Can USJ finally get a gold ball?

[Booger]

still dont think that Gold Ball is coming to Jackson...can we start that new thread now

 

Booger just sayin

[ReitzFan]

still dont think that Gold Ball is coming to Jackson...can we start that new thread now. +1

 

Booger just sayin

[ReitzFan]

 

still dont think that Gold Ball is coming to Jackson...can we start that new thread now. +1

 

Booger just sayin

+1

[Booger]

+2

 

Booger just sayin

[tradertwo]

Crickets no more BigEd!

 

This hire is as odd and strange as it gets. Not saying anything negative about USJ or Coach Stroup, but it's odd.

First off all, throw the 24-22 record away. Something that will be on Stroup's resume but shouldn't. I'm looking at their 2013 season and it just looks bad. 2-8 with the wins coming against Middleton and Gibson County. But they had a stretch where they lost to Jackson Christian (42-0), Bruceton (48-8), TCA (55-7), and Riverside (39-0), just horrible football back then.

Now, looking at their 2016 schedule is so much better, Adamsville win in the playoffs, played Wayne County close, lost to Waverly by 6 in the playoffs, very impressive.

 

I hate to use this word because high school athletes only have 4 years to play, they are not professional athletes that signs these 7 years/$200 Million dollar contracts. Stroup's "rebuilding" is what got him at USJ, made the community of Scotts Hill proud, and made Lexington not as dominate. I mentioned Lexington because in 2010-2013 years, Lexington was in the argument as a top 3 team in West Tennessee, 10-2, 11-1, and I believe they went undefeated in one of those years. Now, the Tigers are a 7-3ish regular season team. I don't know if Scott's Hill recent success has a part of that, but not going to leave it out.

 

USJ did not hire the 'sexy' guy, but that doesn't they hired the 'right' guy. I think USJ had a reality check, realized that they probably weren't going to win a state championship in the immediate future. I'm assuming that USJ realize that he could be the guy that will get us to the top, even though the results won't come right away. Going to be odd for Stroup to be surrounded by houses at pratice and not corn fields that are miles and miles away. Not a bad hire at all!

 

I understand everyone's skepticism, and though there's a lot of truth to your post, there's still that caveat that Scotts Hill must have benefited from some of Lexington's kids migrating south. I'm close to the program, and have always been here...only two of the kids that were or are now a part of transforming a 2-8 team into the team that knocked #1 ranked and undefeated Adamsville out of the playoffs on the way to the quarterfinals came from Lexington. One kid was a lineman who graduated last season, and transferred because he didn't get to play for the Tigers, and the other was a running back who made all region for SH, went back to Lexington, and never had much success there. He Transferred because he was going to have to sit out a year for discipline, and has been gone for two seasons. Coach Stroup got the students from the hallways, put them in the weight room, taught them to play their position, and instilled the attitude that made them believe that they were going to win. We weren't the most talented team in a lot of our wins, but we never went into a game with any doubt in the players mind, and never finished a game without giving everything they had. If the kids at USJ will adopt the same work ethic and attitude, the sky is the limit.

Edited May 2, 2017 by tradertwo