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The Disgusting State of Knoxville West High Football


WestHighReb07
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53 minutes ago, VolBall85 said:

We was always told he was not certified to teach and you cant be head coach in Knox County and not be a teacher. So is that not true? 

This is actually completely false. This is an excuse that was given to you.  He was signed off by superintendent and downtown bc years of service. If you were told that you were lied too.   But doesn’t matter from what I hear he will be now certified by end of year. West knew that. Too much politics over there and people puffin it chests out.  All it has done is hurt the kids.  

I agree he is doing extremely well at Catholic as he has done  everywhere he has been. West lost a good one. 

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5 minutes ago, Fballlife said:

This is actually completely false. This is an excuse that was given to you.  He was signed off by superintendent and downtown bc years of service. If you were told that you were lied too.   But doesn’t matter from what I hear he will be now certified by end of year. West knew that. Too much politics over there and people puffin it chests out.  All it has done is hurt the kids.  

I agree he is doing extremely well at Catholic as he has done  everywhere he has been. West lost a good one. 

Thanks for clearing that up! West did lose a good one!

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On 11/6/2018 at 10:34 AM, WestHighReb07 said:

I have sat back too long not to address the sad state of affairs that is Knoxville West High Football. Being a proud alum and graduate of the 2007 Rebels football team, nothing made me happier than to see West make deep runs during the playoffs in 2010 and 2011 as well as state championship appearances in 2013 and 2014 being only one point away from back to back championships! Since that rainy night in December 2014 everything has gone downhill for a program that had one of the best records in 5A football from 2010-2014.

Of course it all started with Coach (and that's what I will always call him out of respect) leaving for Cleveland and look at all of the success he has had down there. I'm surprised Cleveland hasn't let him go yet because I know they had grandeur plans then first round exits and losing annually to bitter rivals when they hired him. Coach Cummings should have stayed at West and continued the powerhouse he created and worked so hard to do, but he chose a different route. That being said he had a heckuva coaching staff, a couple of which coached me personally, still intact and ready to continue the tradition. The admins or booster club down there at West had other plans and decided to hire Jeff Harig out of Loudon. A lot of the kids and former players like myself were taken aback by the hire especially when he revealed that the offense would change from the veer and "be like Ohio State's offense". The current players were used to the veer and if someone on staff would have been hired it would have likely stayed in place and been successful as it had been in previous years. The only saving grace was that the defense would stay in place as is.

In two years with Harig - West went 13-9, won a Region Championship, went 1-1 in one playoff appearance including a loss to the current coach Lamar Brown while he was at Morristown West. That "Ohio St offense" for West also averaged 23.1 ppg in 2015 and an even more impressive 15.8 ppg in 2016. The defense gave up an average of 16.79 ppg in two years. The 2016 season also ended with a pathetic 5 game losing streak with West missing the playoffs for the first time since 2009. The season ended with West replacing Harig.

Again West had an opportunity to hire from within, but chose to go elsewhere and went with Lamar Brown out of Morristown West. When Brown was hired, it was another shock to the current and former players. Again the players asked what the offense would be like and this time they were told it would be like "Auburn's offense". This coaching change also led to more staff changes than the previous one did.

In two years with Brown - West is 11-12, went 1-2 in two playoff apearances as well as an outstanding 1-7 record against your main rivals (Bearden, Farragut, Fulton, and Hardin Valley). The vaunted "Auburn offense" for West also averaged 15.5 ppg in 2017 with some improvement to 21.1 ppg in 2018. The defense has given up an average of 16.8 ppg. Coach Brown still in great standing and not replaced like Harig?

The defense has never changed and was setup beautifully by Derek Rang/Kevin Lane where you just plug players into spots.  With defensive numbers like that under two different coaching staffs, its amazing the record is as good as it is. I know many opposing teams fans, coaches, and players as well as some from West even made fun of the Veer but the offense was rolling regardless of who was behind center or running the ball. I know that opposing coaches hated only having a few days to prepare for it since no one else ran it. It made West unique and extremely successful.

Whoever has made these decisions for West in regards to coaching hires should really look at themselves and ask if the program is in a good place? Well it isn't and it has become a joke. Those kids played their hearts out last Friday night against Catholic and for those Seniors they deserved better than the four years of mediocrity they got. They came to West right after a championship win with plenty of talent left over and could not find success because those in charge failed them. No one can tell me that if Coach had stayed or they hired from within to succeed him and kept everything as is they would be doing any worse than what they are now. Could care less which teams reclassified or the different teams now on the schedule, that previous staff was equipped to handle whomever they played and would have had more deep playoff runs and even another Championship (your welcome Farragut) instead of the sad state West is currently in. From Champs to Chumps thanks admins.

The original poster makes a lot of interesting points. I'm not as up to speed with the Rebels anymore since I moved out of the area a couple of years back, but looking at box scores the offense is definitely not putting up the numbers they used to. This could be due to a drop in talent or rezoning or it could be the coaches that have been hired since Cummings left not fitting correctly at the school. I don't know the new Coach personally to judge if he is a good coach or not, but he seemed to have success at Morristown West. I dont know a thing about Morristown West, but I do know that Knox West was a very diverse school when I went there in the late 90's and although we werent very good in Football we had different types of kids on the team all with different types of backgrounds (ethnicity, income, culture, etc) and that could still be the case, Cummings was a West graduate and played there in the 80s and I personally believe that him being apart of the school as a player and an assistant helped him succeed with the players he inherited when he became head coach and then on. I was truly surprised when the guy from Loudon was hired when Cummings left because I was always told there were like four guys on staff wanting to be the head coach if he left. Whoever made these decisions must not have thought much of these guys to make them head coach and thats a shame. Either way I hope the new coach gets it turned around and West is back on top!

Go Rebels!

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22 hours ago, VolBall85 said:

As a former player who did you think deserved the job?

I would have gone with Kevin Lane or Marc Giles.

Lane because of his defenses always giving West a chance to win. The kids really loved him and played hard for him. Plus everywhere he has coached he has been successful.

Giles was a West grad and played a couple of years before me and had been on staff for most of Cummings head coaching tenure. He ate, breathed, and slept West football. A great man of faith and a heckuva role model for kids.

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I would venture to guess the demographics at Mo West and Knox West would be very similar. I also know that when it comes to program continuity and setting a standard, Coach Brown is solid. 

From afar, I see a West team now that had some youth on the OLine and a QB who could play but also didn't have a ton of experience under his belt.  Those two things alone will make for some offensive woes.  I don't care who you are, or where the program is located.  

Defensively, they have a very good DC who is very well respected and puts guys in positions to be successful.  

I would say that the current situation at West is nowhere near "disgusting" and sounds like a sour grapes post to me.  

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22 hours ago, Fballlife said:

This is actually completely false. This is an excuse that was given to you.  He was signed off by superintendent and downtown bc years of service. If you were told that you were lied too.   But doesn’t matter from what I hear he will be now certified by end of year. West knew that. Too much politics over there and people puffin it chests out.  All it has done is hurt the kids.  

I agree he is doing extremely well at Catholic as he has done  everywhere he has been. West lost a good one. 

Kevin Lane? Is that the same guy that ran that atrocious defense at Central a while back? He might as well have signed Joel Helton's resignation papers for him. If I am not mistaken he took over the defense at West after Derek Rang left for Powell. Fastforward to the playoffs the year he took over and Derek Rang hung half a hundred on him with an inferior Powell team. It looked like a track meet out there. Aside from that you cannot teach without a teaching license. Years of service doesn't mean squat to anybody. 

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On 11/6/2018 at 2:35 PM, VolBall85 said:

As a former player who did you think deserved the job?

My younger brother played under Derek Rang and Kevin Lane when they were defensive coordinators so I would have been good with either of them being named head coach.

I would have preferred Marc Giles. He was my position coach and would always get the whole team fired up before every game.

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On 11/6/2018 at 4:13 PM, BigTime1950 said:

One of West problems was Coach Cummings. Hung on long enough to get lucky with some IB transfers and moving of Knoxville West Western school zone boundry in the old Bearden high school zone to where you now drive past Bearden high school to get to Knoxville West high school. Cummings always beat his chest how he stayed loyal to West high school and built it up himself. Then got lucky thanks to some financial/political power plays by school board. Cummings  hung on till he hit the lotto ,(really no one wanted the job because it was a dead job, dead school, poor academics and discipline, safety, etc.). Had to be proped up by Knox county school board thanks to Dr. Murphy, Karen Carson and the memory of Doc Simpson and his wife. West was in danger of closing down or being taken over by state/fed govt. because of the mess it was. People in Sequoyah Hills, Old Bearden, North shore drive, especially near Fort Loudon lake, and New Rocky Hill and even further west down North shore Dr.  formed a coalition. Sequoyah Hills and Old Bearden wanted an alternative to Webb and the other private schools so they could save money and go public. Did not have enough financial/political backing between them so they went down Northshore drive and even got West Hills and New Rocky Hill, part of BG, in on the deal.                                           Total political deal that save Knoxville West,  get more wealthy white people at West and infused better academic students to help discipline, safety, and culture.  IB program just a sales job. You can transfer in on IB status,but dont have to stay in IB or graduate with IB diploma but you  can stay at Knoxville West.                         Can you say Nathan Cottrell/SethMarshsl/Others/ ETC. Scott Cummings got lucky. Also made him some money and made him think or really believe he was a great coach. His bad results got him in over his head in Cleveland, which is a two horse town with higher expectations. Did Scott not know the legand of Benny Monroe, WING - T Cobb's, Whaley, Hickey, to many to mention, ETC. Did Scott not look at the carnage/carosel of coaches after Coach Monroe.   Plus the rebuilding/reemergence of  BC. Future candidates at Cleveland should do their homework, plan accordingly, check ego, past coaching luck at entrance of HCing entervies with Adm.                               I don't know if these last too coaches know how to use the gray areas (loopholes in transfer policy, work the system, what ever you want to call it in Knox county to get players in your school.  Maybe they thought they were good enough with what they had. Maybe downtown said you get 95% of BMS IB students, win with  them. No more players from Gibbs,  ETC. I don't know if Coach Cummings did either, but somebody did (maybe the had an undercover,(UIB),  person doing the recruiting) , maybe Jeff Francis running the baby Rebels. Has that run dry?                                        Knoxville West is no different than any other Knox county school. Get the financial/political/school board backing and you can win sports championship especially football, it's a money game arms race. West got what most people wanted. From SQU, Lyons View and Pike, all the way to Bluegrass, New Rocky Hill plus West Hills to make it look better. Like West Hills really wanted to go to Knoxville West? Get more students, sneak a few players in and you get you new West, better academics, better discipline, safer campus, state/feds/special interest groups/ etc off school board back, a new East Bearden high school, Dead End BBQ, Fresh Mart/Earth Fare, ACE HDW, some more bike shops, new yuppies, and a football championship. Wait was that supposed to be in the deal ?                                               West does have some players, but they made the mistake of realizing there are too many distractions/others things to do added when they got the rich whites from SQU, NRH, LV, LB, WH, plus gotta get that IB studying done.  Plus good looking rich girls added to West (New East Bearden to make football a priority. All you really have is another upper class school with too many distractions. Knoxville West should have stayed where they were, no pressure, maybe gone down to 4A (without all those new West Knoxville yuppies), in new allignment after everybody else went 5A, I MEAN GONE THE FARRAGut WAY/PLAN.    OLD WEST was special. UT Married student appts, Old Southerland, Marble City, WEST LONSDALE, JT, Cumderland EST, ETC.  You  could transfer out if you though you did not fit in, but if you stayed you had to be tough, real tough. Some of the toughest people to come out of OLD WEST. Now the are mostly just a bunch of rich white kids.             Now some new West High school people though that this new found football success woud continue forever. Not so fast. (Check comments on going down in class to win state championship, SO CALLED FARRAgut WAY/PLAN) . Once you have that success, everybody still expect the same result.                      Best thing for Knox county and the like is to get the new T$$AA anti transfer rule in place and everybody just play with who you got or take a redshirt year if you transfer. Not many players/ parents/coaches are that patient or willing to grow where you are planted. Go to the greener grass, instant gratification, l can't win with these players, mentality is rampant in society. There is no loyality. Plus the coaches can't understand that there is a better chance that you have players transfer to other schools compared to getting some studs transfer in to make you look like a better coach than you are.               Vote does not look good at HVA right now. Most coaches/AD/ADM dont know how it would benefit them to pass it because it would hurt/make OZ/Easy to transfer into/ SMALL tuition schools less likely to get multiple transfers and just get richer. Some coaches just are going to bet on getting a couple golden bullet transfers and then bolt to greener pastures.       OH l forgot we were talking about Coach Cummings and New West High. Cummings certainly not the first coach to do it. He probably won't be the last.

This post was extremely hard to follow, but I'll elaborate on it. Your post sounds like a jealous Bearden fan/alum as you attack both West and Farragut personally. You clearly didn't go to West because their academics have always been legitimate even before the move to an IB school. Your post is insulting and even has a racial undertone to it (rich white kids?). It is an attack on all the communities and families who have fed into a good school for a few years now regardless of their affluent or color background. I am one of those Marble City kids and am proud to say that some of my best friends came from Westmoreland estates and Sequoyah Hills. Please keep your insensitive and jealous comments to yourself, it will make you sound less ignorant and uneducated than your post already did.

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1 hour ago, matchesmalone2 said:

Kevin Lane? Is that the same guy that ran that atrocious defense at Central a while back? He might as well have signed Joel Helton's resignation papers for him. If I am not mistaken he took over the defense at West after Derek Rang left for Powell. Fastforward to the playoffs the year he took over and Derek Rang hung half a hundred on him with an inferior Powell team. It looked like a track meet out there. Aside from that you cannot teach without a teaching license. Years of service doesn't mean squat to anybody. 

Wow! Negative. Are you upset from playing time or something? You are definitely a minority in what you think of Lane.  Sounds personal. 

At the end of the day, kids want to play for him and he gets kids everywhere he goes.  That’s why he and Giles would have been great choices bc kids wanted to come play for them. West lost out not gettting kids number one reason they are turning into a losing program. 

Catholic was they knew they needed coaches who kids wanted to play for. Have to have players coaching in This day in time.  Lan loves the kids like they are his own. End of story.   

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20 hours ago, baseballfan19 said:

I would venture to guess the demographics at Mo West and Knox West would be very similar. I also know that when it comes to program continuity and setting a standard, Coach Brown is solid. 

From afar, I see a West team now that had some youth on the OLine and a QB who could play but also didn't have a ton of experience under his belt.  Those two things alone will make for some offensive woes.  I don't care who you are, or where the program is located.  

Defensively, they have a very good DC who is very well respected and puts guys in positions to be successful.  

I would say that the current situation at West is nowhere near "disgusting" and sounds like a sour grapes post to me.  

"sour grapes" over what? My post was stating that West has fallen off (numbers don't lie) and the admins made a choice to replace one coach with a new one and not much has changed. Offensively you can blame a new Quarterback or a young offensive line this past year, but what about the last three?

The fact is that West went 4-7 and barely got into the playoffs? If it wasn't for Powell playing an ineligible player and having to forfeit their region wins and a choke job by Clinton, West would not have even made the playoffs this past season. 

If West finishes 4-6 next year and misses the playoffs then what will the excuse be? 

 

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1 hour ago, matchesmalone2 said:

Kevin Lane? Is that the same guy that ran that atrocious defense at Central a while back? He might as well have signed Joel Helton's resignation papers for him. If I am not mistaken he took over the defense at West after Derek Rang left for Powell. Fastforward to the playoffs the year he took over and Derek Rang hung half a hundred on him with an inferior Powell team. It looked like a track meet out there. Aside from that you cannot teach without a teaching license. Years of service doesn't mean squat to anybody. 

Half a hundred? I believe the final score was 28-17 that year West lost to Powell.  Last I checked 28 is not half a hundred. I hope your not in charge of a bank or anything. I think it also helped that Rang knew how to defend West's offense since he saw it everyday in practice for a couple of years while on staff and knew their personal. That inferior Powell team also went 12-2 losing in the Semifinals that year.

Lane is a solid coach and Catholic is happy to have him as are those players. Total troll post if you ask me.

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21 hours ago, WestHigh4Life said:

Either way I hope the new coach gets it turned around and West is back on top!

Go Rebels!

I hope he does too and proves me wrong. I want West back on top where they belong. My opinion is that had they made the hire they should have made back in 2015, they would have never fallen off. Unfortunately, the numbers don't lie at this point.

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