Bulldogs52 483 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 By JED LOCKETT Bluefield Daily Telegraph GREEN VALLEY — Before the season, Bobby Wyatt had a steep mountain to climb. His Tazewell Bulldogs were coming off a dreadful 1-9 season and before the team took the field it had to integrate members of the now-defunct Pocahontas Indians. After the season, the head coach could be proud of a job well done. The Bulldogs went 9-3, losing in overtime to Richlands in the Virginia Region IV Division 3 final. But they also welcomed the former Indians, a group that contributed heavily to Tazewell’s success. For Wyatt, success is its’ own reward. But the Bulldogs’ coach was rewarded again Tuesday night with the first annual Pocahontas Coal Association/Bluefield Daily Telegraph Coach of the Year award presented during the annual Player of the Year banquet at the Princeton Elks Club Tuesday night. Wyatt was chosen from several candidates, including Greg Mance (Richlands), Harris Hart (Bland County), Fred Simon (Bluefield), Don Jackson (James Monroe) and Mike Vallo (Big Creek). “It’s quite a surprise,†Wyatt said. “I knew that the Pocahontas Coal Association did this for the kids. I was very honored to be considered among all these coaches in this area because we do have some great ones.†“I just think that it is a way for us to recognize coaches for doing a great job because they spend so much time with our kids, not only being their coach but also being their leader and a person they look up to,†said Pocahontas Coal Association president Rick Taylor. “Coming from a 1-9 season, he talked to us last season, saying that we were going to have to come together as a team,†said Tazewell senior Matt Muncy. “Having him as a coach, that meant a lot.†For several years, Wyatt has seen Graham and Richlands build themselves into football powers. He has tried to instill the same type of culture in Tazewell. “We want here at Tazewell to try to get to that,†Wyatt said. “We’re working toward that. The seniors we have this year I thought set a good standard. Hopefully we can continue that at our place next year.†When he got to Tazewell five years ago, the program was a mess. He knew that before he could change the team’s fortunes he had to change the culture. “At this level sometimes you have mental blocks and mental stages to go through,†Wyatt said. “When I first went to Tazewell, there was two teams on our list that I felt like that we needed to compete with and start playing with and that was Graham and Richlands. “I think we’ve committed that to Graham. We’ve balanced that win-loss situation out. We need to start on the Richlands area and I feel like we did that in the playoff game. That’s the closest we’ve come to them in the five previous games with them.†Coming into this season, getting his team to believe was the most daunting challenge. “I think the biggest thing for us was just the confidence factor from the coaches’ standpoint of getting our kids to realize how good they were and I don’t know that we really in the whole season realized until it was all over with how good we could have been,†Wyatt said. “Coming from 1-9 and everybody telling you how bad you are to going back to 9-3, it’s just like it happened overnight and the kids have had time now to sit back and look at it and realize that they had a tremendous year.†Wyatt was proud of the way his team responded. But he was more proud of the way they opened up to a new group of players from the town of Pocahontas. During his acceptance speech, he rhapsodized about how quickly and seamlessly the potentially awkward and season-killing process took. “I coached at Pocahontas for 15 years,†Wyatt said after the banquet. “I still know a lot of the people over there. I knew every one of the kids that were coming. My last year there, they were in middle school. “So I remembered them and knew what kind of athletes they were. I knew what kind of personalities they had. I knew what kind of parents background they had. So it was a pleasure for me to be able to combine my two loves of Tazewell and Pocahontas together. “So it was no challenge at all for me. My only aspect was making sure our kids in Tazewell accepted them and I didn’t have any problem with that because it was open arms from the get-go. Within a week you’d have never known there was any difference.†“When they first came over here,†they blended in well from the first day,†Muncy said. “There was no arguing or anything, we just came together as a team. Having coach Wyatt who coached at Pocahontas, I’m sure that helped out a lot.†Wyatt coached one of the three finalists for the Player of the Year in Muncy. Before the season, Muncy committed to Wake Forest, then followed it with a stellar year. “To see a frail of a freshman come in that you saw all these talents and just waiting for it explode and come out,†Wyatt said, “he went to a lot of combines and got noticed. I think when he realized people were interested, he wanted to show people what he could do.†Like any other player, Muncy’s accomplishments fill Wyatt with pride. “Anytime a kid succeeds from a coaching standpoint, it makes you gleam,†Wyatt said. “It makes your heart feel just warmth all over for them because you spend four years with a kid. You’re not just spending it from August to November. Football starts in January. We spend time with those kids and they become part of you.†Muncy will take a pair of qualities Wyatt instilled in him throughout the rest of his life. “Hard work, and confidence, you’ve got to have confidence,†Muncy said. “When we were 1-9, nobody had a lot of confidence at all. And from the time we won our first game he just said we had to keep building confidence. You can’t be looking in the rear-view mirror, we had to keep moving ahead.†This year Tazewell got past Graham in the race for Southwest District superiority. Now there is just one foe to go and they reside a half-hour drive to the west. “We’ve got a lot of young kids, some kids that played a lot of ball for us this year,†Wyatt said. “Skill-wise, we’re going to be in pretty good shape. We lost some depth in our line. But we’ve got some young people coming up that will have to step up and fill the void. But we’re real excited about what’s happening at Tazewell right now.†— Contact Jed Lockett at jlockett@bdtonline.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawgs05 10 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Sure is nice to actually get some credit where its due........ I would almost say that Muncy is a lock for POTY......He is certainly the best candidate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetMoney55 11 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Will Cole received POTY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Will Cole received POTY. Much more deserving than Muncy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadoball 18 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Muncy was a good football player and pretty much carried the Dawgs (atleast against the Blues for the region). The thing is I compared him to Austin Fuller from Richlands and he didnt compare that great. He didnt have alot of stats. Great all around player though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhschamps04 15 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Congrats to Will well deserved young man ill be the first to say i had my doubts about you glad to see you proved me wrong keep up the great work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadoball 18 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Congrats to Will Cole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawgs05 10 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Much more deserving than Muncy... explain...... I didn't see any player you would rather have on your team this year than Elswick or Muncy.....but please explain it to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetMoney55 11 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 (edited) Will Cole passed for 3000+ yards, played safety, kicked field goals, kicked extra points, recovered his own onside kick, punted for a high average, and was a threat to run before his ankle injury. Edited December 10, 2008 by GetMoney55 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bark1time 10 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Much more deserving than Muncy... I wouldn't expect any less of you G-Man!!! You have made it very clear how you feel about Muncy and your entitled to your opinion. We are all use to you dishing him...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawgs05 10 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Will Cole passed for 3000+ yards, played safety, kicked field goals, kicked extra points, recovered his own onside kick, punted for a high average, and was a threat to run before his ankle injury. If all those are correct then I guess he does deserve it......I just wanted to know why because I never saw him play Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bark1time 10 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Muncy was a good football player and pretty much carried the Dawgs (atleast against the Blues for the region). The thing is I compared him to Austin Fuller from Richlands and he didnt compare that great. He didnt have alot of stats. Great all around player though Hard to stack up stats when used as a Decoy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bark1time 10 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Muncy was a good football player and pretty much carried the Dawgs (atleast against the Blues for the region). The thing is I compared him to Austin Fuller from Richlands and he didnt compare that great. He didnt have alot of stats. Great all around player though Hard to stack up stats when used as a Decoy and not played to his fullest potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawgs05 10 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Hard to stack up stats when used as a Decoy and not played to his fullest potential. absolutely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BEAVERTAIL Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Its also hard to rack up stats when you dont return one starter on the offensive line, become almost completely one dimensional with a passing game allowing defenses to key in on that, and you can not move outside of the pocket because you have a hurt ankle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schoolteacher 10 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Is that the same Will Cole that played at Graham? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetMoney55 11 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kooper 10 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Much more deserving than Muncy... how can you say muncy don't deserve it he played a good year and is got a schlorship to wake will cole is good don't get me wrong but muncy had a good season also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 how can you say muncy don't deserve it he played a good year and is got a schlorship to wake will cole is good don't get me wrong but muncy had a good season also Sure, he had a "GOOD" season for a better than average high school athlete but not the "GREAT" season one would expect from a "D-1 scholarship" athlete... Cole had a "GREAT" season...period...numbers don't lie... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadoball 18 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Good player but I didnt think D1 material. You see players just as good as Muncy every to every other year that go to school like Emory Henry, etc.. Congrats though cant blame a kid for getting his name out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldgeneral 10 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Good player but I didnt think D1 material. You see players just as good as Muncy every to every other year that go to school like Emory Henry, etc.. Congrats though cant blame a kid for getting his name out there. or don't give him his due. We obviously aren't in charge of talent at any college level of athletics or we probably wouldn't be on here talking about it. I saw Muncy play once and I've seen Bluefield a few times as well as Richlands once and just from the little bit of time I saw them, Muncy is obviously the size for D1 talent and seems tough and fairly fast. Will Cole is a good athlete, leader, and QB. I saw him lead a 93 ish yard drive to almost beat Graham. I saw him be a big part of demolishing Richlands. I agree that Cole is the area player of the year, but I don't see why everyone bashes Muncy for getting a D1 scholly. Cole was in a position to have the ball in his hands every play, Muncy had it plenty, but not as much. A lot of people don't look at the position of the players when comparing. In today's football offense, the QB is usually in more a positioin to put up stats with the new era of the spread type offense. Look at the Heisman race, one is out of that spread type of O, Texas runs it to some extent, Oklahoma has times that bradford runs, but my point is that a QB has the ball every play. D1 talent is measured on more than what they do against the area kids, alot has to do with size, strength and speed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhschamps04 15 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 My thing with muncy is he is a good player has the size has pretty good speed and almost carried his team to the state semi. But the problem i see with him and it may have just been me but on the plays that they were not going his way on a run when he did not have the ball in his hands he is as lazy a player as i have ever seen. Does not work unless they are coming to his side. If he would just play every down as hard as he plays the ones when he has the ball in his hands he could be great but as long as he keeps doing it the way he has been the times i have seen him he will not see the feild at WF. Congrats on your D-1 ride and take full advantage of it great school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bark1time 10 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Sure, he had a "GOOD" season for a better than average high school athlete but not the "GREAT" season one would expect from a "D-1 scholarship" athlete... Cole had a "GREAT" season...period...numbers don't lie... I forgot G-Man you are a college recruit. There you go again bashing a talented athlete. Everyone is beginning to think it is something personal with you....Like I quoted yesterday, we don't expect any less of you. Good Luck Muncy at Wake next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadoball 18 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 One of the better players I have seen at Tazewell in a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigD4VT 11 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Grown men criticizing a teenager on a message board is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen!!! He was offered a scholarship from a D-1 school... THAT makes him a D-1 recruit!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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