When you play someone multiple times and BOTH sides get chippy EVERY single time then that's BOTH coaches not getting their kids in line. At some point it is the responsibility of both coaches to have a little pow wow and say "Enough of this crap. We need to represent our communities better than this".
I've seen Vermillion come way out of his coaching box many games. I don't think he's innocent in all of this.
Union got the W over South, Slagle had a big game. I forgot about Battle but they're certainly in the mix.
Union beat South. South beat Battle by 30. Battle is not in the mix for top 3. Two things are certain: Gate City finishes first and Abingdon finishes last.
Outside of Gate City the Mountain is going to struggle to do much in the postseason. Wise and Union might be decent but it drops off real quick after that.
It has not always been that way in Washington County. I would go as far as to say four good coaches. That is very rare.
4? Holston had a losing record the previous 4 years and got bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Battle also bounced in the first round of the playoffs and finished with a losing record. Abingdon got blown out in their 3A playoff game 63-27. Might be time to set the bar a little higher.
He didn’t exactly burn it up at Kelly...he won roughly 3/5 of his games and was 0-3 in the playoffs. Really, the biggest thing he accomplished was beating Powell Valley in 1999...and that’s about it.
Considering J.J. Kelly had averaged 1 win a year for the previous 4 years before he arrived and then making 3 playoff appearances after his arrival is not bad.
Darren (or Jeremy) could get it done, but who knows if the patience will be there to afford him (or anyone else) the time to turn it around.
It's gonna take a lot of patience. After these two applicants what successful coach with experience would be remotely interested in the Gate City job? It's a basketball school, they play the toughest out of district schedule in SWVA, their AD seems clueless, youth program participation is poor and they are in a conference with 2 traditional powers plus a decent 3A school. The only glimmer of hope they have is that Sullivan County consolidation provides an influx of football players. This program is nowhere what it used to be.
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!
Are we talking about the same guy who cussed his players, denied doing it, and was cussing them on a school bus video? And the same guy that yelled and demeaned injured players and the athletic trainer at practice? And the same guy who threatened to expose his principal in the press and accused his AD being addicted to drugs only to change his story later on? Yes, that guy will be an excellent hire and will be available for coaching for the rest of his life because no other school system with any common sense will ever hire him.
I disagree. Talent is there. They did not want to play. And even at that the ones that did play should have and could have been 5-5 teams.
The talent is there but it's on the basketball court. Take McClung and Ervin and put them on the football field with what is already out there and that team is easily 5-5. Gate City will need a recruiter who can sell kids on coming out for football and not focusing on one sport.
You could ask Thomas jones, Julius Jones, Heath Miller, shoemaker, Justin Hamilton, etc.
Thomas, Julius, Heath, Josh, and Justin all played 3 sports in high school. If McClung had played football all 4 years he would have still received offers in basketball and Akers might still have a job.
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.
This is one of the worst misconceptions out there in youth sports today. Devoting time to just one sport year round is not making players any better. I'd take an athlete from the 80s who played the big 3 sports over any kid today who focuses on just one.
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Gate City vs Wise Central
in SWVA Basketball
Posted
All coaches defend their players. Most do it from their own box though.