South-Doyle

[SouthKnoxPrince]

Someone who would jump out the window for his or her players... You know a coach who's a knucklehead but basically the players worship and fully respect. You know what a players coach is.. I know you've played for a coach who was down to earth and knew what he or she was doing... You know a coach who knows how to pick you up when you down. I coach who would laugh with you when something is funny. Any person that's like this, the players would LOVE to play for..

 

 

 

So you think the problem is the coach or his coaching style. I have no clue about what kind of man he is or how he relates to his players. So I cannot speak to this issue. It still does not answer the question of the lack of support from the community or the lack of participation of the students. I saw a comment on here that they will not play for that "lame" team. Maybe that is the problem, a "losers" mentality. If you are a baller, you play regardless of who the coach is? JMO

[QSouth89]

So you think the problem is the coach or his coaching style. I have no clue about what kind of man he is or how he relates to his players. So I cannot speak to this issue. It still does not answer the question of the lack of support from the community or the lack of participation of the students. I saw a comment on here that they will not play for that "lame" team. Maybe that is the problem, a "losers" mentality. If you are a baller, you play regardless of who the coach is? JMO

 

Coach Barnes is a great coach and great person. South Doyle is lucky to have him. He will turn the program around. Today's athletes (not all, but some) feel like coaches owe them for playing. If a kids wants to play then he'll play no matter what. I was an average player at best but I loved to play. The competition is what drove me. I don't know what motivates kids today to play. Some kids don't want to put in the work.

[wheezie]

How many kids attend South Doyle that don't play because Coach Barnes is too tough? Has anyone asked Barnes to jump off the Gay Street Bridge like Turtle says a player's coach would do? I'm sure after coaching at SD the thought has crossed his mind.

[SouthKnoxPrince]

How many kids attend South Doyle that don't play because Coach Barnes is too tough? Has anyone asked Barnes to jump off the Gay Street Bridge like Turtle says a player's coach would do? I'm sure after coaching at SD the thought has crossed his mind.

 

 

 

I do not know the answer to your question, but I would say after last nights dismal offensive performance (24 POINTS in a BOYS game) he might have jump off the bridge. They easily missed 20 wide open shots. If this is the best the school has , I wish Coach Barnes well at his new school

[Turtle]

Come on people..... I was just saying..LOL...

 

But a lame team means, the students that are "so call" good doesn't think they can help them out.. I mean, I don't know I haven't been to a South Doyle game since TInky was playing there.. And I enjoyed that game when I went to it.. I thought South Doyle was good back then.

 

And someone already answer the community support question. YOu just have to think how far South Doyle is.. I mean, a lot of students probably don't have transportation that's one reason why they don't go to the games. Or the older peeps well maybe they don't like the product that's being shown on the court or fields.

 

Get the winning back in the house and then, the support from the community will show up.

[GeorgiaVol]

I am a Doyle grad and now live in Atlanta, but will try to answer for the lack of community support.

 

First, there was the merger. I attended all 42 football games (one playoff and one bowl game) and some basketball games during my time at the school. After I graduated and before the merger, I attended several Doyle games but since the merger, only one. You see, my high school no longer exists. No more scarlet and gold, no more Pioneers. On top of that, it was merged with South Young, perhaps our biggest, most hated rival. Imagine if Duke and North Carolina combined to form a school called the North Duke Tar Devils. Would the Duke and North Carolina fans support this new school that is half what they used to love and half what they used to hate? My answer is no.

 

Second is geography. The school is located far out in the county away from the majority of the school's students. I grew up closer to UT than to the high school. It is much more convenient to cross the river and go to a UT game or hundreds of other options available in Knoxville than trek out to the school where there is little else. This has improved over the years and will continue as Knoxville grows and development moves further out. When I was at Doyle, we were surrounded by cow pastures and could frequently smell manure. At least today, there are neighborhoods there.

 

Third is success. Neither Doyle or South Young were powerhouses in anything. Yes, there was an occasional championship here and there, but that was the exception rather than the rule. The merger brought hope of being able to rival the other big schools in the area, Farragut, Bearden, etc, but it did not happen. An average program plus an average program equals an average program.

 

Success cures everything. Develop a winning tradition and the geography won't matter and the old wounds from the merger will fade.

[SouthKnoxPrince]

I am a Doyle grad and now live in Atlanta, but will try to answer for the lack of community support.

 

First, there was the merger. I attended all 42 football games (one playoff and one bowl game) and some basketball games during my time at the school. After I graduated and before the merger, I attended several Doyle games but since the merger, only one. You see, my high school no longer exists. No more scarlet and gold, no more Pioneers. On top of that, it was merged with South Young, perhaps our biggest, most hated rival. Imagine if Duke and North Carolina combined to form a school called the North Duke Tar Devils. Would the Duke and North Carolina fans support this new school that is half what they used to love and half what they used to hate? My answer is no.

 

Second is geography. The school is located far out in the county away from the majority of the school's students. I grew up closer to UT than to the high school. It is much more convenient to cross the river and go to a UT game or hundreds of other options available in Knoxville than trek out to the school where there is little else. This has improved over the years and will continue as Knoxville grows and development moves further out. When I was at Doyle, we were surrounded by cow pastures and could frequently smell manure. At least today, there are neighborhoods there.

 

Third is success. Neither Doyle or South Young were powerhouses in anything. Yes, there was an occasional championship here and there, but that was the exception rather than the rule. The merger brought hope of being able to rival the other big schools in the area, Farragut, Bearden, etc, but it did not happen. An average program plus an average program equals an average program.

 

Success cures everything. Develop a winning tradition and the geography won't matter and the old wounds from the merger will fade.

 

 

Now that is some great info. Two schools that hated one another brought together. Add to that no winning tradition at either school. That explains a lot.

[downtown247]

Gary Barnes is an excellent coach. They just don't have a lot of talent.

 

 

I agree. They are definitley luck to have this guy. What a lot of people don't realize is that he took over a bad situation. The previous coach was not the nicest guy to say the very least. He would cuss his players like animals in practice. I think this lead to a lot of kids choosing to attend other schools in the area such as West.

[IrishBBall]

I agree. They are definitley luck to have this guy. What a lot of people don't realize is that he took over a bad situation. The previous coach was not the nicest guy to say the very least. He would cuss his players like animals in practice. I think this lead to a lot of kids choosing to attend other schools in the area such as West.

 

I'm good friends with the previous 2 coaches. South-Doyle is a tough place to coach for several reasons. They rarely had the same line-up after Christmas break due to grade issues. Both of them are pretty hard nose coaches but they had to instill some semblance of discipline in order to get the TEAM to function. GeorgiaVol did a great job explaining some of the initial problems since the merger. It's hard to totally single out basketball as the only problem sport when the football team has had 0 success. If you look at the success of multi-sport athletes, S-D would be a tough sell if they were counting on getting football and/or basketball looks compared with AE and Fulton for example. It's not a complete wasteland for sports when you look at the success of the baseball program. You don't seem to have much financial support there from the community when you look at the facilities. Unfortunately, the immediate area around the school isn't surrounded by businesses that have anything to gain by putting money into the program. It's hard to pin the success of the program on a coach alone. I know that others have said the previous coach was to hard on the players and wasn't a player's coach but if you'll look at the most successful coach in the district and region, you would be hard pressed to find former Bearden players that would label Blevins a "player's coach". I think the key is securing the players that are zoned to the school and making sure they make it to S-D.

[splainshornets]

The previous coach was a joke with the way he treated his players! I'm glad he's out of there. South-Doyle could also be more effect if they could get the players that play at SDMS to go to SDHS instead of Fulton or AE.

[SouthKnoxPrince]

I was not around for the old coach and have not ever meet him. I just know that from what I have seen on the court, football field, and in the stands, blaming coaces is the last thing anyone should do.

[Turtle]

I think if you go around and lure some of the best coaches to SDHS you may get some players out.. You know for football, get a region 2 3a coach to come coach your program... Maybe get one of AE or Fulton's assistant basketball coaches to come be the head coach of the basketball programs at SDHS.. If they students see that the coach has had success at another school then maybe they'll get out there...

 

 

Another thing is the coach needs to sell the program more.. Get the students hyped up about playing for the school or team...