Brentwood Academy

[WarriorFan]

When Carlton retired from Brentwood Academy several things began to happen:

1. They are not weightroom warriors like they once were.

2. BA teams of the past played the "US AGAINST THE WORLD" game very well

3. The offense was very simple but ran to perfection

4. BA now tries to run the spread which requires a very good QB & WR which they do not have

5. BA probably had more overacheivers in past years than any team in Tennessee

6. The whole BA community supported & worked for the football program

 

JMO, but I do not see BA ever getting back to the level that Carlton had them for many seasons. The whole BA community seems to be going in another direction than they once were. That is not to say they will be a bad program but it's very difficult to stay on top if everyone is not pulling the rope in the same direction.

AMEN!

[Chattcity]

While I think 2-6 may be true (I'm really too far away to judge those issues), I don't think number 1 is true. In fact, the word we received through those that know and have stayed in touch with Coach Potter is that the workouts are evn tougher than before Coach P's arrival.

 

I do think there is a kore sophisticated offense scheme but let's face it, there don't appear to be any Theo Townsends, Tyree Fords, Chris Jordans in the program now.

[WarriorFan]

While I think 2-6 may be true (I'm really too far away to judge those issues), I don't think number 1 is true. In fact, the word we received through those that know and have stayed in touch with Coach Potter is that the workouts are evn tougher than before Coach P's arrival.

 

I do think there is a kore sophisticated offense scheme but let's face it, there don't appear to be any Theo Townsends, Tyree Fords, Chris Jordans in the program now.

The running backs should be DI athletes when they graduate. They started last year as freshmen, and they are VERY good. They are much bigger than Townsend and Ford and can break away.....not the same running styles, but they are solid players. This team is LOADED all up and down the field.

[Chattcity]

The running backs will be DI athletes when they graduate. They started last year as freshmen, and they are VERY good. This team is LOADED all up and down the field.

 

 

We've gone from the "running backs are D-! talent" to "they will be D-I talent when they graduate"> Young sophomores are still just that-- young and sophomores and it takes some time to play at the D-II level, no matter how talented they are. My point is that they are not Theo, Tyree, Jordan... when those guys were seniors. They may get there, I don't know but give them a chance to grow and mature

[Indian]

How many of the players at Ensworth or some of the Williamson County publics would have been at BA 10 or 20 years ago, that might have something to do with it.

[WarriorFan]

How many of the players at Ensworth or some of the Williamson County publics would have been at BA 10 or 20 years ago, that might have something to do with it.

Talent level is not the question of why they aren't where they used to be. Ricky Bowers would, however, be a great coach to play for! Ensworth is getting lots of great ball players to the school!

[countrypk]

When somebody can produce evidence of recruiting, I'll listen. As far as I'm concerned, all the recruiting nonsense is just whining because BA (or MBA, or Ensworth) is a program that doesn't lose very often. It couldn't have anything to do with outstanding coaching, an atmosphere that values student achievement more than student self-esteem, where discipline is enforced, and where students are used to expectation and managing stresses. Put another way, if Carlton Flatt was so brilliant that he recruited for 30 years and never got caught, does it make sense that he would waste his criminal genius on something as financially non-lucrative as HS football.

 

It's funny, through the early '70's, when MBA was nearly unbeatable most years, we had infinitely more offers of games than we could ever fill: my freshman team received inquiries from 70 schools for a spot on a 7 game schedule. That was back in the days of Warren Dunn, Nick Coutras, Wes Elrod, Bob Cummings, etc., men who relished a challenge, and passed that spirit on to their players. Now the assumption is that excellence can only be the product of cheating. Small wonder this country has the problems it has now.

 

There a very few BA psoters left on this board; they got sick of recruting accusations, NONE of which could ever be substantiated. It's a pity, as they were intelligent, thoughtful, gentlemanly, and were a great deal of fun to debate. I suspect you'll see fewer of the people from MBA as time goes by, and once Ensworth wins something, they'll face the same problem. And then, at least as far as posting from Nashville goes, this board will be on par with Metro Nashville HS football. We won't speak of raising the bar: at that point, the bar will be a piece of tape on the floor. And not a very thick piece at that.

 

 

Stop taking the bait! Some posters ability to remain ignorant is only surpassed by some posters ability to stay stupid. I have yet to see where any of these posters have ever proved a recruiting accusation. "Evidence" is invariably fifth hand heresay.

[oblong]

Whatever Oblong.....you know it all...

 

CoachT.com IS a DISCUSSION board primarilly focused on high school sports....the good and the bad. A topic like this is why it is in existence. Folks like to talk about certain subjects, and not candy coat why a team is playing to a level they are playing in fear of controversy. It is evident that there are questions why a team as talented as BA reloads every year has a hard time taking the state, much less doing good to play .500 ball this year, and it is a legit discussion. Sometimes the answers hurt, and I am a BA faithful on this board that continues to post. I call it like it is, and sometimes folks answers aren't what others want to hear. It is ok to have differing views. I don't want to have my head in the sand and be oblivious. You cannot always think your team has no problems and someone that calls it like it is is wrong.

 

Concerning BA....unless you have been around the program long enough, you wouldn't know these current teams (with the exception of the 06-07 teams.....'07 had a player that should have helped his team alot more than he did) in no shape, form or fashion resemble a BA team that the school built it's reputation on. Exactly how long have you followed BA? The toughness and heart issue is the exact reason why a certain coach made a visit to the practice field after the loss to Ravenwood. The folks that have been around the program for a long time know there is not the same spirit. Two of the four teams they lost to are Ravenwood (6-4) and Father Ryan (5-5...they actually had a losing record going into the game).

 

Nothing against BA. I love the school, and spent five years there. I have been a supporter for a long time. Yes, my child does go to CPA....was accepted at BA, but she fit in better at CPA. Both are great schools, and we were happy with either. The CPA campus and feel is more like the BA of years past. My wife and I like that.

 

so what's the problem with the program? No "heart"...what does that mean, or where does it come from? Is it the players, coaches, what is the cause of this lack of heart? Your comments are just a broad brush that doesn't really point out any root causes. Do you think it's coaching? The players? The BA administration? There are a lot of young boys who go out everyday and work hard. My son for one...does he not have heart? I am not opposed to message boards at all. I just don't appreciate some guy spouting off about young boys they don't know making a statement about their lack of heart.

 

 

 

Whatever Oblong.....you know it all...

 

CoachT.com IS a DISCUSSION board primarilly focused on high school sports....the good and the bad. A topic like this is why it is in existence. Folks like to talk about certain subjects, and not candy coat why a team is playing to a level they are playing in fear of controversy. It is evident that there are questions why a team as talented as BA reloads every year has a hard time taking the state, much less doing good to play .500 ball this year, and it is a legit discussion. Sometimes the answers hurt, and I am a BA faithful on this board that continues to post. I call it like it is, and sometimes folks answers aren't what others want to hear. It is ok to have differing views. I don't want to have my head in the sand and be oblivious. You cannot always think your team has no problems and someone that calls it like it is is wrong.

 

Concerning BA....unless you have been around the program long enough, you wouldn't know these current teams (with the exception of the 06-07 teams.....'07 had a player that should have helped his team alot more than he did) in no shape, form or fashion resemble a BA team that the school built it's reputation on. Exactly how long have you followed BA? The toughness and heart issue is the exact reason why a certain coach made a visit to the practice field after the loss to Ravenwood. The folks that have been around the program for a long time know there is not the same spirit. Two of the four teams they lost to are Ravenwood (6-4) and Father Ryan (5-5...they actually had a losing record going into the game).

 

Nothing against BA. I love the school, and spent five years there. I have been a supporter for a long time. Yes, my child does go to CPA....was accepted at BA, but she fit in better at CPA. Both are great schools, and we were happy with either. The CPA campus and feel is more like the BA of years past. My wife and I like that.

 

 

so what's the problem with the program? No "heart"...what does that mean, or where does it come from? Is it the players, coaches, what is the cause of this lack of heart? Your comments are just a broad brush that doesn't really point out any root causes. Do you think it's coaching? The players? The BA administration? There are a lot of young boys who go out everyday and work hard. My son for one...does he not have heart? I am not opposed to message boards at all. I just don't appreciate some guy spouting off about young boys they don't know making a statement about their lack of heart.

[KingofdaJungle]

so what's the problem with the program? No "heart"...what does that mean, or where does it come from? Is it the players, coaches, what is the cause of this lack of heart? Your comments are just a broad brush that doesn't really point out any root causes. Do you think it's coaching? The players? The BA administration? There are a lot of young boys who go out everyday and work hard. My son for one...does he not have heart? I am not opposed to message boards at all. I just don't appreciate some guy spouting off about young boys they don't know making a statement about their lack of heart.

 

 

I'm a Prattville homer, which automatically makes me an outsider, so I understand you'll take this with a grain of salt. I was at the Prattville vs BA game early and spent a lot of time watching your boys warm up. Our environs are such that we can be right beside/behind the players in the end zones, and our sidelines are close enough to hear nearly all of the dialogue between coaches and players (normal speaking, not huddles or anything quiet). I then watched Prattville pretty neatly dismantle a pretty solid BA football team. I'd like to make a couple of observations that are relevant to this thread.

 

First, since I read your post first, Brandon, I wouldn't call myself a "BA faithful" if I were you. You may be a BA alum and a BA follower, but "faithful" is a stretch I don't think you can make. When you spoke of young men with "no heart" (even if you know them), you used the word "they" an awful lot - kind of interesting that a "faithful" would dissociate himself so much from those guys that are laying on the line week in & week out for your alma mater. Around here, our faithful call our boys OUR boys, and when we have issues, they're OUR issues - not theirs (coaching and admin are a different story - grown folks can fend for themselves imo) I started watching CoachT's TN site naturally because we had an upcoming game against BA. One thing I'll say is that if this environment is what the BA players listen to and are surrounded by regularly, then I'm not surprised you find them to be underachievers as a team. You find D-1 prospects all over the field because these are the kind of kids that are excellent - on and off the field - and they show up every day and do their thing whether their "faithful" appreciate them or not. Teamwork is a whole different matter, though. It requires chemistry, confidence, balance and leadership - all very tough to grow when you don't have the respect of the people you're trying to please.

 

Second, Oblong, if your boy was on the sideline in Prattville then I say congratulations - you have kids you can be proud of. I saw a bunch of guys that were glad to be there, had a good time as a group and played with heart and enthusiasm in an environment that is very difficult for visiting squads. I commend your team and your school for stepping up and stepping out to challenge your guys to be the best. I'm sure you will find that they give it everything they have.

 

A 6-4 record IS disappointing - noone in BA's locker room needs to be reminded of that. The least folks can do is join arms with those kids and help them figure out how to be better (and get better results) - I wish you and your BA crew the best.

[countrypk]

At his prior assignment, Ralph Potter regularly motivated players with generally less talent than BA's to perform at a high level. Starting in the seventh grade players started learning more complex offensive schemes than Flatt's. I doubt posters can know what's in a bunch of 17 and 18 year olds' "hearts" other through ESP which I doubt they actually posess. Give it some time and, unfortunately for other DII teams, BA will be back in Murfreesboro for the last game of the season.

[3yardsandacloudofdust]

so what's the problem with the program? No "heart"...what does that mean, or where does it come from? Is it the players, coaches, what is the cause of this lack of heart? Your comments are just a broad brush that doesn't really point out any root causes. Do you think it's coaching? The players? The BA administration? There are a lot of young boys who go out everyday and work hard. My son for one...does he not have heart? I am not opposed to message boards at all. I just don't appreciate some guy spouting off about young boys they don't know making a statement about their lack of heart.

 

 

The BA boys showed plenty of heart against Ryan. I saw no loss of effort or intensity. They had some bad breaks, missed a couple of key chances and had situtations where they were not put in a position to utilize their talent.

 

Ryan beat CPA 52-15 this year and was ahead 35-0 at the end of the 1st qtr. Brandon, if you have a son on the CPA team, how would you like it if someone said that he had no heart because Ryan wiped the floor with his team? Remember these are just kids we are talling about.

[Oneman]

Brandon, you have questioned the heart and berated another class of B.A. football players again.You did this last year too accept I thought that you implied that you had children at B.A. I think i know what your real problem is.Why do you immediately attack the children?Are you a coward?The problem is simple Coach Flatt played his best athletes both ways When necessary.At Father Ryan Thad Mchaney 0 snaps on D, Alex Bullard 0 snaps on D,Wesley Sherrill 0 snaps on D,Barry Dabney a few snaps on 0,Ismael Lewis maybe a snap on o,Ryan Carruthers 0 snaps on o,Jeremy Martin 0 snaps on o,this was true of Jackson Boyd too when he was healthy and the list goes on and on I've never seen a playmaker make a play from the sidelines.Ryan played their playmakers both ways.