Oak Ridge Hires New Coach!

[Lost Old Dad]

I am glad there were more than I few, I did hear it was a great presentation by the Coach, I have heard that he is a no nonsense kind of guy. We have a long way to go so I hope everyone will be patient. I am looking forward to the season. I have also heard that other coaches who played him this year have said they believe he will turn this program around as well.

 

 

Good to hear. I just wish he had applied to R'dale when Rankin left, and YES I just took another shot! /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

 

Got to take them where you find them.

 

Good Luck this year OR!

[Cactus Jack]

I congratulate Coach Mullins and the Committee on a great hire, they did a tremendous job. I have seen Coach Blade's Hillsboro team play live and I was very impressed with his use of speed and talent The big thing I saw was that his guys tackle well, especially in the open field. He was up against Joe Gaddis' very good Henry County team, and it was a dogfight to the end in the Semifinals. I am glad the selection has been made and like most, I am looking forward to Wildcat Football again. Now lets get this town turned around so he will have the players to develop. I agree with Old Dad on the radio station, we need one.

[ORidgeKat]

I am hearing that WATO will be back on with OR football this year, possibly an FM signal as well.

[boyfromsi]

I am very pleased with the hire. This is coach who has a proven track record of success along with teams that play with discipline. Thanks to A.D. Mullins and crew for being patient and getting a great coach. Good job!

[warhawks]

OR Football will be back! Good luck to your new coach and to the players! Be ready to go to work!

[92Dragon]

I think as long as Coach Blade can get more players to come out, he might be able to turn this program around. As an outsider looking in, it seems to me that O.R. doesnt have the amount of talented players they are used to having. Back in the day, there wasnt much difference between 1st and 2nd team players. In my opinion, the talent level has dropped off alot at O.R. in last several years. I dont think even Blade can win at O.R. until he can get more talented players to come out to play. I wish Coach Blade and O.R. the best of luck in turning things around! See you guys in week 9!

[VilleRam]

So what's next? Does anyone know anything about a staff? It will be interesting to see who's kept and who won't. I heard one of the assistants that is a teacher is in the running for a coaching job at Boys Club. I don't know that much about Boys Club so I don't know what jobs are available. Are there any coaches coming over from Hillsboro?

[my2cents]

So what's next? Does anyone know anything about a staff? It will be interesting to see who's kept and who won't. I heard one of the assistants that is a teacher is in the running for a coaching job at Boys Club. I don't know that much about Boys Club so I don't know what jobs are available. Are there any coaches coming over from Hillsboro?

 

Paper in Nashville said he was not expected to bring any with him.

[Ole Dad]

All have been offered jobs by coach if they choose to stay. It will be interesting to see who accepts and if Ron comes back on board.

 

Ole Dad

 

So what's next? Does anyone know anything about a staff? It will be interesting to see who's kept and who won't. I heard one of the assistants that is a teacher is in the running for a coaching job at Boys Club. I don't know that much about Boys Club so I don't know what jobs are available. Are there any coaches coming over from Hillsboro?

[rallykat]

All have been offered jobs by coach if they choose to stay. It will be interesting to see who accepts and if Ron comes back on board.

 

Ole Dad

 

 

I am excited about the hire of Blade, but disappointed that he is not bringing any coaches with him (if that's true). I hate to put a damper on the excitement, but the plain fact is that our coaching staff is not very good (and that is saying it kindly)! I have heard that a few coaches have said for the last several years that if Gray returned in ANY capacity, that they would no longer coach. Now that might not be all bad, because as I said, the staff needs a lot of work. If Gray returns, so does the soap opera. So I am uncertain what would be best. I take that back---the best thing is for EVERY coach to be fired and let Blade start from scratch.

[VilleRam]

Stanton actually wanted to bring Ron back before last season and there were at least 3 coaches that said they would quit if he was hired. Personally I would have called their bluff and hired him because the positives of him coming in would be greater than the negatives of the 3 leaving.

 

From what I hear, Ron would accept a job if they offered him one. The hardest part would be the sort of awkwardness between him and Blade because they went for same job but Ron has nothing against Blade personally so I'm sure he could put it behind him and coach where he wants to be. I think the drama or the soap opera has been created by the community and in places like this, he's not a very dramatic person. What he is is a dam fine Oline coach and a very bright offensive mind. He would also help a lot with the strength and conditioning program.

 

There are some good coaches though on the staff. There are some that are good schemers but not good teachers and vice versa. One area that Blade needs to excel that Stevens didn't at all is coaching other coaches. One area they need to really improve is the freshmen team. I like Phil Thompson a lot, he seems like a very good coach but that freshmen team should have been a lot better because they had a ton of talent. They're going to get a lot more talent next year.

[BurroBall]

There are some good coaches though on the staff. There are some that are good schemers but not good teachers and vice versa. One area that Blade needs to excel that Stevens didn't at all is coaching other coaches. One area they need to really improve is the freshmen team. I like Phil Thompson a lot, he seems like a very good coach but that freshmen team should have been a lot better because they had a ton of talent. They're going to get a lot more talent next year.

 

 

I believe Blade will be walking into a great situation given this last paragraph to be true.