Tim Hammontree Resigns from Heritage

[ftbllfan23]

9 hours ago, BarneySox2007 said:

Heritage is a program that needs emergency CPR. Not many qualified coaches are going to be interested in this job after seeing what Hammontree dealt with over the years. This was a winning coach that just didn't go bad all the sudden or neither did Danny Wilson. The coach from junior college may be a one and done but as I mentioned emergency CPR is needed and no wasting time about it. The long term situation could also end up someone coming and staying forever and a day when proven it's not working like Hammontree and Shad.

if people really knew what these coaches go through when it comes to the school board, community backing, etc. 

it's absolutely atrocious what is expected when they are not provided the means to have any sort of success and you know who suffers the absolute most?  the PLAYERS. 

just over the past ten years at heritage: 

• no air conditioning in football locker room
• black mold in football locker room
• consistent flooding practice field
• stadium bleacher repair
• plumbing leaks
• reusing equipment that actually needed to be replaced
• fundraising was nonexistent (at no fault of the coaches/players) just no support
• no offices/meeting rooms

among hundreds of other issues that should have been and still should be addressed. has anyone noticed that the special olympics are held at HHS every year? well, that's a whole other issue. the only handicap accessible bathrooms are located INSIDE the school, there is no true access for handicap persons, there are no areas for those in wheelchairs to watch the game, or even use the restrooms on friday nights (circle back to inside the school being the only place of compliancy) railings on the bleachers are falling apart and are not adequate or regulation. actual SAFETY is an issue.

bottom line, Hammontree (and I'm sure, Shad, too) put up with much more than what the community sees. when you're looking from the outside in, you hear parents, you hear ''oh it's always been that way'' ... you don't see the true reality at these schools. i think it's even beyond emergency CPR, someone with the state board should step in. things have to change, and change quick for the safety, health, and success of current and future students at these schools. 

i'd like to also point out that the daily times informed us in their article that Coach Hammontree is staying on as the strength and conditioning coach at HHS. the man is clearly doing is job as he has all sports on the weight room with him. there has been increased speed, agility, strength and success in multiple sports in the past 10 years especially. i hate it that the football program itself suffers, as there are players in the weight room and on the practice field day in and day out giving it their all. 

let's hope the administration and those involved in the hiring process wrap their minds around what's before them and not sugar coat the situation. these athletes deserve better than a 'rest stop' coach.

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by ftbllfan23

[etcoach]

We interviewed Coach O.  He is a solid coach with an impressive resume, but we chose to go with someone who was familiar with our situation.  We felt like we needed that at this time.  We need more than just a football coach if that makes sense.  Best of luck to Robbie....it's hard to predict what the future holds.

[ftbllfan23]

25 minutes ago, etcoach said:

We interviewed Coach O.  He is a solid coach with an impressive resume, but we chose to go with someone who was familiar with our situation.  We felt like we needed that at this time.  We need more than just a football coach if that makes sense.  Best of luck to Robbie....it's hard to predict what the future holds.

appreciate the honesty, Mr Cupp.  we can only attempt to understand the level of difficulty and amount of pressure someone like you has in situations like these. 

i hope in years to come there is more support from all areas for each of these schools. best of luck to you all this coming year, and to Coach Reeves and his staff as well.

Edited January 31, 2022 by ftbllfan23

[strongx]

6 hours ago, ftbllfan23 said:

if people really knew what these coaches go through when it comes to the school board, community backing, etc. 

it's absolutely atrocious what is expected when they are not provided the means to have any sort of success and you know who suffers the absolute most?  the PLAYERS. 

just over the past ten years at heritage: 

• no air conditioning in football locker room
• black mold in football locker room
• consistent flooding practice field
• stadium bleacher repair
• plumbing leaks
• reusing equipment that actually needed to be replaced
• fundraising was nonexistent (at no fault of the coaches/players) just no support
• no offices/meeting rooms

among hundreds of other issues that should have been and still should be addressed. has anyone noticed that the special olympics are held at HHS every year? well, that's a whole other issue. the only handicap accessible bathrooms are located INSIDE the school, there is no true access for handicap persons, there are no areas for those in wheelchairs to watch the game, or even use the restrooms on friday nights (circle back to inside the school being the only place of compliancy) railings on the bleachers are falling apart and are not adequate or regulation. actual SAFETY is an issue.

bottom line, Hammontree (and I'm sure, Shad, too) put up with much more than what the community sees. when you're looking from the outside in, you hear parents, you hear ''oh it's always been that way'' ... you don't see the true reality at these schools. i think it's even beyond emergency CPR, someone with the state board should step in. things have to change, and change quick for the safety, health, and success of current and future students at these schools. 

i'd like to also point out that the daily times informed us in their article that Coach Hammontree is staying on as the strength and conditioning coach at HHS. the man is clearly doing is job as he has all sports on the weight room with him. there has been increased speed, agility, strength and success in multiple sports in the past 10 years especially. i hate it that the football program itself suffers, as there are players in the weight room and on the practice field day in and day out giving it their all. 

let's hope the administration and those involved in the hiring process wrap their minds around what's before them and not sugar coat the situation. these athletes deserve better than a 'rest stop' coach.

 

**edited to add: I'm not addressing issues as if these are faults of administration/faculty, etc. Please understand, the bigger issue at hand is the school system/board and community support. 

It sounds like that AD at hairtage needs to pick it up some. With the success of their feeder system, there should be more interest at the high school.

[BarneySox2007]

6 hours ago, etcoach said:

We interviewed Coach O.  He is a solid coach with an impressive resume, but we chose to go with someone who was familiar with our situation.  We felt like we needed that at this time.  We need more than just a football coach if that makes sense.  Best of luck to Robbie....it's hard to predict what the future holds.

The New Word of the Day at William Blount is "Mustache".

I Mustache you a question since you've joined in, is Blount County able to hire a head football coach without being a teacher like Bearden High did.

[86guy]

Good.  I've been around the program and taught at the school from the time Tommy Rewis left.  Hammontree was no different than any other coach that has been involved with that program in the last 10-15 years.  Until Robbie Bennett no longer has the reigns of the athletics at Heritage High School it will never amount to anything.  Hopefully Osovet can come in and inject some life into the program, but the long term solution doesn't exist for Heritage with the current head guys. 

[ftbllfan23]

54 minutes ago, 86guy said:

Good.  I've been around the program and taught at the school from the time Tommy Rewis left.  Hammontree was no different than any other coach that has been involved with that program in the last 10-15 years.  Until Robbie Bennett no longer has the reigns of the athletics at Heritage High School it will never amount to anything.  Hopefully Osovet can come in and inject some life into the program, but the long term solution doesn't exist for Heritage with the current head guys. 

do you feel this is due to conflict of interest and him being AD and a head coach of a sport at HHS?  or.... ? 

[etcoach]

11 hours ago, BarneySox2007 said:

The New Word of the Day at William Blount is "Mustache".

I Mustache you a question since you've joined in, is Blount County able to hire a head football coach without being a teacher like Bearden High did.

In our discussions he was going to teach had he been hired here.  As far as "is it possible," I can only guess there and say....yes its possible.  However, we were not going to go down that road.  We want our football coach to be a part of the school.  This isn't college.  

[BarneySox2007]

23 minutes ago, etcoach said:

In our discussions he was going to teach had he been hired here.  As far as "is it possible," I can only guess there and say....yes its possible.  However, we were not going to go down that road.  We want our football coach to be a part of the school.  This isn't college.  

Totally understand the reasoning and I think Robert was the right choice. He knows what the issues are first hand so he'll be no stranger to any surprises. I never really knew his background until a few days before he was hired. Coaching at Karns with GCA down the road plucking off your roster would be very hard for any coach to deal with. 

[86guy]

14 hours ago, ftbllfan23 said:

do you feel this is due to conflict of interest and him being AD and a head coach of a sport at HHS?  or.... ? 

The guy just doesn't have it.  He's also made some considerable off-field mistakes with old staff that reflect really poorly on him, don't want to go into details there.  Heritage needs a makeover from the top down in order to ever be competitive.  They've not only let talented players leave, they've looked past talented coaches as well for horrible replacements.  I remember when Brent Russell left Heritage, Jon Young, now out of coaching and just an administrator in the school system, had taken the Heritage middle school team to consecutive championship games in the SMAC and he didn't even get a look.  Instead they went straight to Hammontree, and now they are in the position they have been in.

Edited February 1, 2022 by 86guy

[ftbllfan23]

1 hour ago, 86guy said:

The guy just doesn't have it.  He's also made some considerable off-field mistakes with old staff that reflect really poorly on him, don't want to go into details there.  Heritage needs a makeover from the top down in order to ever be competitive.  They've not only let talented players leave, they've looked past talented coaches as well for horrible replacements.  I remember when Brent Russell left Heritage, Jon Young, now out of coaching and just an administrator in the school system, had taken the Heritage middle school team to consecutive championship games in the SMAC and he didn't even get a look.  Instead they went straight to Hammontree, and now they are in the position they have been in.

I'm not so sure I'd blame Coach Hammontree for the position they're in, especially after mentioning your displeasure with the current AD. Considering coach's time there hasn't been all rainbows. Since his taking of the job, there's been 3 separate principals alone, multiple different administrators, change of board members, etc. It literally starts at the very, very top. You cannot bring something back to life when everybody continues to walk out and your hands are tied. 

I'm not saying the coaches you mentioned aren't up to par or shouldn't have been considered, but it needs to be understood, this isn't one person. the horrible state of the program at heritage existed long before Hammontree arrived.  it's certain people in certain positions from board to high school to middle school. 

also, from what I've gathered over the past 15 years, everybody wants change, they do... but nobody wants to make the effort, put in the work or come together to create that change. it's just talked about and swept under the rug. some people higher up need to stop walking on egg shells, pull up their boot straps and dig in. 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by ftbllfan23

[ftbllfan23]

i've noticed on some other threads that mention the overturn of coaching staff at heritage under Coach Hammontree. i've talked to former assistant coaches of his and i can tell you one thing. none of them left because of him, they left because of the system. they left for a better opportunity for their families. they left to move back home, they left because they felt like the program wasn't supported enough. do you know how many of them told Coach to give up? told him he was beating his head against a wall? that nothing was going to change and he needed to get out? all of them.

do you know how many former players came back to coach in the midget leagues and the feeder programs to help bring the high school program back to life? and do you know how many finally quit and gave up because of constant bickering and battering from parents? all of them.

i tip my hat to coach for putting up with all that's occurred in the past 10 years to make sure the kids there knew they had someone they could trust. he didn't give up on them. at this point, at his age, he just can't keep pushing with nothing budging. 

i saw something on twitter about the coaching tree of Coach...here are just a few:

1. George Quarles - ETSU
2. Jason Phillips - Alcorn
3. Caine Ballard - former Greeneville head football coach with 4 state championships
4. Shawn Quinn - VT
5. Kyle Richardson - Clemson

there are many others at the high school and college levels, i just picked the ones that would be known locally.

i get that coach is an old school coach, most parents do not like that he does things a certain way and he can be pretty harsh sometimes, but the coddling that parents are demanding is unreal. high school sports are becoming pretty political in so many aspects and there is way more handshaking, kissing babies and making sure junior doesn't get his feelings hurt because he's not starting and he has started every game since he was 6. a lot of high school coaches if they get the chance, they will turn to college positions. high school and college are completely different worlds. the kids get recruited and then that's that. it's one on one, no parents calling, emailing, showing up at practice, checking them out of school, you get the idea.

the point to all of this is that you can be a heck of a coach and put together a staff of incredible offensive and defensive minded people, but if you do not have the support, equipment and more to succeed, it just won't happen, not at heritage, not at any school. but this isn't about Hammontree anymore, he just can't be used to blame and as a scapegoat.

'former college coach' or not, if this Coach O guy comes in thinking he can pull an elephant out of an ant hill, he's got another thing coming. until something at the top changes, it all stays the same and then he jumps ship as soon as his phone rings. 

what's the definition of insanity again? doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? something has got to give somewhere for this program to have even a chance at thriving again, and honestly, whoever takes over, i wish it happens for them.

Edited February 1, 2022 by ftbllfan23