731Ball Posted November 9, 2022 Report Share Posted November 9, 2022 When will West TN football evolve? I encourage anyone to go watch a 3A-4A game in East TN and then watch a similar caliber game in West TN. East TN is so much more advanced on offense that it’s not even the same game. I’m not saying teams in West TN should throw it 30 times a game. You don’t have to throw it to add motion to your offense and more formations. West TN, outside of one or two schools, is playing football like it’s 1994 still. That’s the real reason that we get thumped in the semis or state championships in 3A and 4A. It’s not a talent differential. It’s better offense and QB’s (which is a whole other story). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kruger77 Posted November 9, 2022 Report Share Posted November 9, 2022 It’s better resources and more money… literally. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
731Ball Posted November 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2022 9 hours ago, Tomcatfan2011 said: It’s better resources and more money… literally. Better resources and more money = more in depth offenses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kruger77 Posted November 9, 2022 Report Share Posted November 9, 2022 1 hour ago, 731Ball said: Better resources and more money = more in depth offenses? You can’t make kids want to play ball. Outside of Haywood and Henry Co. who is dressing more than 70 kids? It come down to coaches not being innovative. Haywood shook that 8 years ago. Some coaches are just stuck in their ways 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockytoptomcat Posted November 10, 2022 Report Share Posted November 10, 2022 5 hours ago, 731Ball said: Better resources and more money = more in depth offenses? You apparently haven’t been to a Haywood game have you sir? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockytoptomcat Posted November 10, 2022 Report Share Posted November 10, 2022 3 hours ago, Tomcatfan2011 said: You can’t make kids want to play ball. Outside of Haywood and Henry Co. who is dressing more than 70 kids? It come down to coaches not being innovative. Haywood shook that 8 years ago. Some coaches are just stuck in their ways This is absolutely spot on! Couldn’t have said it any better myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHARGERFAN Posted November 10, 2022 Report Share Posted November 10, 2022 I will agree that West TN teams have a hard time winning a state championship. I’m not sure it’s simply the offense they run. I think it boils down to better players. I can only speak for Covington, because I have records for us. Covington’s playoff record is 46-24 all-time. Not a bad record. But, in the modern era, Covington has played in the State Championship game 5 times, and has never won yet. I was at all 5 games, and I can tell you that in each case, the other team fielded better players. Here are the winners vs. Covington in those games: 2000 Portland 2003 Fulton 2012 Fulton 2017 Alcoa 2018 Alcoa If you want, you can go back and see how many D-1 players each of those squads produced, versus the D-1 players from Covington. It’s the talent level that makes the difference, IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TryNotToSuck Posted November 10, 2022 Report Share Posted November 10, 2022 I will say that West Tennessee is down considerably when it comes to football as a whole. However, West Tennessee in football is in an odd situation for several reasons. First, there are only 21 counties in West Tennessee, which is only .22% of the 95. There are more people, schools, and athletes in Middle and East Tennessee. For some oddly reason, we don't consider Memphis and Shelby County as "West Tennessee football." But the people in Middle Tennessee and East Tennessee considers Nashville and Knoxville/Chattanooga as their own respectively. I don't understand why we don't considered Memphis and Shelby County as our own. Memphis schools being shutdown due to covid is having an impact in the present. I don't know how it's not. Ridgeway, Whitehaven, Melrose, and several others had amazing teams pre-covid. Now, Whitehaven didn't make the playoffs, I think Ridgeway went below .500 in a region they should dominate in with Melrose, and Melrose lost to Obion Central in the first round of the playoffs. That's not typical for their programs. Schools are at an all time low. I am fortunate to see games that involved more teams, but there are several programs that are at or near rock bottom. McNairy Central, Liberty, Bruceton, Camden, Humboldt, Gibson County (region will be tough for them next year), South Fulton, Bolivar, Middleton are several programs that have been brutal for a while. Not to mention the D-2A private division with FACS, Harding Academy, and Tipton Rosemark are not good football teams in the current present. The bad thing is that some teams will also get exposed for winning against bad football teams. False hope for perspective. I do agree with offenses not being innovate. Haywood and USJ are two that come to my mind that have innovate offenses (Note: I haven't seen every team in West TN). JCS can have a good innovate offense, but they got shut down when I saw them against USJ. I do agree that an offense that is not balanced can be problems for that team. I do agree that offenses need to be more creative, but that also means more personnel and more plays need to be on the sheet. That can also create some confusion within the team because of more assignments during plays. A lot of teams that need the off season for weight room, fundamentals and technique. I would like to see more creativity on offense from teams, but that also mean teams will need to have playmakers on offense for that to work. Which teams have playmakers? Haywood and USJ mainly. I can also throw in JCS and potentially Hardin County as well. They have enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOOTBALLROCKYTOP Posted November 10, 2022 Report Share Posted November 10, 2022 47 minutes ago, CHARGERFAN said: I will agree that West TN teams have a hard time winning a state championship. I’m not sure it’s simply the offense they run. I think it boils down to better players. I can only speak for Covington, because I have records for us. Covington’s playoff record is 46-24 all-time. Not a bad record. But, in the modern era, Covington has played in the State Championship game 5 times, and has never won yet. I was at all 5 games, and I can tell you that in each case, the other team fielded better players. If you want, you can go back and see how many D-1 players each of those squads produced, versus the D-1 players from Covington. It’s the talent level that makes the difference, IMHO. You've got to think coaching has something to do with that also. "That" being players making it to D1 and type offensive play. A couple years ago I looked up the number of D1 players that came out of Tennessee in the last couple decades and a large number of those were from the Memphis/Shelby Co. area. But you don't see a lot of State Titles going that way. If it was all about talent and Memphis/Shelby Co. put all their talent on six different teams they could possibly take 6 Gold Balls to the West end every year. Maybe we need to start paying our coaches a real salary for coaching here in West Tenn. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHARGERFAN Posted November 10, 2022 Report Share Posted November 10, 2022 12 minutes ago, FOOTBALLROCKYTOP said: You've got to think coaching has something to do with that also. "That" being players making it to D1 and type offensive play. A couple years ago I looked up the number of D1 players that came out of Tennessee in the last couple decades and a large number of those were from the Memphis/Shelby Co. area. But you don't see a lot of State Titles going that way. If it was all about talent and Memphis/Shelby Co. put all their talent on six different teams they could possibly take 6 Gold Balls to the West end every year. Maybe we need to start paying our coaches a real salary for coaching here in West Tenn. Coaching (or lack thereof) is a valid point. Consider Haywood. They have always had talent, but have not always had coaching that could utilize that talent. Now they do. The results are obvious on the field. Nice added comment there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FBfan26 Posted November 10, 2022 Report Share Posted November 10, 2022 On 11/9/2022 at 6:03 AM, Tomcatfan2011 said: It’s better resources and more money… literally. !!!!!!! I seen 3 school faculty’s out that way and my eyes was huge. Even down to the trainers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FBfan26 Posted November 10, 2022 Report Share Posted November 10, 2022 13 hours ago, Tomcatfan2011 said: You can’t make kids want to play ball. Outside of Haywood and Henry Co. who is dressing more than 70 kids? It come down to coaches not being innovative. Haywood shook that 8 years ago. Some coaches are just stuck in their ways You can add most of middle tn in this also. Talent is not a problem in middle or west tn. Heck most of the states recruits come from west and middle. I remember some of them alcoa teams was blowing people out the water with average joes. I definitely think the support and Coaching and is better in the East overall. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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