INDY vs. Centennial

[CHS 2007]

Dog,

 

Since your little buddy left I have found myself agreeing with you more and more..lol. Calling another school garbage is uncalled for. I think Centennials problem is that there is a culture of losing at football. It takes time to change it and it starts in the hallways of the school. How many good football players do not come to Centennial (by choice)? How many do go to school, but choose not to get involved in football because of the past? It takes time to change those things. Hopefully they can change it. But, not this week. /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

 

I agree with that to an extent. And I can recall one instance that kind of summed that scenario. The beginning of my senior year (the 1-9 campaign) a member of the team was in my economics class. One day the teacher asked him aloud, "Are we gonna do good this year?" To which the player simply shook his head no. Once more is that this player was a senior and many considered him one of the best defensive players on the team. For one of the team leader's to carry around that attitude around school set the tone both for the student body and some of the other players. Now there were several other players, like Terry Hogan and Alan Gasaway, who always had confidence and always spoke optimisticly about the upcoming games. But obviously that optimism was not carry throughout the whole team, and that's problem number one. When the team's not motivated to play the game, there is something severely wrong with the program. That carried over to the student body as well. Alot of people would not go to the game or half-heartedly watch because "we're probably gonna get killed anyway." So basically what it boiled down to was the team was struggling and the fans weren't rallying around them.

 

To answer your question tnsparty, there were ALOT of talented players that either did not play or quit halfway through. There was obviously a huge internal problem that would steer that many good players away (I think we all know what/who that was). I'm not just talking about the subpar 05 and 06 seasons, this even occured during the successful years. There were people in the school that easily could have been scholarship players that didn't come out for one reason or another.

 

Now Drew's situation is different. All his life he has been a basketball player; his entire family is basically a basketball family. He came back because he wanted to play and thought he could help the team, but his heart was always in basketball, and I don't think anybody on the team blames him for that.

 

The last couple games of that 06 season is when I saw things start turning it around. The last two home games (Brentwood and Columbia) as well as the Fraklin game, the CHS crowd was packed. I think alot of it had to do with those players like Alan and Terry. Alot of fans started getting into the games and giving the team life because of those guys. Those guys stayed and gave 110% every game and every practice while watching teammate after teammate quit because the season was going so rough. As a fan, to watch those guys and see how hard they worked personally made me want to cheer extra hard and rally around them, and many others saw that too. Which is why me and another student starting pushing the "I Believe" campaign around school for the final couple weeks of the season. And throughout those last few games, you could tell the players were definitely reacting a little differently and playing with a litlle more fire once the fans started rallying around the team. I think those last two weeks really spring boarded some of the enthusiasm back in the school.

 

I think Mat has the team and the school headed in the right direction. Whenever I go back to CHS for a game, I definitely feel a buzz and enthusiasm in the atmosphere in the crowd that was lacking in the school for a while. Whenever I talk to a player about the game, I can always feel their sense of hype and enthusiasm, something I couldn't say for every player in 05 and 06. Tnsparty was right, if you put the enthusiam and belief back in the program, the results will follow. And from the atmsophere and attitude in the program, I can say with no doubt in my mind that CHS is on the right track. No one was expecting to run the table this year, but I think as time goes on, we will see a Centennial team that will be mentioned with the likes of Franklin and Brentwood. It may not happen right away, but if the players keep that enthusiasm, and if the fans continue to rally around the team every week, it WILL happen.

[Footballfan15]

Indy wins

[tnsparty]

It was YOUR coach and YOUR principle who didnt renew the contract, we were ready but maybe they were smater than I think. they must of saw the writing on the wall

 

remember something I never put down Indy or the team my response originaly was about the ignorace of some poster putting down other teams and when someone puts down the Page team I will respond at any rate enough said about the PHS and IHS saga. I wish the Indy Nation success! now back to the IHS & CHS match up

 

But you just put down the principal and coach. While the game was a big gate for either school, BA was added instead of Page The thought was to player better teams to make your team better later in the season. It certainly was not because of any writing on the wall, unless that wall was in the bathroom. Larger schools are in a no win situation when they play the smaller schools. This is not a put down, but as I have mentioned previously, if the larger school wins, they were suppose to. If they get beat then the sky is falling.

[tnsparty]

Now Drew's situation is different. All his life he has been a basketball player; his entire family is basically a basketball family. He came back because he wanted to play and thought he could help the team, but his heart was always in basketball, and I don't think anybody on the team blames him for that.

 

I think Mat has the team and the school headed in the right direction. Whenever I go back to CHS for a game, I definitely feel a buzz and enthusiasm in the atmosphere in the crowd that was lacking in the school for a while. Whenever I talk to a player about the game, I can always feel their sense of hype and enthusiasm, something I couldn't say for every player in 05 and 06. Tnsparty was right, if you put the enthusiam and belief back in the program, the results will follow. And from the atmsophere and attitude in the program, I can say with no doubt in my mind that CHS is on the right track. No one was expecting to run the table this year, but I think as time goes on, we will see a Centennial team that will be mentioned with the likes of Franklin and Brentwood. It may not happen right away, but if the players keep that enthusiasm, and if the fans continue to rally around the team every week, it WILL happen.

 

 

CHS,

 

I know and coached Drew in football in middle school. He is a good kid and I like his family. I was in no means talking bad about him. I also think the new coaching staff will turn things around, but it is a long and tough road. Teams will have bad years, it fluctuates with the talent you get. I think the apathy that is bad is with the coaches and administration. I know for a fact that athletes coming up from middle school have moved or enrolled in other schools to keep from going to Centennial. This will take time to change and I hope it does. I have coached and know a lot of the kids there and I hated it for them not to be a part of a competitive program. The stronger Centennial gets in football makes the other teams stronger.

[timeflies]

But you just put down the principal and coach. While the game was a big gate for either school, BA was added instead of Page The thought was to player better teams to make your team better later in the season. It certainly was not because of any writing on the wall, unless that wall was in the bathroom. Larger schools are in a no win situation when they play the smaller schools. This is not a put down, but as I have mentioned previously, if the larger school wins, they were suppose to. If they get beat then the sky is falling.

 

Hardly was it a put down it was a fact. for what ever the reasoning your school failed to renew the contract is thier business.I was letting golden know that we havent avoided playing your team ever, we would wecome it reguardless of the outcome. it was a great rivalry

[gregg]

I agree with that to an extent. And I can recall one instance that kind of summed that scenario. The beginning of my senior year (the 1-9 campaign) a member of the team was in my economics class. One day the teacher asked him aloud, "Are we gonna do good this year?" To which the player simply shook his head no. Once more is that this player was a senior and many considered him one of the best defensive players on the team. For one of the team leader's to carry around that attitude around school set the tone both for the student body and some of the other players. Now there were several other players, like Terry Hogan and Alan Gasaway, who always had confidence and always spoke optimisticly about the upcoming games. But obviously that optimism was not carry throughout the whole team, and that's problem number one. When the team's not motivated to play the game, there is something severely wrong with the program. That carried over to the student body as well. Alot of people would not go to the game or half-heartedly watch because "we're probably gonna get killed anyway." So basically what it boiled down to was the team was struggling and the fans weren't rallying around them.

 

To answer your question tnsparty, there were ALOT of talented players that either did not play or quit halfway through. There was obviously a huge internal problem that would steer that many good players away (I think we all know what/who that was). I'm not just talking about the subpar 05 and 06 seasons, this even occured during the successful years. There were people in the school that easily could have been scholarship players that didn't come out for one reason or another.

 

Now Drew's situation is different. All his life he has been a basketball player; his entire family is basically a basketball family. He came back because he wanted to play and thought he could help the team, but his heart was always in basketball, and I don't think anybody on the team blames him for that.

 

The last couple games of that 06 season is when I saw things start turning it around. The last two home games (Brentwood and Columbia) as well as the Fraklin game, the CHS crowd was packed. I think alot of it had to do with those players like Alan and Terry. Alot of fans started getting into the games and giving the team life because of those guys. Those guys stayed and gave 110% every game and every practice while watching teammate after teammate quit because the season was going so rough. As a fan, to watch those guys and see how hard they worked personally made me want to cheer extra hard and rally around them, and many others saw that too. Which is why me and another student starting pushing the "I Believe" campaign around school for the final couple weeks of the season. And throughout those last few games, you could tell the players were definitely reacting a little differently and playing with a litlle more fire once the fans started rallying around the team. I think those last two weeks really spring boarded some of the enthusiasm back in the school.

 

I think Mat has the team and the school headed in the right direction. Whenever I go back to CHS for a game, I definitely feel a buzz and enthusiasm in the atmosphere in the crowd that was lacking in the school for a while. Whenever I talk to a player about the game, I can always feel their sense of hype and enthusiasm, something I couldn't say for every player in 05 and 06. Tnsparty was right, if you put the enthusiam and belief back in the program, the results will follow. And from the atmsophere and attitude in the program, I can say with no doubt in my mind that CHS is on the right track. No one was expecting to run the table this year, but I think as time goes on, we will see a Centennial team that will be mentioned with the likes of Franklin and Brentwood. It may not happen right away, but if the players keep that enthusiasm, and if the fans continue to rally around the team every week, it WILL happen.

 

Let me reply to '07. I have been putting up with your post now for almost 2 yrs. and I would like to set the record straight, with facts. There were 2 head coaches at Centennial before me. The first was a combined 1-11. The second was 5-15. I was the first and so far the only head coach to have had winning seasons (3) and take a team to the playoffs (2) and have a playoff win. There is not a coach who reads this site that will not agree with me on one thing, when you try to instill discipline and the kids can transfer or choose to attend another school without repercussions, that's not the ideal situation. Now '07, you have said there are all these problems. Name them. In an earlier post you said there were things "that would come out" Name them. Centennial has more speed this yr. than Centennial has ever had. Does that translate to wins? NO! There are great kids who play ball there, but there are problems which transcend the players when it comes to being a consistent winner. try the fact that CHS has an enrollment of 1200 compared to 1800. How about no feeder system as the other schools have. And how about the school system allowing students to enroll at other schools because they lie? Now there's a message worth sending to our young people. How about a coach at FHS openly recruiting (and there is proof) for kids to come to FHS? The CHS principal knows who it is and say's only "well, he sometimes does not do the right thing". Now '07 you can say what you want, but let it be known: I am done listening to your rhetoric. If you have something to say, say it plain out. But make sure you have proof of what you say. The fact of the matter is, I had you in class and you did not want to do squat and we had problems. You want to take this out on a public forum instead of coming to me. Advice: give me a call or come by school. Be a MAN! I may not be the best coach in the world, but I'm the best Centennial has had and the record proofs it. I wish Coach Mat and his staff the best but he needs help.

[sleeper3773]

Let me reply to '07. I have been putting up with your post now for almost 2 yrs. and I would like to set the record straight, with facts. There were 2 head coaches at Centennial before me. The first was a combined 1-11. The second was 5-15. I was the first and so far the only head coach to have had winning seasons (3) and take a team to the playoffs (2) and have a playoff win. There is not a coach who reads this site that will not agree with me on one thing, when you try to instill discipline and the kids can transfer or choose to attend another school without repercussions, that's not the ideal situation. Now '07, you have said there are all these problems. Name them. In an earlier post you said there were things "that would come out" Name them. Centennial has more speed this yr. than Centennial has ever had. Does that translate to wins? NO! There are great kids who play ball there, but there are problems which transcend the players when it comes to being a consistent winner. try the fact that CHS has an enrollment of 1200 compared to 1800. How about no feeder system as the other schools have. And how about the school system allowing students to enroll at other schools because they lie? Now there's a message worth sending to our young people. How about a coach at FHS openly recruiting (and there is proof) for kids to come to FHS? The CHS principal knows who it is and say's only "well, he sometimes does not do the right thing". Now '07 you can say what you want, but let it be known: I am done listening to your rhetoric. If you have something to say, say it plain out. But make sure you have proof of what you say. The fact of the matter is, I had you in class and you did not want to do squat and we had problems. You want to take this out on a public forum instead of coming to me. Advice: give me a call or come by school. Be a MAN! I may not be the best coach in the world, but I'm the best Centennial has had and the record proofs it. I wish Coach Mat and his staff the best but he needs help.

 

 

Wow!? Interesting...

[flylikeaneagle17]

Let me reply to '07. I have been putting up with your post now for almost 2 yrs. and I would like to set the record straight, with facts. There were 2 head coaches at Centennial before me. The first was a combined 1-11. The second was 5-15. I was the first and so far the only head coach to have had winning seasons (3) and take a team to the playoffs (2) and have a playoff win. There is not a coach who reads this site that will not agree with me on one thing, when you try to instill discipline and the kids can transfer or choose to attend another school without repercussions, that's not the ideal situation. Now '07, you have said there are all these problems. Name them. In an earlier post you said there were things "that would come out" Name them. Centennial has more speed this yr. than Centennial has ever had. Does that translate to wins? NO! There are great kids who play ball there, but there are problems which transcend the players when it comes to being a consistent winner. try the fact that CHS has an enrollment of 1200 compared to 1800. How about no feeder system as the other schools have. And how about the school system allowing students to enroll at other schools because they lie? Now there's a message worth sending to our young people. How about a coach at FHS openly recruiting (and there is proof) for kids to come to FHS? The CHS principal knows who it is and say's only "well, he sometimes does not do the right thing". Now '07 you can say what you want, but let it be known: I am done listening to your rhetoric. If you have something to say, say it plain out. But make sure you have proof of what you say. The fact of the matter is, I had you in class and you did not want to do squat and we had problems. You want to take this out on a public forum instead of coming to me. Advice: give me a call or come by school. Be a MAN! I may not be the best coach in the world, but I'm the best Centennial has had and the record proofs it. I wish Coach Mat and his staff the best but he needs help.

 

thank you!

[tnsparty]

Wow!? Interesting...

 

Talk about a thread killer...lol WOW. As far as the game goes I will miss my second IHS game in a row. Good luck Eagles. Come out and play like your capable and you win 28-10. Hope it is injury-free on both sides.

[wysiwyg]

There were 2 head coaches at Centennial before me. The first was a combined 1-11. The second was 5-15. I was the first and so far the only head coach to have had winning seasons (3) and take a team to the playoffs (2) and have a playoff win.

 

If you have something to say, say it plain out. But make sure you have proof of what you say...You want to take this out on a public forum instead of coming to me. Advice: give me a call or come by school. Be a MAN!

 

 

GregG.

 

You did not write to me, probably because I have not posted on here in awhile, but I still read the threads. And you know who I am.

Couple questions I have?

How long did you coach at Centennial, versus the other coaches? I think its something like 8 years, I might be wrong. But the number of years is not the point, the point is you coached there longer than any other coach. I would hope you have a better record than someone who coached for 1 or 2 years. Your 3 winning seasons, plus 8 years of coaching, equals 5 losing seasons. Guess what that's more than any other coach.

 

My second and last issue with your post.

"Be a MAN!"

Everyone remember "footballprincess" who posted some on here a couple years ago?

Anyone want to take a guess at who she might be?

 

I remember a time you, went talked about me to another faculty member at Centennial, while I was at a vending machine. I specifically remember you talking about the things I said about you on this public forum. Why didn't you talk to me about it to my face? Perhaps, for the same reason '07 or I never came and talked to you, to your face during the school day. Personally, I didn't because I knew I would say something that would have gotten me AC or expelled.

 

I have one last thing to say.

During my time at Centennial High School, I won 2 state championships in filmmaking one of which with '07. I also won 2 Emmy Awards, both of those with '07. I started "The Centennial High School Coaches Show" which aired and still aires every Thursday on WC-TV Channel 3. I paved a way for future media students at Centennial, and will continually support that program.

Currently I attend Western Kentucky University, where I am employed by the football team as the video coordinators student assistant. Bottom line, I did more in my 4 years at Centennial than you did in your 8 years of "coaching and teaching."

 

Andrew Bennett

c/o 2008

[CHS 2007]

Well coach, I was hoping to someday have this conversation outside CoachT, but since you brought this up, I will be happy to step up to the plate.

 

First off, I hope you know I had no grudge against you as a person, and I didn't mind having you as a teacher. As for the "Be a man" part, I know for a fact you knew who I was while I was in your class. I didn't bring the coaching subject up because I didn't think it was appropriate to discuss during school. I actually had respect for my teachers, just how I was raised. But if you ever wanted to say something, I was right there, I've told you and your wife before who I was publicly on this forum, and I told you if you ever wanted to talk about the subject you knew where to find me. We had plenty of time to discuss it since I apparently "didn't do squat" in your class. But instead, you had your wife come on here and starting crusading for you. So don't give me this "Be a Man" crap. You had plenty of opportunities to talk to me.

 

As for the problems, one major problem is evident right here in your post. The program is going down because of enrollment, or because Franklin recruits players, or because the school has no feeder systems. Your wife constantly mentioned that the kids wouldn't come out to the weight room. It's anything but you. I'll give you a piece of advice someone your age should be telling my age: LIFE ISN'T FAIR! Not every coach is going to jump into the perfect situation, but they do the best with what they have. Instead of blaming two subpar seasons on the principal or another school recruiting, maybe you could have said "maybe I should have made an adjustment on offense" or "maybe we should have practiced this a little bit more." I keep hearing school attendance as a central motif, we have basically the same attendance as Brentwood. And really the situation of the two schools were somewhat similar. When all their athletes started leaving for Ravenwood (and CHS before that) Ron Crawford didn't stand up and say "It's not fair, they're taking our athletes!" He looked at what he had and made the best of it. I didn't see any Brentwood players getting up and quitting halfway through the season, and despite having a small attendance compared to other schools in the region, they still produced 60-70 player teams every year. So don't give me the attendance as an excuse. Do me a favor, Go watch a losing coach's press conference after a college game. See many times Charlie Weis or Jim Tressel say "we lost because the other team recruited better" or "we don't have as many athletes to choose from." They step up and say "we lost because we didn't execute" or "we didn't play as well as we should have." Great coaches do NOT make excuses, they look at their mistakes and learn from them. But obviously, it was everyone else's fault but your's. Please stop with this me-against-the-world attitude; man up and stop making excuses.

 

Reason number two, something we've already harped on here, strategy. The wishbone worked with backs like Curtis Steele, Tommy Buchanon, Phillip Bates, Jason Koenn, etc. And a powerful line with guys like Beef, Michael Smithson, Travis Dumke, and others. We had great success in that offense, and it was a brilliant strategy, and I'll give you credit for that. But when we enter the next few years with a smaller team, we still try to force those players into a power game. I would have been fine those first few weeks seeing how it goes. But after the offense gets shut down again in week 4, then again in week 5, week 6, week7, etc. that would seemingly be an indication that "hey, maybe we should thinking about tweaking the strategy a bit." Ron Crawford again, last year his traditional pro-style offense was destroyed in the first four weeks of the season, and as a result started 1-4. Did he keep running the schem hoping it would improve? No. He looked at his strengths and his staff adjusted the offense accordingly. All of a sudden, the 1-4 team won 4 of their final 5 games and made the playoffs. It may not have been the most glamorous offense, but it got the job done. The quote came straight from one of YOUR players: "He tried to force players into a personel rather than looking at what he had and adjusting around it." Plain and simple. Anyone could have told you the offense wasn't working. You had a couple of great teams in 05 and 06, but you failed to recognize their strengths and weaknesses and adjust accordingly.

 

But here coach, we arrive at was the most critical aspect of your downfall...motivation. There was no excitement, no hype, no fire in your players. I cannot count how many of YOUR players I talked to on gamedays and said they basically expected to get killed in the upcoming game. You are the LEADER of the team! YOU are responsible for giving your players motivation. Make them believe! Even if you are extremely outmatched, give your players a sense of Pride in their school! Give them a feeling of "we can win this." But your players did not have this feeling, they did not have that sense of pride. As I said earlier, one of your senior captains said the team would be terrible that year. So what happened next? The players gave up hope. Player after player left the team because they had no reason to believe in the team. Your players lost faith in you and in the program. When that many players quit the team midseason, that signals a major problem. THAT, sir, is the reason you had to leave. Tnsparty said it earlier, for a program to turn around, they must first restore the believe and enthusiasm back into the program. It was obvious that was not going to happen with you in control.

 

Since you remember who I am, you might also remember the last thing me and Ben said to you before you walked onto the field at Franklin: "We believe in you coach." We knew we weren't in the ideal situation, we knew the odds were stacked against us. But even knowing this, there were still that small group of fans that were willing to travel an hour to Dickson to support our team. We loved and believed in our team, which is why we never went away. And there were players like Terry Hogan, Alan Gasaway, Ryan Bates, Alex Kessler; players who spent their senior seasons piling loss after loss and watching all their teammates quit one by one, and yet they still took that field every Friday with pride and confidence. It is these players and these fans that you owe. I don't care if your team walked out, or you didn't have enough resources, or the Principal wouldn't solve your problems. You gave up on your team that season. That is my biggest problem with you, even if almost everybody gave up on you, there were still those that didn't. And yet, because things got too tough for you, you stopped serving them. That is not what a coach does. That is not only terrible coaching, it is also extremely selfish

 

I had thought we were all adult enough to move on from this after two years, but obviously I was wrong. There is no way to change the past, all you can do is better the future. I sincerely there is no mention of this on CoachT from here on out. I am excited about the future of the Centennial Football Team, and I have faith in my alma-mater. C-C-CHS!! Till I Die!

 

And Coach, I would be happy to discuss football with you anytime you want. Like I said, I have no grudge against you as a person or as my teacher. I was prepared to move on and let bygones be bygones. I hope we never have this coversation again, but for some reason you still want to say something, just let me know.

 

Sincerely,

Nick Morgan

Class of 2007

[zoosee12]

not to put my team down but more to make a point to Gregg:

you say 1200 vs 1800 makes a lot of difference in why we didn't win

last time i checked page has less students than us

its the constant 3a vs 5a or what ever #a you want to throw out there, it's irrelevant

 

and wow Nick actually made a reference to Tressel and completely left out any Michigan coach. wow. thats a miracle in itself.

 

 

 

 

back to CURRENT football PLEASE!!!!