Hillwood Looking for New Coach

[homegrown]

FIRST OF ALL- i cannot believe all the nice things being said about coach baskin. He is awful. Obviously, if you don't see him on a daily basis, you would have NO idea how he acts towards his atheletes and other students.

 

It's appauling how he treats everyone and the things he says. He picks on anything and everything he can. Cussing, screaming, you name it. It's about time the admin did something.

 

Just a few months ago- He had his wellness class in the gym. Evidently he DID NOT want anyone to come in there. I was supposed to be going to talk to him about some football information. When I realized I didn't have everything from him, and that he forgot to tell me a few things I needed to know, I went back. He starts yelling and cussing calling me everything but a white american. He speech is the most inappropriate out of a teacher/coach I have ever heard.

 

Also- BigChief.....You're the main one on here tearing Hillwood apart. I think you used to coach there? If you want to talk about bad coaching, why don't you tell me about your softball team 3 years ago?

[Footballen]

a coach is supposed to educate and guide, and not destroy a childs character.

[12NCS]

QUOTE(homegrown @ Feb 8 2007 - 10:57 AM) 826363424[/snapback]

FIRST OF ALL- i cannot believe all the nice things being said about coach baskin. He is awful. Obviously, if you don't see him on a daily basis, you would have NO idea how he acts towards his atheletes and other students.

 

It's appauling how he treats everyone and the things he says. He picks on anything and everything he can. Cussing, screaming, you name it. It's about time the admin did something.

 

Just a few months ago- He had his wellness class in the gym. Evidently he DID NOT want anyone to come in there. I was supposed to be going to talk to him about some football information. When I realized I didn't have everything from him, and that he forgot to tell me a few things I needed to know, I went back. He starts yelling and cussing calling me everything but a white american. He speech is the most inappropriate out of a teacher/coach I have ever heard.

 

Also- BigChief.....You're the main one on here tearing Hillwood apart. I think you used to coach there? If you want to talk about bad coaching, why don't you tell me about your softball team 3 years ago?

 

 

 

I am not BigChief but i can tell you that the softball program under his command was top notch. Ask the girls on the squad that played what he did in his program. His girls were devastated when his teaching schedule was screwed with and he made the correct choice and left. He coached the boys basketball teams and he was at every football game cooking burgers and helping out the entire school. I believe I know who you are and if I am correct, I am confused why you resent BigChief. He gave his all for Hillwood while he was employed there. I doubt you will find a better girls softball coach in Metro and if there is please give that person credit by naming himher. Does your kid even go to Hillwood?

[ELA]

As a moderator, I really do not see the need to badmouth former coaches. We call it "throwing stones" at a man who is no longer in the picture. Whatever did or didn't happen during the coach's tenure is not and should not be the issue on this thread.

 

Having said that, I would like to believe there is hope for Metro schools like Hillwood. True leadership can bring about change. Maybe it starts with the administration, if not them, then who? Isn't it the job of a head coach to provide positive leadership? For obvious reasons I will not participate in this discussion but I do think the right people can make a difference.

 

When I started as a teacher many years ago I was very idealistic. I believed one man or woman could make a difference. After years of working in this profession, I have had the waters of reality wash away some of my idealism, but in the end, we must continue to believe and accept that we (educators) are hired to have a positive impact in the lives of our students. Hopefully, there are more men who coach who still believe these things are possible.

 

No doubt, this is a tough challenge. It will be an uphill battle for whomever is selected to lead the Hilltoppers. It will not be an easy task but it is one worth someone's time and efforts. I wish you well.

[TheBigRedDog]

ELA, good points. While I'm not a Hillwood supporter and know very little about what has been going on over there, I would like to see them do well. I drove by there the other day and that place looks awful. The school itself and the athletic facilities were terrible. Sad indeed. It seems strange to me, though, that other metro schools are finding football success i.e. Stratford, Pearl-Cohn, Maplewood, etc. Why can't Hillwood? Is it the fact that neighborhood kids generally go to private schools and many students are bussed in? Or is it an administrative/leadership issue? It seems to me that there HAS to be some athletes in that school. I'm of the belief, again not having close knowledge of the situation, that the right coach could turn that thing around and, in turn, build some school spirit. Hopefully, they can get someone hired quickly and have spring practice and get a year-round weight program going; two things that I think are critical for success. Good luck to Hillwood.

[bigchief]

Homegrown, nothing I have ever said about Hillwood has EVER been false. I challenge you to find ONE THING that I have said that was false. You can't because I was there and you were on the outside looking in. Take your blinders off and see the whole picture. The truth hurts sometimes. Now here is a little truth for you.

 

That softball team you refer to had the best record the school had seen in 8 years. We won more games than the three years before I took over the program COMBINED. How many did they win last year after only losing one senior from my last team there? Zero. We had a 1st team all-state catcher (the 3rd all-state player in three years). How many all-state players had there been at Hillwood before them? Zero. When I got there the field was a pile of sand with open air dugouts and one set of rotten wood bleachers. When I left we had an indoor batting cage, an outdoor batting cage, concrete block dugouts, bleachers and the 2nd best field surface in the district next to Hickman County. It was ME that put out 400lbs. of grass seed and fertilizer every fall and mowed it from April to September. It was ME that nail-dragged, chain-dragged, chalked and painted that field every day for three years. It was ME that hand-raked the entire infield when it rained so we could still play. The girls and I painted both the indoor room and the dugouts. I fund-raised about $10,000 in three years since we only got enough from the school to pay for game umpires and game balls.

 

The point is not what all I did, but the fact that all of that stuff had NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE. Ask any of my former players about their experience in softball at Hillwood with me and then last year. You might find out how stupid your comments really were. Heck ask any of my basketball players too. There is a reason why I had several different parents of basketball players calling/asking me to consider coming back after Winston died. When we played them in January every kid that I had coached there came up to say hello. There are some good kids there. There are also a lot of problems that are not being addressed. To act like there are not is ridiculous. Athletics had been a step-child at Hillwood for some time when I got there. However, as 12NCS can also tell you, there were a lot of good people that were quietly being assembled there and the differences were beginning to show when the rug was pulled on the whole thing. Now look at what you have. The best track coach in the history of Tennessee wanted to continue coaching there, but retire from teaching and he was told no chance. Smart move.

 

Make sure you know what you are talking about before you spout off again.

[nrgrizzlies]

As a 1970's HHS grad, this is all very upsetting to hear. I went to like 3 home games during that 12 game win streak (3 years ago?) even though I have lived in Rutherford for almost 20 years now. There was a 15 minute line to buy a ticket when they played Hillsboro. It must have really crumbled quickly after that.

 

The idea of a magnet school sounds good, but grades 7-12? Is there not a middle down the street (used to be HG Hill Elem.??) Plus the former Bellevue High became a middle around 1981 or so?

 

Plus what would you do with some of the "non-magnet school types" in the zone?

Back when I was there, some of the "Charlotte Park" kids were very - how should I put this - "non-academic." Some were great students - as good or better than the "Westmeade" kids. Others were destined to work the oil/lube or drive-thru.

Not trying to be a jerk about it...just telling it like it was/is.

 

I think Bellevue Middle could become the non-magnet 7-12 school (it was built to be a h.s. anyway) and HHS could be a 9-12 magnet maybe?

 

If somebody would have told me back in the day that Hillsboro would be a football power and Overton would have a championship quality marching band while Hillwood struggled in everything, I wouldn't have believed it. It's really a shame.

[ELA]

QUOTE(TheBigRedDog @ Feb 8 2007 - 01:10 PM) 826363545[/snapback]

ELA, good points. While I'm not a Hillwood supporter and know very little about what has been going on over there, I would like to see them do well. I drove by there the other day and that place looks awful. The school itself and the athletic facilities were terrible. Sad indeed. It seems strange to me, though, that other metro schools are finding football success i.e. Stratford, Pearl-Cohn, Maplewood, etc. Why can't Hillwood? Is it the fact that neighborhood kids generally go to private schools and many students are bussed in? Or is it an administrative/leadership issue? It seems to me that there HAS to be some athletes in that school. I'm of the belief, again not having close knowledge of the situation, that the right coach could turn that thing around and, in turn, build some school spirit. Hopefully, they can get someone hired quickly and have spring practice and get a year-round weight program going; two things that I think are critical for success. Good luck to Hillwood.

 

 

 

Look at Hillsboro as an example. Hillsboro went through a Renaissance about ten or eleven years ago. A new administration, new coaching staff, and some new paint and carpet; now look what they have done since then.

 

I believe that any school can have such an experience if the right staff is in place to make it happen. I can remember scrimmaging against Hillwood when I worked in Maury County back in the 1990's. I don't remember their teams being in bad shape. They gave us all we wanted in a couple of regular season games.

 

The situation may be just as bad as many of you alumni say it is, but someone will be selected to coach the team and if they can work with the administration to better the situation for the boys, then so be it. Maybe a renaissance is out of the question for schools like Hillwood; but then again, no one really knows for sure. When I took over at SLHS in Eastern NC, I was informed we could not win more than one or two games. They had not experienced a winning season in over a decade and had only been to the playoffs once in 42 years. We won six in a row defeating teams the school had not beaten in school history. If the right coaching staff is put into place with the right talent package being already in place, amazing things can happen. If you start with the assumption that it can’t be done then you’re right. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

Sometimes we can't think in terms of "reloading" or even "rebuilding." We must use terms like "rethinking" to explain what must be done. Coaches and teachers must inspire and teach the fundamentals of our craft. Schools that have a long journey to find success must have more of everything. It all begins with inspiration and the teaching of fundamentals.

[nrgrizzlies]

What do you guys think about breaking the zone back up and turning Bellvue back into a h.s. and having 2 schools instead of one..just like in the old days.

[12NCS]

A coaching staff needs to be assembled. A quality head coach can only do so much. If he can't assemble a quality staff with the administration's help and have the time to change the negativity, you have the status quo. Most of the students that live in North Nashville go to Pearl or Whites Creek football games for some reason. So you have zero school spriit. You have too much gang pressure that pulls at the freshmen and sophomores (juniors and seniors usually mature out of this phase imo) Take away the Hume-Fogg studentathletes and see what the football team looks like on the field and in the classroom. Lets forget about athletics and look at the number of teachers who have left Hillwood since Johnson's departure. Why have they left? I am not talking about coaches either. When a high number of quality teachers leave because they want to teach in a safe, friendly environment, the snowball effect begins. Kids run the school and the discipline is lacking for the most part. There are two quality assistant principals at Hillwood that have their hands tied to some degree. If you have a child that lives in West Nashville, you better hope they are highly intelligent and get into a Magnet or they choose the open enrollment opportunities at schools such as Hillsboro or Pearl or be financially secure enough to send them to a private. School board member Ed Kindall would like to keep Pearl undercapacity with empty classrooms while hundreds of North Nashvillians pass Pearl in busses on their way to Hillwood every morning. Hillwood will not reach the 3rd round of the state playoffs with the current head principal with Peyton Manning at Quarterback and Pete Carroll as head coach. Big talker and talk is cheap

[homegrown]

chief- i know what i'm talking about. i wouldn't post on here if i didn't. your whole paragraph that was strictly about YOU doesn't phase me. You may be right with some things that you say, but never in my life have i heard someone keep on and on about hillwood..except you. it doesn't matter if what you say it TRUE or FALSE. hillwood does have talented athletes. has it ever occurred to you that hillwood players might frequent this website? seeing their school being talked about in the way that you have, and having no faith in their ability to play a sport and play it as well as they can..probably puts a damper on them. but i'm sure you never think of them anymore or their feelings for that matter, seeing as almost every post you make is completely negative about the whole situation.

 

You seem to be very proud of what you did while you were there. You say you got things done. Time to let it go.

 

You did your good deed. Let someone else take a chance with us and hopefully start getting things turned around.

[bigchief]

I'm right about everything I said. Don't mention me anymore and I won't continue to discredit you. However, just remember that if you keep pointing a finger at me, four more are pointing right back at you. I mentioned what went on while I was there simply because of your inept attempt to discredit my coaching. I "got things done" and I continue to do so. Whether you like me or not I really don't care. What does YOUR body of work say about you? Come on and bring me that witty reparte. People that talk about things they have never done really entertain me.