Lenoir City "Fans"

[Pantherman85]

How many schools that are serious about football have spring practice the end on January / beginning of Feb., typically the coldest time of the year? SInce the coach at LCHS coaches track, that's when we get to have spring practice. I wonder how many other schools in the state have spring practice this time of the winter? Does anyone know??

[coachinhoops]

People, people, people...I have read the entire thread and it seems that you guys are beating a dead horse. As most of you know I coached basketball at LC the last three years and had a first hand look at the innerworkings of the Lenoir City athletic system. You guys fail to mention that they lost 4 or 5 games last season because of a lack of a kicking game, and a semester suspension of their starting tailback. They were alot more competitive last year than this.

 

I will state facts that have been observed.

 

This may not apply to the current set of parents or the current athletic director, but I do believe this single event started the decay of the program. Three years ago it was an unwritten rule that offseason workouts were mandatory, and the team as a whole were working really hard and paying the price in the offseason. A single parent who didn't want their son to be pushed this hard pulled the TSSAA handbook and took it to the administration explaining that this act was illegal and if it did not stop, they were going to turn LC in. The administration acted accordingly and thus began the downward spiral. Coaches lost credibility and it started creating major problems.

 

As you all know the successful programs at this level must have a total commitment in the weight room, passing leagues, and conditioning programs. LC has some truly committed players, but as a whole it's not there. Their hands are kind of tied.

 

I also do not feel from being at the school for 3 years that LC has the talent to compete in that region. I know that alot of you will say "they got beat by Loudon and AC as well". It is also my humble opinion that they would finish no better than fourth in Loudon's region, and would probably be last in AC's region. I am not trying to disrespect the players, but you are either athletic or not. That is God given not coach driven.

 

As for the discipline issues. I think the coaching staff is under a tremendous amount of pressure to try to win. Under that kind of pressure people make mistakes in judgement. It just happens.

 

The answer. Band the players together and commit to each other through hard work in the offseason, become the best you can be and walk away knowing you did all you could do collectively as a group.

[lcfootball]

People, people, people...I have read the entire thread and it seems that you guys are beating a dead horse. As most of you know I coached basketball at LC the last three years and had a first hand look at the innerworkings of the Lenoir City athletic system. You guys fail to mention that they lost 4 or 5 games last season because of a lack of a kicking game, and a semester suspension of their starting tailback. They were alot more competitive last year than this.

 

I will state facts that have been observed.

 

This may not apply to the current set of parents or the current athletic director, but I do believe this single event started the decay of the program. Three years ago it was an unwritten rule that offseason workouts were mandatory, and the team as a whole were working really hard and paying the price in the offseason. A single parent who didn't want their son to be pushed this hard pulled the TSSAA handbook and took it to the administration explaining that this act was illegal and if it did not stop, they were going to turn LC in. The administration acted accordingly and thus began the downward spiral. Coaches lost credibility and it started creating major problems.

 

As you all know the successful programs at this level must have a total commitment in the weight room, passing leagues, and conditioning programs. LC has some truly committed players, but as a whole it's not there. Their hands are kind of tied.

 

I also do not feel from being at the school for 3 years that LC has the talent to compete in that region. I know that alot of you will say "they got beat by Loudon and AC as well". It is also my humble opinion that they would finish no better than fourth in Loudon's region, and would probably be last in AC's region. I am not trying to disrespect the players, but you are either athletic or not. That is God given not coach driven.

 

As for the discipline issues. I think the coaching staff is under a tremendous amount of pressure to try to win. Under that kind of pressure people make mistakes in judgement. It just happens.

 

The answer. Band the players together and commit to each other through hard work in the offseason, become the best you can be and walk away knowing you did all you could do collectively as a group.

 

 

Hey Coach,

I will say that this seasons players seemed to be a lot closer to each other than last season, even before the players were kicked off. I think the very fact that last year some games were so close has led to this seasons frustrations, having a good kicker, returning so many senior linemen, returning a couple of good senior tailbacks, I think lots of folks thought the team would be at least competitive again, and should win a couple. Did many think we would compete with Central, Powell, Maryville, no not really. Did many think we should hold Clinton, South Doyle, Loudon, Anderson County close, yes.

No one thing will fix this team, it will take a number of things to turn it around, but I believe the support of the parents for the players and the team itself is there, the booster club appears to be trying to help and more parents should make sure they help the booster club. I believe that last year the players worked all year, only taking a couple of weeks off after the season. Some wonder if a strength coach would help, well one couldn't hurt, we sure aren't the strongest team. I know you must hit the weights in the off season, but doing it wrong doesn't help. If the current coaches stay then the only thing we can do is try and rally behind them as much as possible, tell the players to keep their heads up and if the coaches change, well, do the same.

[lcfootball101]

Ok so what is going to fix the problem? It is going to have to start with some support. Stop complaining so much and do something to help. I said I went to a couple of games this year. I bought a orange i guess you guys call them programs so I know the kids names. The corners are young they will get better next year. They play in the toughest region in the state of tennessee. Did you guys think about that. The quarterback was a senior and never played before. Expectign him to throw td's every game is not going to happen. Offensive line just didnt look tough enough. Is that a coaching problem. I dont think so. Coaches can improve a kids skill, but he can't improve a kids desire. defensively looks like they lose two people. that means that 9 experienced plays come back. That will improve the number of points scored against next year. More support from the community would probably help. More support from the fans. More support from the administration. More support from the middle school. Oh wait they don't have a middle school team. But they do have a pretty nice band tower don't they.how many passes did COACH meyers drop. How many tackles did he miss. I thought you said no names. You must be related to an idiot.

 

Lets start with the qaurterback. Yes he was a senoir with no experience. Why? While LC was losing 9 of 10 season before last he was given no reps or very few. Yes I know LC had a chance to win 4 games so he shouldn't have played in those but the remaining games were not close. So why not get your future QB some experience? I would say this was a poor coaching decision. This is the exact same senario that will take place next season beause as LC went 0 and 10 this season the back up QB was given very few opportunities. Again poor coaching. Ok on to the o line. The o line at the beginning of the season was made up of five seniors all of which had played for four years under this coaching staff. I agree that they did not show enough toughness at times but when they are taught passive blocking techniques what should be expected. As for improving a kids desire and toughness, this is the number one thing this coaching staff is lacking. Teaching players the necessary effort, desire, emotion and toughness that it takes to be successful at the game of football is almost as critical as teaching techniques and x's and o's.

[lcfootball101]

People, people, people...I have read the entire thread and it seems that you guys are beating a dead horse. As most of you know I coached basketball at LC the last three years and had a first hand look at the innerworkings of the Lenoir City athletic system. You guys fail to mention that they lost 4 or 5 games last season because of a lack of a kicking game, and a semester suspension of their starting tailback. They were alot more competitive last year than this.

 

I will state facts that have been observed.

 

This may not apply to the current set of parents or the current athletic director, but I do believe this single event started the decay of the program. Three years ago it was an unwritten rule that offseason workouts were mandatory, and the team as a whole were working really hard and paying the price in the offseason. A single parent who didn't want their son to be pushed this hard pulled the TSSAA handbook and took it to the administration explaining that this act was illegal and if it did not stop, they were going to turn LC in. The administration acted accordingly and thus began the downward spiral. Coaches lost credibility and it started creating major problems.

 

As you all know the successful programs at this level must have a total commitment in the weight room, passing leagues, and conditioning programs. LC has some truly committed players, but as a whole it's not there. Their hands are kind of tied.

 

I also do not feel from being at the school for 3 years that LC has the talent to compete in that region. I know that alot of you will say "they got beat by Loudon and AC as well". It is also my humble opinion that they would finish no better than fourth in Loudon's region, and would probably be last in AC's region. I am not trying to disrespect the players, but you are either athletic or not. That is God given not coach driven.

 

As for the discipline issues. I think the coaching staff is under a tremendous amount of pressure to try to win. Under that kind of pressure people make mistakes in judgement. It just happens.

 

The answer. Band the players together and commit to each other through hard work in the offseason, become the best you can be and walk away knowing you did all you could do collectively as a group.

 

Coach I'm kind of tired of you putting down the talent LC had last year. Is it not the coaching staffs responsibility to do the best they can with the talent they have? Your a basketball coach and lets just say that one year you have a whole group of tall slow kids. In this case would you employ a trapping fast break style? Or would you go with something that more suited for your players? This is exactly what LC's football coaching staff attempted last season. They in no way gave the players they had a chance to be succesful scheme wise.

[GoLCPanthers]

Both nice post 101

[maxi6]

101,

 

Glad to have another person seeing things the way I do. There are two things High School coaches must do, adjust scheme to talent, and build talent for the future. Good stuff 101.

[jacketsfan66]

Very well put 101. Wonder what "DR" will have to say about this now? Maybe he has decided to give up and move on because he knows that something has got to change.

[Pantherman85]

Again, I'm curious about what you all think about LCHS Spring Practice being held in late January/ early Feb? Does not make any sense to me.

[maxi6]

This is a difficult call. It is nice to have nice warm practices, but I do commend the coach’s efforts to allow athletes to play multiple sports. In my day, we just had to lose athletes to baseball during the spring. I do think running track does help the team in the long run to develop speed and endurance. I would like to see a spring game. It always gave the kids something to look forward to doing at the end of spring practice

[tdr1221]

Again, I'm curious about what you all think about LCHS Spring Practice being held in late January/ early Feb? Does not make any sense to me.

 

 

I'm not from Lenoir City, but I think I can answer your question. Holding spring practice early serves three purposes:

 

1. Avoiding the crush of spring sports - get it done before track, baseball, soccer and tennis start and pull off key players.

 

2. Getting rid of the "wanna-be's" - there will always be new kids who want to come out and do the weightlifting and enjoy all the camraderie of the weightroom and then quit after one or two days of actual practice. Having spring practice early allows a coach to find out which of the new kids really wants to play football, instead of just being "iron groupies". That way, you don't waste 5 months training, conditioning and working with a kid who is just going to quit on you.

 

3. Ironing out any new offensive/defensive system changes - tweaks, or sometimes wholesale new installments of schemes need to be tested early to see if they fit the talent or if indeed they are worth pursuing. There is nothing worse than working 5 months on a scheme/technique that turns out doesn't work on the field.

 

Several schools in the area hold spring practice relatively early, most notably Maryville. Seems to work for them.

 

Just my two cents.

[Pantherman85]

You both make good points about early spring/late winter practice. I guess my reservation is that the weather can be bitter cold, rainy, or even snow this time of the year. I also know it's not much fun to hit or get hit when it's 20-25 degrees outside, much less throw and catch the ball.