Bruce Lussier on the Hot Seat?

[KWoodroof]

I would also like to note that we will be going all across town, up to an hour away to steal players from other schools. We also will be going into impoverished areas in order to get the best athletes and offer them "a chance for a better academic challenge". Hopefully we dont step on Ensworth and BA's toes.

Two thoughts here...you can't steal kids from other schools. Corn Elder wasn't stolen from Riverdale or Siegel or anywhere else, because he didn't belong to them. He belongs to his parents, who are responsible for his education. I suspect he's getting a pretty decent one where he is now. Secondly, a major tangent in this thread revolves around the way Father Ryan football used to be. During Ryan's best days, a fair number of their players came from St Pious X and St Vincent de Paul in the parochial school league. Neither parish is ever confused with Belle Meade or St Henry's....

[Twing]

From the early 1970's to 1997(8), Ryan had one of the premier football programs in the state. Why? several reasons.....good players and good coaching most importantly.....Ryan continuted to be good even after letting girls into the school which cut the number of boys in half. It was not until the late 1990's just after the split when the other private school made conscious decisions to get better players/hire better coaching staffs (although Brentwood Academy was ahead of the curve in many ways: year round strength program, college like staff, an athletic director with power, systems in place to get players....currently (in football) Ryan has many, many disadvantages...the most important of which is the fact that having a great football program is not a priority of the admistration....and given the current landscape in DII Ryan cannot and will not be able to compete regardless of who is coaching the team.

[nosidj]

aint the X's and the O's but the jimmys and the joes

[DirectorP]

If Father Ryan was smart and I am not saying they are. They would kick the liberals out of the Administration and bring back good ole Catholic Values and what the Porocial School system was meant to be. Educating all Catholics. No matter how smart they are or how much money they have, Until then Who gives a crap. They will always be a cellar dweller with this administration at the helm

Edited November 25, 2012 by DirectorP

[KPowers55]

Two thoughts here...you can't steal kids from other schools. Corn Elder wasn't stolen from Riverdale or Siegel or anywhere else, because he didn't belong to them. He belongs to his parents, who are responsible for his education. I suspect he's getting a pretty decent one where he is now. Secondly, a major tangent in this thread revolves around the way Father Ryan football used to be. During Ryan's best days, a fair number of their players came from St Pious X and St Vincent de Paul in the parochial school league. Neither parish is ever confused with Belle Meade or St Henry's....

There are probably 15 kids who went to Father Ryan in the last 8 years who either went to St. Pius or St. Vincent. You dont/ probably wont for the next 10 years see Father Ryan going into other high schools or middle schools offering THE BEST athletes "financial aid" and all that crap about "the chance of a better education". OBVIOUSLY they will get a better education at a private school than they will at ANY school in Nashville or its surrounding areas with the exception being Williamson County. If you honestly think Ensworth or BA is bussing these kids in from Lavergne, Smyrna, Clarksville, Antioch etc. out of the kindness of their hearts so that they can provide them with a better education and not for their athletic abilities you are a moron. Until Father Ryan begins giving free or dirt cheap education in exchange for athletes they will not be consistently at the top of the division for years to come.

Edited November 25, 2012 by KPowers55

[Twing]

Ryan does not need to pay for a bunch of "recruits" to improve.....but what is does need to do is to develop an integrated plan designed to 1) get ALL the best kids from the feeder school 2) recruit the school and "strongly" encourage athletes to play multiple sports 3) get a system in place to "go get" 3 great athletes per class who are of high character with high character parents (2 preferably). And for the 3 athletes, the Ryan administration MUST grant the full amount that the said families qualify for....not just half - This is what the other schools (who already have better facilities, coaching staffs, and a more recent tradition of winning not losing) do now. At some point, one would think that Ryan's people will get tired of getting killed on a weekly and yearly basis whenever it plays BA, Ensworth or MBA - but apparently this has not yet occurred - when the administration get enough pressure from its constituents, Ryan will pay enough to hire a great coach and staff and agree to get a plan in place similar to the one above.

[meritage]

There are probably 15 kids who went to Father Ryan in the last 8 years who either went to St. Pius or St. Vincent. You dont/ probably wont for the next 10 years see Father Ryan going into other high schools or middle schools offering THE BEST athletes "financial aid" and all that crap about "the chance of a better education". OBVIOUSLY they will get a better education at a private school than they will at ANY school in Nashville or its surrounding areas with the exception being Williamson County. If you honestly think Ensworth or BA is bussing these kids in from Lavergne, Smyrna, Clarksville, Antioch etc. out of the kindness of their hearts so that they can provide them with a better education and not for their athletic abilities you are a moron. Until Father Ryan begins giving free or dirt cheap education in exchange for athletes they will not be consistently at the top of the division for years to come.

 

I know you're on a roll here so i don't want to let any facts get in the way so my apologies for stating a couple of things - there is not 1 student at BA who is "bussed in" nor is there one student at BA who gets "free tuition" nor has anyone from BA gone into middle schools to "recruit" kids - i know you like to think so but i'm pretty sure i'm closer to all of this than you are. And by the way, can't think of more than maybe 2 or possibly 3 starters on this fall's football team who live outside of a 15-20 minute drive to school - exact same commute as my kid and we live in the eastern side of B-wood. anyway - sorry for the interruption

[DirectorP]

MBA has 30 players from the Porocial leagues. Paying full tuition.

Ensworth has 8 players same story

BA has 5 same story

CPA has 7 same thing.

 

When will the people at Father Ryan wake up and understand it is not about the best athletes it is about keeping what you develope in your feeder system. It is not about giving free rides.

 

Twing,

 

Do not put the cart before the horse. They pay a head coach but not the assistants. Head Coach is only as good as the people around them.

 

The administration and Board Has to GO

[Twing]

Meritage - I am not close to the current BA situation so I really cannot argue your points posted; although you may have factual information about no students being bussed in Like Ensworth does; I am not so sure that your comments about who is on financial aid and how much they are getting is accurate UNLESS you work in admissions at BA OR you are on the committee that decides who gets financial aid and how much... but BA recruits like all schools (Una ????). But this is not an indictment on the morals of the school. It is ok to recruit kids to your school who have talents to help the school - and certainly BA does this for football; whether Cody is in the know or not - yet. For BA to compete with Ensworth, it must continue to fuel the program with good athletes who come from areas outside the natural draw of the school (simply bc there are not enough boys in the school to naturally compete at the top in DII)- and again, in my opinion, there is nothing wrong here - although you may take offense - not my intent.

 

Director P - I agree with you comments about the administration and board - I do remember in the early 1990's when Kurt was the coach....he had a terrific staff around him; Jemison and Pittman were among them - and I thought that Kurt was a good coach and certainly really good at promoting the program - unfortunately the administration did not do the things necessary to allow Ryan to continue to be good - it was and is -- unfortunate and sad.

[shakinthefat]

OR you are on the committee that decides who gets financial aid and how much...

It's a clearinghouse that determines the aid...not one BA representative is present on decisions

 

[shakinthefat]

it must continue to fuel the program with good athletes who come from areas outside the natural draw of the school (simply bc there are not enough boys in the school to naturally compete

BA, Ensworth, MBA have one natural middle school to draw from, their own. Ryan has multiple middle schools. So, yes BA, Ensworth and MBA have to draw and compete for kids from outside their natural areas. That is what private schools do all over the nation. Most private schools recruit by being good schools and offering something different than what other private or public schools offer.

[Twing]

The clearing house ? does decide the maximum that a family will qualify for.....then the school will decide whether or not to award to the maximum or less or none.

 

I agree that all private have learned the importance of marketing the school - and having a good product to sell - but we are not talking here about normal marketing - we are discussing specific recruiting of athletes.

 

The model that Ensworth is using is basically the same as BA has done for years.