Hokie Bound

I'm late hearing things a lot of the time but has Castlewood hired anyone to replace Bubba?

Exactly. Not a lot of money for sure. Maybe $4,000 in a few counties and less in others.

Twin Springs has had a good run and are well coached, However, they just don't have the numbers to sustain it on a yearly basis. I see a drop off for them this year.

Its hard to believe Marion's enrollment has dropped that much.

I agree with your assessment. Not many teams had the talent to adjust to the physical play of Honaker defensively. Auburn did a good job spacing the floor and they are most definitely well coached with fundamentally sound players. There is a reason they have success on a yearly basis. Number 3 can shoot the lights out and number 23 was the best player on the court in my opinion. I hope they win the title next week. Also, congrats to Honaker on a great season.

If a teams key player or players get in foul trouble then yes I've seen it happen. Not saying it cost them the game but it did have a big impact.

Auburn won by 10-15. Honaker led early but Auburn fought back. Two solid basketball teams and both being well coached but one official made some very questionable calls against Honaker which I thought had a lot to do in determining the outcome. No dog in the fight but I have always said a good official goes unnoticed during the game but that was not the case last night.

Billy Testerman is another good young coach who can't seem to get his foot through the door. He definitely deserves a shot somewhere. He was the defensive coordinator at Chilhowie during their two state runner up finishes and also served at Patrick Henry under Mark Palmer. He is now reunited with Palmer at Northwood so look for that program to start improving this fall.

Keith Warner has done a tremendous job at Twin Springs. He went from running Power I to the Veer this year. Not many coaches can make that transition. He has to be a very knowledgable coach. The only problem for him will be sustaining the success at such a small school.

I'm not an Alabama fan but I did become a Saban fan. He was great for college football and he adapted as the game kept changing around him. I admire the job he did having to replace coordinators on a yearly basis. I enjoyed watching his teams play but I did notice that he didn't seem to have the same fire in him the last couple of years. He said it was a constant grind and I also think NIL got to him but the man is like 72 years old.

Can you elaborate on whats going on in Russell County and why you think Mark Palmer will be the next head coach? Mark Palmer is a good man and a good coach. He is currently serving as an assistant at Northwood. It seems strange to have Palmer on the sidelines not being the one calling the shots. Rumor has it Lebanon will return to Class 1A after this season making the football job very attractive. Lebanon has had a lot of success in Class 1A and would become a regional contender on a yearly basis in Class 1A. Palmer would definitely be a good choice for Lebanon.

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.

Are there any head coaches in SWVA that don't serve as the offensive or defensive coordinator of their team? I would think the head coach at all schools would run one or the other. They must have some tremendous coaches if they don't.

I always thought Honaker seemed like a school with a lot of potential in all sports, especially football for a 1A school. A winning tradition and the artificial turf is a plus also. Honaker seems like a school kids would want to transfer to if they wanted to make a run at a state title each year. 1A class D was not very strong this year and Honaker has everything in place to compete for or win the region on a yearly basis so yes I could see kids wanting to play there.

Clements is a special player!

Graham 7-0. Made it look easy.

Not being a smarta$$ but it is actually 25%. 2A is really competitive this year. Its going to be interesting with no clear cut favorite. I can't wait for the Union/Graham game to start!

Exactly. People don't realize how close Graham is to being class 1A.

Not really lol. I was referring to Grayson making three appeals and threatening a lawsuit before the Executive Committee let them stay in class 1A with the small schools. If they can't win 1A then no they definitely can't win 2A. Just making reference to their little temper tandom lol. They expected to run would thru 1A but it didn't happen. Their enrollment is actually larger than Riverheads.

I totally agree with your perspective. I've heard several coaches say no one knows their Xs and Os better than Dennis Vaught.

Riverheads fate was to get bumped up to class 2A. Maybe Grayson should have accepted the same fate and went to class 2A instead of throwing their little temper tandoms and threatening a lawsuit. Who knows they might still be playing this week lol.

And he lives off Exit 7 in Bristol near on Clear Creek Golf Course. You can say what you want about the man but he can definiely coach.

I feel like Rye Cove is the better team and thats not taking anything away from Twin Springs. Yes Twin Springs could very well pull the upset. Both teams are extremely well coached. Small school football at its best!

Sounds like it was a good game. Gotta give Coach Warner and his staff credit. They've done an excellent job since he took over. They are listed with 135 students on the VHSL Alignment chart or 307 out of 315 schools enrollment wise.

I see both sides of this debate. 1st and 2nd grade might be a little young for putting on the pads but in my opinion 3rd and 4th graders should be allowed to play tackle football with the PROPER COACHING. I also agree that many little league programs are about daddy coaching junior and junior being the star when junior is definitely not the star. Little league football is a kids first experience to the game and it needs to be a positive experience. By that I mean coaches need to be qualified with coaching experience and teach the kids the right way to play the game. A bad little league experience can run kids away from the game but so can a bad middle or high school experience. There are more unqualified coaches at the middle and high school levels than people realize as many of them coach to stroke their own ego. Marion had a very rough middle school season and I'm not sure if that was from being behind in fundamentals, lack of coaching or talent, or a combination of all three.