Bearcat Dad

He was only with us for 2 years, but he tried the “Square peg in a round hole” philosophy with our kids, offensively speaking. I believe we were 6-4 in his first year and 4-6 in his second year. Coaches and parents alike said that he regretted coming down here almost immediately. Now this is all heresay because I wasn’t “Bearcat Dad” yet at that time, but I did watch the games. The team looked undisciplined and there were a lot of games, especially in year 2, that the entire team looked lost. Dont let the 6-4 record in year one fool you. VHS had a very weak schedule in the two years that he was here. We weren’t close to being competitive to the Gate City’s, Tn. High’s, or any of the good teams on our schedule then. He left as soon as the opportunity presented itself. An assistant coach from his staff, told me personally that he just never really clicked with the kids at VHS. He also said that Thurman refused to change his ways and adapt his schemes to fit his personnel. The assistant told me that he liked Thurman as a person, but the coaches were always butting heads during his time here. We were very excited to get him, but it just didn’t work.

He could possibly work wonders for GC, but that experiment was a miserable failure at VHS.

Ah, there it is. Thanks!!

They played VHS as one of their non-district games. I believe their others were Pulaski and Hidden Valley. I could be missing another one.

Forgive me if I’ve missed something, but is this legit? EDIT: Ok, wow! I just researched the video. Unbelievable!!!

Sometimes there are really, really good players that will play on Saturdays, on average to below average high school teams. Take Dalton Mullins from Wise, last year. Spent his senior year on a team that struggled, he was injured, then came back and had a good showing at the VHSCA All-Star game, and is now at Carson-Newman(I think). Some excellent football players become afterthoughts in our region when they don’t play for one of the powerhouse programs. EDIT: I’ve never been a huge fan of debating who the “Best Football Player” in an area is. Best at a position or best athlete seems like a better discussion. Just because someone is a great RB, doesn’t mean that they would be any good as a LT. No disrespect to the OP, just my two cents.

Congrats to the G-Men. Good luck to you guys the rest of the way!

Good luck to the G-Men tomorrow! I’m looking forward to a hard fought, injury-free game.

Following your lead, brother!

My pleasure! Hopefully we can get more people to participate next year.

Thanks, man. I would love for my kid to get to experience a playoff game at the park! I imagine that fans of seven teams in the region would LOVE to see the Bearcats advance lol

It was my pleasure. I agree! Every football season seems to go by faster than the one before!

Thanks to everyone who voted in the Week 1 poll. Your top 10 teams, voted by you, are as follows..... 1. Bluefield 2. Graham 3. Union 4. Ridgeview 5. Richlands 6. Virginia High 7. Pulaski Co. 8. Chilhowie 9. Abingdon 10. Galax Other teams receiving votes; Marion Giles Grayson Co. Radford Tazewell Grundy Ft. Chiswell George Wythe Lee Here is our Week 1 poll, for comparison.

I enjoyed it! Good idea!

It was my pleasure, my friend!

Here are the results for the final Top 10 Thanks to everyone that voted this season. Thanks to @GMan, @Ryan4VT, @rvtne215, and @EH31 for letting me run the Top 10 poll on here and Coalfieldsports.com! 1. Bluefield 2. Chilhowie 3. Graham 4. Pulaski 5. Abingdon 6. Ridgeview 7. Radford 8. Union 9. Galax 10. Mt View OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES Grayson Co. Patrick Henry J.I. Burton Richlands

Abingdon by 14+ The Falcons are one of the few teams in our coverage area that is playing their best ball of the year right now.

Let’s go ahead and do a final Top 10 list for the season. Let’s make this the best turnout yet! 1. Chilhowie 2. Bluefield 3. Graham 4. Abingdon 5. Pulaski 6. Ridgeview 7. Radford 8. Galax 9. Mount View 10. Union EDIT: I have made my first edit of a list on the season. I had a complete brain fart and forgot about Radford. Thanks to @Bluefield researcher And @sixcat for the reminder.

I agree!! I’m out of likes, or I would have liked it lol I don’t blame coaches I guess, in trying to find ways to fire their kids up. I’m with you, though. It’s a little funny lol

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I was able to go to Battle Hill back in Week 1 because the Bearcats opened on that Thursday. I do know that they are remodeling their clubhouse, but I can’t speak on whether or not it affects the draining of rain water. Yeah, I caught some of last week’s game on tv. It seems that the Bears don’t like the rain, so I understand where you’re coming from.

Agree with all of this. The bold I doubly agree with. The man did what he could. The continued bashing of this man has become tiresome and sad. What’s done is done. He did not purposely drive GC to the basement of the M7. All GC fans should look to the future and hope that the best candidate comes in and turns things around. SWVA football is better when GC is good. No matter how loud it’s yelled, nobody buys the bs that coach Akers is totally to blame. Before anyone asks, yes I do know Chris. We’re not close friends or anything, but I do believe he did what he thought was best. Did his tenure fail? From a win/loss standpoint, yes. Does he wish it could have been better? Of course! Who wouldn’t? We've all had something happen in our lives that we wish we could have done something better to change it. Whether it be with our job, our marriage, our parenting, or a million other things. Good luck to the GC program. I hope you guys find the right guy to turn things around. Not so much for the fans, but for the current and future GC student athletes. Also, good luck to coach Akers. I hope he has success wherever his next path in life takes him.

Yep. VHS/Richlands too

Yes it is. Unfortunately, the forecast gives a good chance for a wet night too. Don’t get me wrong, I love football in the rain, but we have Senior Night festivities tonight and my old lady HATES the rain lol. I’m sure I’ll hear all about it after we get off of the field 🤣

Agreed!!