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Wise Central luke Owens


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10 hours ago, RedPrideNation said:

He did a good job at Hurley as the head guy correct? And he seems to be a coach kids would come out to play for. Never met the man but I haven’t heard anything negative about him or his coaching. 

He did a fantastic job at Hurley. He led them to the Region D playoffs 7 times in 12 seasons. Doesn't sound like much but when you consider Hurley has fewer than 175 students, and had played 10 total playoff games in school history prior to Testers tenure, it's quite remarkable. 

 

1 hour ago, redtiger said:

The devotion of Norton kids(and their families) to "The CIty" is unparalleled. Those kids ain't leaving 

People said the same thing about Covington going all the way back to the mid 1980's. That finally changed considering they are consolidating with Alleghany. Eventually, dwindling population and dwindling finances force these small independent cities into unwelcomed change.

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5 minutes ago, sixcat said:

He did a fantastic job at Hurley. He led them to the Region D playoffs 7 times in 12 seasons. Doesn't sound like much but when you consider Hurley has fewer than 175 students, and had played 10 total playoff games in school history prior to Testers tenure, it's quite remarkable. 

People said the same thing about Covington going all the way back to the mid 1980's. That finally changed considering they are consolidating with Alleghany. Eventually, dwindling population and dwindling finances force these small independent cities into unwelcomed change.

Tester is a fine coach, you wont find better, but that historical playoff appearance record is skewed with the regions going from 4 to 8 teams.

When Norton finally joins Wise Co the kids will move but as long as JI Burton is open that community will stay together. It would take getting a Norton guy to be the HC at Union or Central for Norton kids to leave and im not sure it would happen then imo.

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14 minutes ago, redtiger said:

Tester is a fine coach, you wont find better, but that historical playoff appearance record is skewed with the regions going from 4 to 8 teams.

When Norton finally joins Wise Co the kids will move but as long as JI Burton is open that community will stay together. It would take getting a Norton guy to be the HC at Union or Central for Norton kids to leave and im not sure it would happen then imo.

Great point on the expanded playoffs. That doesn't diminish what Tester was able to accomplish at Hurley though. Hurley hasn't had a winning season, or made the playoffs since he left. As I said earlier, Mark Dixon felt two opposing coaches understood line-play as well (or better) than he did.......Greg Tester and Robert Casto.

I completely agree, nobody from Norton is leaving as long as JI Burton is open. I just don't see a scenario where Norton is able to maintain that school with declining enrollment and population. Eventually, finances will dictate a change.

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No it doesn't diminish it at all, just about every season Tester was at Hurley they were competitive. Unless I'm mistaken his first season they were 0-10 but they stuck with him and let him build something. The team that lost to Parry McClure was a very good football team, even more impressive when you consider their enrollment. 

Norton wont be able to maintain their schools indefinitely, eventually the schools will join WIse Co with JIB being folded into Central, Norton Elementary probably stays open though. 

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7 minutes ago, sixcat said:

Great point on the expanded playoffs. That doesn't diminish what Tester was able to accomplish at Hurley though. Hurley hasn't had a winning season, or made the playoffs since he left.

Once things went to divisions in VA, Hurley was a D2 school up until around the year 2000 also.  Testers SR year of HS Hurley was the Region D Division 2 runners up.  

Greg went through some lean years starting out at Hurley but worked hard and had some talent come along as well which certainly didnt hurt.  As these schools get smaller, those generational talent waves seem to become fewer and further between.

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Wise is positioned to end up as two AA schools : Central and Union.  Dickenson county only has RV and they will probably drop to A eventually as they are geographically isolated, can’t consolidate and losing population.  Lee may eventually join RV as an A school.  Scott county has a decision to make about consolidation as well and Lebanon will eventually consume Castlewood and Honaker or Russell can send some Lebanon kids to Honaker.  Tazewell county may end up with two schools (either divide Tazewell between Graham and Richlands) or build two consolidated schools and close three current schools.  Buchanan county will consolidate soon.  In 20 years there will be probably 5-7 less high school teams in the region.  Unfortunate but likely.

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18 minutes ago, 1inStripes said:

As these schools get smaller, those generational talent waves seem to become fewer and further between.

My brother and I were having this discussion over the Holidays. The high school his son attends near Lake Norman was designed and built to house 2,250 students. The first day the school opened it's door following construction in 2010, the enrollment was 2,495. They have 2,638 this year and are already using a dozen trailers to combat overcrowding. A new school in the area is already being planned.

The juxtaposition to what we experience in SWVA (and other remote parts of the country) is astonishing. Galax population has declined 10% since 2010 and the school system has lost approximately 5% enrollment in that same time-frame. If those trends continue, Galax will have some difficult decisions to make within the next two decades.

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12 hours ago, Union_Fan said:

He was blessed with a very talented group of kids the last few seasons. I would like to have seen how they fared the next few years with him as coach, but I guess we'll never know.

Yep.  I was particularly looking to see how they were going to handle losing their super class.  Makes me wonder if losing all of those players expedited his decision.  Has anyone heard where he is going?

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9 minutes ago, stantheman said:

most coach's run for the exits when the talent pool dries up,  guessing the same thing is happening here,   going to be some lean years at central   look at the boys basketball team

Will be interesting to see if a few Central players end up in other uniforms next season.

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17 hours ago, Wolf1207 said:

All jokes aside, Central could be one of the best jobs in SWVA. Especially, if Eastside closes in the next 10 years. Plus with JIB next door practically a good coach could cherry pick that school for athletes.  Assuming they could build some rapport in Norton.

Central is one of the harder jobs in SWVA for a number of reasons.  Even with Owens’s stellar 3-year run, Central is 10 games below .500 since consolidation.  Prior to that, aside from Pound’s 1999 run to the state title game, neither Pound nor J.J. Kelly had done much in 30 years.  

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11 minutes ago, stantheman said:

most coach's run for the exits when the talent pool dries up,  guessing the same thing is happening here,   going to be some lean years at central   look at the boys basketball team

Central was primed to be pretty good next year.  Not a state title contender by any means, but a 2nd round playoff team in all likelihood.  Though I will say, there’s considerable drop-off in 2023.

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4 minutes ago, UVAObserver said:

Central was primed to be pretty good next year.  Not a state title contender by any means, but a 2nd round playoff team in all likelihood.  Though I will say, there’s considerable drop-off in 2023.

I had them 4th in the M7…..potentially 5th if Lee continued their ascent and caught some breaks.  I was thinking they’d be behind Graham and at least one, if not two, other SWD teams in the playoff seeding…as a 6th or 7th seed.  That was with their run heavy, possess the ball offense that still gives people fits. 

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1 hour ago, SwvaOG said:

I had them 4th in the M7…..potentially 5th if Lee continued their ascent and caught some breaks.  I was thinking they’d be behind Graham and at least one, if not two, other SWD teams in the playoff seeding…as a 6th or 7th seed.  That was with their run heavy, possess the ball offense that still gives people fits. 

4th in the M7 can be a 2nd-weekend team.  Abingdon is 3A.  Ridgeview looks to be the favorite for a high regional seed.  Union loses a fair bit but should be right there with Central.  Aside from Ridgeview and Graham, 2D is pretty wide open.

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1 minute ago, BandanaVTDavis4321 said:

Does anyone know where Luke is going? Is he staying put and just not coaching, or is he rumored for some college stuff. When I first read this, my thoughts were.....an offer from. Div 2 or 3 school as an OL coach or something like that.

"Spend more time with family"

https://www.timesnews.net/sports/owens-resigns-as-wise-central-football-coach/article_18647c28-6e5f-11ec-9c52-27875dd7f7f1.html

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58 minutes ago, UnionBears said:

With the exception of Mack Shupe, no boys coach in any sport has ever has sustained success in Wise. These are the same people who ran off Jim Riggs, Al Stecker and Kevin Saunders, never forget that.

Dave Bentley did pretty good, and Bobby bates had a really good wrestling program..    I def would not want

a football coaching job there

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2 hours ago, UnionBears said:

With the exception of Mack Shupe, no boys coach in any sport has ever has sustained success in Wise. These are the same people who ran off Jim Riggs, Al Stecker and Kevin Saunders, never forget that.

Wise fielded decent teams. But since the 80s, good or great seasons were few and far between. 
 

They’d have a 2 or 3 year cycle of decent seasons and then fall back down. 

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3 hours ago, Union_Fan said:

Go figure.  That's exactly Luke Owens.  The man hasn't changed a bit.  He's a class-act and as far as I'm concerned, he made the perfect choice.  His family/kids will benefit much more in the long run.   Some may see this as a headscratcher and that's fine, but what I see is a man with a moral compass.  That also doesn't mean that all guys who coach High School football do not have a moral compass, because I'm sure most do, but for Luke, if he feels it's the right choice for him and his family, then so be it.  Hat's off Luke!!  Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord. (Psalm 128:3-4, ESV)

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7 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

Central is one of the harder jobs in SWVA for a number of reasons.  Even with Owens’s stellar 3-year run, Central is 10 games below .500 since consolidation.  Prior to that, aside from Pound’s 1999 run to the state title game, neither Pound nor J.J. Kelly had done much in 30 years.  

More likely than not you are correct. I was saying with the right coach and administration support this can be a consistent top level program. 
 

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Coincidence: decade team graduates a bunch and coach is out. Don't think because talent left,  but more like he tried his best with their best and it didn't happen. No shame in that,  right decision that any coach would/has said they would do if they can't produce consistently. Politics, certainly involved but maybe they don't air their laundry like everyone else.  He did a good job at a non- football school. 

 

Akers? Too soon? Bahahaha 

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