Hokie101

Everyone was tired of watching Akers try to coach. 

If I'm not mistaken, that game was moved up a day because of the weather.  That probably hurt the attendance a little.  I also believe the volleyball team was playing that same night in the district tournament maybe.

When you were watching the game was MAC actually guarding Clemons?  I saw a guy post something on a Georgetown message board with his points broken down by who was guarding him.  He scored 25 while Akinjo was on him.  He scored 13 when Jagan was guarding him and 7 points in transition.  None of his 45 points came while MAC was guarding him according to that poster.  I didn't watch the game so I don't know.  Looking at your posts, you insinuate that MAC was the primary defender and poking at the 6 points not being a good trade off to giving up 45 points.

The main defender on Clemons was Akinjo.  I'm sure at times MAC guarded him but not most of the game.  A lot of his points seemed  late in the game when he was jacking up 3's and making them.  If MAC was from Graham then the doubters would give him the time that's needed but since he's from GC they're already trying to say he can't hack it.

When you were watching the game was MAC actually guarding Clemons?  I saw a guy post something on a Georgetown message board with his points broken down by who was guarding him.  He scored 25 while Akinjo was on him.  He scored 13 when Jagan was guarding him and 7 points in transition.  None of his 45 points came while MAC was guarding him according to that poster.  I didn't watch the game so I don't know.  Looking at your posts, you insinuate that MAC was the primary defender and poking at the 6 points not being a good trade off to giving up 45 points.

The main defender on Clemons was Akinjo.  I'm sure at times MAC guarded him but not most of the game.  A lot of his points seemed  late in the game when he was jacking up 3's and making them.  If MAC was from Graham then the doubters would give him the time that's needed but since he's from GC they're already trying to say he can't hack it.

Just like last season at GC, he could not do enough to satisfy some. He is starting on a D1 team, that should shut some up, but it hasn't.
 

I agree with them being in the M7 based on geography.  What they need to do is try and schedule bigger schools for all of their OOC games, which they may have done this year I'm not for sure.

I'll probably rile some folks here but here goes: Darren Reed while he may be a douche to many was not the issue at Central. My son loved playing for him and said that when he started playing at E&H and the others were whining at the beginning,he was saying to himself "Hell Coach Reed worked us harder than this". At the time Darren was at CHS NOBODY would have won due to the culture and politics. I am very hopeful that this is finally changing at CHS. ,.You'll not find a harder working man in that line of work than Reed. He just had a bunch that was pampered,spoiled,and too many whiny,griping parents to deal with at CHS

This was fun to do.  Thanks for running it and this season.  It's hard to believe another regular season is already over.  Time goes by way too fast!

This was fun to do.  Thanks for running it and this season.  It's hard to believe another regular season is already over.  Time goes by way too fast!

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 

If there is any slither of truth to that, I don't think anybody would mind.

Chilhowie should roll through the region.  IMHO, they just need to get through injury free because there isn't anybody in Region D that can match up to them.

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.

If I were a supporter of Gate City basketball, I would be thrilled the rest of Virginia believes last season was a one man show!

I think one of the biggest issues with the downturn of football at GC is the sensation of McClung and the rise in popularity of basketball in the youth.  At the small school level you have a limited number of top athletes.  When your better athletes focus on one sport then the other sports suffer.  McClung, Ervin, etc decided to focus on basketball and it brought great support to that program.  All the younger kids then start trying to be the next McClung instead of the next Houseright.  If they try to do all sports they run the risk of major injury like McCamis at Wise.  Plus, to perform at a level like McClung you have to devote to that sport year round.  Nothing wrong with that, just an issue that most small schools face.  That is why choosing the next coach is so important.  Their biggest obstacle isn't going to be just getting what you have in the weight room.  Success begins at the youth level.  You have to create interest to get as many kids playing as possible so you can optimize your talent when they reach high school.

My apologies to Abingdon & Wise Central on behalf of all Gate Citians. I had no idea that Darren Reed had set your respective programs back so terribly, or cost you the multiple championships that a qualified coach would have won. Maybe Akers will retain him on his staff at Blountville Middle next year. 
🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻

The thing with Reed is that the original group he inherited had some great talent (many playing college ball with most of them currently playing for Emory and Henry).  That is why the previous coach was ran out of town.  Abingdon is heavily influenced by Emory alumni so they wanted Reed (an Emory alum) to come in and lead the team.  This came back to bite them in the end.  The strength of the group lied in the explosive passing game with Sturgill, Yates brothers, Wallace, and others who could put up big numbers.  They had a good size line and athletes in the backfield.  The perfect mix for the spread offense.  Reed followed this plan early. Sturgill as a junior led the team fairly deep in the 3A playoffs and had some big college interest.  in the offseason, Reed proceeds to convert the team into a primarily running team and only throwing in desperate situations.  Numbers go down, Sturgill's stock dropped and the Falcons did not have the season everyone hoped for.  During the change in game plan instilled by Reed, he instructed the JV and 8th grade coaches to scrap any passing game and focus on the run game so that he could change the entire program leading up to him.  That caused much disruption with the coaching staff causing many to leave.  It ticked off influential parents and ran off a lot of kids in the program because everything they had been accustomed to and succeeded at had been yanked out from under them.
This is not uncommon for a new coach to change things to their style but this was too drastic of a change and, in my opinion, this doesn't work at the 3A level.  The reason 1A and 2A schools from this area are successful in the post season is because of the power game and smash mouth football. Our kids are typically big and strong and work hard to succeed.  At the 3A level, once you get away from southwest VA you find teams with a better crop of athletes and the speed of the secondary shut you down.  That made the spread, high flying offense effective for Abingdon.  You can see similar comparisons in the 2A with Graham's speed in the secondary.  Reed may be a good coach at Gate City because their program was built on the power run game but I don't think he is equipped to coach different styles. 

Listen, Abingdon is big and strong............ right now!!  This is all Darren Reed's doing.  They are still benefiting from his short time there.

I think what they are getting at is that the last year Coach Colobro and Amburgey were at Abingdon there was quite a bit of disagreement between Reed and the staff. Reed brought in Colobro and once there was success he wanted total control. Not allowing the OC and DC to do their jobs. Majority of the staff left and that's why the staff looked so different last year.
Numerous players didn't play last year because of the head coach. Many of those returned this year to play for Amburgey. 
You do the math
Far as I'm concerned. GC can hire whoever they want. If they feel he's their answer. Good for them. Abingdon has a coach players go the extra mile for. Fans love what he is doing for the program and community and I am good with that. 

I'm not advocating for Coach Reed but I'm all ears on examples of what you're talking about.  His last head coaching job took a team that was good for maybe 2-3 wins a season to a playoff team.  Before that was at central and nothing else needs to be said about that because when have they ever been relevant in something other than girls basketball.

Because the HEAD COACH so rarely affects change in a football program... 😂

Someone told me that Grapeape would get the job...

Anyone who thinks Reed had little to do with any of the success they've had during his time there is oblivious to reality.  That was a good group of kids that played but they needed the right leadership and he was apparently it.