State of Tri-cities 5A/6A football

[formerblazer]

On 11/4/2023 at 6:11 PM, blazer1set said:

The big Tri-cities schools play football mainly for fun.    Now yes, the guys are out there giving it their all on the field, but I'm talking about the entire package, the big schools are NOT serious about football like they are in Knoxville & beyond.       Over the last few years my attitude has changed a lot, I now don't even consider the playoffs, just think about trying to win each game and win Region 1 5A, that's really all that matters because once the playoffs start it's over anyway.     In the foreseeable future there will not be a single 5A/6A team get past the Knox County line.

It's that time of year where I give some push back.  Good thread so far with a lot of the old hats on this message board who have popped in and chimed in what they think.  I'll try to break down how I see things.

1.  Elizabethton and Greeneville are outliers.  I think they have fantastic coaches and that they have kids that work their tails off for their programs.  I think you have administration and rules that push the athletes to be as successful as possible at both schools.  I think you also have both schools that probably have a heck of a lot more transfers or people who went to County A in middle school and magically went to one of these two schools as freshmen that prove that success breeds success.  You have the Carter County and Greene County All Stars where in one you have a place open 12 months a year run by the head coaches brother for free for everyone in one county who just needs to run a couple of more gassers and they are awesome (surely there is no recruiting there) and you have another school where kids can choose to go to the grass fields or the awesome looking high school.  I'm sure all those transfers went to their school for academics.  Here's another thought for you though, and I think these programs are great:  Other programs are not only catching up but they are surpassing these in regards to state athletic ability.  I personally think it'll be a minute before either of these two get another state championship.

2.  This fun/serious stuff is about the most disrespectful thing I can think to say to the coaches in everyone except two schools.  I'm sorry man but the amount of time, little money, and love you have to have for the game for these people to be coaches and then you come in like "Oh well it's just for fun they don't take it serious" is a load of garbage.  There is no pay, there is no time with their family, there is no (apparently) respect from the fans who just expect their team to show up and dominate.  That's every coach.  "Oh well former, if that's how they feel they shouldn't coach"  well guess what guys, you don't have tons of people knocking at the door to want to work at the 1-9 school that is just happy to field a team.  That's garbage.  You have teams in this area that are STRUGGLING to get new equipment, weight equipment, sponsorship, anyone and everyone who can do something to help out the school.  You have coaches who are working their tails off 10 months a year to just to find someway to win 4 games.  You know why we can't have "good" coaches in the area?  That's because we have adults who don't want to get a teaching degree and live it in the school, we have coaches who have got a shot but for some reason can't keep their mouth shut in regards to talking to athletes, family, and on social media so they can keep said job (yeah good job leaving the area, turned right around and DB got a state championship without that mouth buddy).  If there is money to draw in the magical coach that is going to win one of these teams a state championship, I'd sure like to see it.  We act like the head coaches around here get paid 200k a year to have a losing season when we have districts who pay little to nothing for assistants and okish sort of for coaches who also have to teach year long.  Oh yeah, no guys, it's all for fun.  Disrespectful.  A statement like that sounds like you think the coaches don't care.  Ridiculous.

3.  Holy crap guys, people are transferring in left and right, and oh yeah these are actual athletes, not little sugar coated mommy kids who their parents THINK they are actually good at sports.  If I could line up all the actual athletes vs Moms and Dads who think their kids are awesome, guarantee I'd have a ton more blind adults who have no concept of reality and why their kid quite frankly just sucks at sports vs actual good football players.  Got news for you, if I had a choice of school and had a kid who showed talent in football, I wouldn't be sending them to the local school.  Guess what, no one else is either.

4.  If you want to complain, how about you start asking the administration of the school what they are doing to help out the coaches and athletes get a leg up over other schools.  6Am Workouts?  Official Football Weights class so we can get them to work?  Are we helping out the coaches actually focus on their sports?  Hey is Central Office trying to help out football programs?  Are they actually giving them money that goes to the sports or are they just doing window dressing?  Man, how about we start asking those people that oh I don't know, control a lot of the money what they are doing?

5.  Change divisions so you have open enrollment vs. closed, bet that would change the landscape of what's going on in programs.

Anyway, keep at it and all that good stuff.  I've been on here a while and I think everyone is fired up and has good and loyal and passionate for years and years.  Most of you all on here are good people who love football and want to see success from the Tri-cities.  We've all had bad coaches, I get that and I'm not saying you all are wrong, but come on now.  Sorry, but I feel like some of you all need to be living in a system for years from the coaches side and see all the shenanigans they have to deal with and you'll find all your answers on why your local team can't get that mythical state championship.  Some systems are willing and have the resources to completely sell out for football, others are never.... ever going to have resources or athletes to make that happen.  

[blazer1set]

former - 99% of us on the T have never been a HS football coach and probably we just come on here to air our frustrations that we can't ever get past Knoxville.     I know that our Tri coaches and guys are putting in the work so that's not being questioned.     Like you say it takes all the pieces to be in place, administration, superior DNA, etc. plus everything else to build championship teams.          Win or lose I will always love HS football.      If you think about it most areas of Tennessee could have a thread like this, because year in and year out it seems to be team from the Knox or Nashville area that makes it.

[NETNSportsFan]

Former Blazer is spot on with #1.  Eddie and Shawn live and breath football all year long. They are involved in the pee-wee program and they invite those young players to be a part of Friday nights. Those little ones idolize the HS players and can't wait to be one.  It's a completely different attitude from birth in those cities and it shows in every aspect and that's why they are champions- because they have a champion mentality. 

Both those programs have incredible community support as well, as does smaller programs like Hampton.  Most JC or Kpt residents could care-less about their high school football program and it really shows on Fridays. 

Boone actually has a great fan base- but their good-old boy coaching system has been running the same thing for 20 years.  You've said it before BlazerSet... Run, Run, pass (penalty), punt. Even when they work on a great play all week the coaches often are too scared to run it on Friday night. Too conservative and too stubborn to try something new.  And their pee wee program struggles as well. I think they had one age group that did go to the championship this year- but Elizabethton swept 3 of the age groups in the end.

If NE TN really wants to start competing in football it would take a changing of the coaching staff at most of the schools and then duplicating what Eliz and Greeneville does with the pee wee program and creating a championship mindset and in about 10 years you'll have some great teams that might get past the 1st round.

Last year would have been Boone's year if the QB wasn't hurt. As someone on the team said, they were even good enough to overcome bad coaching- but this year's team wasn't nearly as talented and those coaching calls and ill-prepared defenses were glaring.  

 

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by NETNSportsFan
grammer

[blazer1set]

17 minutes ago, NETNSportsFan said:

Former Blazer is spot on with #1.  Eddie and Shawn live and breath football all year long. They are involved in the pee-wee program and they invite those young players to be a part of Friday nights. Those little ones idolize the HS players and can't wait to be one.  It's a completely different attitude from birth in those cities and it shows in every aspect and that's why they are champions- because they have a champion mentality. 

Both those programs have incredible community support as well, as does smaller programs like Hampton.  Most JC or Kpt residents could care-less about their high school football program and it really shows on Fridays. 

Boone actually has a great fan base- but their good-old boy coaching system has been running the same thing for 20 years.  You've said it before BlazerSet... Run, Run, pass (penalty), punt. Even when they work on a great play all week the coaches often are too scared to run it on Friday night. Too conservative and too stubborn to try something new.  And their pee wee program struggles as well. I think they had one age group that did go to the championship this year- but Elizabethton swept 3 of the age groups in the end.

If NE TN really wants to start competing in football it would take a changing of the coaching staff at most of the schools and then duplicating what Eliz and Greeneville does with the pee wee program and creating a championship mindset and in about 10 years you'll have some great teams that might get past the 1st round.

Last year would have been Boone's year if the QB wasn't hurt. As someone on the team said, they were even good enough to overcome bad coaching- but this year's team wasn't nearly as talented and those coaching calls and ill-prepared defenses were glaring.  

Boone has a lot of good things going but just can't seem to put it all together in the same season, or when they do like last year you have a Knox West team that could play with the Vols.    Our coaches are good guys and like I said earlier a lot of what we Tri fans do is take out our frustrations on the T here that we can't ever get past Knox County.         The other Tri teams generally have good pieces & parts too but as you stated they don't have the whole package like Eliz & Greeneville

[NETNSportsFan]

29 minutes ago, blazer1set said:

Boone has a lot of good things going but just can't seem to put it all together in the same season, or when they do like last year you have a Knox West team that could play with the Vols.    Our coaches are good guys and like I said earlier a lot of what we Tri fans do is take out our frustrations on the T here that we can't ever get past Knox County.         The other Tri teams generally have good pieces & parts too but as you stated they don't have the whole package like Eliz & Greeneville

I never said they weren't good guys- but Coach Quarles is a "good guy" too. Does't make him a good coach.  And let's see how ETSU handles that situation. 

East TN school administrators need to decide if football is as important to them as it is in Knox and make decisions accordingly. If they're good with status quo... then go ahead and pat each other on the back for beating your conference rival and call it a season. But it'll be the same story year after year come playoffs. 

[formerblazer]

10 hours ago, NETNSportsFan said:

Former Blazer is spot on with #1.  Eddie and Shawn live and breath football all year long. They are involved in the pee-wee program and they invite those young players to be a part of Friday nights. Those little ones idolize the HS players and can't wait to be one.  It's a completely different attitude from birth in those cities and it shows in every aspect and that's why they are champions- because they have a champion mentality. 

Both those programs have incredible community support as well, as does smaller programs like Hampton.  Most JC or Kpt residents could care-less about their high school football program and it really shows on Fridays. 

Boone actually has a great fan base- but their good-old boy coaching system has been running the same thing for 20 years.  You've said it before BlazerSet... Run, Run, pass (penalty), punt. Even when they work on a great play all week the coaches often are too scared to run it on Friday night. Too conservative and too stubborn to try something new.  And their pee wee program struggles as well. I think they had one age group that did go to the championship this year- but Elizabethton swept 3 of the age groups in the end.

If NE TN really wants to start competing in football it would take a changing of the coaching staff at most of the schools and then duplicating what Eliz and Greeneville does with the pee wee program and creating a championship mindset and in about 10 years you'll have some great teams that might get past the 1st round.

Last year would have been Boone's year if the QB wasn't hurt. As someone on the team said, they were even good enough to overcome bad coaching- but this year's team wasn't nearly as talented and those coaching calls and ill-prepared defenses were glaring.  

 

 

I read that and can’t disagree with anything you are saying.  I do not think Boone beats West with their QB.  That West team was unreal.  As for 5A/6A in our area, when Tricities Christian Academy opens at the crossings, it’s going to become even worse for 5A 6A in our area.  It’s going to suck up athletes from all over who, if you look at some of the lower numbered DI schools, can figure out pretty quick they can move over and win a state championship pretty quick.  

[blazer1set]

11 hours ago, NETNSportsFan said:

I never said they weren't good guys- but Coach Quarles is a "good guy" too. Does't make him a good coach.  And let's see how ETSU handles that situation. 

East TN school administrators need to decide if football is as important to them as it is in Knox and make decisions accordingly. If they're good with status quo... then go ahead and pat each other on the back for beating your conference rival and call it a season. But it'll be the same story year after year come playoffs. 

Bingo, that is why over the past few years I have adjusted my expectations down to trying to win R1-5A and beating Crockett each season, don't even care about the playoffs anymore because we all know what is going to happen.  Hope all you guys have a good & safe rest of the year, we can pick back up on this thread in August 2024 because we all already know how next season is going to end for Tri 5A/6A

[blazer1set]

1 hour ago, formerblazer said:

I read that and can’t disagree with anything you are saying.  I do not think Boone beats West with their QB.  That West team was unreal.  As for 5A/6A in our area, when Tricities Christian Academy opens at the crossings, it’s going to become even worse for 5A 6A in our area.  It’s going to suck up athletes from all over who, if you look at some of the lower numbered DI schools, can figure out pretty quick they can move over and win a state championship pretty quick.  

Do you think that will ever become a reality?    Have not heard anything about it in a couple of years, maybe the covid put a damper on things

[formerblazer]

5 hours ago, blazer1set said:

Do you think that will ever become a reality?    Have not heard anything about it in a couple of years, maybe the covid put a damper on things

Last I've heard, 80 acres have been purchased, twice the size of Lakeway, and they are just ready to get started building.

[NETNSportsFan]

On 11/18/2023 at 9:09 AM, blazer1set said:

Do you think that will ever become a reality?    Have not heard anything about it in a couple of years, maybe the covid put a damper on things

Yes, Jeremy Boksins was hired as Athletic Director at TCCA and they went 8-2 in their 8 man football this year. Moving to 11 man soon. Their basketball program is killing it right now, already seeing players coming just for bball and they had a sell-out crowd for their game against Oak Hill last week.  I hear they have a goal to be a sports school and compete with other private schools in that aspect. They'll be in their new 90 million facility and be TSSAA in 2025. 

[blazer1set]

Division I went to 6 classes in 2009.      Since that time here are the teams who have made it to the state title game:

 

Class	Team	Count
5A	Beech	3
5A	Columbia Central	3
5A	Farragut	1
5A	Hendersonville	1
5A	Henry County	3
5A	Hillsboro	1
5A	Independence	2
5A	Knoxville Catholic	1
5A	Knoxville Central	2
5A	Knoxville West	3
5A	Oak Ridge	1
5A	Page	2
5A	Powell	2
5A	Sevier County	1
5A	Summit	2
6A	Beech	1
6A	Brentwood	1
6A	Cane Ridge	1
6A	Hendersonville	1
6A	Maryville	9
6A	Oakland	5
6A	Ravenwood	3
6A	Smyrna	1
6A	Summit	1
6A	White Station	1
6A	Whitehaven	4

[blazer1set]

3 hours ago, blazer1set said:

Division I went to 6 classes in 2009.      Since that time here are the teams who have made it to the state title game:

 

Class	Team	Count
5A	Beech	3
5A	Columbia Central	3
5A	Farragut	1
5A	Hendersonville	1
5A	Henry County	3
5A	Hillsboro	1
5A	Independence	2
5A	Knoxville Catholic	1
5A	Knoxville Central	2
5A	Knoxville West	3
5A	Oak Ridge	1
5A	Page	2
5A	Powell	2
5A	Sevier County	1
5A	Summit	2
6A	Beech	1
6A	Brentwood	1
6A	Cane Ridge	1
6A	Hendersonville	1
6A	Maryville	9
6A	Oakland	5
6A	Ravenwood	3
6A	Smyrna	1
6A	Summit	1
6A	White Station	1
6A	Whitehaven	4

 

Just noticed that the only 6A Knoxville area team to make it is Maryville (9 out of 14).

In 5A a Knoxville area team has made it 11 out of 14 years.   (Counting Sevier Co in the Knox area.... hey, they're close haha)

Starting to connect the dots as to why the Tri-cities teams cannot ever get past the Knox County line.....