SwvaOG

Your post got me thinking. A lot of long term starting QBs graduated this year, O'Quinn and Creasy top that list. Don’t forget Lee’s QB. Those three threw for a ton of yardage!!! Outside of Reece, who are the next gunslingers and will there be a new crop of QBs that can pick up the slack.

Thanks for the Bulldog update. I'm hoping a few more will start to trickle in as we get further into summer.

Good call! Completely forgot about them. That is a cozy little stadium.

Listen...the Blues hired the right HC and Ronnie was smart enough to bring in the new weight training coach. I love what they are doing over there. People always want to look at the numbers when it comes to lifting, but the biggest benefit is the confidence and attitude change that comes with lifting and seeing your body transform. The Blues will be looking for some payback this year and I expect more wins. RV will look back at this 8-10 year run of natural talent and wonder what if they had bought into the weight training like their competition did.

Good point....might ruffle some feathers but good point. The 2022 RV team had no transfer students on it. Every kid on that team played middle school ball and/or LL ball for Dickinson County. Graham doesn't beat that RV team without their transfer kids, IMHO. No other team in state scored as many points on Graham as RV did in those playoff matchups. Not to be a RV homer because I have my issues with the program but they don't have the luxury that the other top teams in the region does. Union takes its fair share of good kids from Lee and has benefitted from that. We all know about Graham's recruiting program. Richlands did it. Gate City gets kids from other schools. Central can poach Eastside and JI Burton easily. Lebanon poaches Honaker and Castlewood. Abingdon takes Holston/Patrick Henry and JBattle. Tazewell is probably a net loser to recruiting but can easily pull from other schools as well. Only RV is isolated enough to not be a realistic transfer location. It is remarkable because their success has been homegrown and they are in the most geographically restricted area. I can only think of one transfer in the past 7-8 seasons (Matthew Sexton from Eastside back in 2018).

Folks, we are in June and two months from football season. Most teams have been working out and conducting 7v7 drills. I know there are members out there that have scouted some of the sessions and 7v7 scrimmages. Share your thoughts (and those extremely hot takes about how great your team is going to be). So far, I've seen Richlands vs RV and I tracked a little bit of Richlands vs Lebanon/Graham. Richlands: The weight training is paying off. Their skill guys were noticeably more yoked than RV...they've been pushing weights. They look like they have more team speed than in previous years....a couple of kids that can outrun people. Their QB will be real good this year...leader...dawg...been in the gym and has a better arm than I remember. Look for him to be a true dual threat. They got open frequently vs RV Not as much "natural talent" as RV Back up QBs struggled throwing the ball, limited range. I'm assuming that if QB1 goes down they might pull another starter to take over. They have a kid at S and OLB that look like they will knock the hell outta you. Be interesting to see them in pads. They seemed to have less coverage busts....they were more solid positionally and their players were more disciplined. RV: Sorry M7, RV's demise is being exaggerated, they have talent. IF deployed properly, they have some real good team speed...especially in defensive backfield. I'll go so far as to say they will match or best everyone is the region. Better natural pass catchers than Richlands, they have 3-4 viable WR threats and they seem to know how they want to use them. Noticeable difference between the two weight training programs, RV doesn't hit it as hard as Richlands does. RV has two big QBs (6'2 or 6'3") and one smaller one that is a dual threat with good wheels...all three can sling it. Noticeably deeper than Richlands. Not sure what the offense will look like but RV's passing game (combination of QB and WR talent) is top notch. They were beat in coverage frequently which is surprising but they have the talent to be really really good in the back four. Caveat: it's early in the season and they have a lot of underclassmen so they are figuring things out but, odd personnel deployment....I saw kids playing CB that straight up should be OLBs and it showed. Kids with best footspeed were being played at S and bigger kids with slower feet were at CB. Odd. Now, in my eyes they have 2-3 clear cut CBs that can be really good and they have 2-3 at S that can be good but they seem to have a unique process for positioning those kids. RV's special teams will easily be tops in region (field goal, punting and returners).

And Central feels like it is another 60 feet further than Ridgeview. Ridgeview at least built the field below ground level and used bleachers with a steeper rise. The top half of RV's home side is actually a good place to watch a football game. I like the fact you can walk around the whole stadium on the concourse and still watch the game but they should have had the concourse go under the stadium. There simply isn't anything to like about Central except it has a great view.

Adkins put up video game numbers against everybody. He is still the best talent from the area since James Mitchell and I would argue he was better high school player than Mitchell. The kid was being recruited by D1 on offense and defense. I'm not sure too many other top level talent can say that. Had he put his mind to it he would have been playing in the NFL (as a Safety).

Good win for Battle and the 2A guys!

I know that, collectively, we trash Central but this is absolutely warranted. They have a prime field location....one of the best in the state....but they really screwed up the bleachers and distance from the field. There is absolutely no sense of being part of the game as a viewer there. What is interesting is that Ridgeview's bleachers probably are basically the same distance from the field as Centrals but it is a much better place to watch a game. If RV had a six lane track instead of eight and made their concourse go under the bleachers...it would be a really good modern stadium design.

Fairly smart guy......can't jive with the Sparty fandom though. Go BLUE!!!

It absolutely sucks the motivation out of good kids......and good parents. I've watched over the past 5-6 years. When I moved back to the region I faced it head on and wasn't prepared for how extensive it is. I had coached with absolute professional and highly experienced youth coaches in Georgia and Florida. I was brought up in coaching outside of the region and some of the tenants that were drilled into me were: become certified in your sport, have open and fair tryouts and share your evaluation criteria with parents/kids, always be teaching (ABT), be consistent, use skill and body type to determine positions, ABSOLUTELY NO PREDETERMINED STARTERS and open dialogue with parents about playing time (proactively manage expectations). Well....was I shocked. Every other coach that I coached with had a kid on the team and required their kid be in a "skill position" (Have you ever noticed there are no problems with the OL/DL's parents....always the WR/RB/QB, shortstops, and pitchers). At least 50% of the time their child had no business being in that position. At one point, I had to step away from all of it as I bumped heads with a coach that would consistently pencil in their kid into a starting position where I had the kid honestly rated as the 5th best option for that position. I couldn't justify not playing talented kids whose dads didn't happen to be too involved in the community sports scene. This continues on to the varsity level as well. Certain kids get to "pick" their starting positions. I recently watched a practice where a kid was practicing at a position that he simply didn't have the knowledge, foot speed, nor change of direction speed to play. I counted at least three...probably four kids that were better suited to the position. I have zero doubt that he will be the starter at that position because of his familial connections.

The Panthers are an excellent team. I would recommend learning the basics and learning the players on your team. People think hockey is complicated but it is much easier to understand than football (if one knew nothing of either sport). I have a lot of family from Michigan so I grew up a Red Wings fan and I've skated for decades. I've always thought that my brother and I would have been primarily hockey players had we stayed in Michigan..... I actually played in a roller hockey league when I was stationed at Fort Hood. I will state that there is nothing more exciting than a game 7 or OT hockey. Additionally, when I was stationed in Florida my son went to school with several of the Lightning players' kids. Their dads would walk them into school and literally were just one of the guys. Extremely approachable and down to earth. IMHO, hockey is the last grounded and honest sport left of the big four.

Show me a LL program that is locked in with the varsity HC and I'll show you a successful high school team. The more active the varsity HC is with the LL program, the more success. The more daddy ball can be eliminated or reduced the more long term success.

Agree. But those coaches who can make it seem like its not work are the truly rare ones.

Well, shit. Who do I have to buy a beer for to make this happen?

ALCON: I posted in earlier in the thread.

I'm I the only one missing Bandana's commentary? Can we get him back? Can't we all be friends? 🤣I would love to hear his insight on this.

The fall of 2022? Ridgeview beat them fairly soundly that year. I would argue that Ridgeview was the second best team in 2A in 2022 and the only team that gave Graham problems offensively. If the RV DC would have made an adjustment to the wildcat that Region Championship game would have been a lot more interesting.

Hmmm......positive correlation with the most tenured coaches also being the two most sound programs?

I understand your Gate City apprehension but I’ll give you something to consider. They consistently rank as the 4th best team in a 7 team district. Additionally, I could be wrong but I don’t think they have won a M7 title yet, either. That might warrant at least a warm seat.

One of my favorite leaders in the military was a 1SG Jones. I was one of his platoon sergeants and he was hard on us but that cat had an energy and charisma about him. I busted my ass for him and took my ass-chewings with pride. I had my platoon squared away and Top (what we call 1SG) pulled me aside and said "Keep that shit up....you're the standard now. I need to focus on the other platoons but I'll be on your ass if you slip an inch." Hooah!!! Our platoon motto after that was "Never slippin'!" and every time we sounded off with that he would yell "Damn Right!" I found out near the end of my tour that his younger brother was Walter Jones, the All-Pro OT with the Seahawks. Dude never said a word about it but had a small picture of the two of them in his office. The point is that building a connection goes a long way in how much your team or people will put out for you.

Hmmm.....a responsible request followed by a questionable reaction followed by an unreasonable response. I have to think this wasn't an isolated incident....if it was, that's a bad response by the parents. Everyone jumps the gun on this. What if she had arm fatigue and didn't want to tell the coach out of trying to "tough it out" and dad stepped in? Man, there are so many layers to this. Everyone wants to blame the parents but it is the parents job to help guide their kids. Here are a few things that coaches did that I considered very questionable but opted to stay out of it. You tell me if the coach was in the right: With very little practice time (about 7-10 days) and zero pre-season workouts, a varsity baseball coach decided it was a good idea to pitch my oldest son for 110 pitches in 40 degree weather in an opening game after pitching two days earlier in a scrimmage. He throw over 50 pitches in the scrimmage. Same son took a hard fall and hit his head against the turf out of bounds on a pass play during a football game. He was squirming all around and the HC never went to check on him. He went back in the game and after the game his teammate told me "I was worried about him....when I got to him his eyes were rolled back in his head." I was told they did a concussion test on him but after watching the game tape.....I never saw one administered. My senior year I received a severe concussion in a football game. I had to leave the game....didn't know any of the plays, who I was and did not recognize people...had no idea where I was at and was completely out of it for almost three hours. I was taken to the hospital after the game and after the bus ride home. I was at practice on Monday and the only pre-caution the following week was that I would only play defense and return punts and kicks and forego playing offense. Now, there are waaaay more stories about obstructionist parents, for sure and that is trending up. But, I just wanted to share a different perspective.

He was my coach in college.....wasn't my favorite.....no connection with him at all. That was just my experience. Some of the others liked him.

I think it was 6-0. RV just can't piece together consecutive baseball classes. They are freshman heavy with a few juniors..one starting senior and I don't think any sophomores....probably will start 4-5 freshman and 5-6 will see playing time. They have a talented middle school team that is very heavy with 7th graders with three quality 8th graders. They will struggle this year, will be better next year and, I believe, considerably better in two seasons. When the current freshman class are juniors and seniors, it will probably be the most competitive team RV has fielded.