Rhea County 2018

[Blaze45]

4 hours ago, QB14 said:

 None really. Tallest player we have is Kaleb Laws, a 6'6 220 tight end. After him it is LB/FB Chandler Kaylor at 6'2-6'3 220. None of our projected starters at O-line are over 6'0, and only a couple are above 260. We don't have Blackman-Cane Ridge-Oakland level speed, but we have some guys I could see making it at a high D2 or FCS school at RB (Langley 5'11 190) and safety (Smith 5'11 170). 

I agree the Kaylor kid should be playing somewhere.  Laws has the size and some speed, But The games I saw replays of he did not have exceptional hands or I must of missed those plays. That said if he improves and puts some catches on the board he should at least be getting looks at Austin Peay or Tenn Tech... I think sometmes there is more talent on that team than is getting coached . No disrespect but I saw a few players here and there that could be bigger contributor than they were given the chance to be.

 

[QB14]

3 minutes ago, Blaze45 said:

I agree the Kaylor kid should be playing somewhere.  Laws has the size and some speed, But The games I saw replays of he did not have exceptional hands or I must of missed those plays. That said if he improves and puts some catches on the board he should at least be getting looks at Austin Peay or Tenn Tech... I think sometmes there is more talent on that team than is getting coached . No disrespect but I saw a few players here and there that could be bigger contributor than they were given the chance to be.

 

I totally agree. There were some players underused, such as receivers Austin (5'10 and a lightning bolt) and Stewart (6'3-6'4 with good hands), but that comes with the Dead-T offense. There were others, but those are the first to come to mind. I haven't heard of anyone getting offered, but it wouldn't surprise me if it starts picking up soon. Langley went to a camp as a rising sophomore last summer with the Offense/Defense Camp in South Carolina and took RB MVP in his recruiting class with some already highly touted prospects participating in it. He hasn't seen the field much until now (He only started the game we played against you guys due to an injury to a starting wing), but he is definitely a favorite to hold down one of the wing spots this year. Kaylor and Laws are probably our best bet to have D1 signees this year, but I know there will at least be one lineman signing to a D3 as long as things go as they look to with him and we always have interest from the NAIA schools like Lindsey Wilson and the Cumberlands in Kentucky.

[Blaze45]

1 hour ago, QB14 said:

I totally agree. There were some players underused, such as receivers Austin (5'10 and a lightning bolt) and Stewart (6'3-6'4 with good hands), but that comes with the Dead-T offense. There were others, but those are the first to come to mind. I haven't heard of anyone getting offered, but it wouldn't surprise me if it starts picking up soon. Langley went to a camp as a rising sophomore last summer with the Offense/Defense Camp in South Carolina and took RB MVP in his recruiting class with some already highly touted prospects participating in it. He hasn't seen the field much until now (He only started the game we played against you guys due to an injury to a starting wing), but he is definitely a favorite to hold down one of the wing spots this year. Kaylor and Laws are probably our best bet to have D1 signees this year, but I know there will at least be one lineman signing to a D3 as long as things go as they look to with him and we always have interest from the NAIA schools like Lindsey Wilson and the Cumberlands in Kentucky.

Heck it don't matter if they play ball for Tulsa school of welding, getting that education paid for or partially makes a difference. Most really good players in high school seldom get past some college play, much less into the NFL. If they can come out of school without a bunch od student debt or loans hanging over their head they are so much better of no matter where they go. Not every player will even get the looks by colleges, but  don know that when Ohio, Alabama, Ky UT Clemson, Auburn and Georgia come by they often ask the coaches who else they feel really strongly about. Your high school coach is in the best position to promote your kid to colleges, and is missing the boat if he doesn't. Kids will jump ship to where they think they will.

[Eagle4life55]

On ‎5‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 10:37 PM, Blaze45 said:

Heck it don't matter if they play ball for Tulsa school of welding, getting that education paid for or partially makes a difference. Most really good players in high school seldom get past some college play, much less into the NFL. If they can come out of school without a bunch od student debt or loans hanging over their head they are so much better of no matter where they go. Not every player will even get the looks by colleges, but  don know that when Ohio, Alabama, Ky UT Clemson, Auburn and Georgia come by they often ask the coaches who else they feel really strongly about. Your high school coach is in the best position to promote your kid to colleges, and is missing the boat if he doesn't. Kids will jump ship to where they think they will.

This makes a lot of sense. Maybe this is why we are losing so many kids to Meigs Co. They have a Jr. QB, Offensive Lineman, Linebacker, and Receiver from us and a Sr. Offensive Lineman from us. There may be others but those are the ones I know about. They also got a linebacker from us that just graduated. The QB is getting a lot of attention and I hear already has some D1 offers. Thanks for the insight. I don't know much about how this stuff works. I just see what's happening with kids other places that isn't happening with our kids here and would like to see our kids getting the same opportunities.

[Space3]

On ‎5‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 11:42 PM, QB14 said:

As far as I know, Franklin County is the only one this time. I don't know why we didn't face Oakland like we have the last 3 years, and it just seems weird to only have one spring scrimmage when we have had at least 2 for so long. We do scrimmage Anderson County at home in the fall, though, and, if nothing changes, we should be having the jamboree again, so maybe we can face Catholic or someone like them or even Bradley like last year to get a better gauge. Anderson made a deep playoff run that was only stopped in a tight loss to 4A State Champ Greeneville in the semis, and they have a ton of returning starters, so it looks to be the best scrimmage for the Eagles to use as a measuring stick. I wouldn't say that Franklin County was a bad team, but they are not the caliber of Catholic, Bradley, Cleveland, or Cane Ridge, but are prettt comparable to Soddy, Lenoir City, and McMinn.

That's great AC and RC should get some good work in.. Have you got a date when the scrimmage will be?

[Blaze45]

3 hours ago, Eagle4life55 said:

This makes a lot of sense. Maybe this is why we are losing so many kids to Meigs Co. They have a Jr. QB, Offensive Lineman, Linebacker, and Receiver from us and a Sr. Offensive Lineman from us. There may be others but those are the ones I know about. They also got a linebacker from us that just graduated. The QB is getting a lot of attention and I hear already has some D1 offers. Thanks for the insight. I don't know much about how this stuff works. I just see what's happening with kids other places that isn't happening with our kids here and would like to see our kids getting the same opportunities.

Every player has to set up a HUDL account and the coaches put practice, scrimmage and game footage for upcoming opponents and past. This allows the athlete to study the game footage throughout the week and even pull footage for their highlight reel.  A couple coaches even help the kids tweek what highlights with things they believe college coaches are looking for. Some say it might only make 5% difference in the grand scheme of things, but perception by the parents and the players is everything. If I believe you have my sons best interest at heart I am going to stick with the program and I will also be the one pushing my son to give you more, because I/we believe in you and the program. The old saying, No one cares about how much you know, until they know how much you care, really rings out in this instance.  Just my simple thoughts.

[Rhea Co.]

4 hours ago, Space3 said:

That's great AC and RC should get some good work in.. Have you got a date when the scrimmage will be?

Aug 4th at 6pm at Rhea. 

[QB14]

Eagles had 90 show up for the first day of summer workouts, which is down a bit from previous years. I remember the 2014 and 2015 summer workouts started with somewhere around 120 or more because of the excitement around the program. 2016 and 2017 were more of the same with little difference. We did just graduate over 20 players, but the freshmen usually surpass the number that graduated. Possibly could be other sports or vacations interfering, but I thought it was interesting to see the numbers significantly drop. Other than that, this could still be a good year with a senior-heavy starting lineup. 

[Eagle4life55]

That is a big drop. Several kids always quit during the summer workouts. Dropping 30 kids in a year is not a good sign. I think having kids go to other schools to play and some choosing to focus on other sports is causing lots of kids to simply lose interest. I don't pretend to know how to fix it or turn it around but it never looks good when the program starts to decline.

[QB14]

I think it is a combo of those things. Regardless, Evensville is not as lively with enthusiasm around the football program as they have been in the last few seasons. With the other sports beginning to show signs of vast improvement, such as soccer, basketball, fishing, baseball, and track, football is beginning to lose some of its grip on the student athletes, especially with the lack of playoff success the last couple seasons. Regular kids in high school looking to join a sport normally don't look at last season's record of 5-6 being because the competition was tougher than the previous year's 9-3 competition. They see it as the program not doing well. Games like 2013 East Hamilton, 2014 Cookeville, 2014 Ooltewah, 2015 Farragut, and having seasons like 10-2, 13-1, and 10-4 are solid recruiting tools, not barely skinning by McMinn in OT or losing to Catholic, Blackman, and Cane Ridge by 20+ points and going 5-6. 

[Eagle4life55]

19 hours ago, QB14 said:

I think it is a combo of those things. Regardless, Evensville is not as lively with enthusiasm around the football program as they have been in the last few seasons. With the other sports beginning to show signs of vast improvement, such as soccer, basketball, fishing, baseball, and track, football is beginning to lose some of its grip on the student athletes, especially with the lack of playoff success the last couple seasons. Regular kids in high school looking to join a sport normally don't look at last season's record of 5-6 being because the competition was tougher than the previous year's 9-3 competition. They see it as the program not doing well. Games like 2013 East Hamilton, 2014 Cookeville, 2014 Ooltewah, 2015 Farragut, and having seasons like 10-2, 13-1, and 10-4 are solid recruiting tools, not barely skinning by McMinn in OT or losing to Catholic, Blackman, and Cane Ridge by 20+ points and going 5-6. 

Good points. It probably didn't help replacing Blackman with Brainerd, either. I don't know why that change was made but it's a joke for us to be playing Brainerd. Who cares if we beat them by 40? Well, everyone knows we are looking at a 6-4 season this year and with the numbers dropping it may be worse next year if things don't get turned around. If Meigs has another year like they did last season, I'm afraid we will lose even more players to them.

[Blaze45]

2 hours ago, Eagle4life55 said:

Good points. It probably didn't help replacing Blackman with Brainerd, either. I don't know why that change was made but it's a joke for us to be playing Brainerd. Who cares if we beat them by 40? Well, everyone knows we are looking at a 6-4 season this year and with the numbers dropping it may be worse next year if things don't get turned around. If Meigs has another year like they did last season, I'm afraid we will lose even more players to them.

I think it had to do with two factors.  1) We could pick up an out of state game which always seems to be a big draw in Rutherford county. It would be a bonus that it is Florence Alabama and Coach Will Hester(Formerly at Ravenwood and Nolensville) is their new coach and good friends with the staff at Blackman.  2) Nothing good comes from playing a school like Rhea County if you are Blackman. If you beat them soundly, "well you should you are a Big Ole  6A and school pickin on little Ole 5A."  If you lose you open a can of worms about your teams talent, coaching and send them down a wrong way street to start the season. No offense I think Rhea county is better than advertised and play very well to the point, that I would be more worried about scenario #2 over number 1. I had the opportunity when I went last year to hear a few parents and they were quite torqued at how the program was going...One made a statement about not ever throwing the ball and the other made a statement about team being coached around the strength of one QB rather than the strength of the whole team. And that was just on the way in from the parking lot... My hope is that the team will buy in and get excited and play the football I think they are capable of playing