Blue Cannonball

He purportedly resigned over a historic shortage of talented players. It’s a shame really.

It would be a crime to hire anybody but Gerald Sensabaugh if he applied.

Nothing toughens up a kid like flag football. 😂😂😂
 
Abingdon... 🤦🏽‍♂️

Reed changed their culture.  Abingdon has always been knows as soft..he toughened them up and some of the kids and parents probably had a hard time adjusting.  The kids that are still there are tough because of reed and his staff.   Give them a couple years...they be back to being soft again.  

100%
Probably unlikely, but we can hope.
If we could get GS and retain some  Blue Devil alumni  — Darren and Jeremy — we’ll be in a good spot. 

Stan Rogers was a class act to me!! I played against him in baseball when he was coaching and I enjoyed talking to him before and after games. 

GS would be a great coach at GC, but I can't see Scott County hiring him. If there's trash, he'll expose it. As far as the fans, I think we'd love him.
He'd also get things fixed that should've been fixed years ago. Like a PA system that doesn't cut out, a scoreboard that you can actually read, and get rid of the ugly *** gray britches!
 

It’s Fry, not Frye. 
We can all speculate on how many games other coaches would’ve won in the Akers era...and it’s just that...speculation. What I can guarantee is that the past three teams would have played with a greater demonstration of football fundamentals — principally blocking and tackling.
This is what the people in GC are upset about and something you can’t understand from the box scores or Facebook. 

I think Houseright would get more kids out and be more successful at GC but Reed has head coaching experience. Houseright makes more sense which means Reed will undoubtedly get the job.  

Houseright has made a phenomenal difference with the RC defense.  He also brings enthusiasm to their entire program and that is what the kids need.  Kids need structrue, discipline, accountablity, enthusiasm, and a HC that not only cares about just winning, but about building a solid program that will help draw more kids out to play FB!  This is what every FB program needs!  I hope the powers that be have taken notice of how much he has helped the RC program when it comes time to place a new HC at GC.  

GC fans who live there and attend every game say it’s the coaches. Random guys on the internet from every place but GC who have never been to a game say it’s a cycle. Obviously the Scott County School Board agrees with us GC folk, because Mr. Akers’ replacement is already on the sideline. I, along with thousands of other GC fans, will continue to unconditionally support the kids. As for my opinions on Mr. Akers, I will continue to accurately depict his incompetence - just as anyone would if this cancer metastasized on your program. 

Down cycle?   We haven’t had a down cycle since shoemaker high years.  ...bad years, yes. But no down cycles.  It is school board, administration, and coaching.  That is creating this.  If you are not in Scott county then you have no idea what you are talking about.  If you are and have half a brain, then you know the problems that the county is having.   Leadership is the worst it has ever been.   That is the down cycle.  If you from Richlands or big stone or any where else you don’t have a clue how sorry are school leadership is.  It won’t change until there are changes starting at the top.   

What I don't understand is how a few fans voicing displeasure means the fans have quit on them.  I'd like to see other schools with 0 wins and compare the number of fans at the game.  The home side is nearly full minus what's in the reserved seating plus what's sitting on the away side.  Translation, more than half full.
I've said it is a down cycle in talent the past few years and it wouldn't matter who was the coach but I truly believe it wouldn't be this bad if the coach cared or knew what he was doing.  It's a testament to the team the way they didn't give up last night and almost came back to win the game.

Watching from the Marion side, it was clear what was happening.  The Gate City players and one assistant coach gave their all for 48 minutes.  Fortunately for my Canes, Gate City's apathetic and incompetent HC called just enough miscues to thwart a miracle comeback. 

This team lacks any fundamentals and that rests squarely on the shoulders of the head coach.  To fumble as much as this team does tells me they aren't used to getting hit in practice.  GC hurt themselves last night. They were very capable of keeping the score close but kept turning the ball over.
I'm not sure but did Ridgeview even attempt more than 10 passes?  They couldn't have completed more than 40% of them if they did.  A couple of times they tried to go deep but the qb was missing them.  The stud rb was good.  GC doesn't know how to hit and you can't arm tackle him.  Is there any chance he may transfer to a bigger school?  I personally wouldn't think so since he's already getting the attention where he's at now.

Gate City's 1974 team vs. Tennessee High's 1972 team. The Best Team ever from Southwest Virginia vs. The Best Team Ever From Northeast Tennessee. 
 

Those lightbulbs worked just fine in the Rural Retreat scoreboard. I think the real issue is that our scoreboard simply isn’t as talented as in years past - & that’s not even factoring in overall downward trends in lightbulb participation. 

To quote the late great Harry Fry. "All we have to do is average 3 and half yards per carry and no one can stop us."

As a parent, Yes I do want the best opportunities for my children. I have seen a Coach have such a connection with his players that the majority of them would run thru a brick wall if asked.  But I have also seen said Coach not be able to do anything to reach a player.  I believe alot has to do with how the kids are taught at home.  If a player constantly sees/hears everyone personally attacking their coach, those feelings will spread like a cancer thru a locker room.  Akers may or may not be the Best Coach for GC Football. But to say he is the ONLY problem is the 1st problem.  I am all for constructive criticism.  Not going to games because a team is struggling and the fans are trying to show the HC that he isn't supported hurts the school/kids.  Can you imagine working hard on a presentation for work and when you go to present it no one shows up? I know that's a little bit of a stretch but it's the same for the kids.  No matter what the outcome of the game is, if the kids are truly putting in the hard work, they are already defeated when they walk out and the stands are missing fans.  The kids hear the fans heckling Akers on the sideline as well.  Again, that spreads like a cancer throughout.  You just can't put all the blame on Akers.  GC Fans say there will be all kinds of people applying for the HC position when it becomes available.  I think they have actually put a bitter taste in people's mouth in how they have shown their "school spirit". Akers has more support around SWVA than GC Fans would like.  There is a way of handling these these situations and GC Fans have failed their team. 

You don't have to be "perfect" to realize he's in over his head.  That's been evident since he's been there. I'm not sure how many hours he puts in, but he could be there 24/7 and it wouldn't matter. It's wonderful that you're ok with them being mediocre, but folks that have supported them decade after decade are not ok with it. When you settle for mediocrity, this is what you end up with and I'm afraid a lot of folks have "settled".  You may have a son on the team. If so, why wouldn't you want the best coach and opportunity for them? The money brought in during football season also helps sports all year long. When you go from 5,000 for each home game to less than 1,000, those numbers add up. There's a lot more to it than just wins and losses.
As far as the "numbers and talent" not being there, GC has usually averaged mid-upper 40's each year. We didn't always have the best talent during the Colobro years, but he got every bit of effort and talent that he could get out of each player. There was no "voodoo" then. He was just a helluva football coach with outstanding assistants.
I don't mean anything I've said to sound offensive in any way, but I've followed this program for more than 40 years and I've traveled thousands of miles to support the kids. It's heart breaking for me to see what's happened to the entire program.

So, GC needs to keep Akers and hire 10,000 new fans to put up with his incompetence. What an elegant solution. Take it to the school board and I guarantee they'll pass it!! 

And you will NEVER convince me that this is the result of a lack of talent. #68, #75, & #55 are all region caliber players. 

Graham played the latter two in my time there.  Graham’s 1999 team (8-2) doubled up Tennessee High at home (40-20), and Graham’s 2000 team (5-6) lost to Tennessee High in Bristol (by 3).  Graham’s 2001 team clobbered Greeneville at Mitchell Stadium (40-7), and Graham’s 2002 team (8-2) lost to Greeneville in Greeneville (by 2).  
 
Graham also played Elizabethton twice (1999 - away, 40-20 loss; 2000 - home, 26-20 loss).  On behalf of G-Men faithful everywhere, I apologize for our 2-4 mark against NETN schools in my time there, though 3 of the losses were by 1 score).
 
Historically, good teams from SWVA have been competitive with good teams from NETN when given the chance.  The problem, I think, is that many of the schools who would schedule NETN schools by geography (see: Washington County/Bristol, Scott County schools not named Gate City, Lee County) have been historically anywhere between decent and dreadful, and it’s easy pickin’s for NETN.

I saw talented kids. Maybe not that of the 2014 team, which was very solid, but talent that wasn't being used appropriately. 
I don't understand why they didn't run more and I would get #12 the ball on jet sweeps, HB tosses, quick passes to a slot position,  something. He's useless at WR if the QB can't get a pass off.

It would be contrary to the narrative that the only problem at GC is a lack of talent. 
 
Can’t have that.