Best NIL Coach

[cbg]

Who was the best coach ever in the old NIL? IMO the league should still be around.

[workinprogress]

I am lost on what this league was? I don't believe I have ever heard of it. What's some background for those of us that don't know about the NIL.

[o21putt]

Nashville Interscholastic League

Edited May 2, 2006 by papatj

[nrgrizzlies]

Nashville Interscholastic League

 

Hillwood, Hillsboro, Overton, Cohn, North, Pearl, East, Stratford, Maplewood, Madison, Dupont, Glencliff, several others

 

I think they had better basketball coaching than football.

Just my .02

[DS2001]

Many good coaches in that in that 1940s to 1980s era.... but one stood above all others in my opinion....................Tommy Owen of MBA

[cbg]

Hillwood, Hillsboro, Overton, Cohn, North, Pearl, East, Stratford, Maplewood, Madison, Dupont, Glencliff, several others

 

I think they had better basketball coaching than football.

Just my .02

 

 

Let's take a close look at the teams:

 

Joelton, Goodletsville, Madison, DuPont, Litton, Mapelwood, Stratford, East, Donelson, Two Rivers, McGavock, Hume Fogg, Pearl, Central, West, Hillwood, Bellevue, Overton, Antioch, Glencliff, Father Ryan, Montgomery Bell Academy, Hillsboro, David Lipscomb, North, Cumberland, Cohn, TPS, TSB

 

Those were some really good community schools with good coaching. Most of the people that were good athletes at those school moved to one of the surrounding counties and the education seen started to change in Davidson County.

[cbg]

Which coaches won state championships:

 

Wes Elrod (Mapelwood) ?

Tommy Owen (Montgomery Bell Academy) ?

Boots Donnley (Father Ryan, Vanderbilt, Austin Peay, MTSU)

 

Did Litton win a state championship?

[BDURHAM]

I second that one!

 

Many good coaches in that in that 1940s to 1980s era.... but one stood above all others in my opinion....................Tommy Owen of MBA

[bigchief]

Which coaches won state championships:

 

Wes Elrod (Mapelwood) ?

Tommy Owen (Montgomery Bell Academy) ?

Boots Donnley (Father Ryan, Vanderbilt, Austin Peay, MTSU)

 

Did Litton win a state championship?

They did not play for a "state championship" for many years. The Clinic Bowl put the two best teams in the area together for a Thanksgiving game. Litton had several teams in the 50's and 60's that would have won "state" championships. They routinely played the best teams in the state like Oak Ridge. I still have a copy of the NIL Magazine from 1974 that Don Harris and his brother put out. I got it at my grandfather's store that used to sit on Gallatin Road and Trinity lane. McGinnis Drugs. There were many many coaches that had some strong teams. Donelson in the 60's with Austin Denney, Chuck Steagald, Kenny Johnson, Steve Burger. Litton had too many to mention..George Volkert, Rip Nix, Bobby Tillman, Bonnie Sloan.

 

When I get a little free time I will post a list of guys from each team. Until then, today's whatever happened to is in honor of my current employer, East High. Frank Hastings. He past away a couple of years ago. Starred in the early 50's for the old Grey Eagles.

[nrgrizzlies]

West High Blue jays? Before becoming a middle school around the time Litton did?

[Bighurt]

West High Blue jays? Before becoming a middle school around the time Litton did?

West's last graduating class was 1967 if I remember correctly.

 

Best NIL coach? IHMO, Bill Harris at Litton and Bill Brimm at Madison.

[otis]

what made the NIL great was the teams represented the communities around the schools. the schools had neighborhood pride. with all the closings and new schools over the past 20 years, we've lost that community support in nashville schools. that's why mid-state schools and privates are flourishing while metro schools are faltering.

 

Is there any school in Nashville that is truly a neighborhood school today?

 

As the NIL has devolved into metro, the importance of the schools to the communities has lessened. There is no connection, no support, and the importance of athletics in metro schools seems to be at an all-time low.

 

The best thing that could happen to metro schools would be to return to true neighborhood schools, like the old NIL.