PORTLAND PANTHER FOOTBALL COACH RESIGNS

[BURebels]

Are you saying everyone listed has applied?

I think an internal hire would be the wrong thing to do. I don't feel the school and community will get behind that and the mentality of "the same old thing" will be rampant.

Actually, many in the school and the community are behind the idea of a promotion from within. There is some very vocal support for that to happen. Just because someone on staff is hired does not mean that he would continue to do things like they have been done previously.

People can get on here all day and throw out ridiculous statements like "they should have won 7-8 games this year"' or "it was the offense that sucked". No one is willing to say the truth, with the exception of Southernfried, that this team does not belong in 5-6A. It does make a difference when you have many more athletes to draw from. And honestly, that is the problem at PHS. Not enough athletes to be competitive in this very tough region. Just because some players daddy gets on here and says there were doesn't make it so.

Good luck to PHS. But it is going to be a vert difficult row to hoe, even to just make the playoffs in this district. Roger Perry left for a reason, and it was because he could see what was coming in terms of athletes.

[SOUTHERNFRIED]

Agreed. My vote is for Mike Ditka. Tired of seeing him in an occasional commercial.

Our kids sometimes had enough trouble remembering the snap count coming from the huddle, much less having to learn the Super Bowl shuffle lol....they are 15-18, hard enough to keep young men thinking right. lol .

[eers]

Actually, many in the school and the community are behind the idea of a promotion from within. There is some very vocal support for that to happen. Just because someone on staff is hired does not mean that he would continue to do things like they have been done previously.

People can get on here all day and throw out ridiculous statements like "they should have won 7-8 games this year"' or "it was the offense that sucked". No one is willing to say the truth, with the exception of Southernfried, that this team does not belong in 5-6A. It does make a difference when you have many more athletes to draw from. And honestly, that is the problem at PHS. Not enough athletes to be competitive in this very tough region. Just because some players daddy gets on here and says there were doesn't make it so.

Good luck to PHS. But it is going to be a vert difficult row to hoe, even to just make the playoffs in this district. Roger Perry left for a reason, and it was because he could see what was coming in terms of athletes.

I don't buy it. There may not be as many, but there are athletes and there are more in the hallway.

 

Then there's Westmoreland, White House and Greenbrier. What's the reasoning there. Put the blame where it rests... Across the board! Community, school, coaches and athletes. That's why I say you need a new staff, new outlook and new "support".

 

There are less students, but not more so than a lot of other schools deal with. If everyone is ALL IN, you can win in Portland. Numbers, while a legitimate reason, is becoming a cop out. Play football, build a program.

Edited November 26, 2013 by eers

[HCnPT]

Southernfried is right, more stability is needed.  Going into year six after the middle school split there have been 3 head coaches at PHS, 3 head coaches at Portland East and 1 head coach at Portland West.  It is hard to build a program from the bottom up with this kind of instability.

 

In reference to the idea that there aren't enough kids to be competitive, just look at 2012 as an example with PHS going 5-6 with a trip to the playoffs.  I know it is anomaly, but that proves they can be successful. 

 

The program is going to have to be bulit over a number of years by a group of people (community, administration, coaches, and players) that are willing to do the right things in order to build a program the right way.  Aric wasn't given the time to do this, hopefully the next coach wll be given the time.

 

Not exactly sure on the dates but I believe Roger Perry came to Portland in '90 and didn't make the program a legitimate playoff contentder year in and year out until the '93 season.  Regardless of the dates, it took Coach Perry a few years until he established the program as a winner but it happened because he was given the time and he installed a program where the players were accountable and did things the right way.  A similar blueprint needs to be used again if future success is to be had in Portland.

[Big Poppa 17]

Actually, many in the school and the community are behind the idea of a promotion from within. There is some very vocal support for that to happen. Just because someone on staff is hired does not mean that he would continue to do things like they have been done previously.

People can get on here all day and throw out ridiculous statements like "they should have won 7-8 games this year"' or "it was the offense that sucked". No one is willing to say the truth, with the exception of Southernfried, that this team does not belong in 5-6A. It does make a difference when you have many more athletes to draw from. And honestly, that is the problem at PHS. Not enough athletes to be competitive in this very tough region. Just because some players daddy gets on here and says there were doesn't make it so.

Good luck to PHS. But it is going to be a vert difficult row to hoe, even to just make the playoffs in this district. Roger Perry left for a reason, and it was because he could see what was coming in terms of athletes.

 

 

 

Before I start my rant, let me begin by saying that I am a proud Portlandian (Portlander?), class of '89, but after all these years of incessant whining "We're Portland, we don't belong in 5/6A Football"...yes we do.  Go to this link and check out the numbers http://www.tssaa.org/Classifications/classification.cfm.  There are 16 schools smaller than Portland in the 5/6A Football classification, included in these are Anderson Co. and Northeast, both of whom are pretty good at football.  The smallest school in 5/6A is Sullivan Central with 1017 students, Portland has 1135.  There is no chance that Portland will be going down in classification soon, so drop it and move on.

This is how the district enrollment numbers look:

MJ - 1903

WC - 1714

Leb - 1638

Hend - 1527

SC - 1433

Gall - 1381

Beech - 1297

Port - 1135

So Portland does have the smallest enrollment in the district, but Beech with only 162 more kids have 2 rings and Portland can't win a game. People can debate the reasons why on here until they turn blue in the face, but it ain't the enrollment numbers and it ain't the coaching.  The same coach beat white house, Gallatin, and Hendersonville last year, and there are few guys that I know of who takes losing as hard as Coach Aric does.  If you don't believe me, take a look at a picture of him when he was the WC coach and look at a picture of him now...he has aged more than the president in 4 years.  

My opinion is that it is the community that is the reason. The recession hit Portland hard.  With all those parents up there working in all of those factories and distribution centers only making $9-$10 an hour, as a kid, when you turn 15, you go get a job and work as many hours as possible.  You don't have time for sports, especially one as time consuming as football.  I could be wrong, but that is my opinion.

Btw, if you don't believe that I am from Portland, check out the grammar in this posting

[3-6-3]

I love these kids to death, known most in this age group since they were 5, but, please, put the crack pipe down. 8 of the 10 teams Portland played made the playoffs, yes that includes Westmoreland, Greenbrier and White House. Westmoreland beat just about every other team in Sumner County this year as well, besides us. We had the 6th hardest schedule in the state based on all that (according to what I've heard). The games we were close in, at the beginning of the year, we lost in the 4th, why? We had on average 7-10 playing both ways the entire game, our kids were in shape, and the strongest team we have had in years, but, that is a grind for anyone. Non stop for an entire game. If you had been at the practices, like I had, been on the sidelines, taking photos like I did, you'd realize real quick, our size, skill and speed does not give a favorable match-up most weeks, against most teams we played. But the perspective people get from listening to others, that know everything, the perspective from being in the stands, is a lot different from the sideline. I myself, did not know that till this year.  I don't play or live in fantasy football, I'm a little more realistic than that. Make no mistake, I want the best for my son, he was a Sophomore this year, I want him to win every game, we (myself, my son and wife) hate to lose more than we love to win. But, even in my eyes, the coaches did not have many options at their disposal. I don't put down any present coach, I support them, like a parent should. They are human, and make mistakes. Unless their name is Coach Jesus, they will continue to make mistakes. But, as long as a coach does their best to prepare the player for the game, mentally and physically, that's all i can ask for, and expect. The game play is on the player. The coaches prepare them, and call the plays. The coaches do not make a single play on the field, dont recover or turn it over. That is on the players. Geeze in football they are playing the game with a freaking pointy ball, that doesnt bounce right to begin with.  I understand anything in a game can happen, this year it did.  THEY are the coaches, its their job, not ours as parents, to tell the coaches how to do it.........now if Portland were Marion County, then yea there are issues to deal with, but, that is not what happened here. Thank the Lord. Am I disappointed in our season? Yes, you think the players and coaches werent? But, was my child prepared to play on Friday night? yes he was. Was my child treated fairly and with respect as a man? Yes he was. Was he taught the right way to run, catch a pass, take a handoff, make a tackle? Yes he was. Did he have on best equipment to protect his body? Yes he did. On Friday nights when he made a mistake and coughed up the ball or allowed a touchdown, was that the coaches fault? NO it wasn't, it was his. They are kids for goodness sake, and we as parents forget that sometime. I will never forget the class ALL our coaches showed my son, one night, when he made a mistake and cost us a TD. I was ready to hammer him myself with my camera, the second he realized it, he manned up, went straight to Coach Aric and said "coach that was totally my fault, I'm sorry", His response? Buddy, thats ok, we all make mistakes". I was floored. Instead of crushing a kid, (and he had every right to, in my opinion) he didn't, my son finished the night with 11 tackles and 2 were touchdown saving tackles. A great night for him, even in the loss. Even now, our coaches have to do whats best for them, I understand that. Our administration at PHS, has to make the right choices for the school as well, in all areas. I will say, that our principal is the largest supporter of athletics at Portland we have had in a long, long time.  All I can do is pray to God to guide our administration in the decision making process. That really, is all I should do as a parent.......then support what ever decision is made, and support the coach, as I supported the others.....

And that folks sums it up correctly - Portland cannot compete night in and out in 9AAA - don't have the talent - you can't play 7-10 kids both ways and be a winner - doesn't matter who the coach is... I think the new principal was under pressure to help himself "fit in" to the community - Coach Aric is a good coach and person - when  you have expectations that aren't realistic in the community you don't have a chance - same thing is going on in Lebanon and has been since mid to late 90's...

[TheRealTruth]

 

Actually, many in the school and the community are behind the idea of a promotion from within. There is some very vocal support for that to happen. Just because someone on staff is hired does not mean that he would continue to do things like they have been done previously.

People can get on here all day and throw out ridiculous statements like "they should have won 7-8 games this year"' or "it was the offense that sucked". No one is willing to say the truth, with the exception of Southernfried, that this team does not belong in 5-6A. It does make a difference when you have many more athletes to draw from. And honestly, that is the problem at PHS. Not enough athletes to be competitive in this very tough region. Just because some players daddy gets on here and says there were doesn't make it so.

Good luck to PHS. But it is going to be a vert difficult row to hoe, even to just make the playoffs in this district. Roger Perry left for a reason, and it was because he could see what was coming in terms of athletes.

 

 

 

Before I start my rant, let me begin by saying that I am a proud Portlandian (Portlander?), class of '89, but after all these years of incessant whining "We're Portland, we don't belong in 5/6A Football"...yes we do.  Go to this link and check out the numbers http://www.tssaa.org/Classifications/classification.cfm.  There are 16 schools smaller than Portland in the 5/6A Football classification, included in these are Anderson Co. and Northeast, both of whom are pretty good at football.  The smallest school in 5/6A is Sullivan Central with 1017 students, Portland has 1135.  There is no chance that Portland will be going down in classification soon, so drop it and move on.

This is how the district enrollment numbers look:

MJ - 1903

WC - 1714

Leb - 1638

Hend - 1527

SC - 1433

Gall - 1381

Beech - 1297

Port - 1135

So Portland does have the smallest enrollment in the district, but Beech with only 162 more kids have 2 rings and Portland can't win a game. People can debate the reasons why on here until they turn blue in the face, but it ain't the enrollment numbers and it ain't the coaching.  The same coach beat white house, Gallatin, and Hendersonville last year, and there are few guys that I know of who takes losing as hard as Coach Aric does.  If you don't believe me, take a look at a picture of him when he was the WC coach and look at a picture of him now...he has aged more than the president in 4 years.  

My opinion is that it is the community that is the reason. The recession hit Portland hard.  With all those parents up there working in all of those factories and distribution centers only making $9-$10 an hour, as a kid, when you turn 15, you go get a job and work as many hours as possible.  You don't have time for sports, especially one as time consuming as football.  I could be wrong, but that is my opinion.

Btw, if you don't believe that I am from Portland, check out the grammar in this posting

 

Gallatin played two of those "smaller" schools than Portland in the playoffs and one is still playing. There are 16 teams smaller than Portland in 5A.

Edited November 26, 2013 by TheRealTruth

[chickhot2]

Portland needs to quit whining. They lost to everyone they played this year. Westmoreland beat them. The coach was not very good. If you don't like it sorry. Good coaches don't go 0-10 twice. Hire the best. Or the next coach will end up like the rest. I gurantee I could win with those Portland athletes. They are good kids and good athletes.

[eers]

Gallatin played two of those "smaller" schools than Portland in the playoffs and one is still playing. There are 16 teams smaller than Portland in 5A.

I agree completely! Numbers hurt, sure. They don't make you 5-26 over three years. I believe coach Aric to be a great man and coach, however something's not working. Portland has to get someone in there that everyone will rally around; students (who are also the football/potential football players), student body, administration and community.

[GWAVE1]

Portland needs to quit whining. They lost to everyone they played this year. Westmoreland beat them. The coach was not very good. If you don't like it sorry. Good coaches don't go 0-10 twice. Hire the best. Or the next coach will end up like the rest. I gurantee I could win with those Portland athletes. They are good kids and good athletes.

Why don't you apply then?

[HighLife]

Portland is a place u can win at.. Numbers play a part but it doesn't stop u from winning. U have to develop talent thru all grade levels and make it exciting for the kids to come out and play.

[big D]

I agree completely! Numbers hurt, sure. They don't make you 5-26 over three years. I believe coach Aric to be a great man and coach, however something's not working. Portland has to get someone in there that everyone will rally around; students (who are also the football/potential football players), student body, administration and community.

he went to the playoffs in 5A. not working? maybe EERS and HIGHLIFE should be hired. they seem to know the secret to winning at Portland.

Just look at the BB schedule to see what is going on there. Portland BB has won 1 game. losses to White House, Westmoreland, and East Robertson (all smaller schools)

but maybe they have talent and they need BB coaches too. get a new one.

i heard (could be wrong) that no previous staff member applied for the job. you can read between the lines on that rumor.  

They need an Administration that will not bend to the parents and run off coaches every 2-3 years. Stability is needed to win. the next coach needs time.  good luck with that at Portland.