Wicks or Bubba at Castlewood would probably make the Reese family happy with their styles of offense if they took over at Lebanon.
I think Wicks and Bubba would make be able to keep Reese at Lebanon. Both teams ran the air raid and he would be deadly in that offense if they have 5 guys that can catch a football.
Spot on. I agree in that it takes both coaching and talent. That’s why it’s so difficult to separate the two, even in football.
Softball is definitely the sport where you can ride a talented pitcher all the way to a title, but a lot still must go right.
It’s likely more common the most successful teams are the most talented and not just well coached. That’s why I have such a hard time as an outsider judging how good of a coach many of the local legends are comparatively. Many are probably good program builders or managers that generate excitement and support. I think many are simply at a point to “not mess it up.”
As far as coaching is concerned for reference, I believe that the Mance staff’s best coaching jobs were probably 2008 or the River Michael’s/Zeke Vance led teams. They certainly were not as talented as the state title or runner up teams, but probably maximized the talent available. I believe Ronnie Davis was present on both staffs.
I could not agree with this more! At the small school level there is always going to be a team or two that are more stacked than the rest. Graham Union riverheads all come to mind. I think the true measure of a coach is taking a traditional 2 or 3 win team and coaching them to a playoff appearance every year even if those playoff appearances never make it past the second round. If someone gets the Northwood job and they all of a sudden put those kids in the playoffs on a yearly basis that is a great coaching job. The turn around that Rye Cove has had is an example of an amazing coaching job! If that continues past the next 2 years than put Collier in the hall of fame
I personally think Reece is over rated. I was at the PH game and wasn’t impressed.
I wouldn’t call him underrated, he just had absolutely nothing around him. Defense gave up 35+ a game and the kid had no O line. He has the best arm talent on this side of the state but it’s hard to show case that with what he had around him. Creasy is more polished than he is overall but Reece is more talented
Its probably a pay cut moving from being a teacher/coach at Holston than it is to Lebanon though also which is one thing to consider. Russell County I believe has one of the lower pay rates for teachers and coaching stipends. I may be mistaken though.
Good point I just looked it up and didn’t realize how little teachers were paid in Russell. I couldn’t find the coaching stipend though
Akers stepped into good programs at the right time at both Rural Retreat and Holston. Holston has had a good run of football players over the last 5-7 years. They return the QB and will fall off somewhat this season. Things will get really thin after this upcoming season so if Akers hangs around after this season and wins then he would deserve a lot of credit. I do think he has done a solid job at Holston and should be given credit for that. Holston only had around 25 kids this past fall so a major question will be can Akers get kids to come out for football.
So if the talent is drying up and 3 years seems to be as long as he stays at one place does he make the jump to Lebanon this season for a chance to coach Reese and company?
I think if the Lebanese want to keep a coach for the long term, a unlimited gift card to Pal's should be on the negotiating table.
I’m not sure how “long term” we are talking here. I like Pals just as much as the next fat guy. But a diet of a double big pal with bacon, a side of frenchie fries and a large sweet tea isn’t good for the longevity of your arteries
Weight lifting should never stop that should be year around. You can lift in the morning and still practice after school. Lifting weights has never hurt any sport regardless of what the basketball coach says
. the only two names that I’ve heard about getting the job (even right after football ended) was one of the coordinators from honaker and the dc from Richlands.
Is that coordinator from Honaker Wicks? I feel like he would have been more interested in Richlands job. Idk who the DC at Richlands was but they struggled on that side of the ball. I’m not always saying that’s the coordinator fault sometimes they have to roll with what the HC says. Regardless who ever gets this job needs to make a phone call to the Reese family to make sure he stays put
From my understanding it wasn’t just the sophomore class. Heard numerous rumors that Lebanons senior class (which has a ton of athletes in basketball and baseball) didn’t play because the coach had a history of getting his players hurt.
Probably still has that old school mentality but if that was a problem I get it.
So with you being a Lebanon guy what is your opinion on the football job? It has got to be tough to coach at a place where football plays second fiddle to baseball and maybe even 3rd to basketball? They seem to do better in 1a than they have faired in 2a
Seems to be that he did that for Lebanons core sophomore class. Numerous rumors were circulating that 2-3 of Lebanons sophomores were going to transfer if he stayed. Sorry Richlands fans but it looks that Reece will be staying
Kinda sad that a grown man essentially lost his jobs because of the opinion of kids that can barely drive
I’m gonna throw out some dark horses here. I feel like we have named all the obvious ones.
Tiller has done a good job everywhere he has been even though he hasn’t stayed long. If you take away the 0-10 season his first year at Fort his teams have been playoff teams every year with a few deep runs just no state hardware to speak of. I’m not sure if Fort was his first head coaching job or not.
Chris Akers has a legacy on this board already but he has done some good things on the field. Playoffs both seasons at Rural Retreat with one win. Gate city was just not the right fit for the guy but still made the playoffs his first year. He was right at 500 at Fort but his best years have been at Holston 26-10 with a region title in 3 years
Interesting that Clements hasn't signed. Is he maybe waiting for a better offer and sign in February, or maybe go the JUCO or prep school route? I'd guess he also has FCS and DII offers as well.
Very hard for any High School kid to get a D1 scholarship at any level with all the 6 and 7 year guys that got the extra year from COVID and the transfer portal just letting kids move where ever they want and when ever they want. When can only have 85 guys scholarships and you got guys thats are 26 still playing ball taking up one of those if takes one away from a good high school kid.
In the wake of the greatest coach to ever coach college football retiring yesterday with out warning, I have a question for the board to give us something to talk about during the offseason.
if they stepped down tomorrow which current head coach in the area would have the best legacy? Not talking about the legions from years past. This has to be someone who was the head coach last football season.
Being from Alabama myself I need something else to talk about beside Saban stepping down.
Positional development. A particular coach and a particular offense. There are/were two pass-oriented offenses in SWVA.....well, add Honaker to that, so three.
Dont forget Tazewell but I feel like they are good with their QB situation. That would be a hell of a QB battle though
That could be a game changer. Isn’t the kid a three sport athlete? Football ain’t the only sport that’s in desperate need of talent. Maybe he can bring some guys along with him that’s not happy with the current climate of Boyd High, I mean Lebanon. Or the Boyd's can come back to Richlands, there’s an HC basketball coach available. Our AD position needs a change. Either way, it will be improvement.
I’m pretty sure he does play basketball and baseball which begs the question why would he come to Richlands when Lebanon is already better than Richlands in all 3 sports. He would also be in the SWD so really nothing changes he just has to carry the load with a different jersey on
I get that OC and DC are a big hire but the issue the guy Davis wants hopefully teaches a class that has an opening at Richlands or works outside of the school. Assistant coaches only get paid $3000 ish you got to have a job to go with it.
The main reason the kids that win get on the all region and state teams are because only the teams that make it that far get to go to those meeting. All district has all the coaches there. All region only have the coaches of the teams that made the playoffs then when you get to all state only the region champion and runner up get to vote on it. So of course Union and Graham had the most guys on that team because both head coaches were in the room actually fighting for those kids to get on the team. I player on a team that didn’t make it that far better have made a damn good impression against the teams that get to be there. But at the same time if you had every coach attending that had a 1st team all region kids that meeting would take 8 hours
true, if he goes the transfer portal and plays at chilhowie, he dominates d1 and possibly helps them to a playoff spot and getting maybe one extra game. He was solid and probably deserving of more recognition. I didn't get to watch many of their games to see what he did against Graham and Tazewell but what were their other games where he faced some good opponents and held his own?
He may get all state but he doesn’t get an offer from Air Force. Ginn helped him a lot with his recruiting. The main reason he didn’t have better stats is because teams did run at him. That includes Tazewell and Graham and when they did it didn’t go well
That has been part of the problem. assistant coaches not buying into the HC experience and trying to go their own way, as if to say, "I'll show everyone I am better than the HC." Doesn't work that way. Tarter knows football, but some of those around him thought they knew more, so it was a mess. Just my opinion, with a little bit of insider information.
That is one of the problems you run into when you have an "experienced" staff or a staff that has guys that want to move up. Too many chiefs not enough Indians
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Taylor stepping down at Lebanon
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I’ve heard Wicks pulled out. Makes me think he knows Reese is gone