JCM coach steps down

[chris1]

I know Todd very well and if you think he was "too hard" or whatever on the players, I do not think you could survive at any other high school! I think there must be some pretty big babies including the parents; I will not disagree that he may not be the best coach, but the way that situation was handled was dead wrong! If the administration wanted to get rid of him, wait until the end of the season and then the parents should not be involved in that process. You can justify it any way you want, it was handled very poorly! All I can say is I would love to see some of those players under a coach like Randy Harrell. I think you would whine to your parents every day! But he is a winner!

[zorroschild]

i known todd for a long time he is a great guy sorry this had to happen

[juicyt]

All I can say is I would love to see some of those players under a coach like Randy Harrell. I think you would whine to your parents every day! But he is a winner!

I would much rather play for coach Harrell than coach Lumley. As for us being big babies.... WE have more guts and character than the majority of the Northside players. I can almost garantee you that the majority of them would have quit the first day of practice. And like i said earlier none of yall actually knows what all had been going on at the JCM program, unless you were a parent or player. I garentee you also that you would have gone to the school administrators too. Plus the Jackson Sun didn't really let the people know all the details so if you just read the article you really have no idea of what happened. I would tell you what happened but with the respect that I have for Coach Lumley I'm not gonna state what happened.

[topper]

Hey Hey Juicy T....

 

you need to regroup on your thought processes. Your statement about "more guts and character than the majority of the Northside players" is totally ludicrous and just plain stupid. The only way you play at Northside is with "GUTS, CHARACTER and PRIDE!!! Lets think a little more clearly next time before we make such off the wall statements.

[topper]

Hey Juice man....

 

but on the matter at hand, after hearing some of the facts from players parents and seeing first hand over the past three years while attending some games and viewing some of the after the game antics, I have to say that a change was needed for the program to survive at JCM.

[chris1]

JuicyT,

I am not going to disagree that JCM probably needed to go in a different direction, but the way it was handled was wrong! No way parents should be involved in that at all! I know Harrell has had parents not happy with him, but I don't think something like that would ever happen at North Side! And I don't think you should say anything about a team that beat you twice this year; BTW, when was the last time JCM actually beat North Side? Just a thought! They lost to us before Lumley was there, and we'll see what happens when the new coach gets started! Sorry yall had problems, but it could have been handled alot better!

 

I just want to add, GO INDIANS! I am rooting for you against Hardin Co.! My son might have already graduated, but I still love Indian baseball! Good Luck!

[bd4vols]

The Sad thing about JCM baseball is that they have had tremendous talent in the past, but since 1995, they have had only one really good coach. The pitching talent alone they had in 96,97,98 with Ben Howard, Rommel, the other righty that signed with the Rockies, etc. was hard to match anywhere in the state, but did they ever make any noise outside of 13 AAA? No. You had a football coach (Bud Sikes) trying to coach baseball. Then there was Flipper Burks. Flipper was good coach, but he wasn't a great coach. Flipper kinda got railroaded there, too. Kevin Kennedy was a great coach for JCM and had them going in the right directiion. He left JCM for Cookeville (coaching graveyard because of the administration there) and then went to Georgia. Last I heard, he was back in Middle TN teaching only. Todd Lumley seemed to be a nice guy, but I wasn't exactly sure about his baseball knowledge. Who knows what direction JCM will go in, but I do know that as long as Randy Harrell is at North Side, they will play second fiddle in 13 AAA. Randy, love him or hate him, can flat out coach and get more out his kids than anyone around. Who will JCM go after? Murley at Chester CO. would be a good choice. Joseph Talley at USJ as well or Eubanks at Huntingdon.

[chris1]

bdvols,

You are right on! It seems to me that Randy Harrell has outcoached JCM as long as he has been at North Side; Some love him, prolly more hate him, but all I know is he sure did right by my son! My son does not play college baseball, but he sure did have a good 4 years of high school baseball. And I think Randy is a great coach!

[hillado14]

i think that lumley and harrell are great coaches, i havent heard a whole lot about coach harrell leaving but i did read the article and JCMs coach and i think its pathetic that the parents are the deciding factor of a coach loosing his job. its sad to know that a coach of his stature has to make the decision to resign because of some parents want to wine about there baby not playing or there son haveing to work to hard to be good. i mean heck, u have to work to get somewhere u arent just talented. i bet ben howard worked his but off and look where he is. i got a chance to wathc him play at ripley his senior year at a tourny and im glad i did. he was great. but back to coaching. if a kid isnt playing its for a reason, hes not got the talent to be playing at that time or someone is doing better. it aint babe ruth or what ever yall play in jackson any more. GROW UP, parents and kids

[juicyt]

Ok im gettin tired of all you guys bashing our parents and players. This is one of the many reasons that the parents went to the school officials. About a month ago, we were conditioning after a practice. We were running quarter mile sprints. We had jus finished our third sprint. One of the players on the team told coach Lumley that he was feeling light headed and dizzy. Coach Lumley's repsonse go get some water you slacker. The player passes out a fourth of the way through the sprint. COach Lumley has to be told by another player that he passed out. Now Chris1 if that was your son i have a feeling that you would probably be upset too. The one thing that made the parents really mad is that Lumley didnt even let the players parents know what had happened. Oh well what do i know im just a teenager.

[lobo]

I never voiced my opinion during the situation at Blackman. I have gotten to know a couple of the past and present players and parents at that school. I have not had the pleasure of meeting any of the parents at JCM, but I know they are just like most parents of high school players. I no longer have any children at the high school level playing baseball. I played and also had a son that played beyond high school. Someone stated that we cannot choose our coaches. That is not correct. Parents do have a say in who will coach! If you don't believe it, look at these 2 schools. We pay tax dollars at the public school level, so yes, we can go to the school board and voice our opinion. That is called democracy. The private schools also choose who they want to coach, but in a different way. You must realize that it will be different at the collegiate level. If your son is being recruited, he will make his visits and will choose the program and coach that he feels most comfortable with. Make sure that he talks with other players before accepting a scholarship. A scholarship is actually being paid to play. If that player is receiving a grant in aid, he is then at the mercy of the coach. High school is the reverse. I am totally against a player being abused by a coach whether it is verbal or physical. Remember, baseball is a game. A game is suppose to be for fun and entertainment. Please don't loose site of that. I don't know the full details, but I am behind the parents and players.

Good Luck and God Bless!

[chris1]

Oh Juice I have some stories for you!!!! My son played for RANDY HARRELL!! Have you heard any of the stories! Most of them are true. My son was running sprints one day and he stopped and threw up and kept running. What about the story that he stopped on the way back from a road trip and made them run in a field? I'm sure that would have been too rough! Right? so I don't want to hear how coach Lumley was too rough! You guys could never handle true conditioning! I'm sorry, but I know that you are gonna try to justify what happened and I am going to disagree all the way! So I can agree to disagree, but I know that I would not, did not, and never will interfere with a coach. Yes I pay tax dollars, but that does not mean I know more than my coach. I hope the parents at JCM get what they want. I think other coaches will look hard at how this situation was handled before they will come to your school. If parents have that much power, a coach will prolly think twice about coming there! I hope the players at JCM that move on to the next level will be able to handel it! I imagine a college coach is going to require alot of "conditioning"!!!! Just my $.02 worth!