Union looses Huff

[BigWinners]

I dont think running off a head coach would be the answer at Union. The chances of getting someone who will succeed at a higher level are slim to none. No coach is perfect but I don't see a viable replacement that could come in and win at any higher clip.

 

But there does seem  to be too many cooks in the kitchen on the sidelines. You're a HS program not an NFL team.

[SXSW]

16 hours ago, BigWinners said:

I dont think running off a head coach would be the answer at Union. The chances of getting someone who will succeed at a higher level are slim to none. No coach is perfect but I don't see a viable replacement that could come in and win at any higher clip.

 

But there does seem  to be too many cooks in the kitchen on the sidelines. You're a HS program not an NFL team.

I don't think a coaching revolving door is a good idea, but I do think that Union has gotten as far as they can with the one they have! A rut is a boring and long place! 

[goose111874]

On 8/5/2024 at 6:49 AM, BandanaVTDavis4321 said:

Any word on Huff? Back or not back? In practice or not?

All I heard is he didn’t like being back at his former school but no clue if he was in school today at Union 

[SwvaOG]

8 hours ago, goose111874 said:

All I heard is he didn’t like being back at his former school but no clue if he was in school today at Union 

Do you know the reason for the move?  If it wasn't the kid's decision, then he is going to be a bit surly about it.  If he wanted a bigger stage that is a different thing altogether.  If it is a much bigger school, then the competition is probably not something he is used to.  

[goose111874]

14 hours ago, SwvaOG said:

Do you know the reason for the move?  If it wasn't the kid's decision, then he is going to be a bit surly about it.  If he wanted a bigger stage that is a different thing altogether.  If it is a much bigger school, then the competition is probably not something he is used to.  

Not sure the reason but was told he wanted to go live with his mom and see his friends.  Then heard he didn’t like being back there.  So it’s hard telling honestly just hearing small town rumors at the moment.  Have a nephew in school though and he said he’s not seen him at Union 

[tornado99]

This scenario always gets me thinking when transferring or holding back. Is it better for the long-term to be a big fish in a small pond or vice versa? 
 

I suppose it doesn’t matter with the top 5-10 percent. I guess it depends upon whether the goal is limited to happiness and standing out vs personal development. For example, bigger school or staying within age level I assume can provide better competition. The opposite could provide advantages by increased reps due to natural advantages whether by numbers or maturity. All else being equal, does either situation improve the athlete? Thoughts?

[SwvaOG]

33 minutes ago, tornado99 said:

This scenario always gets me thinking when transferring or holding back. Is it better for the long-term to be a big fish in a small pond or vice versa? 
 

I suppose it doesn’t matter with the top 5-10 percent. I guess it depends upon whether the goal is limited to happiness and standing out vs personal development. For example, bigger school or staying within age level I assume can provide better competition. The opposite could provide advantages by increased reps due to natural advantages whether by numbers or maturity. All else being equal, does either situation improve the athlete? Thoughts?

100% dependent upon maturity and attitude of the athlete, IMHO.  My oldest grew up attending large schools in the south that were very competitive.  He loved it when we relocated to SWVA....big fish..small pond and never wanted to go back to the bigger pond.  Some kids, not the norm mind you, will want to go the other route to test and prove themselves..."iron sharpens iron" types.  Those are the ones that go on to play at the next level, IMHO.

[tornado99]

1 hour ago, SwvaOG said:

100% dependent upon maturity and attitude of the athlete, IMHO.  My oldest grew up attending large schools in the south that were very competitive.  He loved it when we relocated to SWVA....big fish..small pond and never wanted to go back to the bigger pond.  Some kids, not the norm mind you, will want to go the other route to test and prove themselves..."iron sharpens iron" types.  Those are the ones that go on to play at the next level, IMHO.

I assumed that would be the case for the majority, but formerly thought it applied to D1. Nowadays, looking at E&H’s roster, it probably applies to all divisions of the next level.

[Dawg pride]

On 7/10/2024 at 11:27 AM, FBDevotee said:

Union High School football season 2024 will be very similar to season 2023; the Bears will challenge for the district title and challenge for the regional title.

They return 8 who started on offense last year to build around and have a terrific group of young new-comers. Last year's JV team lost only one game - to Elizabethton, @ Elizabethton, by 1 point. Depth will not be a problem; but some of the experienced big guys may have to play both ways early in the season. Last year only one lineman pulled regular double duty. They will have a new quarterback and a younger defense but I believe a safe prediction is an 8-2 regular season record and a trip back to make another playoff run. (With the loss of Huff, only 6 defensive players are returning, but they did not lose all defensive linemen, as outstanding starting defensive end Carlos Anderson does return!)

 

Well the defense is gonna struggle our all famous village idiot defensive coordinator doesn't want lineman playing both ways and is going back to the 3 man front. Pray for em guys.

[Dawg pride]

On 8/7/2024 at 5:17 PM, BigWinners said:

I dont think running off a head coach would be the answer at Union. The chances of getting someone who will succeed at a higher level are slim to none. No coach is perfect but I don't see a viable replacement that could come in and win at any higher clip.

 

But there does seem  to be too many cooks in the kitchen on the sidelines. You're a HS program not an NFL team.

There biggest issue is the defensive coaches. When you have better players on the side lines than on the field you can't expect a state run. Turner needs to take control of it. 

 

[BKFootball]

4 hours ago, Dawg pride said:

Well the defense is gonna struggle our all famous village idiot defensive coordinator doesn't want lineman playing both ways and is going back to the 3 man front. Pray for em guys.

Sounds smart to me rest your offensive line if you have the numbers to do so.  Can't say that I can speak much of the 3 man front maybe it works maybe it wont only time can tell.

[appyvol]

8 hours ago, Dawg pride said:

Well the defense is gonna struggle our all famous village idiot defensive coordinator doesn't want lineman playing both ways and is going back to the 3 man front. Pray for em guys.

Is that the same village idiot who gave up 10.8 ppg last year with four shut outs? How awful of a defense that was. 

[goose111874]

4 hours ago, appyvol said:

Is that the same village idiot who gave up 10.8 ppg last year with four shut outs? How awful of a defense that was. 

Yeah that defense was pretty damn good last season 

[Union_Fan]

Our defense was good last year. No question, but you do have to put things into perspective. It wasn't exactly the most challenging schedule in the world. We had Graham, SH and maybe Abingdon that were "good" teams during the regular schedule. Couldn't stop Graham from running all over us in the playoffs.

As for a 3 man front. It works fine if you have an Albert Haynesworth at NG and crazy fast LBs to shutdown the run. Otherwise, at the HS level you will get run all over. I don't like it.

Personally, I would prefer a 5 man front unless you're playing an all out spread team.

[BSG Historian]

The last PV/Appy/Union team to make the state finals had a 3 man front as its base. Jimmy’s and Joe’s > X’s and O’s. Chill people. They’ll be fine. 

[Union_Fan]

59 minutes ago, BSG Historian said:

The last PV/Appy/Union team to make the state finals had a 3 man front as its base. Jimmy’s and Joe’s > X’s and O’s. Chill people. They’ll be fine. 

And they lost. Probably not the best comparison. Haha 

I don't care what defense they run as long as it's the best use of their talent.

Jimmy's and Joe's matter more UNLESS they're equal for both teams. Then the X's and O's come into play.

It's good to have both figured out and each as finely tuned as possible.

[Dawg pride]

2 hours ago, Union_Fan said:

And they lost. Probably not the best comparison. Haha 

I don't care what defense they run as long as it's the best use of their talent.

Jimmy's and Joe's matter more UNLESS they're equal for both teams. Then the X's and O's come into play.

It's good to have both figured out and each as finely tuned as possible.

That's the issue how do you tell a ball player your better we know your better butttttt we are gonna play someone else. It's garbage best athlete should play period.

[Union_Fan]

5 hours ago, Dawg pride said:

That's the issue how do you tell a ball player your better we know your better butttttt we are gonna play someone else. It's garbage best athlete should play period.

I'm afraid that I can't speak to that without actually seeing everyone get in there for a few plays.

I will say that it was obvious, through the rotations I did see, that a few had no business on the field with the 1's.

But it was equally as obvious they didn't utilize every combination. Maybe we'll know more after next week.

[BSG Historian]

8 hours ago, Union_Fan said:

And they lost. Probably not the best comparison. Haha 

I don't care what defense they run as long as it's the best use of their talent.

Jimmy's and Joe's matter more UNLESS they're equal for both teams. Then the X's and O's come into play.

It's good to have both figured out and each as finely tuned as possible.

They did. Two defensive starters were hurt and they lost 20-13 to a kid who ended up being player of the year in 1-AA. The offense not the defense was the problem that day. Robbins was playing with a messed up hand/thumb if memory serves correctly. Injuries got to that bunch at the wrong time. You have to be good and lucky to win a state title. The point is the three man front seemed to be fine against GC/Giles/Clintwood/etc. Both wins over GC that year involved pretty big stops by the defense. 

[Union_Fan]

32 minutes ago, BSG Historian said:

They did. Two defensive starters were hurt and they lost 20-13 to a kid who ended up being player of the year in 1-AA. The offense not the defense was the problem that day. Robbins was playing with a messed up hand/thumb if memory serves correctly. Injuries got to that bunch at the wrong time. You have to be good and lucky to win a state title. The point is the three man front seemed to be fine against GC/Giles/Clintwood/etc. Both wins over GC that year involved pretty big stops by the defense. 

I can certainly attest to the offense being the issue that day in 2004. Defense made numerous stops inside the 30 due to disastrous offensive possessions. Zach Terrell was the best player on the field, but overall, I thought PV was the better team that day. Just couldn't execute.

As for a 3 man front. I just don't like it at the HS level, but it may be a mute point. Never saw it against Betsy.

I did see something I liked, however. LBs on the LOS.

Sometimes they blitzed in like kamikazes, sometimes they dropped back. Regardless of which they did, it showed a little creativity and kept Betsy wondering.

[VFL62]

Who were the middle linebackers for union? 

[Union_Fan]

1 hour ago, VFL said:

Who were the middle linebackers for union? 

Hard to say for sure as they rotated so much on D, but I did see #24 and #10 a lot. Not sure of names. Maybe someone else could say. I mostly focused on the line.

[VFL62]

How did Bostic look at qb? I have also wondered if they will play him on defense since Travis isn't known to play his qbs on defense. 

[Union_Fan]

3 minutes ago, VFL said:

How did Bostic look at qb? I have also wondered if they will play him on defense since Travis isn't known to play his qbs on defense. 

A few wild passes, but good overall. Ran well too, but due to being a scrimmage they blew the whistle as soon as it looked like a QB would be hit. He did not play on D. However, all the DBs looked very athletic. A few youthful mistakes, but tackled well.

For this to only be the 3rd day with pads vs a team on their 4th scrimmage, I came away very impressed.

[VFL62]

10 minutes ago, Union_Fan said:

A few wild passes, but good overall. Ran well too, but due to being a scrimmage they blew the whistle as soon as it looked like a QB would be hit. He did not play on D. However, all the DBs looked very athletic. A few youthful mistakes, but tackled well.

For this to only be the 3rd day with pads vs a team on their 4th scrimmage, I came away very impressed.

I have said the bears will surprise some teams this year and so far it is looking like I was right.