Union HC 2026

[jreed97]

31 minutes ago, JDHoss said:

Brad Robbins? As the UConn QB coach and passing game coordinator in 2024, he made $184K. My guess is that he's making  north of 200K as the OC at Tulsa. I don't see Robbins coaching in the high school ranks anytime in the near future. 

Dumb suggestion on my part. I didn’t know BR had made it so far. My bad

[Liam McPoyle]

4 minutes ago, sup_rbeast said:

The thing is when you bring someone into a program, they usually want to change things up to fit their knowledge base. I can remember going from Poss Bolling’s playbook to Phil Robbins playbook when he was hired. Kids my age went from 2 years of Wing T/T to I Formation. Even for a 10 year old in the P-Nut program, there are changes. As far as football goes, I believe in the philosophy of fitting players into a program vs altering the program to fit players. The continuity allows for all the coaches from P-Nut through Varsity to coach kids the same way every year, and repetition leads to mastery. There are 9 years of players who have been working on the current offense, and I think it fits the Bears more than most anything else they could do on a yearly basis. I just don’t see any reason to mess with that until the day it stops working. Look at the difference in PV once they went away from the I Formation to the spread. They still had good seasons, but nowhere near the success they had before the change.

I absolutely understand your point. It is a risk, though the outside hire of Phil Robbins worked out pretty well. But I get it, Robbins could've face-planted and PV returned back to an LPD also-ran.

[Union_Fan]

1 hour ago, sup_rbeast said:

The thing is when you bring someone into a program, they usually want to change things up to fit their knowledge base. I can remember going from Poss Bolling’s playbook to Phil Robbins playbook when he was hired. Kids my age went from 2 years of Wing T/T to I Formation. Even for a 10 year old in the P-Nut program, there are changes. As far as football goes, I believe in the philosophy of fitting players into a program vs altering the program to fit players. The continuity allows for all the coaches from P-Nut through Varsity to coach kids the same way every year, and repetition leads to mastery. There are 9 years of players who have been working on the current offense, and I think it fits the Bears more than most anything else they could do on a yearly basis. I just don’t see any reason to mess with that until the day it stops working. Look at the difference in PV once they went away from the I Formation to the spread. They still had good seasons, but nowhere near the success they had before the change.

They also didn't have Jacksons, Halls, Bishops, or Joneses to run the ball. That probably made a bigger difference than formation.

Those last 3 years of PV's existence were dreadful. Wouldn't have mattered what formation they were in.

[Unchained]

2 minutes ago, goose111874 said:

Yeah I’d imagine he has bigger ambitions than high school coach 

His next step is D1 HC. 

[jreed97]

J Carroll or G Collier would be intriguing and they’re right next door 

[tornado99]

7 minutes ago, Union_Fan said:

They also didn't have Jacksons, Halls, Bishops, or Joneses to run the ball. Theat probably made a bigger difference than formation.

Those last 3 years of PV's existence were dreadful. Wouldn't have mattered what formation they were in.

I wasn’t familiar with the others, but having 4 years of Joneses dotting the I was huge. Much like USC having a Simpson, Garrett, and Allen.

[Liam McPoyle]

48 minutes ago, tornado99 said:

Much like USC having a Simpson, Garrett, and Allen.

...Charles White and Anthony Davis, to name a couple more great USC TBs

[Liam McPoyle]

 

12 minutes ago, jreed97 said:

J Carroll or G Collier would be intriguing and they’re right next door 

Gary Collier, Jamie Harless, and Stephen James would be high on my list

[Union_Fan]

23 minutes ago, Fairlawncat said:

Let me be careful and delicate here with my words and echo on the Why regarding Unions offensive stagnation and falling short of a state title when the talent has been there to where the Bears should have had 1 or 2 titles by now.

Hindsight is often 20/20. Well, in this case, it is.

Union's fans, many of them, critiqued the offense and lack of change for years. It seemed like that fell on deaf ears and no change occurred. In order for change to occur, one has to have a care or concern for critique. One has to have some kind of value on the opinions or emotions of Other Humans. In summary, one must have empathy. The opposite of all the above is possible narcissistic behavior or personality. Well, the current events are what they are. They speak for themselves. This is as delicate and honest as I can put it without being overly offensive, but also being honest.

What Im saying is.....I would bet the house Union will be far more likely to make changes offensively with the new HC even if the new HC is an assistant because......he cares. He has empathy. He's unlikely to display high narcissistic traits and I will leave it that. Im trying to be delicate, but Im giving you the potential WHY. The answer as to Why seemingly little or no offensive changes came for years, even with critique. The lack of changes offensively weren't due to the assistants being "stupid." They were due to how I explained the "Why" above. 

Union is going to be dangerous. The new HC will overwhelmingly, more likely to be fluent, more diverse offensively and its going to make Union have title rings more than once over the next 10 years. You may not believe it now, but Unions xs and os are about to get way better over the next few years and thats scary considering their talent pool.

 

You have actually hit on something I've been thinking about quite a bit over the last week. Reading your words have allowed me to express my thoughts more clearly.

Bare with me on this for a moment... going back to when Butch Jones became coach at UT, he came in with a master plan on how he was going to restore UT to greatness. "Brick by brick" became the moto and it was everywhere, billboards, signs, sponsorship ads, etc... While he was "building", he banned all former UT players and coaches from the facilities. Cut off all communication. Didn't want them near the players or anyone involved with the program. At first glance, one could say that he was forging a new path and didn't want stale influence. But, what he was really doing was hiding the load of bunk he sold to get the job. Hiding his flaws, inadequacies and insecurities. In other words...his secrets.

Over the last few years, I have often wondered why all suggestions, offers of help (Phil Robbins offered assistance in 2015 on stopping the single wing of Clarke Co and was met with an emphatic "thanks, but no thanks"), and anything viewed as a critique has been met with scorn, ridicule, banishment and those with the loudest voices being completely ostracized.

When someone has no desire to grow or doesn't think they can learn anything new from another person, there's usually a reason. And often times, like Butch Jones, they're covering up inadequacies, insecurities....secrets.(narcissistic behaviors)

I agree, and hope we're both right in saying that Union comes out of this situation stronger, better and more creative than ever before.

[Union_Fan]

16 minutes ago, tornado99 said:

I wasn’t familiar with the others, but having 4 years of Joneses dotting the I was huge. Much like USC having a Simpson, Garrett, and Allen.

All reached at least Reg championship games.

83 - F Jackson - semis

85 - E Jackson - state

89 - Hall - state - WCYB player of the year - 2000 yards

90 - C Bishop - state 

92 - G Bishop - semis

93 - G Bishop - reg

[vol_husky]

I remember last year some mom on Facebook was accusing people on here of disrespecting the team when people commented that the offensive playcalling was bland. Like the coach wasn’t putting the team in a position to win. 
 

And the Butch Jones stuff? Man. I remember all that. The Brick-by-Brick. Sounded really nice and cool at the time. Then the regressions happened when Tennessee had the talent to be a top team. When they missed out on wins they should have had, the cliches kept coming, like “Champions of Life.” I mean graduating college is a great thing to do, but using that slogan as a silver lining when the team blew their shot to win the SEC East that they most certainly should have won will cause you to lose support. 
 

I stopped supporting Butch for good in when the team just went on autopilot against a CRAP UMass team and about lost it. I was at that game too and the student section had had quite enough. 

[Union_Fan]

52 minutes ago, JDHoss said:

As someone who has lived out of the area for the last 8 years, can someone give me a little background on Jay Edwards, such as where he's from, coaching experience? I know absolutely nothing about him. 

Former Haysi player and assistant coach under James Colley.

Came to Union in 2018 as DC after Mike Rhodes left to be the HC at Eastside.

Beyond that, I am unsure of the details.

[goose111874]

54 minutes ago, jreed97 said:

Dumb suggestion on my part. I didn’t know BR had made it so far. My bad

Not dumb at all I’d take him 

[JDHoss]

58 minutes ago, jreed97 said:

Dumb suggestion on my part. I didn’t know BR had made it so far. My bad

I didn't mean to say it was dumb, I just assumed you didn't know. 

[JDHoss]

58 minutes ago, Unchained said:

His next step is D1 HC. 

I know a Tulsa alum who loves what Tre Lamb and Brad have done this year. If Brad's offense continues to be successful, I could see him taking the OC position at a better FBS program than Tulsa, where the resources are more limited in terms of facilities and NIL. From there, it'll be interesting to see how far he climbs the ladder. 

[Vol Hater]

1 hour ago, Union_Fan said:

You have actually hit on something I've been thinking about quite a bit over the last week. Reading your words have allowed me to express my thoughts more clearly.

Bare with me on this for a moment... going back to when Butch Jones became coach at UT, he came in with a master plan on how he was going to restore UT to greatness. "Brick by brick" became the moto and it was everywhere, billboards, signs, sponsorship ads, etc... While he was "building", he banned all former UT players and coaches from the facilities. Cut off all communication. Didn't want them near the players or anyone involved with the program. At first glance, one could say that he was forging a new path and didn't want stale influence. But, what he was really doing was hiding the load of bunk he sold to get the job. Hiding his flaws, inadequacies and insecurities. In other words...his secrets.

Over the last few years, I have often wondered why all suggestions, offers of help (Phil Robbins offered assistance in 2015 on stopping the single wing of Clarke Co and was met with an emphatic "thanks, but no thanks"), and anything viewed as a critique has been met with scorn, ridicule, banishment and those with the loudest voices being completely ostracized.

When someone has no desire to grow or doesn't think they can learn anything new from another person, there's usually a reason. And often times, like Butch Jones, they're covering up inadequacies, insecurities....secrets.(narcissistic behaviors)

I agree, and hope we're both right in saying that Union comes out of this situation stronger, better and more creative than ever before.

You sir hit the nailed on the head with this. Thats why I apologized I was directing my frustrations at the wrong coaches. But if Edward's wants the job hard to pass him up. Rhodes would be a great hire as well kids loved him as well plus Unions cupboard is full compared to Eastside. But I would watch out for the coach from Abington as well. 

[Wolf1207]

I understand that this may be a coaching thread, but with the heads that may be getting ready to roll in Wise County over all of these incidents the past few years. Would Liams suggestion of a reset not be an idea worth considering?

[Liam McPoyle]

2 hours ago, Wolf1207 said:

I understand that this may be a coaching thread, but with the heads that may be getting ready to roll in Wise County over all of these incidents the past few years. Would Liams suggestion of a reset not be an idea worth considering?

This was really the main reason I was suggesting it. The next hire is far bigger than football — it’s about restoring confidence in the whole system.

[tornado99]

8 hours ago, Vol Hater said:

You sir hit the nailed on the head with this. Thats why I apologized I was directing my frustrations at the wrong coaches. But if Edward's wants the job hard to pass him up. Rhodes would be a great hire as well kids loved him as well plus Unions cupboard is full compared to Eastside. But I would watch out for the coach from Abington as well. 

Is Union’s cupboard relatively full compared to Eastside? I know it’s absolutely full, but I assume Rhodes is building a powerhouse at Eastside for Class 1, unless it’s just a special class. My assumption is they are in a good spot being in Class 1 with less pressure and competition for a title than Union at Class 2. Union may win it this year, but getting past Graham and Ridgeview every year with the pressure to win it all might not be such a step up, except for the challenge and coming home. Would he really be better off?

[Jags52]

The real question is will this tread over take the next Richlands HC tread from a few years back? I think it may have a chance to before the job is even posted.

 

also would the Union people be opposed to an in state head coach with a few region finals appearances that is well traveled in this area. Some people may not be familiar with this name but… Chris Akers

[Wolf1207]

11 hours ago, Liam McPoyle said:

I absolutely understand your point. It is a risk, though the outside hire of Phil Robbins worked out pretty well. But I get it, Robbins could've face-planted and PV returned back to an LPD also-ran.

Remember, Robbins wasn't their first choice at that time. 

[vol_husky]

1 hour ago, Wolf1207 said:

Remember, Robbins wasn't their first choice at that time. 

Nick Saban wasn’t Alabama’s first choice either. 

[Fairlawncat]

I wouldn't discount ONE person's ability to cause chaos, have an ability to flip the entire system on its head, or cause major distrust. 

Usually, a culture change is needed in a system when the entire culture is tainted due to multiple people and so you have to start over by replacing multiple people at the top, BUT.........on rare occasions, the culture or system can be tainted by One person and on these occasions, the entire system/multiple people do NOT need replaced. Just replacing the One will work and the culture rapidly improves. This is likely the situation now at Union.

By human default, conventional thinking, what we've learned, We immediately look at the Union situation and jump to the conclusion......"complete culture change needed. Start at the top and replace 3, 4 or 5 people." Well, thats flawed thinking in my opinion For THIS situation. At Union, theyve had a situation where truly.....ONE person is responsible for the shortcomings offensively and a refusal to change. We now understand Why this was the case. The personality type as described previously in this thread is obvious and in hindsight, we now know Why.

If you are Union, you dont need a gigantic change or outsider. Hire the guy in charge now, and your culture will change. Actually, your culture has ALREADY changed. You dont need drastic measures. Again....WHY? Because you are underestimating the damage that one person with appears to be...extreme narcissistic traits, can do. When you fix that (which you already have) your issues rapidly improve. 

The future for Union football is Not average or decent or good. They are very, very bright. Union is about to win some titles over the next decade. There is rigidity/conservatism in some coaches where its fine. They are reluctant to change, but slowly and surely, some do incremental change. Thats ok. That fine. Thats normal, but there are the very, very exceedingly rare situations where a certain personality type simply isnt capable of other human input, and that person's false self is so great that any hint of change fractures them and the chances of change are Zero, if the idea is perceived as coming from another human (because that requires empathy). 

[Union_Fan]

4 hours ago, Wolf1207 said:

I understand that this may be a coaching thread, but with the heads that may be getting ready to roll in Wise County over all of these incidents the past few years. Would Liams suggestion of a reset not be an idea worth considering?

 

2 hours ago, Liam McPoyle said:

This was really the main reason I was suggesting it. The next hire is far bigger than football — it’s about restoring confidence in the whole system.

It's absolutely worth considering. With the right staff, it could be a fantastic situation. I like to play devil's advocate in situations like this, and there's sooo many questions to ask.

Will there be further fallout?
Will this limit the in-house coaching options? 
Do you punish a fully qualified coach just because you try to start fresh?
Are there outside influences(school board, boosters) that want to clean house?
Does anyone on staff want to be the guy that takes over permanently?
What if multiple in-house people want it?
Does that cause friction going forward and divide staff into camps?
Is there an outside hire that could make everyone happy and take things to another level?

As more info comes forward, these questions will change and new ones will materialize.

As much transparency as legally possible needs to take place so that everyone feels like an informed decision has been made in the best interest of the school, players and community.

[Plywood_King]

Hypothetical question, who would win, the 2025 Union Bears or the 2026 Union Bears with Jack Ginn as Head Coach?