Riverdale's Travis Lilienthal...

[lastone2know]

wtg Travis...glad u are staying here so we can watch you play...GREAT call mtsu!! /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

[Bdogg]

DANGIT GARY RANKIN IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT......that riverdale has 4 state championships and is one of the most respected football programs in tennessee. actually MTSU had i believe 5 riverdale players on roster before (recent years); ralph king (kicked off), kenyon buford (quit), spike mcdaniel (quit), campbell (quit), and taron henry is still out making plays starting at WR. i believe maybe even stephen britton came to MT for a little bit but i know for sure he ended up at TTU.i am a huge MT fan but i will be the first to admit they are quick to pick FL boys (some GA boys too) but not so much out of their back yard. their last signing class they took 4 guys from the same high school in FL i believe.i cant say if rankin returned phone calls to recruiters or not. cant say if he gave paper work to the players (usually wyant got alot of the paper work out since he was the head of the football boosters). but i can tell you that he was a drivers ed teacher so when scouts came to the school they came to the weight room and talked to coach white (while rankin was out doing his job).LOD i would find it hard to believe that your son is even half as sour at rankin as you are...2p i would even say the same about your sons 4 friends. yall just stretch the truth and make him look like a horrible coach while the rings and gold balls tell a much different story.the people on here who actually knew rankin like me, riverdaleman, SCN08fearthespear, CantStopTheChop, fearthespear08 and more than that all found him to be a fair and likeable guy. its a shame yall want to turn a positive intended for people to congradulate a player into one to spit on a coach.

Excellent post. I don't know about LOD, but as for 2P, he is just angry because Rankin and the boys always put a beat down on Oakland.

wtg Travis...glad u are staying here so we can watch you play...GREAT call mtsu!! /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

I have had the opportunity to see this young man play, and I think the Blue Raiders made a steal. He is just what they need.

[olandpats]

sorry lil sistah, but ohs beat rankin in 98 and 00 when 2p's son was playin @ ohs.

that theory of urs tanked.

clank clank.

jus keep that clipboard tite in ur lil waistband.

good choice travis.

good luck 2 u.

[Lost Old Dad]

Actually 'Spike' is still there and still on the team. Spoke to him about it a couple of games ago. He is at MTSU because he wanted to be home and near his sister instead of still being at Auburn which he got the offer from with NO help from Rankin!

 

And just for your info TDNTN my son will tell you he played for Coach Britton and NOT for Rankin!

 

This is my last post about this as this thread is supposed to be for congratulating Travis which he so richly deserves.

[voodoochild]

Yeah, I don't know the Lilienthal kid personally, but I've seen him play and he impresses me the most out of their entire team this year. Sounds like a great kid too. Congrats to him and to Coach Stock at Middle. Hope they get it going over there.

 

But, as for the Rankin subtopic on this thread, take it from an ex-Rankin player that he is most assuredly one of the best at winning ballgames. Four state rings from Riverdale and one (probably two after this season) at Alcoa is proof of that. However, as for the way he relates to and treats his players...yeah, that's another story. I personally can say that I NEVER played a single down for him. I played for my teammates and the other coaches who actually cared about the well-being of the players. Don't get me wrong, Rankin has an impecable record and is one of the best football minds in Tennessee high school ball. But the taste that he left in a majority of his players' mouths when our final game was done is something that I'll never forget.

 

He did help me get a nice ring on my right ring finger however!!! /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

[2priceless]

FYI....Matt Forrest was the starting QB at OHS until he was injured against Brentwood. Tyler took over and never relinquished the spot. Believe Matt was recruited in college as a long snapper, a position which he did very well and always was the starter at OHS.

 

 

Now tdntn, you know good and well that you played one yr under Rankin, your soph yr. So you don't really know how it was as you were not a big role player at that time. The majority of your info comes from the Thomas boys, who were big dogs at Riverdale and treated much differently than others b/c of HIS dad being a coach there, and their superstar status.

 

I think voodoo gave an accurate description of the real way that is it, esp when the team comes up short of their goals. Those pointing fingers come out. When they lost to OR, the srs got the blame as well as Coach Collins. It is those speeches that leave the bad taste for the guy. When RHS lost in the 1st round of 99, that accusatory speech will never be forgotten by those srs. That is the reason that I do not care for the guy.

 

Now saying all this, I admit that Rankin is a heck of a coach, but who had the most elite of athletes. I would still like to see him go to a place like Franklin County and see what he can do there or at Red Boiling Springs. Alcoa is a hotbed of talent.

 

TD, no reason to put down LOD or the Clone. You have raced to watch Blackman several times YOURSELF this yr....so that sounds a bit two-faced to me. LOD's son graduated, and you are still a sr at RHS. Don't act like he is a traitor.

 

Sorry, Travis that this thread was hi-jacked. Again, congrats to you on a your scholarship. Best of luck to you the rest of your sr yr as well. We are real proud of you!

[faith]

congrats, travis keep up the great job /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

[TDCman]

Congrats again to Travis!!!

 

Rankin is a winner but he is gone.

 

I get the feeling Coach A is a winner too.

 

We have a HUGE game coming up against Lebanon so let's move on.

 

Go Warriors!!!!

[riverdaleman]

WAY TO GO TRAVIS now that is taken care of go take care what we talked about this past spring !!!!!!!!!

GO WARRIORS

[Bdogg]

sorry lil sistah, but ohs beat rankin in 98 and 00 when 2p's son was playin @ ohs.

that theory of urs tanked.

clank clank.

jus keep that clipboard tite in ur lil waistband.

good choice travis.

good luck 2 u.

 

 

who do you think I am idiot. I don't know where this little sister thing comes from, but believe me buddy I am all man.

[Bdogg]

FYI....Matt Forrest was the starting QB at OHS until he was injured against Brentwood. Tyler took over and never relinquished the spot. Believe Matt was recruited in college as a long snapper, a position which he did very well and always was the starter at OHS.

Now tdntn, you know good and well that you played one yr under Rankin, your soph yr. So you don't really know how it was as you were not a big role player at that time. The majority of your info comes from the Thomas boys, who were big dogs at Riverdale and treated much differently than others b/c of HIS dad being a coach there, and their superstar status.

 

I think voodoo gave an accurate description of the real way that is it, esp when the team comes up short of their goals. Those pointing fingers come out. When they lost to OR, the srs got the blame as well as Coach Collins. It is those speeches that leave the bad taste for the guy. When RHS lost in the 1st round of 99, that accusatory speech will never be forgotten by those srs. That is the reason that I do not care for the guy.

 

Now saying all this, I admit that Rankin is a heck of a coach, but who had the most elite of athletes. I would still like to see him go to a place like Franklin County and see what he can do there or at Red Boiling Springs. Alcoa is a hotbed of talent.

 

TD, no reason to put down LOD or the Clone. You have raced to watch Blackman several times YOURSELF this yr....so that sounds a bit two-faced to me. LOD's son graduated, and you are still a sr at RHS. Don't act like he is a traitor.

 

Sorry, Travis that this thread was hi-jacked. Again, congrats to you on a your scholarship. Best of luck to you the rest of your sr yr as well. We are real proud of you!

 

 

What a weenie, grow up 2P, coaches sometimes hurt your feelings. Perhaps you never played sports before. As for Lilienthal, can't wait to see him at Middle.

[Bdogg]

actually im basing it on first hand accounts with rankin, thats the difference between us. its not info i got from anybody else, i think thats pretty dumb you assumed that. it would be fair to say rankin didnt go out of his way for anyone to often but its not fair to paint him up to be an A hole either. he always said "if your daddy dies tonight call me i'll be the first one there for ya." (he's a very fun person to quote lol i have rankin quotes for days). as far as being an affectionate character tho in general, that wasnt his style. it wasnt no "lets get them next year" it was "lets get them now and worry about next year next year."

 

he was all about business and just a real professional character i guess thats where most get offended cause it wasnt fun enough or something. shoot it would even be fair to say his assistants did most all the work in the later years but he got the ship sailing and was the supervisor basically i think he had that right.

 

im really doubting he said that you claim after the OR loss but if he did that was behind closed doors. he might have played the blame game a few times but that wasnt standard. i remember him saying those last 5 years he felt like they should have only lost to Red Bank (2000) and LC (2003) cause those were the only teams that had riverdale outmatched in talent.

 

as far as him going to lesser schools and coaching i cant make a statement on that cause i dont know their situation and talent level i have lived in murfreesboro my whole life, but i will say he would be doing a better job with blackman siegel or oakland than their coaches are doing. i can guarantee smyrna would have more than one gold ball right now if he had been in shadowens shoes look how much talent has came through that program they usually underachieve every year and rankin always had their card.

 

but i havent put down ross once LOD acts like one of those parents whose kid never played not only did he start 2 years hes got a ring but LOD claims he would rather have sent him to oakland or eagleville. i just think LOD is to hard to please cause i never once saw ross with that kind of attitude.

 

as far as me going to blackman games i have been to 4 in a row...riverdale/blackman of course, blackman/brentwood 4th quarter after we were beating the snot out of lincoln county, blackman/smyrna 4th quarter after we were beating the snot outta siegel, and the 2nd half of blackman/overton cause my ride to dickson county fell through i was on that side of town and was bored. i got people at all 4 schools i like to support it just worked out where riverdale and blackman both had home games a couple weeks straight and i got to see 2 games in one night.

 

but realize that LODs comment was what hi-jacked the thread he's always gotta have something negative to say or talk about hot dogs or something if he would stay on topic it wouldnt have happened. rankin is FAR from my idol but i bit my lip to many times seeing yall bash him when he's a good man and a good coach and its just not right for me to not give the readers the other side of the story or another perspective.

 

tired of writing books i guess we should just agree to disagree but i think you will come around one day lol

 

 

Good post. I don't personally know Rankin, did not enjoy him beating my dogs, but I do respect his ability.