Obion Central Football Coach?

[OCVol]

Wtfoff

 

 

The figures you posted as facts for up coming freshman going to central are completely ignorant. You are clueless.

[littleRebels]

WTFOFF

 

It is pretty obvious you do not know much about Obion County sports.

[wtnoff]

WTFOFF

 

It is pretty obvious you do not know much about Obion County sports.

 

 

 

Damage control all you want for readers of this thread. The facts speak for themselves!! There are only 24 varsity players working out now in one of the largest (population wise) schools in the 3 A classification. There are only 9 that will be sophs next year that moved up from the freshman team. Where did the other 26 or so go, or why did they choose not to play any longer. (My math says that my previous statement was correct. You lost about 75 % of your freshman team.) Another question to you then is "Where did all the 8th graders that finished at the 4 middle schools go? If only a few went elsewhere, then why are they not participating on the 9th grade level? Either way, You're losing the young players and this is the lifeline of the program. Right now that place is on the morphine drip. As far as knowing about OC sports, I can tell you that I had an extensive conversation with the latest person to discuss the position. (33 years experience-Head coach well over 20 years, one of the top winning percentages in the state, a state championship and state runnerup, too many coach of the year awards to mention, etc....) Don't think with the financial package I understand he was offered, he didn't check that place out from top to bottom!! Your problems are many and complex. (Intefering parents, low numbers, apathy in the community, and a huge problem in the lower grade (9th grade participation). The record up there speaks for itself. And one last point...When the best applicant you have out of the 25+ or so that was mentioned has never had any head coaching experience, what does that tell you about the quality of the applicants. And with the lack of quality applicatns, what does that tell you about the situation at Obion?

[treefitty74]

Damage control all you want for readers of this thread. The facts speak for themselves!! There are only 24 varsity players working out now in one of the largest (population wise) schools in the 3 A classification. There are only 9 that will be sophs next year that moved up from the freshman team. Where did the other 26 or so go, or why did they choose not to play any longer. (My math says that my previous statement was correct. You lost about 75 % of your freshman team.) Another question to you then is "Where did all the 8th graders that finished at the 4 middle schools go? If only a few went elsewhere, then why are they not participating on the 9th grade level? Either way, You're losing the young players and this is the lifeline of the program. Right now that place is on the morphine drip. As far as knowing about OC sports, I can tell you that I had an extensive conversation with the latest person to discuss the position. (33 years experience-Head coach well over 20 years, one of the top winning percentages in the state, a state championship and state runnerup, too many coach of the year awards to mention, etc....) Don't think with the financial package I understand he was offered, he didn't check that place out from top to bottom!! Your problems are many and complex. (Intefering parents, low numbers, apathy in the community, and a huge problem in the lower grade (9th grade participation). The record up there speaks for itself. And one last point...When the best applicant you have out of the 25+ or so that was mentioned has never had any head coaching experience, what does that tell you about the quality of the applicants. And with the lack of quality applicatns, what does that tell you about the situation at Obion?

 

 

 

The other kids from the Junior Highs just dont play.....Why would they want to play for a team that just finished 0-10....Alot of the kids that played football in the JHs are just playing basketball...and the others arent playing any sports....You have to get a coach that will come into the Junior Highs and sell the program to the kids....

[littleRebels]

If you look at any program the number of kids that play Junior High football always drops off when they get to high school. They always drop again after their freshman year. I am not saying there is not a problem at OCCHS, but every program always has the same problem. There are lots of kids that think they want to play football, but not all of them are commited enough to play. There are obviosly problems and the coaching fiasco has had a big factor with the numbers. Without leadership the kids will loose interest, but that would happen at any program.

[justaOCfan]

It's amazing how much people not involved with this program think they know because they talked to someone that talked to someone that........

 

None of the last 3 coaches left due to parent interference, low numbers, community apathy or 9th grade participation. With 33 freshmen players, I don't think 9th grade participation is a problem. I don't know how many will play as sophomores next year, and neither do you. My son played as a freshmen this year, but probably will not next year as he prefers to pursue baseball. He played this year to decide which sport he would prefer. He's 15 years old and loves to hunt, ride atv's, and have a life outside organized sports. He chose baseball as his favorite and although I will miss seeing him in football and basketball, that is his decision to make. As for 8th graders going to other schools, that's way off base. If they played in junior high but don't in high school, that doesn't mean they went to another school. UC, Martin and South Fulton do not have large numbers of county junior high kids playing in their programs.

 

Obion County is not a coach's dream, nor is it what some make it out to be. I don't know much about Mr. Powell or Mr. Huss, don't care to know. It's their job to find the right person for the job or crash and burn. With the local media's portrayal of the situation, and the postings of the misinformed, OC is made to look like a nightmare. Folks should let the county take care of their own business and not be downing a system they know nothing about.

[Purple & Gold Standard]

I'm looking at a picture of the All-County team from my son's 8th grade year...There are 22 players on the team...5 are from South Fulton so,only 17 are kids that would go to OC....Ridgemont had 6 players..1 was a 7th grader,so he is still at R'Mont this year...Out of the other 5,1 is playing baseball,2 are playing basketball and 1 is playing football..All at Obion Central...1 decided to go to Union City...Two are from Hillcrest...1 is playing baseball and basketball at OC...1 moved to Dyersburg when his dad got a coaching job there....2 from Black Oak..I know who these kids are but to be honest I don't know if they play any sports but they did go to OC...Lake Road had 7 players...Of those seven,I don't know if any are still in junior high...1 is now at Union City because his dad is the new head coach there...2 others are at OC playing football...One other thought...When you get your schedule for your freshman year,you put down freshman football or whatever sport you are going to play...You go to that "class" all year..I know there were some kids that signed up for basketball and never was a part of the team but still have to go to that class for that period....What do those kids that signed up for freshman football and are not playing another sport do during the time the kids that are going to play next year are lifting weights??

 

33 or 35 freshman is a pretty good number of freshman kids going out for football because the four feeder schools honestly don't have a whole bunch of players on them and usually maybe half are 7th graders...My oldest son,like I said,had 35 or 36 come out and that was after two straight state tournament appearances....

 

There are many reasons why kids don't play football anymore....

1.They can play football on Playstation and all the other game systems...

2.They play for their freshman year and decide football isn't what they want to dedicate their time to..And if you aren't 100% dedicated to football you will get killed on a football field....

3.After their freshman year,they start thinking about getting cars and they start looking for jobs....

4.Football just isn't for them..It's different when you are a 7th grader practicing against 8th graders and then go and be a 9th grader going up against seniors....

5.Some just don't have the grades...

6.Some just don't want to put the kind of time high school sports demands on a young kid...

 

Their is always attrition from a freshman year to a senior year...Happens everywhere,except for maybe teams like Maryville who win all of their games and win all their state championships...I can imagine those kids are treated like rock stars in their communities..

[west tn. football fan]

This whole thing is a joke! Obion County is the bottom of 7-3A. Why is everybody acting like they have won a bunch of games before. If they go .500 everybody should be happy. They are not a football school and never will be. Yea ya'll might have beat a few teams in the past(like covington) but who cares could they have overlooked you or could they just not play assignment football to stop option. This is a joke ya'll need to be on the basketball board since you are a basketball school

[justaOCfan]

...When you get your schedule for your freshman year,you put down freshman football or whatever sport you are going to play...You go to that "class" all year..I know there were some kids that signed up for basketball and never was a part of the team but still have to go to that class for that period....What do those kids that signed up for freshman football and are not playing another sport do during the time the kids that are going to play next year are lifting weights??

 

 

They continue going to Freshman football. One hour of the 2 hour block is dedicated to wellness, and the other hour to football. They continue with whatever regimen the others are following with weight training, conditioning, etc.

 

The 2 players from Black Oak did play freshman football. One of them was a workhorse on offense for the freshman team.

 

It's hard to maintain off-season workout intensity, especially when playing more than one sport. I know my son strained a lower back muscle weight lifting and missed 2 days baseball practice as a result. Combined with the current football program woes, the off-season this year will cause numbers to decrease as well as natural attrition from the reasons you stated above.

 

You and I know what the Ridgemont and Lake Road teams accomplished last year, and there was great potential for that group as freshmen when combined with the Hillcrest and Black Oak players. It's a shame they didn't all play together, but junior highs don't have the advantage of a middle school having the players together before they get to high school. I believe that plays a part in how many play as freshmen. And you are right, 1/2 of most junior high teams are 7th graders. I don't know where other posters got their figures, but they are sooooo bogus.

[justaOCfan]

This whole thing is a joke! Obion County is the bottom of 7-3A. Why is everybody acting like they have won a bunch of games before. If they go .500 everybody should be happy. They are not a football school and never will be. Yea ya'll might have beat a few teams in the past(like covington) but who cares could they have overlooked you or could they just not play assignment football to stop option. This is a joke ya'll need to be on the basketball board since you are a basketball school

 

 

Winning championships is not a requirement for a football program, it is a goal and a bonus.

[PowerSet]

As for the Black Oak players in the all-county photo, there were 4 members on the all-county team, but only two made it for the picture. Three of them are still in the program at OCCHS, and one also plays basketball. He was quite a contributer in both sports. The other player is now an 8th grader and is planning on playing football and basketball in high school.

 

I think wtnoff is way off base as well. Those kids from the 4 feeder schools havent transferred to other schools. They simply wont make the effort to play high school football. Like Purple said, its very different playing against 14 year olds and then stepping on the practice field with seniors. For many kids, the dedication isnt there. Also, many middle school kids play football and basketball and then choose one over the other in high school. These kids, for whatever reason, seem to be choosing the roundball over the oblong one.

 

Just my 2 cents worth....

[OCVol]

Story Here

 

Shawn Jackson has been named The New Head Coach. His resume' gives reasons for excitement.