Best girls coach in Northeast Tennessee?

[cyclonehomer]

Rate these coaches on a scale of 1 to 10 with one being the worst and 10 being the best:

 

Class AAA

Tim Campbell, Daniel Boone

8 -- Top-notch. Great guy, superb coach. Can teach a tough man-to-man defense and his players get after you. His teams need to concentrate a little more on getting the ball in the basket, however.

 

Brenda Evans, Science Hill

5 -- Still on the bubble, hasn't won a regional game in her three years.

 

Kim Bright, Tennessee High

4 -- Tons of talent, short on postseason success -- although a regional semifinal appearance this year could change her fortunes with a loaded team next year.

 

OTHERS: Jeremy Jenkins, Sullivan South (6); Roger France, Dobyns-Bennett (6); Laura Vaughn, Sullivan East (3); Kirk Minton, David Crockett (3)

 

Class AA

Glenn Fisher, Unicoi County

8.5 -- 500 wins and one of the best. His teams are always tough as nails, especially defensively.

 

Mike Wilson, Elizabethton

8 -- Very adaptable. His team finds ways to be successful.

 

Gary Surcey, Sullivan Central

4 -- Seems to be a hard worker, but his teams don't seem to make in-game adjustments very well.

 

Larry Ricker, South Greene

6 -- Sometimes a real punk and sometimes a redneck, challenging the refs to fights. Since there should be more to coaching than wins and losses, Ricker gets a lower rating because of his mouth and his lack of teaching his players to be good people along with good players and winners.

 

OTHERS -- Dennis Anderson, Volunteer (6.5); Larry Weems, West Greene (6.5); Eric Crabtree, Johnson County (6); Leslie Campbell, Hampton (5); Ben Godsey, Happy Valley (5)

 

Class A

Matt Birchfield, Cloudland

8 -- Too young to be rated above Fisher, but certainly one of the best up-and-coming coaches. His teams play hard.

 

OTHERS -- Kenneth Campbell, Unaka (6); Amy Horton, University High (2)

[anonymous123]

What about Marv West for Oneida...coach of the year. Coach West always works his girls harder than most other teams...which is probably why their team is so small in number. He's only been coaching in high school for three years but his teams have made it to state the first two years and substate this year even though they lost 3 starters (2 of which play college ball), 60% of their scoring, and practically all their rebounding. Coach West led those Small Lady Indians against all odds farther than anyone thought possible.

[KevB1990]

Oneida isn't normally associated with NE Tenn. That's probably why.

[Guest LL]

you have rated some coaches high that haven't been in the business very long. Really hard to judge a coach that has only been there a couple of years. Seems like that would be a testiment to the preceeding coach if they had been succesful their first couple of years. It takes time for a coach to prove their value.

[Guest LL]

would agree with you on some of your picks, homer, but disagree on others. Tim Campbell does a really good job at Boone and Glen Fisher is probably the best in the area. Even if you don't like him, Coach Ricker does a good job year in and year out. But without talent even good coaches have down years and with talent a not so good coach looks pretty good. Do you really think Coach Wilson at Elizabethton is an 8? Have you forgotten he didn't win a game a few years ago? At that time a AAA school when AAA was weaker than AA. Yes he has won some over the past two years, but is that a case of talent or coaching? Don't get me wrong, Coach Wilson probably does a decent job but would you know he overall winning percentage? This is where you can tell about a coach. It will be interesting to see where some of these coaches are in a few years.

[jumphook]

The best girls coach in east TN is not currently coaching a girls squad. He is coaching HV 8th grade boys. His name is Rik Anderson. He is the reason that the Lady Landers have done so well the last couple of years. My how people forget you when your forced to leave. You can't rate Matt Birchfield high now, because he still is running the program with Coach A's players. Wait until the next year when the well runs dry.

[Guest LL]

Do you know his winning percentage? like I said before sometimes a young coach benefits from the preceeding coach. The coach at Oneida seems to do a good job also but he has benefitted from the success from former coaches. Oneida has always had the tradition of a winning program. That makes a big difference also. Maybe Coach Birchfield is smarter than you think if he has continued to run the program the same way if it was successful.

[gymTOgym]

Coach West has NO players that another coach had in the past . Not even the previous high school coach. He has worked and groomed all of his girls on this years team. It's plain and simple INDIAN PRIDE ! Take pride in your program as a coach and take pride in your team as a player... that equals success. Just because they're not going to state this year dosn't mean they aren't a good team. GREAT JOB COACH WEST !!

[Guest LL]

No one said Oneida didn't have a good team this year. I saw them play and they did a pretty good job. Not overloaded with talent but a good job. I read he had been coach there for 3 years and also read one of the girls had been a four years starter, so if that is true then he has had some girls from another coach. The point is it will take time to see if he will be a highly rated coach. That is all. I'm sure he, as is, do have a lot of pride in your program. Like before, tradition plays a major role in a program. It takes a long time for a program to make a tradition. In time we will tell about Coach West and Coach Birchfield. I hope they both do well.

[landergolfer]

I think Birchfield is the one of the best in east tennessee. He has his players respect and they enjoy playing basketball for him. Most of Anderson's teams did not enjoy playing for him. I think overall Birchfield would beat Anderson hands down

[Guest ladylander]

I played for rik anderson for 4 years. I agree that he is a great coach. The majority of his former players both like and respect him. He loves basketball but the most important things to him were for his players to be respectful and disciplined both on and off the court. He helped shape us into the human beings we are today and most of us have gone on to make something of ourselves. If any players didn't like him it was because they couldn't handle the discipline that he dished out.

When coach anderson took the lady landers they lost every game in their first season. He built that program from the bottom up and he is now the winningest coach in cloudland basketball history(boys and girls). Most anyone would have given up after that first season but he believed in the girls when no one else at the school gave us any respect. coach birchfield had everything in place for him when he started. I hope he can continue the tradition that coach anderson started.

[behoopy]

Let's face it, coaches play a role in the success of a team, but having good talent will make you a better coach versus having average talent. On the other hand all the coaches you guys have been talking about are good and deserve the recognition.