Union County Discussing Dropping Football Alignment

[formerblazer]

http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/high-school/union-county-administrators-to-discuss-dropping-football-from-playoff-series-3c65bc9e-fc8d-2571-e053-393263501.html

 

So this news story brings up some interesting conversation.  Should they be allowed?  Is aligning by population the best way to do things?

 

I think this is a perfect example of why alignment by school record ends up better for the little guys.  There are places in this state, in every region, with football teams that will be struggling and struggling.  A 5 Star Program vs. a Just Happy to be Here program does nothing for the little guy, and realistically it is not helping the better teams either.  I think we should be talking about other alignment options, because I can see a lot of struggling programs improving by playing each other, not by being the tackling dummies for these other programs.  Discussion at least should be open to new possibilities for closer skill level teams to be playing against each other every week.

[OakRidgeWildcat]

I don't think it'll ever happen. Struggling schools dropping football will probably be the only solution. A similar situation happens at Towns County(GA) High School. They have so little interest and so few players that the play a few seasons then drop the program and bring it back like two to three seasons later. One of their teams a few seasons back had 18 players.

Edited September 13, 2016 by OakRidgeWildcat

[formerblazer]

I don't think it'll ever happen. Struggling schools dropping football will probably be the only solution. A similar situation happens at Towns County(GA) High School. They have so little interest and so few players that the play a few seasons then drop the program and bring it back like two to three seasons later. One of their teams a few seasons back had 18 players.

 

I know a few teams in the Upper East TN area who have this type of situation every year.  I think there are parts of the state that have kids who want it, but little interest.  I think powerhouses maintain high numbers because of the success the program has, but success needs to happen to keep kids interested elsewhere.  I agree that the TSSAA will probably look at it and say meh, but they want their games, want their teams, and want their $$$ when the time finally comes around. I feel bad for Union.  I think a few years of JV ball would do them good.  If they eventually start destroying teams, it is time to play ball, but the way it looks for them, a lot of JV teams would beat them.  Its a hard discussion to have because football brings in quite a bit of money for schools.

[osunut2]

Blazer, I'm going to side with wildcat on this one. I understand the spirit of the idea, but I just don't think it will ever happen. It may not always be the most fair way (especially for very rural schools), but it is easier to classify schools based on enrollment. The Union County situation is unfortunate, and there really is no easy solution. To my knowledge, this program has won 3 games or less every single season since the new school opened back in the early 90s (with the exception of a 7-win season back in 1994). Killing the program would probably be the worst thing they could do, although I would argue that Union County probably has much bigger things to worry about and not a single one of those things are sports-related.

 

Playing JV is probably their best option, but of course they'll have to petition to do it since they want to keep playing competitive basketball.

[VictorTheViking]

Somebody's got to be on the bottom of the standings, too.  We need to remember that when we're bleeding hearts about schools who can't win.

 

The reasons the same schools suck year after year are usually things that a change in classifications isn't going to fix.  It's the opposite of the same reasons that the same schools are dominant every year.  Maryville is the smallest school in 6A and should, by enrollment, be a 5A school.  Is there some magic dirt in Maryville that miraculously makes kids a contender when other schools have a lot more big time athletes... or is it something else behind the scenes?

 

Personally, I think the TSSAA should switch to 8 man ball for 1A schools, since you've got some with 170 kids playing schools 2.5 times their size with about 400.  I also think that letting a team petition to drop down a classification due to a consistent inability to be competitive where their enrollment puts them is a good idea.  But it won't fix the problems that schools like Union County have.

 

I know people in Union County.  They just plain don't value football there.  The system is horribly crooked and only hires family members, none of whom care about football.  There's no feeder system because no one wants to build one.  No coaching staff because the school doesn't want to hire and support one.  No kids on the team because none of them want to play.  Instead of supporting coaches, the administration looks for reasons to throw coaches under the bus and fire them.  Kids who are good and want to play football go elsewhere and you can't blame them.

 

How would changing classifications fix all that?

[Indian]

As I understand they'd be playing through the year against whoever could/would pick them up, regardless of class.

[Jackets86]

I wish Grundy county could move down to 2A just makes more sense for us to be in the same region and class as Marion and bledsoe

[formerblazer]

Somebody's got to be on the bottom of the standings, too.  We need to remember that when we're bleeding hearts about schools who can't win.

 

The reasons the same schools suck year after year are usually things that a change in classifications isn't going to fix.  It's the opposite of the same reasons that the same schools are dominant every year.  Maryville is the smallest school in 6A and should, by enrollment, be a 5A school.  Is there some magic dirt in Maryville that miraculously makes kids a contender when other schools have a lot more big time athletes... or is it something else behind the scenes?

 

Personally, I think the TSSAA should switch to 8 man ball for 1A schools, since you've got some with 170 kids playing schools 2.5 times their size with about 400.  I also think that letting a team petition to drop down a classification due to a consistent inability to be competitive where their enrollment puts them is a good idea.  But it won't fix the problems that schools like Union County have.

 

I know people in Union County.  They just plain don't value football there.  The system is horribly crooked and only hires family members, none of whom care about football.  There's no feeder system because no one wants to build one.  No coaching staff because the school doesn't want to hire and support one.  No kids on the team because none of them want to play.  Instead of supporting coaches, the administration looks for reasons to throw coaches under the bus and fire them.  Kids who are good and want to play football go elsewhere and you can't blame them.

 

How would changing classifications fix all that?

 

 

I agree with everyone that says they won't do it.  I also agree that just moving them down won't fix things.  Teams like Alcoa and Maryville will always be exceptions that prove that numbers do not equal success.  If it was that way, then the biggest schools in each classification would always win, but you will always see smaller schools be able to destroy some of the bigger schools.  

 

Someone posted it would be terribly difficult to go in and do another classification based on record.  I agree.  Yet going along with that, how much money does the TSSAA get from us every year?  They have nothing but time, they can at least look into it and see what a reclassification may look like.  At the least, I would like to see how everything would look.  It would be tough.

 

You are right about how you can not fix a program where the county is not invested in the football program.  I see a lot of parents now a days just flat out blame coaches for everything.  If you are running a program poorly, yes that is all on the coach.  If, as an athlete, you are not going to workouts, not participating well in practice, having a poor diet outside of school and practice, than there really isn't a whole lot a coach can do.  We can't magically snap our fingers and make the kids better.  

 

I do think reclassifying could help generate some excitement for programs.  Programs that are notoriously bad don't generate a lot of excitement, so who wants to play football there?  Oh I could go to such and such and I'll be great, we will win games, etc etc.  When I entered high school, the word about my school was that the football program was horrible, why would you want to play football there?  By the time my senior class graduated, we had molded the program into having three winning years and going deep into the playoffs.  It generated excitement in the county, and it made more kids want to come out and play football.

 

I feel bad for the kids and the community, but I'm sure people who are closer now a lot more facts than just someone reading a newspaper article.  I think that maybe with some JV seasons and a couple of great offseasons, it could generate some improvement, but that is going to be a tough sell to a group of kids to play high school football only on Monday night.

[hsfootballfan777]

They can move up to 6A,Take the same kind of beatings and go to the playoffs lol

[maj]

Somebody's got to be on the bottom of the standings, too.  We need to remember that when we're bleeding hearts about schools who can't win.

 

The reasons the same schools suck year after year are usually things that a change in classifications isn't going to fix.  It's the opposite of the same reasons that the same schools are dominant every year.  Maryville is the smallest school in 6A and should, by enrollment, be a 5A school.  Is there some magic dirt in Maryville that miraculously makes kids a contender when other schools have a lot more big time athletes... or is it something else behind the scenes?

 

Personally, I think the TSSAA should switch to 8 man ball for 1A schools, since you've got some with 170 kids playing schools 2.5 times their size with about 400.  I also think that letting a team petition to drop down a classification due to a consistent inability to be competitive where their enrollment puts them is a good idea.  But it won't fix the problems that schools like Union County have.

 

I know people in Union County.  They just plain don't value football there.  The system is horribly crooked and only hires family members, none of whom care about football.  There's no feeder system because no one wants to build one.  No coaching staff because the school doesn't want to hire and support one.  No kids on the team because none of them want to play.  Instead of supporting coaches, the administration looks for reasons to throw coaches under the bus and fire them.  Kids who are good and want to play football go elsewhere and you can't blame them.

 

How would changing classifications fix all that?

You may be a new poster but you certainly have a handle on the UC situation. Great post, nothing really to add other than if UC wants football they need to hire a real coach and staff. Someone close to the HS program needs start working with the middle school age kids now, and finally they have to be ready to take their lumps for the next 2 or 3 years. Digging out of a hole this deep won't happen in a year. Union County of course will do none of this so instead of getting pushed around for a couple years while rebuilding they will get pushed around for a decade while decaying and end up dropping the program.

[orngnblk]

You may be a new poster but you certainly have a handle on the UC situation. Great post, nothing really to add other than if UC wants football they need to hire a real coach and staff. Someone close to the HS program needs start working with the middle school age kids now, and finally they have to be ready to take their lumps for the next 2 or 3 years. Digging out of a hole this deep won't happen in a year. Union County of course will do none of this so instead of getting pushed around for a couple years while rebuilding they will get pushed around for a decade while decaying and end up dropping the program.

I agree maj.It takes a lot of hard work to compete and if you can't put in the time or won't put in the time it will never work.

[BarneySox2007]

I hate to see a program go through this kind of mess which is a reflection of the people there that run the school system. There is a group of people there that need to be tarred and feathered and ran out of town on a rail but that's not going to happen because the people that live there must not care. No one in their right mind would want to go there and sacrifice the years it would take to build a program from scratch because they would be fired right in the middle of the process so why waste the time. This county should be shammed off the map of Tennessee for what goes on in that crooked little town. They should just drop football and put a plaque right on the center of the field honouring the corrupt devils that caused this mess.

Edited September 17, 2016 by BarneySox2007