Riverdale coaching change? Coach A out? Rankin back in? rumor has it?

[Lost Old Dad]

28 and 8 Let's fire him because 16 and 17 year olds can't hold on to the ball!!

 

 

Yes, and MOST of those wins were with kids that were coached by Rankin and the OLD staff. This year is the first team with players that have ONLY played for Coach A and we see how this season has gone.

 

Do you think we need to wait until we are 0-10 before Mr Nolan does SOMETHING?

 

We have had kids fumble before, but we had an offense back then to be able to come back. While the wingT is a good ball control/clock killing offense, it is NOT one you can come back with if you get down a couple of touchdowns.

 

If nothing else we need a good DC NOW!

 

Telling little Johnny and Joe it is OK to lose a game maybe OK with you, but at R'dale football teams are expected to WIN! And not just Region! They are expected to get to the BIG dance. No we didn't win them all, but teams saw us there and know we were not an easy win.

 

R'dale USED to be refered to as The U of R, now it is laughed at and treated like a middle school team. /mad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":angry:" border="0" alt="mad.gif" />

 

If this post comes across as a little mad, it is because I am! I do NOT like telling my son in Iraq what his old team is doing currently as it hurts him to hear it.

 

I wish no one would ever lose their job, but at the same time I am enough of as realist to know if they are not cutting it something HAS to be done and NOW!

[Bulldog86]

"If this post comes across as a little mad, it is because I am! I do NOT like telling my son in Iraq what his old team is doing currently as it hurts him to hear it."

 

LOD:

If your son is in Iraq fighting for our country, please except my heart felt thanks to you, your family and your son for the service and protection, from the me and the Smyrna faithful.

[SECMAN]

I think Carlton Flatt would be up for the job.You know I read all these posts about how it is not the coaches fault that these 16 year old kids are fumbling the ball, and I strongly disagree.If the same kid is doing it week after week, (will not mention names), and they do, then that is a coaching problem.How many times did you see a Rankin coached team put the ball on the ground? Not very many I can tell you that.This fumbling didn't just start this year.I know as many who follow the Dale know this to be true.

[riverdaleman]

I think Carlton Flatt would be up for the job.You know I read all these posts about how it is not the coaches fault that these 16 year old kids are fumbling the ball, and I strongly disagree.If the same kid is doing it week after week, (will not mention names), and they do, then that is a coaching problem.How many times did you see a Rankin coached team put the ball on the ground? Not very many I can tell you that.This fumbling didn't just start this year.I know as many who follow the Dale know this to be true.

 

In 2001 we played blackman in the playoffs and we had 5 turnovers and beat them by 11 i talked to a former player about a month ago and i asked him if he remebered that game he said yes sir I asked him what happened to yall for all those turnovers he said I DONT KNOW HOW MANY 110S WE RAN i then asked him well on your way to winning the state championship after that did yall have anymore turnovers? he said NO SIR...

[Lost Old Dad]

"If this post comes across as a little mad, it is because I am! I do NOT like telling my son in Iraq what his old team is doing currently as it hurts him to hear it."

 

LOD:

If your son is in Iraq fighting for our country, please except my heart felt thanks to you, your family and your son for the service and protection, from the me and the Smyrna faithful.

 

 

Thank You and I WILL tell him. Currently he is with the 1st Cavalry Division on the border with Iran.

 

With all the coverage on the election the press is saying nothing about the almost daily shelling the units are either getting from Iran or from just inside Iraq from supplies received from Iran. Some of the Russian Katusha rockets they captured were dated 2007 so they are NOT old surplus war stocks left over from Saddam.

 

BTW you do know I am a Smyrna alum I hope. Congratulations on the Lions Bowl win also.

[faith]

can someone give me 3 reasons not to make a change in the coaching staff

[SwamiSays]

I think this is the lames excuse for a rutherford county team is not doing as good as the fans expect. Zoning didnt hinder riverdale from winning their last state title zoning didnt hinder smyrna from winning their last state title. I think a lot of you native Rutherford countians are little spoiled with your past success. take it form someone who lives in murfreesboro but is not from here. you still have the best football in the state hands down. Think about it some of the worst teams to come out of this county usually man handle good teams from other regions. Murfreesboro is the SEC/big 12 of high school football in TN. Riverdale is not going to the playoffs because they are in the toughest region in the state. Coaches/fans/and players are going to have to start realizing that. Im willing to bet you there will never be another undefeated football team from Rutherford County but there will be more state champions from the region book itwe are about to start seeing who the best coaches are in this country especially when when Rockvale and Stewarts Creek high schools open in a few years

 

 

You are right, Rutherford county is tops in the state. But because of new schools opening up because of all the reasons I list, that is exactly why R'Dale is not the powerhouse it once was. You take one or two top notch players off of a team, it makes an impact. You take a few more and it makes for a difficult season. 10 years ago, if you played football in Rutherford County and you were a great talent, you did what it took to go to R'Dale. Brand new facilities and brand new buildings can lure a lot of kids away. You are correct about Smyrna, they did it within theor own zone, but they did it for only two years mainly because of two outstanding athletes. They have not dominated for two decades like R'dale. One or two players can make all the difference. The proof is in your very example. R'Dale isnt getting those kids in the numbers like they used to, for the very reasons I have stated.

[Moc1]

Riverdale has to many athletes not to be playing for a state championship every year. Everybody has there down year but Riverdale down years are getting beat in the first round. I believe that has happen the last two year and now they are not even going. Something has to be done, because I hate not seeing the Warriors in the playoffs.

[Bulldog86]

You are right, Rutherford county is tops in the state. But because of new schools opening up because of all the reasons I list, that is exactly why R'Dale is not the powerhouse it once was. You take one or two top notch players off of a team, it makes an impact. You take a few more and it makes for a difficult season. 10 years ago, if you played football in Rutherford County and you were a great talent, you did what it took to go to R'Dale. Brand new facilities and brand new buildings can lure a lot of kids away. You are correct about Smyrna, they did it within theor own zone, but they did it for only two years mainly because of two outstanding athletes. They have not dominated for two decades like R'dale. One or two players can make all the difference. The proof is in your very example. R'Dale isnt getting those kids in the numbers like they used to, for the very reasons I have stated.

 

 

 

SwamiSays, you are not the first person to say that Smyrna won their 2 Championships with 2 outstanding athletes so don't take this to personal. Sony and Rod were outstanding and with out them, No titles. They are the big names, the two stand outs.

 

BUT, in those 2 years, do you all remember that Smyrna had Linemen that went on to play in the SEC?

 

I know this is a Riverdale post and I??™m sorry for going off topic but I felt it needed said.

 

So on topic now, maybe he gets canned and then again maybe not..........how??™s that for taking a stand?

[MidTennFootball]

You are right, Rutherford county is tops in the state. But because of new schools opening up because of all the reasons I list, that is exactly why R'Dale is not the powerhouse it once was. You take one or two top notch players off of a team, it makes an impact. You take a few more and it makes for a difficult season. 10 years ago, if you played football in Rutherford County and you were a great talent, you did what it took to go to R'Dale. Brand new facilities and brand new buildings can lure a lot of kids away. You are correct about Smyrna, they did it within theor own zone, but they did it for only two years mainly because of two outstanding athletes. They have not dominated for two decades like R'dale. One or two players can make all the difference. The proof is in your very example. R'Dale isnt getting those kids in the numbers like they used to, for the very reasons I have stated.

 

 

I think Blackman and Siegel has proven that new schools do not stretch out the talent base, but more or less give other kids the chance to shine whereas they would be backups or third string at another school. I think Williamson Co. is another good example of this, looking at Independence and Ravenwood, both of whom havent been open very long but have a combined 3 state championship appearances bewteen them.

 

Sonny and Rod were great players for Smyrna, but like any great team, they had a very solid cast of role players. They were not great all the time, but in the big games, when it truly mattered, they always rose to the occasion. Even Riverdale in all their might could never win 2 championships in a row, and there were some teams, that on paper, were much better than those 2 Smyrna teams. Success runs in cycles, all the great programs have their down years, sometimes there is really no explanation for it.

 

As for the facilities, they do not have to be brand new. Alot of kids are going to go where the success is. For years that was Riverdale. If they want to go the route of new facilites, raise the money for a indoor practice facility, with all those games over the years, raising money for a indoor facility should be no problem for the Warriors.

[SwamiSays]

I think Blackman and Siegel has proven that new schools do not stretch out the talent base, but more or less give other kids the chance to shine whereas they would be backups or third string at another school. I think Williamson Co. is another good example of this, looking at Independence and Ravenwood, both of whom havent been open very long but have a combined 3 state championship appearances bewteen them.

 

Sonny and Rod were great players for Smyrna, but like any great team, they had a very solid cast of role players. They were not great all the time, but in the big games, when it truly mattered, they always rose to the occasion. Even Riverdale in all their might could never win 2 championships in a row, and there were some teams, that on paper, were much better than those 2 Smyrna teams. Success runs in cycles, all the great programs have their down years, sometimes there is really no explanation for it.

 

As for the facilities, they do not have to be brand new. Alot of kids are going to go where the success is. For years that was Riverdale. If they want to go the route of new facilites, raise the money for a indoor practice facility, with all those games over the years, raising money for a indoor facility should be no problem for the Warriors.

 

 

I agree with yours and bulldogs comments. But when you are talking about state playoffs, often it is the difference from one or two players that wins games. For years, Riverdale had the greatest concentration of the "difference makers". Other schools had great teams and great programs, but just lacked that little edge. Those players that give that edge to a team are now more spread out in Rutherford County, with Riverdale getting only its fair share. But for years, R'Dale got more than its fair share. The playing field is much more level within the county. The talent is still there, its just spread out more. Thats the biggest difference from 10 years ago.

Its just like expansion in baseball...more teams means a smaller concentration of marquis talent....its spreads it out more.

For years, for hs football in Rutherford county, Riverdale was the big show. Because of the counties explosive growht, more schools had to be built. More programs spreads the talent around. They are all good programs, with many taking just a few players from R'Dale. After a while, it begins to show, as it is now.

I said it before and will say it again. Rankin knew when to leave. Thats no knock on him. It was very smart of him. Riverdale isnt down because he left. Riverdale is down because the rest of the county is up and the top players have better choices of schools to go to than they did even 5 years ago.

As an 8th grade athlete, some kids are easily identified as an up and coming marquis player. Many are not, but develop into huge play makers. If you lived ni M'Boro and wanted to play at the best, you went to R'Dale, period. Often those kids became much better for being surrounded by other top notch athletes. That is no longer the case and kids that would have been developed to even greater level by being at Riverdale are going to other schools where they still become good football players, but not to the level that R'Dale was formerly developing them to.

[RespectallFearnone]

Sounds like a lot of fair weather fans if you're already screaming for a coaching change. Coach A is not Rankin, never tried to be. Probably not the recruiter that Rankin was, but a good coach. It's a tough region with other programs showing a burst of enthusiasm and pride in their programs that have been lacking for a few years. Riverdale will be back, you don't need to give up on him yet.