next week. It should be interesting in seeing who will be on Slaughter's Staff; I've heard that he's bringing an assistant from some school with him to Cleveland.

At 3:08 on Tuesday, the Times Free Press posted a story by Ward Gossett that E.K. Slaughter took the Cleveland job.

Here's the link: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/ma...b/?breakingnews

Cleveland fans definitely feel that this was a long, unorganized process, but are happy that Slaughter is coming to Cleveland! How successful will he be?......only time will tell, but he will definitely be able to breathe new life into a program that has been unsuccessful as of late.

From what I've heard, Cleveland is already aggressively going after another coach.

I heard they weren't really interested in Fitzgerald. At this time, they may be desperate for him. A source said they were trying real hard on getting a certain coach, but he might not take it. They say the offer is good, but is this coach willing to go? The Raider country is rattling. Who will it be?

It's already happened 3 times. Gary Rankin, Benny Monroe, and now Ron Crawford. Who is this certain coach you speak of?

hummm, they could loose some kids to other schools if they don't get someone in soon

I feel very bad for the Cleveland football players. They have a solid, hard-working junior and senior class with many starters on both sides of the ball.... that being the case most of them are bound to Cleveland and can't transfer. Cleveland could very well lose young players to other schools if something doesn't happen quick. I honestly feel bad for the Cleveland upperclassmen, because obviously Coach Wilson made his decision for the benefit for himself and had no consideration for the players that put alot of time in under his program. /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="

Yeah I think Cleveland will have to go either out of state to find a coach or find a good assistant like Cobble from Red Bank or Smith from Walker Valley.

I would like to see them go after someone with a offensive background; Wilson had so much talent last year, but squandered it by not getting the ball to all of his skill players ...... The Raider faithful definitely doesn't want to see that again.

I hear the guy from Rhea is who they liked all the time but do not know if they can make it happen.Lets hope they do what they need to do to get us a winner.

Definitely, hopefully we'll find out what Cleveland's next steps are this week.

I heard they offered the job to the Soddy coach. I've heard he was an intense coach and a great motivator. I heard it from a reliable source. Is this a good move? We need a coach like him.

E.K. Slaughter of Soddy Daisy, already told Cleveland that he has no interest in our program. Cleveland is definately in trouble. They only have one coach that could be tabbed as interim head coach and he does not want that, so that is not an option. They want a good, credible head coach, but no good coach is going to screw over their program like Wilson did to Cleveland by resigning in the spring. Cleveland might have to go after a young assistant coach.

Some do it to see if the offering school is REALLY serious about wanting to be a winner. Some on the other hand do it to push the boosters where they are at to come up with a matching offer.

 

In this case I think it is the first one if RC turns it down.

RC turned it down this morning.

The last two coach were promoted from within and neither one preformed up to expectation. I think the next round of candidates will be from out of state (if Crawford doesn't pan out).

I definately agree with this statement. I've heard that this job has drawn some out-of-state interest, so that could definately be the next step. I don't believe Cleveland has any other candidates from southeast Tennessee.

May 2, 2009

 

 

Football coach will remain at Brentwood

 

By Jeff Lockridge

THE TENNESSEAN

 

Brentwood High football Coach Ron Crawford has turned down an offer to become the new coach at Cleveland High in East Tennessee.

 

Crawford said he interviewed for the position after being contacted by Cleveland officials, but said that his happiness at Brentwood, the time of year and the task of trying to sell a house in the current market convinced him to stay.

 

Crawford said he interviewed for the position after being contacted by Cleveland officials, but said that his happiness at Brentwood, the time of year and the task of trying to sell a house in the current market convinced him to stay.

With this confirming that Crawford has declined, I would have to believe that Cleveland will have get rid of the thought of landing a coach with state championship experience. This makes it much more interesting; they obviously won't have spring practice and summer workouts are just around the corner....

Just sound likes their a little too big for their britches to me....Cleveland isnt the dynasty that it was 15 years ago, the head coaching position doesnt carry the same amount of prestige it used to. There are plenty of good coaches out there who havent made it to Murfreesboro....Jmo

Very true, but Cleveland wants to return to that level and I really don't believe they are patient enough to wait with a younger coach

Anyways, I'm not holding my breath with the chance of hiring Crawford. Who are we looking at as our other candidates for the job?

I see we have no news yet about the job.Can anyone from Brentwood tell us anything heck anyone from anywhere(LOL).

If Crawford WERE to accept this job, news of this would NOT come out until Monday. This would allow Crawford to talk to his players as well as allow Cleveland to talk to its players. If news were made official Sunday, it would make everyone around Brentwood think Crawford is a jerk for telling everyone else his decision before them. So if Crawford WERE to accept this job it more than likely WON'T happen before Monday, allowing Crawford to leave on good footing.

I think you mean #4, as Crawford is the #3. First 2 were long shots. /blink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blink:" border="0" alt="blink.gif" />

The people conducting the search at Cleveland, have clearly stated they want somebody with State Championship titles, so of course they were going to take a chance at some long shots.