Scott Cummings the new head football coach at Oak Ridge!

[boyfromsi]

2 hours ago, TheBigLebowski99 said:

This cant be an honest post. Have you ever seen Robertsville or Jefferson Middle athletes? I am not from Oak Ridge, but looking from the outside, they have a treasure trove of athletes. Gaddis is a great coach, he knows his stuff, but if the connections with players are not there, and the expectations became relaxed, you can have a year like this year. They were still in most of their games. One or two plays in each game and their record could have been flipped (i.e. a HB pass against Bearden). 

 

It is seen often with older coaches, they are not "player coaches" and they cannot relate to todays youth. I dont know the details, but it seems as if this was the case with Gaddis. 

 

The pieces are there, but you have to let CSC bring in coaches that can relate to the players and also know their Xs and Os. A great head coach surrounds himself with great position coaches. If Oak Ridge and CSC can do that, then they will be back to being a contender year in and year out from the east. 

We do have a good supply of skill guys from our middle schools, what we are lacking is a good supply of the big uglys on the line.  A big reason why we were 3-8 was we were missing 3 starters and a talented freshman backup for almost the whole season.  We just didn't have the talent and/or numbers to be competitive with the better teams on our schedule.

I understand your point about relatability, but I don't think CSC has had that problem with any of his stops.  Oridgecat has written much about stepping it up in terms of effort on the field and effort in the weight room, so I will not repeat what he has written except to say that I agree 100%. 

[blazer1set]

2 hours ago, oridgecat said:

Blazer, Let me give you some insight.  We have had 4 losing seasons in 79 years of football and 2 of those were in '43 and '44, our first two football teams.  We have 8 state championships and 1 national championship.  Oak Ridge football has been traditionally good if not excellent consistently for 75 out of 79 years.  We know what it takes to be champions and have done things in the past to remain a top tier program.  So being excellent at football has always been a priority in Oak Ridge until recently.  What I'm trying to tell folks is that the current admin, school board and city leaders need to step it up and get the things done that they know need to happen in order to allow the program to excel.   

Cliff notes:  Being Excellent at football used to be a top priority.  Is it still?  We are about to find out.  

Thanks for the feedback.   That is an amazing track record, so I would definitely put Oak Ridge in the top tier of teams who are serious about football.    So it has slacked off a bit as of late, what will it take to get back on track.... new coach?    new attitude in the current administration?     new excitement amongst the fan base?           I would think it might be way easier to get back on track than to be like 95% of the other schools and get on the track for the first time.      I wish you guys the best as you right the ship.     Would be nice to meet OR in the playoffs one day but I don't see it ever happening.

[Cactus Jack]

5 hours ago, oridgecat said:

There are two coaches left on the staff that even want to remain on the staff.  Coach Cummings is the offensive coordinator.  He needs to be allowed to bring a DC and a full time paid strength and conditioning coach.   IF he is allowed to do that, then it would make a total of 5 coaches on staff.  So, it is going to be extremely tough to hire 5 assistants with only 1 teaching position open at the high school.  So, I repeat myself once again.  We are about to find out IF the powers that be (admin. and school board) are serious about Oak Ridge being good at football.   IF they are, they will do their part to help Coach bring in some quality assistants to build a staff.  These people know the situation and they can make this happen.

IF being good at football is still a priority in the City of Oak Ridge, then what happens here is a huge turning point for better or for worse for the future of Oak Ridge Football.  I know these people read this stuff, Please do what you can to make this happen!

I will say this that the current principal is an ex-player and coach and is very much in tune with what is going on and the process of change, I think he really wants winning football here and he will see that Coach Cummings has as full support as possible. 

[oridgecat]

3 minutes ago, Cactus Jack said:

I will say this that the current principal is an ex-player and coach and is very much in tune with what is going on and the process of change, I think he really wants winning football here and he will see that Coach Cummings has as full support as possible. 

This is true, but he will have to convince the school board to create a teaching position or two for the coaches that Scott wants to bring.  Because right now, there is only 1 teaching position open and it's science.  Neither of the two coaches he wants to bring has that endorsement to teach science.   My point exactly.  Dr. Adams knows what needs to be done.  Can he get the schoolboard to do what needs to be done.  Right now we only have 1 football coach of the 3 left on staff in the high school building, and that will be Coach Cummings.  It would be incredibly difficult for anybody to run a football program when they are the only football coach in the school building.  Sometimes I feel like I am speaking Chinese on here.   

[tradertwo]

6 hours ago, oridgecat said:

There are two coaches left on the staff that even want to remain on the staff.  Coach Cummings is the offensive coordinator.  He needs to be allowed to bring a DC and a full time paid strength and conditioning coach.   IF he is allowed to do that, then it would make a total of 5 coaches on staff.  So, it is going to be extremely tough to hire 5 assistants with only 1 teaching position open at the high school.  So, I repeat myself once again.  We are about to find out IF the powers that be (admin. and school board) are serious about Oak Ridge being good at football.   IF they are, they will do their part to help Coach bring in some quality assistants to build a staff.  These people know the situation and they can make this happen.

IF being good at football is still a priority in the City of Oak Ridge, then what happens here is a huge turning point for better or for worse for the future of Oak Ridge Football.  I know these people read this stuff, Please do what you can to make this happen!

Look no further than your Principal to find your answer. There's typically enough turnover to supply coaching prospects with faculty positions if it's a priority...when someone leaves/retires, the HC should be advised, then consulted before making the new hire. People outside the realm of sports view this as a bad practice, but the bonus is that the qualities required to be a good coach are the same as those required to teach. Not every assistant coach is Luther or Dobber from the sitcom.

[boyfromsi]

8 minutes ago, oridgecat said:

This is true, but he will have to convince the school board to create a teaching position or two for the coaches that Scott wants to bring.  Because right now, there is only 1 teaching position open and it's science.  Neither of the two coaches he wants to bring has that endorsement to teach science.   My point exactly.  Dr. Adams knows what needs to be done.  Can he get the schoolboard to do what needs to be done.  Right now we only have 1 football coach of the 3 left on staff in the high school building, and that will be Coach Cummings.  It would be incredibly difficult for anybody to run a football program when they are the only football coach in the school building.  Sometimes I feel like I am speaking Chinese on here.   

There are more ways to skin said cat than creating new positions. Dr. Adams has already shown some creativity with staffing to address other areas in the HS.

[HTV]

52 minutes ago, Cactus Jack said:

I will say this that the current principal is an ex-player and coach and is very much in tune with what is going on and the process of change, I think he really wants winning football here and he will see that Coach Cummings has as full support as possible. 

And he and Cummings have a history of working together previously.  Dr. Adams knows Cummings well.  

[DCCATVOICE]

I am going to interview Coach Cummings at 7:00 on the Basketball Show. Below is the link if you care to watch. 

https://boxcast.tv/view/off-the-glass-with-paige-taylor-and-aaron-green-765708

[boyfromsi]

3 hours ago, DCCATVOICE said:

I am going to interview Coach Cummings at 7:00 on the Basketball Show. Below is the link if you care to watch. 

https://boxcast.tv/view/off-the-glass-with-paige-taylor-and-aaron-green-765708

Good show!  I thought he laid his expectations and vision for what he wants to accomplish and how to get there very well.

[ORWildcats1]

The interview with Scott Cummings Wednesday night was awesome! The more I learn about this guy the more I like him! If you haven't seen the interview yet with Scott Cummings there's link to it above, it's a must see for Wildcats fans.......Go Wildcats!

 

 

Edited December 16, 2021 by ORWildcats1

[CardinalGrey]

I just watched the interview with David.  Dr Adams made a good hire. 

Once again, "Welcome to Oak Ridge Wildcat Football, Coach Cummings!"  

 

RWR!

[SweetScience]

I noticed Coach Cummings mentioning the possibility of the elementary schools going back to having football teams. I think that would be a great move personally. That brings out the competition between kids, a lot more so than the “East vs West” experiment we’ve been doing for the past 30 years or so. Nothing for certain, of course, but I’m just glad he even mentioned it.

Edited December 16, 2021 by SweetScience