Coffee County

[Pumpkin007]

A write up from Thunder Radio

Season Preview – CHS Football

 

As the fall sports season gets ready to crank up, Thunder Radio sports concludes our series of previews for the fall prep sports season.  For the last 11 days, we have shown the spotlight on each of the 12 different local prep teams which will compete this fall.  Today, we look at the Coffee County Central High School Red Raider football team.

The Red Raiders donned the pads on Monday morning for their first day of full contact work.  Battling heat and contact restrictions, Coach Ryan Sulkowski begins his 4^th season at the helm of the Red Raider program.  “It was a little sluggish for a Monday, but overall I was pleased with the work of the 1^st and 2^nd groups” said Sulkowski when asked about the first day.   Coach Sulkowski is pleased with the spring and summer workouts and feels that this year’s team is ahead of schedule when compared to his previous teams especially in leadership.  “Not to take away from previous senior classes, but this year’s seniors are coaching the kids (and holding them accountable)” said Sulkowski.  “Physically speaking and athletically, this is our best group in 4 years.”

You can’t begin any discussion of Coffee County without mentioning UT commitment and senior Alontae Taylor.  Taylor is expected to begin the season at the wide receiver position, a position he is projected to play at the college level.  “Obviously Colton Prater(Sr.) is doing a good job for us at the quarterback position” said Sulkowski but he quickly added that Taylor will line up at a variety of positions to year to get more touches and to serve as a decoy as well.

In the backfield, Sulkowski called out the performance of junior running back Byron Sullivan who is “running hard.”  Senior Zach Vaughn has practiced well at the wide receiver position and will complement Taylor’s presence on the outside.  Up front, Sulkowski was pleased with Tyler Luttrell(Soph) who appears to have nailed down the center position.  Sulkowski said that he “likes the competition” amongst the other linemen as he considers their knowledge of the system as the best he has seen in his time at CHS.

Sulkowski and his staff are attempting to platoon this season and limit the number of players having to play on offense and defense  when possible.  On defense, a pair of seniors lead a strong linebacking corp as Cameron West and Deaaron Rozier have shined all summer.  “They are running to the ball and their football acumen and athleticism are special” said Sulkowski.  He went on to add that the defensive secondary is strong anchored by senior cornerback Keishaun Creel and sophomore cornerback Claudius Williams.  He called out their knowledge of the defensive concepts and the ability to run “the system” as well as communicate and work as a team.

One additional benefit of platooning is the opportunity to work more with the freshmen and sophomores.  The underclassmen are getting quality preparation and practice experience.  Sulkowski was effusive in his praise for many of his younger players, especially freshmen who have stepped up this summer.  Sulkowski praised the work of freshmen Bryce Damstra(OL/DL), C.J. Anderson(WR) and Matthew Pittman(QB) for their progress thus far.    “I want our kids to continue to show up and be ready to work hard every day” added Sulkowski.

The Red Raiders open the season on August 18^th when they travel to Winchester to take on Franklin County in a non-region game.  The first home game for the Red Raiders is August 25^th when Tullahoma visits Carden-Jarrell Field for the Coffee Pot Game.  As always, Thunder Radio is the exclusive home of each and every Red Raider football game with Lucky Knott and Dustin Murray on the call.  Additionally, the Ryan Sulkowski Show returns to Thunder Radio again this fall airing at 6 PM on Wednesday nights.

[Blaze45]

Looking forward to a much improved team and playing this quality bunch of competitors

 

[MidTennFootball]

6 hours ago, Blaze45 said:

Looking forward to a much improved team and playing this quality bunch of competitors

 

Brushing up on your coachspeak, eh?

[Blaze45]

9 minutes ago, MidTennFootball said:

Brushing up on your coachspeak, eh?

Rozier(sp) Alotae and a couple others are good atheletes and from what I have seen or heard pretty good kids. I think they are better than they have played and I believe they are due a decent season

 

[Pumpkin007]

Problem was last year (viewing from the stands and having no dog in the fight) was the O-line and D-line lost their heart to play. No reason for 5 Down lineman on the O-line and 4 D-line was in the back field for the hand off. Just crazy, seems they were upset over the fact Alontea gets all the recognition. If they had of played hard, the scouts coming to see Alontea play might see a somebody else they are interested in. If I had been a coach I would have benched them till they got their heart right. Maybe that bunch is gone and this new bunch of lineman will be different. Only time will tell. I expect them to play hard for at least our first 2 rival games, then we will see if it carries over to the Blackman game. That is what will tell me how improved they are. Of course Blackman will be like playing Oakland. Haha we don't not have an easy region to show improvement in.

[Blaze45]

22 minutes ago, Pumpkin007 said:

Problem was last year (viewing from the stands and having no dog in the fight) was the O-line and D-line lost their heart to play. No reason for 5 Down lineman on the O-line and 4 D-line was in the back field for the hand off. Just crazy, seems they were upset over the fact Alontea gets all the recognition. If they had of played hard, the scouts coming to see Alontea play might see a somebody else they are interested in. If I had been a coach I would have benched them till they got their heart right. Maybe that bunch is gone and this new bunch of lineman will be different. Only time will tell. I expect them to play hard for at least our first 2 rival games, then we will see if it carries over to the Blackman game. That is what will tell me how improved they are. Of course Blackman will be like playing Oakland. Haha we don't not have an easy region to show improvement in.

Attitude makes or breaks a season from the first snap of off season on.  I think we caudle kids a little too much these days. Kids need to understand that while somebody else gets all the attention for being good, You also get the attention for missing blocks, getting pancaked, walking to and from the huddle and off the field. They should know that what they play for is ever bit as important as a college scholarship . It is a little something called PRIDE. Your pride is something no one can defeat but you. You can lose a game and still have pride. You can whalloped but be proud of the fight you gave. I don't know if Alontae puts in the effort some of these top atheletes do around here. But I see players be at practice 30 minutes early, leave 30 minutes later , go home eat something and the comeback and work with a trainer for another hour to hour and a half everyday... and  do it during the season as well. You can't gripe if you didn't put in the effort. This is a tough region to know if you have improved or not , because the competition is going to be tough every year. I just feel like CC has some talent, some good coaching and the possibility to do well. I guess we will see if there is any heart in the team 

[Pumpkin007]

Him and a few others put in the extra time. It is just sad to see the ones that don't suck the drive out of others as the season goes on. Why do you think we had about 45 kids on the sideline last year? A few bad apples spoil the barrel. I just hate it for the ones that do put in the extra time and effort.

[Blaze45]

2 minutes ago, Pumpkin007 said:

Him and a few others put in the extra time. It is just sad to see the ones that don't suck the drive out of others as the season goes on. Why do you think we had about 45 kids on the sideline last year? A few bad apples spoil the barrel. I just hate it for the ones that do put in the extra time and effort.

Sometimes a few bad apples gotta be thrown out. ..... I gotta say this though... I watched Master Teagues video highlights and when we played CC you could actually hear a fan (woman laughing) HA HA HA RIGHT UP THE MIDDLE ...." The sad thing is it was filmed from your bleachers... Attitude sometimes in these kids is a bleed over from the parents.  I do hope those kids putting in the effort get their just rewards. Being a leader matters.

 

[Pumpkin007]

I have been in the stands and heard this with my own ears. I have even called parents out on it.  and of course the parents of these bad apples all seem to point it at the coach.

[Blaze45]

12 minutes ago, Pumpkin007 said:

I have been in the stands and heard this with my own ears. I have even called parents out on it.  and of course the parents of these bad apples all seem to point it at the coach.

There is always a certain amount of that in every stand. "You didn't play because the coach is stupid" It's someone elses fault that you are not successful "  If they had given you the ball more we would win...Thta is the very attitude that sets these kids in motion to fail in life. No responsibility or accountability for their own actions or lack of it. And Mom and Dad are at fault. It goes back to everybody gets a trophy syndrome ... How about you hustle and bust your tail and become good at something . you get recognized for your efforts... if not you don't 

[Pumpkin007]

Guys kid was a starting lineman, just puzzling that he was blaming the coach and his kid was one of the ones not giving a honest effort. You was talking about putting in extra work, I saw AT practicing running routes today with no one there but a QB to throw the ball to him. So yes a few kids get it, just wish more of them had that attitude. 

[ccraiderpride]

Nothing aggravates me more than to hear all this belly aching from the stands from these so called "supporters"! And the ones who get up and walk out when we're down, what does that show the kids? Well, we're down, let's throw in the towel. You guys are 100% right in saying that the parents attitude bleeds over to the kids. I just wish everyone would support the team every game as they do the Tullahoma game. I believe with FULL support from the community (especially parents) would change this programs way of thinking drastically. But instead, they get to hear ole dad talk about what a dumba$$ the coaches are. I haven't missed very many home games since 1994, maybe 5 or 6, and I can tell you that the coaching staff is the best we've had in a long time. They know what they are talking about and can back it up if our so called "supporters" would get behind them!