Best Coach in SWVA History

[cityofRaven 2,444]

I know Vaught was brought up earlier. Had that guy stayed out of his own way, he could have won multiple titles at Richlands. He was building something special when the town and school had the resources to help him.

[Single A west 113]

Gainer also 79-16-4 at Big Creek and lost championship to Grafton 

[BigWinners 1,643]

6 hours ago, Vol Hater said:

Someone can't handle that daddy fat phil ain't highly regarded like he wants uh......you give Tom powell valley and Phil appy Tom has the same success maybe better Phil not so much at appy. That's the difference my man.

Okay, so Tom had no talent? lol go tell that to the Travis’ or Larry Huff or any of the elite, all state players roaming those halls.

Sounds like to me someone bitter Phil beat Turner more in his first few years than Tom did in 30 years. 

[BigWinners 1,643]

6 hours ago, Cousin_Hoyt said:

Well, well, LittleBigWinners. Awhile back we posted a comment during one of these discussions where Coach Turner’s name popped up. You came back with a smart @r$€ comment that Turner wouldn’t do that.  Now look what a dumb @r$€ comment you have made. Our comment was made based on fact. See, Uncle Percy knew Coach Turner, we seriously doubt that you ever did.  
 

 

 

I didn’t know Tom Turner. Ya got me lol. What a sick burn bro

[BigWinners 1,643]

5 hours ago, Liam McPoyle said:

Riggs was exceptional, and Appy wasn't completely void of tradition. It certainly wasn't like Tom Turner took over St Paul, but the Dawgs had three coaches in seven years between JR and TT and the program had declined.  But, no, the cupboard wasn't bare either. And while Appy had nothing on the level of TJ and JJ, they did have the likes Tr Turner, T Clark, Huff, Jessee, Mabe, etc

What keeps Phil Robbins from my top spot was his seeming inability to build a program. He had limited success at both John Battle (15-42-3) and Christiansburg  (32-28-1). Tough places to win, but not impossible. Multiple coaches have since built winners at both schools. It wasn't until Bolling handed him the keys to the Cadillac did Robbins finally excel. But while he didn't build it, he deserves a ton of credit for sustaining the program at an elite level and winning those 7 titles. 

I'm not certain of my final two SWVA Coaches Mt. Rushmore, but Turner and Robbins are no-brainers

I have no problems with that at all. Phil didn’t really have a ton of success before PV and while he was handed a very successful program, he won six state titles with kids he exclusively coached. No qualms with anyone who has Turner ahead, but the gap is insignificant. 

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717]

53 minutes ago, cityofRaven said:

I know Vaught was brought up earlier. Had that guy stayed out of his own way, he could have won multiple titles at Richlands. He was building something special when the town and school had the resources to help him.

An absolute on the field magician. People joke historically about Vaught with the cleats and stuff and that's fair. But, what often gets lost in that is just how good he was from an x's and o's perspective. He was absolutely brilliant. 

[sup_rbeast 296]

7 hours ago, Duke2015 said:

I can’t remember when Appy built theirs I was young maybe around 1990

Try around 1986…lol

[sup_rbeast 296]

7 hours ago, Liam McPoyle said:

Riggs was exceptional, and Appy wasn't completely void of tradition. It certainly wasn't like Tom Turner took over St Paul, but the Dawgs had three coaches in seven years between JR and TT and the program had declined.  But, no, the cupboard wasn't bare either. And while Appy had nothing on the level of TJ and JJ, they did have the likes Tr Turner, T Clark, Huff, Jessee, Mabe, etc

What keeps Phil Robbins from my top spot was his seeming inability to build a program. He had limited success at both John Battle (15-42-3) and Christiansburg  (32-28-1). Tough places to win, but not impossible. Multiple coaches have since built winners at both schools. It wasn't until Bolling handed him the keys to the Cadillac did Robbins finally excel. But while he didn't build it, he deserves a ton of credit for sustaining the program at an elite level and winning those 7 titles. 

I'm not certain of my final two SWVA Coaches Mt. Rushmore, but Turner and Robbins are no-brainers

Unless I’m mistaken, PV’s first ever playoff appearance was in 1982. That coincided with their first state title. Prior to that PV was considered a good program, but not elite in any sense of the word. The P-Nut program had been in place since 1970…I think (but may be mistaken) that it was started under Cecil Maddux’s watch. But, besides1984 and 1991, I can’t remember a single year Phil missed the playoffs. The second title in 1985 was a team completely built by Phil because all of Bolling’s guys were gone. Phil gets undercut a lot with people claiming he had this and that without knowing exactly what he had. One thing he DID have was the ability to prepare players to play at an elite level. You were never on the field in a PV uniform not knowing what to do or not knowing exactly what your assignments and adjustments were. That’s where he excelled. He was a cerebral coach with a great ability to teach the game and scenarios. He was also second to none in assessing and knowing where each player would help the team the most. There have been a lot of great coaches in SWVA over the years, but it ain’t like Phil was handed the keys to a Cadillac that autopiloted itself for 30 years. The man knew what he was doing.

[Duke2015 451]

14 hours ago, sup_rbeast said:

Try around 1986…lol

Close enough lol

[Queue 20]

Yeesh -- enough of the Tom/Phil measuring contest.

 

Let's hear whether Harry Fry or Nick Colobro was better. 😎😎

 

 

[Liam McPoyle 1,863]

28 minutes ago, Queue said:

 

 

Let's hear whether Harry Fry or Nick Colobro was better. 😎😎

 

 

Fry and Colobro are among the best ever in SWVA. Of course both won two titles for GC, but I'll give the edge to Fry because:

-he built the Gate City dynasty from scratch. The Blue Devils had little previous success and went 0-10 before he was hired.

-his two titles were during the 70s when there were only three classifications and GC routinely played much larger schools in the playoffs.

-he only had 13 of 29 seasons to play for a state title, but did have three additional undefeated seasons prior to 1970.

[redtiger 1,740]

Imo Turners greatest strength was as a motivator, its already been said but he relished that underdog role of Appalachia against the world, and it paid off in big ways. Lets not forget that Appy was absolutely loaded with talent, especially for a school of that size. Idk the admin. numbers but id be willing to bet almost every time they faced a team in the State Semis or Finals they were the smaller school (the games against Bath Co being the only ones that come to mind where Appy was the larger school). Turner always had a good staff around him and for many years that staff remained virtually unchanged with a bunch of diehard Bulldogs, that helps.

Now Phil is a different story. He was handed a complete program, from Little League up everything was ready made and he did a great job of keeping the program on course and taking them to the next level. I think he comes up short in terms of play calling but truth be told he was smart enough to give the ball to his studs and build a offense around them while also not being predictable. Phil was the leader and deserves a ton of credit but the hard nosed attitude of PV came from Barry Jones. If I was handed the keys to a race car could I drive it? Sure, but there's a great chance id put it in the ditch, Phil never did.  

Fry and Colobro are near the top, GC was a machine under Colobro. Carlock has to be mentioned, Graham was stout and then some under him. Cummins deserves a nod too, Clintwood had a ton of success under him. I dont think any of those 4 have the rings to take the top 2 spots from Turner or Robbins.

[swvafbrespect 67]

Great topic. But everyone is talking about state championship coaches. I believe there has been some great coaches in our area that were at smaller schools and didn't have the resources or numbers to win a state championship but doesn't take away from what they put on the field. As an example with not any disrespect intended, Coach Robbins before PV did  not have a great deal of success with W and L. Coach Colobro left and went 0-10 at East. Coach Cummins built a dynasty at Clintwood but could he have done that at Ervinton? I just wonder who through the years were great coaches that are not being mentioned in this diccussion.

To me James Colley, Don Williams, Jimbo Adams, Kevin Saunders, Roger Rife, John Adams, Steve Wright is a just a few that I can think of off the top of my head that always produced great teams and played hard. Just food for thought.

[Union_Fan 2,155]

15 hours ago, Liam McPoyle said:

Fry and Colobro are among the best ever in SWVA. Of course both won two titles for GC, but I'll give the edge to Fry because:

-he built the Gate City dynasty from scratch. The Blue Devils had little previous success and went 0-10 before he was hired.

-his two titles were during the 70s when there were only three classifications and GC routinely played much larger schools in the playoffs.

-he only had 13 of 29 seasons to play for a state title, but did have three additional undefeated seasons prior to 1970.

A little known fact about Harry Fry is people from BSG approached him about setting up a youth football league in BSG. He was more that happy to oblige, and in 1970, BSG's "P-Nut" league was created as an emulation of GC's.

That says a lot about the person Harry Fry was.

[TaterHater 89]

For those who say Phil Robbins inherited a great program, I'm not sure that is completely true. He inherited some great players and should have won more titles than he did early on. However Appy was 12-9 vs P.V before Tom took over. After Tom took over they went and 6 - 19 - 1 vs P.V. Head to head Phil was 18 - 5 against Tom.

To quote Ric Flair "To be the man, You got to beat the man!".  That's why I wouldn't put Tom ahead of Phil. 

[BigWinners 1,643]

After all these years you guys still haven’t realized how unserious I take this stuff. It’s an internet message board, take a breath. 

[BigWinners 1,643]

1 hour ago, Union_Fan said:

A little known fact about Harry Fry is people from BSG approached him about setting up a youth football league in BSG. He was more that happy to oblige, and in 1970, BSG's "P-Nut" league was created as an emulation of GC's.

That says a lot about the person Harry Fry was.

I did not know that, that’s a great fun fact. 

[tornado99 345]

I wondered if anyone would mention James Colley specifically. I don’t know enough about him, except his passing teams were ahead of their time. 

[redtiger 1,740]

Colley was a great Xs and Os guy, knew offense and defense inside and out. Imo he comes up short in terms of building a program but was WAY ahead of his time in terms of figuring out how to utilize basketball type kids on the football field. There was a realization that basketball and baseball kids will never commit to a hardcore offseason weight program and Haysi was always competitive in all sports, but they could be game changers if used properly. Its hard to line the Small Forward or 3rd Baseman up at Tight End but they make pretty dang good WRs.

One of my favorite stories about him is how his offense came to be, basically after a early season, maybe game 1, loss to Honaker where both teams were running the Wishbone Coach set down on a Saturday with a notepad and was trying to figure out how to beat teams that were bigger and stronger. On TV that day was FSU, they were in the gun and throwing the football. He had a eureka moment and thought "we can do that". He draws up a handful of plays and that became the offense. I believe Haysi rolled off 10 consecutive wins before falling in the Regional title game. That was the late 80s, Shotgun "spread" offense wouldnt be a thing in SWVA for another decade and a half(RIchlands and soon after PV) and wouldnt be common for 2 decades. To set aside what YOU WANT TO DO and adapt to what YOUR PLAYERS CAN DO is what separates good coaches from great ones. 

In the list of great coaches without rings Doug Hubbard is near the top. Honaker was ALWAYS competitive and as a program was as physical as anyone. I think Hubbard had 2 or 3 state title appearances, that doesn't just happen. His great flaw may have been utilization of talent, Heath Miller under center in a Power-I/Wishbone offense??? 

Jimbo Adams is at the very top of the same list. Burton had a tremendous run of talent in the 2000s but he maximized it by being on the cutting edge of the Double Wing Jet Sweep Offense. No one around here ran Jet before JIB, and he had the guys to do it. His great drawback, total reliance on speed and when they ran into other fast teams they didnt have much success but them man coach multiple teams to the state title game and would have won 1 if it weren't for being robbed by the refs. 

 

All three would have benefited greatly from a more equitable playoff system. That change would have put both coaches in the overall discussion imo.

[Liam McPoyle 1,863]

Excellent summary of three great coaches, @redtiger

[Liam McPoyle 1,863]

On 10/6/2023 at 3:36 PM, Bluefield researcher said:

Take any man that that lived thru active combat from WWII and I will show you a successful high school coach.

Any idea if Harry Ragsdale served during WW II? I couldn't find anything to confirm it, but your records show he left after the fourth game in 1942 and didn't return until 1946.

[Bluefield researcher 1,195]

Yes he did. He was replaced as head coach in 1943 and 1944 and 1945. Actually left in the middle of the 1942 football season.

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717]

1 hour ago, Bluefield researcher said:

Yes he did. He was replaced as head coach in 1943 and 1944 and 1945. Actually left in the middle of the 1942 football season.

Absolute Stud!  It's just more proof, another example of that generation. If they did freakin teaching plumbing, lawyer, football coach, whatever it was....they just seemed to be able to perform better than other generations. I never knew Rags Senior served, but no surprise. The first thing I thought of was Brokaws book.

[1inStripes 932]

Rye Cove ran the jet in 96 but didnt stick to it after a coaching change in 97.  Coach Wampler brought it in after watching Cumberland College I believe it was running it.  That was a tricky hand off to learn at first after being used to the traditional Wing T sweeps.

[Bluefield researcher 1,195]

Also. Every coach that I have EVER read about that interupted their coaching responsibilities to serve in WWII, whether drafted on enlisted on their own, got that job back (if they wanted it) when they returned.