Only 5 schools in West Tn have won State Title since 1982

[the prophet]

You are absolutely right. I started a post on this topic a couple of years ago. Middle and East Tennessee do dominate in state championships. The best explanation that I got for this was that in those areas of the state that football has been around nearly a 100 years and that in west Tennesse for whatever reason that is not the case. Basically the emphasis on highschool football is much higher in those areas. Coaching was also mentioned as a factor as it relates to quality and numbers. The bigger cities in West Tennessee are Memphis and Jackson. It is clear that basketball is emphasized in Memphis. Many highschool football teams in Memphis don't even have their own football field. They share community fields. As for Jackson compare the numbers of highschools they have there in relation to their population. The talent there is severely diluted. In some areas of east Tennessee highschool games are even televised. That rarely if ever happens in West Tennessee. Check out coacht posts and compare the number of posts by middle, west and east Tennessee fans and see where there is more interest based on that. Also you can go back and check the TSSAA for all state champions and semifinalists and you will find that middle and east Tennessee have always dominated in football. Bottom line, I believe their domination is due to their nearly 100 year history of playing it and their emphasis and interest on highschool football. Those 3 factors add up to more wins.

 

 

 

It is too easy to generalilze and there are to many factors to consider, I have not done the research nor do I need to to explain that just because the Cahmpionships may be owned by east Tennessee does not neccesarily mean that the best football is played in East tenn. Case and point, Maryville, how many state titles have they won in the last 10 years, 6-7, it is easy for folks to jump in and say hey 4a football is better in east tn. no football may be better in Maryville, the rest of east and middle tn can not claim victories with Maryville, I think they have won like 58 games in a row and I am suppose to think that east tn is better, they have beaten a lot more east tn teams in that 58 than they have west tn team. I also like how it is chopped up between east and middle tn have dominated west tn.

I could just as easily say that East and west have dominated middle tn in the 4a level over the last years. Or we could speak the truth and say that Maryville has dominated 4a football. They beat Melrose a couople of times by like a point, domination? There are plenty of teams in west tn that could beat many of the top teams in East tn, and Middle for that matter. Take Maryville out of the equation and Melrose and Hillsboro kinda equal each other out, one from west, and one from midddle. There are a small number of schools that are the favorites, and every body else is trying to catch up, now Maryville and ALcoa happen to be in the east, Oak ridge in the east, Riverdale, symrna, ravenwood, Franklin, Brentwood, in middle tn, Germantown, Millington in the west

Maryville in the east, Hillsboro middle, Melrose west

 

I would say that Middle tn has dominate 5a football of late,

Small privates schools have dominated the lower classifications,

and Alcoa has had a pretty good run,

[Bighurt]

Not relevant to this topic but prior 1973, only 1 boys team from Memphis won a state title and that was Whitehaven in 1938. Given the history of great basketball in Memphis over the last 30 years or so, I have always found that interesting.

[SwamiSays]

We were having a siliar discussion on the millington/indy thread about middle and east being more successful. (Although the west posters didnt want to admit it, so thanks for posting actual proof) But I told them the same thing I was told a long long time ago by a old time coach who had already been coaching for decades. I asked him why the west schools were not as strong in football. He took that to be literal physical strength I guess and replied that "flatlanders" cannot compete with boys who grew up running up and down hills. This was back in the 60's when we were talking. With todays weight programs and nutrition, there's probably not as much to it, but who knows.

[spellerone]

It is too easy to generalilze and there are to many factors to consider, I have not done the research nor do I need to to explain that just because the Cahmpionships may be owned by east Tennessee does not neccesarily mean that the best football is played in East tenn. Case and point, Maryville, how many state titles have they won in the last 10 years, 6-7, it is easy for folks to jump in and say hey 4a football is better in east tn. no football may be better in Maryville, the rest of east and middle tn can not claim victories with Maryville, I think they have won like 58 games in a row and I am suppose to think that east tn is better, they have beaten a lot more east tn teams in that 58 than they have west tn team. I also like how it is chopped up between east and middle tn have dominated west tn.

I could just as easily say that East and west have dominated middle tn in the 4a level over the last years. Or we could speak the truth and say that Maryville has dominated 4a football. They beat Melrose a couople of times by like a point, domination? There are plenty of teams in west tn that could beat many of the top teams in East tn, and Middle for that matter. Take Maryville out of the equation and Melrose and Hillsboro kinda equal each other out, one from west, and one from midddle. There are a small number of schools that are the favorites, and every body else is trying to catch up, now Maryville and ALcoa happen to be in the east, Oak ridge in the east, Riverdale, symrna, ravenwood, Franklin, Brentwood, in middle tn, Germantown, Millington in the west

Maryville in the east, Hillsboro middle, Melrose west

 

I would say that Middle tn has dominate 5a football of late,

Small privates schools have dominated the lower classifications,

and Alcoa has had a pretty good run,

 

You make good points. I would like to be around 50 years from now and see what the numbers look like. You might oughta be careful with that mention of private school domination. However, you are probably safe since you didn't give your opinion of why they are dominant in the lower classes.

[spellerone]

BUMP

[70sMemphisTiger]

Williamson County is arguably the best 5A football in the state and they beat each other up every week during the regular season. It's all tied to sheer numbers and we're still growing. Who would have believed Independence would be in the state finals after only three years of full varsity competition? After a 1-3 start, they run off 10 straight, then go down to Millington and knock off an undeated Trojan squad that demolished White Station the week before.

 

In 5 of the last 6 years, Williamson County has produced a 5A state champion or runner-up.

 

'02 - Brentwood (Champion)

'04 - Franklin (Runner-up)

'05 - Ravenwood (Champion)

'06 - Ravenwood (Runner-up)

'07 - Independence (to be decided Sat.)

[jsdc]

Williamson County is also the richest county in the state. So therefore they pay teachers and coaches the best and have the best facilities, wonder if that has anything to do with it?

[Lost Old Dad]

It is also the fact that teams in Middle and East Tn play rougher compitition regularly. Yes I know that a couple of schools have played some really tough schools in Mississippi, but that is NOT the norm. For one instance that I know about R'dale went to Ohio in 2004 or 2005 to play a 'supposedly' tough Ohio team. They were an OK team but NOT what I would call a really tough one. R'dale blew them out in their own stadium so bad they did NOT do the game here the next year.

 

Playing better teams only make you a better team in the long run. Yes you will have a couple of losses along the way, but you will get better.

 

Another factor is the teams in West Tn are not as well conditioned as the Middle Tn teams are. Does your schools in the west actually have a weight training program EVERYDAY for a PE class for the players? In Middle Tn they DO, and it shows. Take the 2003 Germantown team. They had a couple of monsters on their line that should have totally blown out R'dale. R'dale was much smaller on the line, but they hung in there with Germantown until the final whistle and Germantown only won by 3 points. Why? Because the R'dale teams hit the weights 365 days a year! Yes even during the dead periods they train at off campus facilities that provide them the time to work out for free withOUT any coaches being there. How do you fix this there? You must have the support of the administrators and Coaches to impliment the weight training program the players need so badly.

 

For the life of me I cannot understand why Decatur County does not have a better team as there is NOTHING to do there but train. When I used to go there with my son that played at R'dale he was MUCH bigger than any linemen they had and it was ONLY because of the weight program and he is not a big kid. Six foot tall and at 245 pounds when he was playing, BUT when he was playing he lifted over 1600 pounds between his three lifts. NONE of the kids in the west could come anywhere near his max lifts for any of the three different lifts.

[SSmitty]

I would like to point out that only 15% of the Division I teams in the state are located in West TN (not including Memphis/Shelby Co. area). This could be one reason for the region not winning a whole bunch of state championships.

 

I am not trying to make excuses for West TN, but facts are facts.

 

We don't have a chance at winning the 5A championship, because we don't even have a 5A school.

 

Also, we only have 7 schools that are in 4A, out of a total of 60.

 

Basically, your observation, while true, is criticizing the region with the least number of teams for having the least number of state championships. I could have predicted that, without knowing a thing about Tennessee high school football.

 

 

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lost Old Dad]

I would like to point out that only 15% of the Division I teams in the state are located in West TN (not including Memphis/Shelby Co. area). This could be one reason for the region not winning a whole bunch of state championships.

 

I am not trying to make excuses for West TN, but facts are facts.

 

We don't have a chance at winning the 5A championship, because we don't even have a 5A school.

 

Also, we only have 7 schools that are in 4A, out of a total of 60.

 

Basically, your observation, while true, is criticizing the region with the least number of teams for having the least number of state championships. I could have predicted that, without knowing a thing about Tennessee high school football.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Well to grow the schools size you basically have two choices. Either import the Yankees like middle Tn has or start breeding more. /laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":lol:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />

 

Of the two choices the second is the least annoying and the most fun! /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

[SSmitty]

Well to grow the schools size you basically have two choices. Either import the Yankees like middle Tn has or start breeding more. /laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":lol:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />

 

Of the two choices the second is the least annoying and the most fun! /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

 

 

 

LOD,

 

I agree, I prefer the second choice as well.

[jsdc]

I still think it is about money though, there's more money in most of midle and east tn than thre is in the west. So there is better facilities, better coaches, and most better everything.