State of Tri-cities 5A/6A football

[blazer1set]

16 minutes ago, blitzinbuc said:

I saw Bristol beat Knox Central in a playoff game at Neyland Stadium one of those years. They were awesome! I think there were just 3 classifications back then, A, AA, and AAA. 

As big of a school as D-B was, I don't think they've ever even played in a state championship game since the playoffs began in 1969!!!!!  All of their mythical state championship were awarded via the media.

Careful, some of the DB faithful can be a bit sensitive about that...    But to their point, even college football awarded a national champion based on media vote until about 10 years ago.        You are correct though in that other than Tennessee High none of the Tri-cities big schools have ever played for a state title and they never will.      Not sure school size has that much to do with it if the other pieces are not in place to build a championship team.      DB can always beat up on the much smaller local schools just based on nothing more than having better athletes due to their student population, but where they get exposed is going up against schools who take football seriously.      Science Hill is always in the top 10 biggest state schools but they have never even come close to a championship.        Tri-cities football is a lot of fun locally and we have a lot of passionate players and fans, but in terms of the playoffs it's a dead end.

[HTV]

45 minutes ago, blazer1set said:

   But to their point, even college football awarded a national champion based on media vote until about 10 years ago.        

The first BCS championship game was after the 1998 season when Tennessee beat Florida $tate in Tempe.  

[Red Rebels]

2 hours ago, blazer1set said:

... Science Hill is always in the top 10 biggest state schools but they have never even come close to a championship.        Tri-cities football is a lot of fun locally and we have a lot of passionate players and fans, but in terms of the playoffs it's a dead end.

Collierville High School        2827
Bartlett High School        2782
Dobyns Bennett High School        2503
Stewarts Creek High School        2397
Science Hill High School        2380

Edited November 8, 2023 by Red Rebels

[WaCoJaCo]

5 hours ago, blazer1set said:

Careful, some of the DB faithful can be a bit sensitive about that...    But to their point, even college football awarded a national champion based on media vote until about 10 years ago.        You are correct though in that other than Tennessee High none of the Tri-cities big schools have ever played for a state title and they never will.      Not sure school size has that much to do with it if the other pieces are not in place to build a championship team.      DB can always beat up on the much smaller local schools just based on nothing more than having better athletes due to their student population, but where they get exposed is going up against schools who take football seriously.      Science Hill is always in the top 10 biggest state schools but they have never even come close to a championship.        Tri-cities football is a lot of fun locally and we have a lot of passionate players and fans, but in terms of the playoffs it's a dead end.

In the grand scope of things, it really doesn't matter other than having a trophy and being able to brag about it. It doesn't count for much when the next season starts and you have to defend it. Not many (if any) not named Oakland, Maryville or Alcoa can. As for the "mythical state championships" go ahead and throw them out of the record books. But throw them all out, including College. I've never seen a post on CoachT complaining about any other school's state championship voted in by the media. Only DB. And there is zero evidence that would show they wouldn't have won those championships in a playoff anyway. 

And another thing. It gets tiresome to hear people talk like all of DB's wins come against "much smaller schools". It used to be "smaller schools" now you say "much smaller schools". I remember when you used to say upper east tn couldn't compete with the rest of the state because we just didn't have the athletes. Then came Elizabethton and Greeneville. Now you've changed to upper east tn. 5A and 6A. If Science Hill, Boone, or DB ever go out and hire a good coaching staff you'll see that change also. It's always coaching. Everybody including me said DB would never win a championship in Basketball. They hired a good coach and you see what happened. ITS COACHING!

[WaCoJaCo]

3 hours ago, Red Rebels said:

Collierville High School        2827
Bartlett High School        2782
Dobyns Bennett High School        2503
Stewarts Creek High School        2397
Science Hill High School        2380

At DB 2,000 of those students are in the band. 

[1OldPatriot]

DB will not win a state title settled on the field. They don’t have the mentality to win it. My team (Jeff Co) won’t win another due to speed disparity and overall athleticism. DB doesn’t take football seriously. Science Hill is too soft

[Appvol]

5 hours ago, HTV said:

The first BCS championship game was after the 1998 season when Tennessee beat Florida $tate in Tempe.  

Wasn’t Tennessee and FSU the 1st BCS Championship game.

[JDHoss]

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.

Everyone from Bristol to Memfuss plays for fun. Otherwise, no one would be playing. What matters is organization and coaching from the youth leagues through the feeder programs to high school. Toss in demographics, population (not school size, but area population), and it's not hard to see how the bigger metro schools dominate 5 & 6A. Last year here in Florida, the FHSAA revamped their classification system to Metro and Suburban divisions. Instead of Class A through Class 8A, we now have 1M - 4M and 1S - 4S. There's also a 1R (Rural) class for remote rural schools like Pahokee. The Metro schools are comprised of the Palm Beach county to Dade county metro area, the Jacksonville metro area, the Orlando metro area, and the Tampa metro area. The reason they did it was because these schools were dominating the state championships for the most part. It didn't matter how good of a youth league program, feeder schools and coaching staff someone like a Vero Beach had, there was just a ton more talent available in the big metro areas, and while I can't speak for Tennessee, the schools here recruit like crazy and in the metro areas, teams can really load up. 

[blazer1set]

1 hour ago, WaCoJaCo said:

In the grand scope of things, it really doesn't matter other than having a trophy and being able to brag about it. It doesn't count for much when the next season starts and you have to defend it. Not many (if any) not named Oakland, Maryville or Alcoa can. As for the "mythical state championships" go ahead and throw them out of the record books. But throw them all out, including College. I've never seen a post on CoachT complaining about any other school's state championship voted in by the media. Only DB. And there is zero evidence that would show they wouldn't have won those championships in a playoff anyway. 

And another thing. It gets tiresome to hear people talk like all of DB's wins come against "much smaller schools". It used to be "smaller schools" now you say "much smaller schools". I remember when you used to say upper east tn couldn't compete with the rest of the state because we just didn't have the athletes. Then came Elizabethton and Greeneville. Now you've changed to upper east tn. 5A and 6A. If Science Hill, Boone, or DB ever go out and hire a good coaching staff you'll see that change also. It's always coaching. Everybody including me said DB would never win a championship in Basketball. They hired a good coach and you see what happened. ITS COACHING!

If not for you-know-who that 2012 DB team could have made the state title game without a doubt, they were the best I have ever seen in the Tri-cities

[HTV]

41 minutes ago, Appvol said:

Wasn’t Tennessee and FSU the 1st BCS Championship game.

That's what I just said and you quoted. 

[WaCoJaCo]

5 minutes ago, blazer1set said:

If not for you-know-who that 2012 DB team could have made the state title game without a doubt, they were the best I have ever seen in the Tri-cities

That was a good team for sure and yes, you-know-who did cost them that year. Badley outcoached by Maryville's staff. But I think the 2000 team that lost to Red Bank in the semi's was a tad better. You-know-who cost them that one also. 

[Appvol]

9 hours ago, HTV said:

That's what I just said and you quoted. 

It was a little confusing when you said the first BCS championship game was AFTER the 1998 season when TN beat FSU.