South Greene High School Coach Leaving

[haywood808]

Any chance they will bring back Coach Ricker?

 

 

Larry Neil's health is rapidly declining. If being paralized and losing his son wasn't enough, he is now battling cancer. Coach Ricker, though a TIGER at heart would doubtfully be able to coach any team physically or mentally. The community is still praying for it's "HERO".

[NE15]

South Greene is a tradition rich community and rightfully so. Those shoes would and will be hard for anyone to fill. And knowing Coach Ricker's condition nobody is expecting them to bring him back. It takes alot of hard work, heart, leadership and discipline. That coming from both players and coaches. (emphasis on coach(es). Head coach and an assistant) Unfortunately there has been a lack there and SG it is going to need all of it.

[etnmom]

Any chance they will bring back Coach Ricker?

 

 

Larry Neil's health is rapidly declining. If being paralized and losing his son wasn't enough, he is now battling cancer. Coach Ricker, though a TIGER at heart would doubtfully be able to coach any team physically or mentally. The community is still praying for it's "HERO".

 

Yes, Coach Ricker needs our prayers. Sounds like he has an army lifting him up!

[haywood808]

Stephen Gregg has been selected and has accepted the coaching position at South Greene. He has been coaching the Nolachuckey Elementary teams for the past 10 years and has had much success.

Here is the address to the story: http://greenevillesun.com/story/309024

[barb]

Stephen Gregg has been selected and has accepted the coaching position at South Greene. He has been coaching the Nolachuckey Elementary teams for the past 10 years and has had much success.

Here is the address to the story: http://greenevillesun.com/story/309024

I hate to say it but this looks like a temp-job....I think Gregg is a place-holder.

[lastyear21]

Derek has been blessed with talent all four years at SG. He hasn't really had to do much coaching. I feel that SG needs a different coach if they want to compete in years to come. I think if they have a good coach step up this year and have a little success, it will be a position that may be hard for Dyer to reclaim.

 

 

You are certainly entitled to your opinion and I am not close to their program although I have seen them play on a number of occassions the last couple of years. However, to say that because they have had talent, he has not had to do "much coaching" is absurd. There are lots of teams with talent that do not succeed. Also, there is much more to coaching than Xs and Os. Getting to the state semifinals two years in a row is an unbelievable accomplishment and I find it hard to believe that he just rolled the balls out and they had all that success.

 

Teams that win have talent. Not all teams with talent win. People make the argument about Phil Jackson and how he always has had the greatest players and he wouldn't have won if he didn't have Jordan or Shaq or Kobe. That's true but how many rings did those guys win without him? (1 by Shaq when Pat Riley was his coach) UConn has far and away the most talent in women's college basketball right now. Does that mean Geno isn't coaching?

 

Coach Dyer is a good man and a very good coach and he is doing an admirable thing that a lot of coaches wouldn't do. South Greene will hopefully get someone who will do a great job in his stead. However, that person is going to have big shoes to fill.

 

I am entitled to my opinion. An opinion that is not absurd. I know South Greene basketball (or im just stupid when it comes to something i've been around my entire life!), and with the teams Dyer has had the past few years, they should have won gold atleast once. I'm not saying Dyer is a bad coach, but I'm saying SG has had better coaches. IF Dyer would have actually COACHED the team instead of throwing his hands up and leaning back when something goes wrong it would have been different. With Dyer as a coach if the lady Rebels fell behind, most of the time they lost, a great coach can recover and win. (my opinion.) Chris Ricker would have been more successful than Dyer. (MY OPINION, which I'm sure some share the same). Lastly, IF LNR would have been the coach at SG the past few years they would have had MUCH more success, but that was impossible. Lastly, when you have a group of girls like Rechelle and Ansley this year, and teams of the past few years, they CAN coach theirsleves. Rechelle Dye is one the the smartest players I have ever seen, she's played for coach Ricker and a number of great coaches. And a few times this past year I believe the SG team did coach theirselves. You can say its absurd or stupid, but I promise I'm not the only person who thinks it. SO think what ya want I may just be the only person to say it.

[lastyear21]

Derek has been blessed with talent all four years at SG. He hasn't really had to do much coaching. I feel that SG needs a different coach if they want to compete in years to come. I think if they have a good coach step up this year and have a little success, it will be a position that may be hard for Dyer to reclaim.

 

Based on that line of thinking, his replacement won't really have to do much coaching either... Although they have lost Dye and Crum, they will be returning Ansley Ricker, Shelby Hicks, standout Maelyn Cutshaw who did well in her freshmen year, and Javan Wilhoit--all who got quality minutes last year and can be considered experienced. Furthermore, it can easily be argued that South Greene has nearly always had talent--does that mean that their previous coaches had little to do with their success, too??? I doubt you would levy that same type of attitude towards Coach Ricker...

 

I typically am an "idle observer" and do not participate much in board discusson, but I have to agree with magicman95 in that Dyer is a good man and a good coach and should be applauded as such. Under his stead they have won their first regional championship in 10 years and have 2 'boro final four finishes under their belts after a LONG absence from the big dance. He has done well in a situation that would be very difficult for a lot of others to handle. South Greene has a rich tradition and history, thanks in large part to Coach Ricker (as can be evidenced by his Hall of Fame induction). I may anger some people by saying this, but a lot of folks can't seem to let go of the fact that he (Ricker) is no longer there and that it is no longer the late 80s/early 90s when the 4 gold balls were won which has made it difficult for Coach Dyer (or any successor) to try to build their own traditions. I respect Coach Ricker as much as the next person and appreciate what he has done for SG, but it's time to move on. Notice I didn't say it was time to forget--just time to move on. And let's not forget that it's not like Ricker left voluntarily--he was forced to leave SG after much controversy--so I doubt that the administration/school board would ask him back even if he WAS in good health (which he is not).

 

Listen, Im saying that most of the LNR mentality is out of SG. Dye and Ansley Ricker are probably the last that has played for Coach Ricker previous years. With that, they used this knowledge throughout their high school careers. And difficult for Dyer? LOOK at the talent he was handed. I know high school students that could have success coaching teams like that. I'm just saying I've seen Dyer make mistakes a veteran or great coach would not. His attitude is no where near what LNR's or Chris Ricker's would have been. And for your information, people arent saying bring ricker back, they cant. People are using him as a measuring stick for a great coach, and I think that is pretty legit. So obviously you dont know as much as you think you do.

[HeelSpur]

I, too, have been around South Greene athletics "all my life" so to say that I don't know as much as you do is not a fair assumption to make. We may not agree with each other on Dyer's coaching capabilities and that's fine. I've never tried to say that he was better than Coach Ricker or anybody else. Whether someone else would or wouldn't have done better at this point is irrelevant--you can play the "what if" game all day long. You have to remember that Dyer is not a veteran coach-he's only been coaching for 4 years and he has brought the team from behind in several games. I don't even know that Ricker's squads could have beaten Gibson County. I would be willing to bet that if you compared Dyer's and Ricker's records at the same points in their careers that they would be comparable. You are comparing Ricker at his prime with Dyer at the beginning of a career. Out of respect for Coach Ricker, I'm going to just applaud Dyer for a job well done and leave it at that. Rest in peace Coach Larry Neal Ricker.