Schedules?

[Bluebird]

Does Pocahontas still have a stadium?

[Real Sasquatch]

5 hours ago, Beaverdad16 said:

I recall the landlords having to go down the road for a home playoff game so Graham could play at Mitchell, spare me the outrage

Not sure of how you get outrage from that, I for one am glad they got away from the City of Bluefield.   

[Real Sasquatch]

4 hours ago, Bluebird said:

Does Pocahontas still have a stadium?

It's overgrown and in poor condition....not even sure if they have any salvageable bleachers.

[techfan]

[BBHoops_18]

How are we expecting them to do with that schedule in year one?

[CPF]

9-1 or 8-2

[Jags52]

I think the winnable games would be Holston, Giles, Tazewell, Riverview, and Wise. The other teams on that schedule just have more talent and an established program that give them enough of an edge to easily pull away 

[BigWinners]

7-3 sounds right. RV prob an L, Eastside an L, then one of RC/Honaker/Richlands gets them. 

[Real Sasquatch]

I'll say 7-3 or possibly 8-2.

[tornado99]

I was honestly going 5-5. Do you all know something that I don’t? I know Tester will do a great job, but I assumed his talented class would be all freshmen, albeit older freshmen. Is the upper class  solid, as well?

 

Edited April 25 by tornado99
Question mark

[Fairlawncat]

11 hours ago, tornado99 said:

I was honestly going 5-5. Do you all know something that I don’t? I know Tester will do a great job, but I assumed his talented class would be all freshmen, albeit older freshmen. Is the upper class  solid, as well?

 

Might be in the top 5 largest Class 2 schools in Va and at least, likely top 10 in numbers. So, they got a lot of kids to choose from and they have Tester who gets buy in. I dont need to go to Buchanan County Va right now to know that with Tester, their kids right now are likely in the top 10 percent of all coverage area teams regarding the work they are putting in. Add to that Testers on field IQ, and they aren't losing more than 5 games with that schedule. I'll go 7 and 3. 

Losses are at home to Ridgeview and on the road against Eastside and Giles. They win the other 7.

Other than Princeton, Abingdon, and Pulaski, and maybe I'm missing one, Southern Gap will be the 4th largest school in the coverage area when it opens. It won't stay that way, but at least for the first couple of years, its simply going to have a numbers edge on most schools in the coverage area and it has Tester, who isn't average. He's top notch. 

[tornado99]

10 minutes ago, Fairlawncat said:

Might be in the top 5 largest Class 2 schools in Va and at least, likely top 10 in numbers. So, they got a lot of kids to choose from and they have Tester who gets buy in. I dont need to go to Buchanan County Va right now to know that with Tester, their kids right now are likely in the top 10 percent of all coverage area teams regarding the work they are putting in. Add to that Testers on field IQ, and they aren't losing more than 5 games with that schedule. I'll go 7 and 3. 

Losses are at home to Ridgeview and on the road against Eastside and Giles. They win the other 7.

Other than Princeton, Abingdon, and Pulaski, and maybe I'm missing one, Southern Gap will be the 4th largest school in the coverage area when it opens. It won't stay that way, but at least for the first couple of years, its simply going to have a numbers edge on most schools in the coverage area and it has Tester, who isn't average. He's top notch. 

I was thinking improvement beginning at 5-5, 7-3, then 8-2+.

[Fairlawncat]

1 hour ago, tornado99 said:

I was thinking improvement beginning at 5-5, 7-3, then 8-2+.

They may be 5-5, but again, you have got to consider rhe differences in school size, for example between them and Rye Cove or even Eastside or Giles. They have a major numbers advantage and more to choose from. In year 1, they would be right on the cusp of being Class 3. And with Greg Tester, he'll have a fourth of the boys in the school out for football. When they take the field for game one, do not be surprised if they have 60 kids dressed. We are talking about a school that at least when it opens, will be a good chunk larger in numbers than Graham, Richlands, and Tazewell and Lebanon, and Va High. If you have those kind of numbers and you have a Coach that clearly knows what hes doing, the law of averages says you are going to be competitive and that being competitive probably isn't going to take very long to achieve.

[BigWinners]

14 hours ago, tornado99 said:

I was honestly going 5-5. Do you all know something that I don’t? I know Tester will do a great job, but I assumed his talented class would be all freshmen, albeit older freshmen. Is the upper class  solid, as well?

 

I think it’s more the caliber of their second tier opponents. Giles is a wild card, if they can get to the level they had for swaths of this season they’ll win easily. But the Richlands-Honaker-Wise-Tazwell stretch are all winnable games. 
I dunno about Riverview and Holston was better than any of the four closed schools but combined im not sure this early tbh. 

[Fairlawncat]

The other X factor discussed some above is the Head Coach. Some may not realize the cat they have running the show. They are going to be taking the field with a Coach that is on the level of a Palmer or Harless in my opinion regarding Knowledge/Xs and Os. That coach had tiny class 1 very  little talent and still did well and punched way higher than they should have. You give a guy like that 60 kids and hes going to be a problem. In August, from game 1, they will have a Head Coach that is not equal to 90 percent of other Class 1 and 2 Coaches. Different level of Coach and that matters. I have known Tester since the 90s. Yep, hes the leader, good example guy, discipline guy, organizer, and motivator. There are lots of those, but hes also the xs and os guy/the brain that goes with the above characteristics that most HS coaches dont have when compared to him.

Southern Gaps home run is equal to Unions home run with their hire as HC. Now, SG will Not and Does not have Union or Graham talent, but as far as maxing out the talent they do have, it's a homerun hire with Tester. With him as HC, a team that has 5-5 type talent bolts to 7 and 3 or 8 and 2. If they have 6-4 or 7-3 talent, the record bolts to 9 8-2 or 9-1. Thats the difference a Great Coach can make.

[tornado99]

2 hours ago, Fairlawncat said:

The other X factor discussed some above is the Head Coach. Some may not realize the cat they have running the show. They are going to be taking the field with a Coach that is on the level of a Palmer or Harless in my opinion regarding Knowledge/Xs and Os. That coach had tiny class 1 very  little talent and still did well and punched way higher than they should have. You give a guy like that 60 kids and hes going to be a problem. In August, from game 1, they will have a Head Coach that is not equal to 90 percent of other Class 1 and 2 Coaches. Different level of Coach and that matters. I have known Tester since the 90s. Yep, hes the leader, good example guy, discipline guy, organizer, and motivator. There are lots of those, but hes also the xs and os guy/the brain that goes with the above characteristics that most HS coaches dont have when compared to him.

Southern Gaps home run is equal to Unions home run with their hire as HC. Now, SG will Not and Does not have Union or Graham talent, but as far as maxing out the talent they do have, it's a homerun hire with Tester. With him as HC, a team that has 5-5 type talent bolts to 7 and 3 or 8 and 2. If they have 6-4 or 7-3 talent, the record bolts to 9 8-2 or 9-1. Thats the difference a Great Coach can make.

All are very good points. My only reservation was assuming a group of primarily freshmen starters in year one that maximizes potential and improves year over year. Numbers-wise, is there that many football kids in the 3 smaller schools? Are there some key transfers that want to join because of Tester?

These are all legitimate questions of mine, not underestimating the coach. I also have zero knowledge of the circumstances outside the group of players he has been working with since Little League. For context, if I recall correctly, while Hurley punched above there weight, wasn’t there some key contributors from outside the Hurley zone that made a large impact and in a smaller school that hits on both sides of the ball per SWVAOG? I remember TVs most athletic player moving to Hurley during the undefeated regular season. This is not a criticism, but seeking knowledge during the slow offseason.

[BigWinners]

2 hours ago, Fairlawncat said:

The other X factor discussed some above is the Head Coach. Some may not realize the cat they have running the show. They are going to be taking the field with a Coach that is on the level of a Palmer or Harless in my opinion regarding Knowledge/Xs and Os. That coach had tiny class 1 very  little talent and still did well and punched way higher than they should have. You give a guy like that 60 kids and hes going to be a problem. In August, from game 1, they will have a Head Coach that is not equal to 90 percent of other Class 1 and 2 Coaches. Different level of Coach and that matters. I have known Tester since the 90s. Yep, hes the leader, good example guy, discipline guy, organizer, and motivator. There are lots of those, but hes also the xs and os guy/the brain that goes with the above characteristics that most HS coaches dont have when compared to him.

Southern Gaps home run is equal to Unions home run with their hire as HC. Now, SG will Not and Does not have Union or Graham talent, but as far as maxing out the talent they do have, it's a homerun hire with Tester. With him as HC, a team that has 5-5 type talent bolts to 7 and 3 or 8 and 2. If they have 6-4 or 7-3 talent, the record bolts to 9 8-2 or 9-1. Thats the difference a Great Coach can make.

 But playing in the SWD and 2D is a much different beast. Richlands is on the upswing seemingly, Graham is the best program in state, Lebanon just had a great year, VHS always has skill guys who can fly abd Tazwell brings back a coach that won 8 games one year. It’s quite a bit tougher to win in that league compared to the BDD or Cumberland, and if you do make playoffs you could have a RV, GC or Union staring down the barrel. 
 

From all indications Tester is a very good coach but it may be a few years before he’s competing with the top of SWD.

[techfan]

2 hours ago, BigWinners said:

 But playing in the SWD and 2D is a much different beast. Richlands is on the upswing seemingly, Graham is the best program in state, Lebanon just had a great year, VHS always has skill guys who can fly abd Tazwell brings back a coach that won 8 games one year. It’s quite a bit tougher to win in that league compared to the BDD or Cumberland, and if you do make playoffs you could have a RV, GC or Union staring down the barrel. 
 

From all indications Tester is a very good coach but it may be a few years before he’s competing with the top of SWD.

They won’t have to deal with Va High, Lebanon or Graham until year two. Tazewell while Harris is a good guy and a decent coach has very little talent at the high school level this is a weak senior group for them, Richlands made a critical mistake in firing their strength and conditioning coach plus people under estimate how much of their success was that senior class. I think 7-3 on the low end this year 

[cityofRaven]

I'm going to be real. Tester is one of the best high school football coaches this side of the state. 

That being said, I don't think Southern Gap will be very successful in football at the 2A level. 

Most kids on the outskirts of Buchanan County will attend schools closer to home, i.e., Honaker, Ridgeview, River View, Phelps, East Ridge, and Richlands. At that point, you're essentially pulling from the Grundy group, which hasn't been successful at 1A in a few years, much less 2A.

Furthermore, Southern Gap won't be 2A for long, 1, 2 cycles at most. 

Now, once they make it to 1A, I could see them becoming competitive.

[BigWinners]

32 minutes ago, techfan said:

They won’t have to deal with Va High, Lebanon or Graham until year two. Tazewell while Harris is a good guy and a decent coach has very little talent at the high school level this is a weak senior group for them, Richlands made a critical mistake in firing their strength and conditioning coach plus people under estimate how much of their success was that senior class. I think 7-3 on the low end this year 

So in year one, you think they’ll win 2/3 at Rye Cove (played for a state title), Eastside and Giles while only losing once to RV, Richlands, Honaker and Holston? 
I think they’ll be competitive year one but if 7-3 is low end, you think they’ll beat some very good teams and I dunno about that to start. Giles won nine games, Holston won lotta games, RV is one of the better 2D squads, Eastside is coming into the season as a fav to win 1A, etc.  

[Fairlawncat]

1 hour ago, BigWinners said:

So in year one, you think they’ll win 2/3 at Rye Cove (played for a state title), Eastside and Giles while only losing once to RV, Richlands, Honaker and Holston? 
I think they’ll be competitive year one but if 7-3 is low end, you think they’ll beat some very good teams and I dunno about that to start. Giles won nine games, Holston won lotta games, RV is one of the better 2D squads, Eastside is coming into the season as a fav to win 1A, etc.  

I know the question wasn't directed to me BW, but in my opinion, Yes. I think they beat Honaker, and Rye Cove/Giles they split as they lose 1 of these and win. Losses to Eastside and Ridgeview. I just dont see the talent difference At All with them and Richlands when you consider Southern Gap will actually be a larger schools for the first year or two. I think 7 and 3. Now as cityofRaven mentioned regarding their success or lack of success and their numbers. I agree IF.....they actually do continue to lose massive population and their numbers fall off and they become a borderline Class 2 school and barely on the cusp of being Class 1/2. That changes everything and I cant predict demographic changes.

But I believe this. There is no major talent disparity with Southern Gap now having more kids (right now) compared to VH, Lebanon, Richlands, and Tazewell. On a given year or single season, one of those schools may have more senior talent like Lebanon and the QB, but year in and year out, there's no dramatic or cataclysmic talent Gap between Richlands, Tazewell, VH, Lebanon and now Southern Gap (IF....their numbers hold). That leaves the variable of coaching as the difference maker in talent that is fairly close and thats where Tester will be the difference maker. 

I saw Grundy teams in the 90s when their numbers were comparable to Richlands and Tazewell and they weren't out talented. They did fine. Add an elite coach to that mix and Im telling ya, they are going to win far more games than they lose when the talent and numbers are comparable. Against a Graham or Union? Nope. Not happening. That talent Gap is too wide and Tester as good as he is will Not overcome that 9 out of 10 times, but against Tazewell, Richlands, Lebanon, VH, and Marion? He will get the best of them Until their numbers take a dramatic hit again I think. 

[Gridiron60]

6 hours ago, BigWinners said:

 Tazwell brings back a coach that won 8 games one year. 

This comment had me 💀! 😂😂😂

 

[1inStripes]

One thing about it, when Southern Gap travels to Rye Cove, my money is on the Eagles.

[Union_Fan]

8 hours ago, 1inStripes said:

One thing about it, when Southern Gap travels to Rye Cove, my money is on the Eagles.

We've consulted the judges and we need you to be more specific. Also, don't forget to phrase your answer in the form of a question.

[Widespread_Panic]

13 hours ago, Fairlawncat said:

I saw Grundy teams in the 90s when their numbers were comparable to Richlands and Tazewell and they weren't out talented. They did fine. Add an elite coach to that mix and Im telling ya, they are going to win far more games than they lose when the talent and numbers are comparable. 

Grundy was 4-6 last year. Two of those wins were over teams they are consolidating with. Honaker beat Grundy 66 to 16 last year. Best case scenario would be 650 students at Southern Gap next year. I agree that Tester is a good coach but I'd pump the brakes on winning 7 or 8 games in year one.