TN HS football v. AL HS football

[ClassAAguru]

After having experienced both Alabama and Tennessee High School football why is there such a difference?

[WCHSGRAD]

After having experienced both Alabama and Tennessee High School football why is there such a difference?

TN doesn't have the athletes that AL has down there.

[jrpfhs21]

TN doesn't have the athletes that AL has down there.

 

I wouldn't say that TN doesn't have the athletes. Now Alabama could have some more, but I think when you take kids from the larger cities (Memphis, Nashville, etc.) you will find nearly the same amount if not more athletes. I think it has more to to with the amount of football tradition and support that Alabama has. It seems like those kids are taught football from day 1. I'd say it has more to do with how to kids are taught the games when they are young, and the support that the larger programs in the state receive.

[silverpie]

I wouldn't say that TN doesn't have the athletes. Now Alabama could have some more, but I think when you take kids from the larger cities (Memphis, Nashville, etc.) you will find nearly the same amount if not more athletes. I think it has more to to with the amount of football tradition and support that Alabama has. It seems like those kids are taught football from day 1. I'd say it has more to do with how to kids are taught the games when they are young, and the support that the larger programs in the state receive.

 

Right, Tennessee's support is somewhat more divided. In Memphis, for instance, basketball is the top sport. Closer to my home in the east, football has to (at least partially) compete with Chattanooga wrestling, Knoxville soccer, and Tri-Cities baseball to get the best athletes.

[ClassAAguru]

Right, Tennessee's support is somewhat more divided. In Memphis, for instance, basketball is the top sport. Closer to my home in the east, football has to (at least partially) compete with Chattanooga wrestling, Knoxville soccer, and Tri-Cities baseball to get the best athletes.

 

So it has alot to do with the geographical make up of the state and the distance that schools would have to drive to have constant competition. This would make sense because competition breeds success (don't tell that to our liberal buddies though!).

[wildcatalumni]

So it has alot to do with the geographical make up of the state and the distance that schools would have to drive to have constant competition. This would make sense because competition breeds success (don't tell that to our liberal buddies though!).

Right...thats all that in a nut shell pretty much.

[fromthetop2]

Having lived in both states, I would say one of the biggest differences is cultural. Birmingham and Memphis are both hotbeds of basketball, but I would say that Memphis year in and out produces more D1 players- mostly because it is a bigger city. Another example is girl's basketball- far and away bigger in Tennesse than Alabama.

In Alabama, high school football is the be all end all in most communities. You don't see in Alabama certain schools obsessed with just basketball and not football- just doesn't happen. It does happen in Tennessee (let's call it the Kentucky effect).

In the majority of cases, other sports in Alabama(with the exception of baseball and some spring sports)are not nearly pursued by the communities with the same fervor. School districts and communities pour more money into football than comparable communities in Tennessee. They pay their coaches more, the programs have less restrictions than typically seen in Tennesse. Stadiums are bigger, staffs are bigger, schools are allowed to be bigger in order to feed into a bigger football program. McGavock High is the largest school in Tennessee- it wouldn't be in the top 20 in Alabama in size.

This also ties into the fanatic obsession this state has with its two major universities football programs. It is far more fanatic Crimson Tide or War Eagle than found even in the most die-hard Big Orange sections of the state. Tennessee is more culturally diverse along its sports/and non-sports interests, Alabama not as much. Outside of Huntsville (which is closer in cultural to Nashville than to say Birmingham), the state is pretty much homogeneous. It feeds itself.

Also, it has to be noted, that Alabama has a higher minority population than Tennessee. I cannot name one major Alabama city where the minority population is less than 25-30%. That cannot be said for Tennesse.

 

In summary, because of these factors,there are more D1 football athletes in Alabama than Tennessee.