Tim Hammontree Resigns from Heritage

[BarneySox2007]

8 hours ago, BS101 said:

I think BarneySox should apply to see what he could do.... that way Shad could make fun of him!  But I don't think he could handle the pressure.  

That's what I went to college to be, so glad that didn't work out. 

[Hartleyrick]

Just another school to water down the available talent for Heritage and Wm Blount. Neither school has ever been any good and don’t think a coaching change will improve the situation 

[ftbllfan23]

word on the interwebs is that there have been some late applicants for the HHS job. 

[Mountaineer2000]

I have a few friends that shared this site with over the past few weeks. I have been reading and hesitant to join in the conversation but it seems someone with rational thinking needs to share the views of people in the Heritage community. 

I am a 2000 graduation of Heritage High School (or Hairtage as some on here spell it). I have stayed in the community over the years and stayed in touch with people in the know around these parts, including a connection of some form with the program since the Jim Moore years. In some ways I think this means I can speak on the topic of Heritage football more than most. Also, my connections to the community, current and former players, and some previous coaches might lend to a insight on the state of things.

This will be a lot so hold on until the end!

So far, three coaches have found some form of success in this program (Renfro, McMahan, Wilson). They all were able to do it in different ways. The coaches that couldn't were all fine coaches too, but for various reasons they couldn't do it. Moore did not have it in his skillset. I liked his weight room stuff as a player but it never translated to the field for us. Rewis had no personality and was handcuffed by an AD that tied up all of his money, Russell was a used car salesman, and Hammontree just doesn't seem to have the energy anymore.  A few current and former players go to my church, they like Hammontree, think he has worked hard for him, but they said they needed to see some excitement from time to time and he just didn't have it. 

What made Renfro successful was his ties to the good ole days of Walland state champs, he was genuine, and entrenched in the community. McMahan was a winner at Heritage and WB, apparently the guy can just flat out coach. I remember him outcoaching Wilson in 99 and 2000 to win those close games. Wilson was a motivator, hard worker, and could coach us up on playing a tuff style of football. When Coach Wilson came in after Moore, it was like he brought us up to the modern era on things like watching film, team activities, and how we looked. 

Everyone on this message board can agree that the group that puts in the money for the program needs to put their money where their mouth is and support both Heritage and WB. I played with the current principal and have gotten to know the AD a little, not very well. Those guys aren't just going to hire some random guy off the street! From what I have heard, they have been taking their time, looking at options, and trying to grab ahold of someone to give this program CPR as Barneysox says. But the critics are right, it doesn't matter what the ones at the top of the school do if the other ones at the very top don't quite making things hard for a program like this to be able to compete. 

The college coaches name has been thrown around on here, former assistants, current middle school coaches, and some other names I have heard in the community. I even saw a former assistant that left and went to Bearden at a home basketball game last week. A friend of a friend of a friend said that some other coaches currently on staff at a nearby school have been approached but all of them turned it down. 

BS101 is being a smartaleck on here but he's not wrong. Why wouldn't this program want a coach with the skillset the college coach brings with him? Sign me up! And people in the community are very excited about the change in the program if it is the college coach or another guy with his skillset! Why wouldn't they be?

I can tell you that the community respects the guys at the middle school, but I haven't heard anyone just go crazy with excitement over a middle school coach taking over the high school program, even a program in the state this one is in. There is a couple of former assistants on staff at another school that this school and community would get behind. Will they take it? I doubt it!

The program needs an injection of immediate adrenaline, followed by communication and recruitment of the feeder program players and parents, and to put in a system of offense and defense to help these kids be successful and stick to that system. Too many times I have watched coaches come out in an offense or defense of the week to try to beat people. This new coach needs to be good at the fundamentals of the system they are putting in. 

The parent support has been solid with some players, it needs to be better! If parents want a blue collar work ethic in their kids then they need to be ones who instill it, not ask for handouts. There are good parents and people out at Heritage, the new coach needs to use them! For a team with 5 wins in 5 years, 2 wins in 4 years, 3 0-10 seasons over the last four years, this community still comes out and supports the program. That will only grow with a team that competes and wins some ballgames. 

As an alumni, community member, and future parent of a player in the program, I am excited for some new ideas and a new way of doing things. I don't see championships on the horizon, but I do expect to see a team that competes and wins some games with the right coach. If the people in charge asked me, I'd say hire the college coach now and don't look back!

 

[OrangePylon]

Osovet hired. Confirmed. 

[BarneySox2007]

2 hours ago, OrangePylon said:

Osovet hired. Confirmed. 

It sure would look bad on somebody if this guy goes out to Heritage and turns that mess around and WB continues to go 1-9 the next 2 or 3 seasons. I sure hope not on the 1-9 record but you can bet everyone will be watching to see how that plays out the next few years.

[ADS1]

On 1/28/2022 at 5:06 PM, chs1984 said:

Excellent post(s). As a longtime Georgia resident, I can verify that everything you posted about his time in Georgia is 100% correct. He was also runner-up for the HC job at Rome High when they hired the coach prior to John Reid (in hindsight they would have been much better off hiring Hammontree, but it worked out for them in the long run.) I thought highly of the late Bill Horton, but a telling stat is that Coach Horton never won another playoff game at Rhea Co. after TH left for Maryville. 

chs, I thought Coach Hammontree left Rhea County after the 88-89 or 89-90 seasons.  Coach Horton did get one more win the year he was diagnosed with cancer (1992 Baylor 21-14).  Those were the good old days.