Clarksville/Best Coaches

[Guest ClarksvilleFan]

There is always a lot of posts on here about the best players in Clarksville, but how about the men the coach the players. WHo is the best head coach and who are the best assistants in the city of Clarksville. Also which team has the best overall staff.

 

My picks

Head coach

Al Cooper Northeast

Fred Harper Rossview

Howard Jackson Kenwood

Ted Young Clarksville High

 

Best overall staff Northeast and Rossview

[crossup]

I like Jackson then Cooper, but their both pretty Good, Coach Ross is the worst, He's killed a whole lot of great talent he had, I think Jackson & Cooper gets the best out of the Talent they have in their Schools..

 

Good Post!!

[Guest ClarksvilleFan]

Northeast has only lost to Kenwood once since the schools have played and Northeast beat them 3 teams last year by 20 pointsa each. And each year they have had equal talent so I would have to go with Cooper

[UPSGregg]

All the Clarksville team's coaches are ok I guess but none of their teams have really done anything around here in a while. A district championship is really not a big deal like it was in the 90s and before now that its mostly made up of Clarksville schools. When was the last time a team from Clarksville has made it past regionals? It seems like every since Coach Hopper left Clarksville high and since the three new schools have opened that Clarksville has dropped off the map for basketball.

[TnBball]

I'm a Clarksville alum and I played in the Dick Hopper era..I'll be the first to say that Hopper won his games because of the players he had..Its not like the man coached..The one good thing I can say about his coaching was his players were always in shape but who loses a state title with two future NBA players (D1 players at the time)? The discipline in the program wasnt good and sometimes the selection of players wasnt as well. AL Cooper and Fred Harper are the two best coaches in the area not neccessarily in that order..In my opionion I think they're tied because both of thier knowledge of basketball is unreal.

 

I'm not gonna consider Hopper a good coach just for the simple fact he didnt get as much as he should have with the talent he had. I had the inside of what really went on in the program so I can make these statements.But overall hes a good man and sometimes his good heart was taken advantage of.

[UPSGregg]

I really agree. I was pointing out the fact that area teams havnt really done anything since he left though. He wasnt a bad coach though. He didn't always have the Trenton Hassels and Sean Marions. In fact, he usually didn't have that much more talent, if any, than Northwest and Northeast. He still managed to keep them in the district/region mix and this was going on long before Sean Marion and Trenton Hassel came. CHS and Northeast were two good teams for years and years. Hopper wasnt a great coach as far as the Xs and Os but its like you said...he kept them in top shape. In a way he was like the soccer coach (Dave Donahue)at CHS. They have ruled their district for years. Many of his teams in the late 80s, early 90s won the district with less talent than the other school in Clarksville. Those kind of coaches tend to under achieve with the teams they get that actually do have talent though and that was Hopper's problem. Donahue pushes his players to the limits and but also is a above average coach so he has been very successful. Northeast never really did anything in basketball except when they were loaded which would suggest that they usually never really had any talent but were successful because of a hard coach. Now it seems all the teams have dropped talent wise but are barely hanging around simply becuase they are pushed by those type of coaches.

[TnBball]

The thing people dont understand about Clarksville High is they'll always be in the thick because of pride and tradition. They're the oldest school in the city and they've won the most. You're right this dates back long before Shawn Marion and Trent Hassell..I would like to throw a few names out there no one knows anything about: Carlos Merriweather(APSU grad), Choo Choo Merriweather(signed with TSU), Marcus "Puff" Miller(Overseas), Henry Thomas(UK Grad), John Jackson(Navy grad), and of course their more but I dont have the time or space to name them.

 

Clarksville has ball players and thats something other schools cant always claim to having. Northeast always have the top athletes. the best athletes arent always the best ball players and thats the big difference between Clarksville High and Northeast: Ball Players vs Great athletes. Like I said I though Hopper was a great person but as far as X's and O's he struggled but he did manage to keep them in the thick of District/Region titles along with going to substate round. At one point they went to the substate round 3 our of 4 years under him..THATS PRETTY IMPRESSIVE!!