What has happened to high school football?

[HighSchoolFootball09]

What has happened to high school football? It used to be where a coach would coach several years at ONE school and no matter what his record, he would continue to coach there until HE wanted to leave. High school now is ridiculous, it is like these high school coaches are coaching in college. They only get a few years to turn around a program and if they are not wining State Championships or Districts then they are getting FIRED or my favorite asked to RESIGN. Former Memphis Head Coach, Tommy West, said it best “the program is doomed to underachieve until the UofM addresses a lack of facilities and overall funding and fully commits to football.

''At some point in time you've got to say, 'We've got to help this football program,'" West said. "We've got to do the things necessary to make this what we want it or do away with it."

So until these coaches can get the support they need from COMMUNITY and FACULTY then you will continue to see the coaching carousel, like you do in college.

[HighSchoolFootball09]

Anybody know of any coaches that have been fired or “resigned” yet?

[riverdaleman]

Anybody know of any coaches that have been fired or “resigned” yet?

David Watson from siegel

[HighSchoolFootball09]

Looks like HC at Warren Co, Wilson Cent, and Millington all meet similar fates

[MarkH]

The coach at Millington, Hank Hawkins, resigned because he wanted to spend more time with his kids. He had the support of the community and was a big part of this community. He grew up here, went to high school here and has spent the last 19 years of his life as the coach of the Millington football team. He was not asked to resign nor was he fired.

[compusatman]

What has happened to high school football? It used to be where a coach would coach several years at ONE school and no matter what his record, he would continue to coach there until HE wanted to leave. High school now is ridiculous, it is like these high school coaches are coaching in college. They only get a few years to turn around a program and if they are not wining State Championships or Districts then they are getting FIRED or my favorite asked to RESIGN. Former Memphis Head Coach, Tommy West, said it best “the program is doomed to underachieve until the UofM addresses a lack of facilities and overall funding and fully commits to football.

''At some point in time you've got to say, 'We've got to help this football program,'" West said. "We've got to do the things necessary to make this what we want it or do away with it."

So until these coaches can get the support they need from COMMUNITY and FACULTY then you will continue to see the coaching carousel, like you do in college.

 

That's an easy one. With the proliferation of "Friday Night Lights", "Two A Days", phenomonal programs like Maryville, Hoover, Alabama and others it serves to spawn a new awakening. Parents look at these programs and vision their children being successful in programs such as these. Most people realize their is no need to move across country to find these programs but instead become involved to try and make their own local program one of these storied clubs. I personally see nothing wrong with this. Why can any of us not achieve this? Why should we just see it on TV and be content with the notion that they have it and we don't. That is ludicrous. Provided all involved understand that it takes so much more than a great coach. It takes money, parents, administration and then the talent will come. It's a process. A process that requires all these components and more. It all depends on how driven the community is. And that depends on leaders. After all, isn't that what this game is all about? Building quality young men to carry on the professionalism. I for one advocate every inch of it. And if the coach desn't fit the bill then he should realize it and take himself out of the equation. Otherwise, yes he should be replaced. So that makes the AD a very important job. Probably the most important. A successful program is not necessasarily rated by how many state championships it wins but going deep in the playoffs is an indication of the effort to attempt to get there. And proves the work and dedication that exists in a program that is considered top shelf. Complacency is not a job requirement of any successful company and I don't see that it should be allowed in High School coaching. You may be willing to sacrifice your children for complacency but I however am not.

[eers]

I have seen the opposite happen and believe me, it is worse. Your children (the team) take on the attitude of the staff, the staff the HC.

 

I don't want to teach my children that "participating" is ok. If you are going to participate, you have to be committed; administration, AD, HC, staff, team. Allowing a complacent staff to remain is thus, selling the kids short. There are a lot of factors that go into it and if the AD/administration have weighed that out and the finger points to the staff, then make a change.

 

If you play, play to win. If you are a player and you aren't doing well enough to give your team the best opportunity to win, someone else takes your position. As a staff, if you aren't giving your team the best opportunity to win, then changes need to happen. All coaches should know this is the case and expectations should be discussed prior to accepting a position. If you take the position and don't meet the expectation, you know. Its no surprise then.

 

All that said, sometime you just don't have the talent. Regardless I think if we show our kids that complacency is ok we are doing them an injustice.

[Guest]

What has happened to high school football? It used to be where a coach would coach several years at ONE school and no matter what his record, he would continue to coach there until HE wanted to leave. High school now is ridiculous, it is like these high school coaches are coaching in college. They only get a few years to turn around a program and if they are not wining State Championships or Districts then they are getting FIRED or my favorite asked to RESIGN. Former Memphis Head Coach, Tommy West, said it best “the program is doomed to underachieve until the UofM addresses a lack of facilities and overall funding and fully commits to football.

''At some point in time you've got to say, 'We've got to help this football program,'" West said. "We've got to do the things necessary to make this what we want it or do away with it."

So until these coaches can get the support they need from COMMUNITY and FACULTY then you will continue to see the coaching carousel, like you do in college.

 

That's an easy one. With the proliferation of "Friday Night Lights", "Two A Days", phenomonal programs like Maryville, Hoover, Alabama and others it serves to spawn a new awakening. Parents look at these programs and vision their children being successful in programs such as these. Most people realize their is no need to move across country to find these programs but instead become involved to try and make their own local program one of these storied clubs. I personally see nothing wrong with this. Why can any of us not achieve this? Why should we just see it on TV and be content with the notion that they have it and we don't. That is ludicrous. Provided all involved understand that it takes so much more than a great coach. It takes money, parents, administration and then the talent will come. It's a process. A process that requires all these components and more. It all depends on how driven the community is. And that depends on leaders. After all, isn't that what this game is all about? Building quality young men to carry on the professionalism. I for one advocate every inch of it. And if the coach desn't fit the bill then he should realize it and take himself out of the equation. Otherwise, yes he should be replaced. So that makes the AD a very important job. Probably the most important. A successful program is not necessasarily rated by how many state championships it wins but going deep in the playoffs is an indication of the effort to attempt to get there. And proves the work and dedication that exists in a program that is considered top shelf. Complacency is not a job requirement of any successful company and I don't see that it should be allowed in High School coaching. You may be willing to sacrifice your children for complacency but I however am not.

 

Probably the most accurate post I've ever read on CoachT!!! Congrats on this thought..! I am a Henry County graduate...our school's football program has picked itself up off the mat and has been to the Semi-finals each of the last 3 years...BUT...even more staggering is that HC had 18 seniors named to the Army National Guard PreSeason All-Academic team in this year's Murphy Fair book! Yes, we have an occasional discipline issue...but the large majority of young men on the team are exceptional student athletes learning life lessons that you can't put a price tag on! So I ask all of the other posters (the same thing Tommy West asked)...what are you doing to make your program better? What are you doing to help? Don't accuse others and demand change if YOU aren't willing to help! If you live in the community...it's YOUR job!

[workinprogress]

First off I do agree with some of what you all are saying. I agree that every program should strive to be the very best program and do all that it can to become an elite program. I agree that in order for that to happen everyone has to be involved and support the program. That includes, coaches, administration, parents, players, and the community. However the reality is that very few programs have all of these factors fall into place. The closest thing we have in TN is Maryville and Alcoa.

Here is my issue. Parents can either bring a program up and support the team or they can kill a program. Today there are far too many parents that believe that their son is the next big star and far too many that believe their son is a D1 prospect. Far too many parents also place 100% of the blame and responsibility of losing on the coach and 100% of the responsibility of winning on the players. Far too many parents believe that they know more than the coach and know what would work best for the team.

Two cases that are both very real.

Case #1 There is a coach that coaches for his alma mater. The coach has coached for over thirty years mostly as a head coach and has been successful. This past year the team went 8-2 coming off a 3-7 record the previous year. The team went to the playoffs and lost to a perennial power. Now a group of parents are getting together to try and get rid of the HC because he is too old and is supposedly washed up. This group of parents included one that his son was kicked off the team for being a constant behavior problem in school and on the field and for showing constant disrespect. Two of the other parents want the team to go to the spread on offense to showcase their sons talent more. Fact is that one of the parents son is a pretty good running back. However he is a power running back and in the spread he would never even step foot on the field. The kid probably runs mid 5 in the forty. The other kid is a WR and has decent speed and decent hands and is good in certain situations. However in the spread when people are more expecting the pass his faults would certainly stand out more. In some cases parents should just let the coach coach. A coach doesnt breed stud players he can only do the best with what he has. Also this kind of small group acts like a cancer and brings down the whole team.

Second Case: A well respected coach goes into a neighboring county to a dominate program. The coach brings in a new offense and the parents and supporters hate it. Its not what they are used to. In the first year the team doesnt meet expectations and everyone is blaming the coach. Most want the coach fired. Talent is there but the offense stinks. The defense is even worse. The coach is no good because he didnt come from within. This year that same team went 8-2 and is in good shape to go deep into the playoffs and all are back on board.

Coaches dont get paid nearly enough and at some point enough is enough. I think that in some cases coaches do need to step aside but in far too many the coach is doing a great job considering the circumstances and what he has to work with. Look at Red Boiling Springs. They won two games I think this year and that was a great job. Should the HC be let go because he only won two games. Do you think that Red Boiling Springs has the goal of losing all their games. No. All strive to win and become great programs but the reality is that very few reach that point.

Just my thoughts.

[HighSchoolFootball09]

A lot of good post. I wasn't saying let coaches keep coaching if they are not getting the job done. All I was saying was these programs have unreal expectations and coaches are now getting fired because of those expectations.

[HighSchoolFootball09]

What would have happened to "Bear" Bryant if Texas A&M would have fired him after going 1-9? It takes time and some coaches are not getting their fair shot. Thankfully The "Bear" kept his job and went on to be one of the greatest Coaches ever winning 7 national championships.

[TronCarter]

Its the Playstation/XBOX "I want it now" generation. And to be honest, that's not all bad.

 

Coaching is a tough profession, but all that are in it these days need to realize that they have about 4 years to turn around a program, or you're probably refreshing the resume on Monster.com. That's just the way it is in 2009. I see the fallacy in that, but I also see the fallacy in some old codger racking up tenure, holding on to some success he had back in 1982, when some younger guy with more energy could do more with the kids.

 

Community support can be your best friend when you are winning, but it can be your worst enemy when things turn South.