First Day of Practice Numbers ‘26

[Ryan4VT]

Richlands has… 25. 😅

[frito gonzales]

Drove by Graham this morning and numbers wise it looked way down...maybe not all the players were on the field yet. 🤷‍♂️

[Fairlawncat]

1 hour ago, Unchained said:

Jenkins IMO is the best all-around athlete in the region.

Freakish athlete. His brother was and is special, but his brother was shorter. The younger brother has incredible speed, but incredible length. Reminds me lots of Beavers from Ridgeview. Just a special player. I watched some of Jenkins film yesterday. All I can say is ...dam$.

[Real Sasquatch]

1 hour ago, Unchained said:

I think 8-2 in a first year with a new coach would be realistic. I don't see anyone beating Graham this season, and RV on the road will be a toss-up. Having said that, I am not making the mistake of underestimating Harless or our kids. They have the dudes for sure.

Graham will have good starting talent, but will lack depth.  Especially on the line, unless they find a couple of kids out of the hallway or something . ..a couple of injuries could be very big for them.  I'm hearing around 35 should come out.  I hope to see about 10 more....Guess we will find out on Monday. 

[cityofRaven]

Garden - 0

[Union_Fan]

1 hour ago, IRISH-FAN18 said:

It's really just Grundy & Hurley kids from I understand. There may be a couple TW kids on the team that I don't know about but not many.

That's not what I expected. I would have thought the loss coming from Hurley due to travel times.

Regardless of how many, they will be well coached and prepared every week.

[tornado99]

24 minutes ago, Ryan4VT said:

Richlands has… 25. 😅

If that’s true, we could certainly use a few of those Union players.

[UnionGuy2017]

9 hours ago, Gridiron60 said:

I saw on social media, Southern Gap had 40+ today. 

So I guess they are practicing at Grundy High School until their facilities are 100% ready and it has already upset some people. Not a good start consolidation wise. As usual though, it’s the adults who have the big ego. 

[Real Sasquatch]

3 minutes ago, UnionGuy2017 said:

So I guess they are practicing at Grundy High School until their facilities are 100% ready and it has already upset some people. Not a good start consolidation wise. As usual though, it’s the adults who have the big ego. 

Yes.  They are.

[Real Sasquatch]

I am guessing Tazewell should have around 40 to 45.  Based on what's returning and the 8th graders.  We'll see on Monday.  Maybe more.  Hearing some enthusiasm from the some of the players this year. Last year was a mess.

[UnionGuy2017]

38 minutes ago, Ryan4VT said:

Richlands has… 25. 😅

Only one direction to go… right?

[Fairlawncat]

5 minutes ago, UnionGuy2017 said:

 As usual though, it’s the adults who have the big ego. 

Brother, welcome to the USA of 2026. They are in every town. We got em here in Radford and next door in Blacksburg or Dublin, more of the same. Pick a town on the map in nowhere western Kansas, and they got em too.

[1inStripes]

2 hours ago, IRISH-FAN18 said:

 There may be a couple TW kids on the team that I don't know about but not many.

Heckuva haul from Ewing to Poplar Gap.

[tornado99]

8 hours ago, 1inStripes said:

New coaches tend to draw out curious people leading to higher numbers than a previous staff so not shocked Union has out a few more people this year.  Add in a coach with an impressive resume and it tends to help that number even more.  Will it be sustainable?  Maybe/maybe not.  Does that matter?  No.  The ones that you may lose along the way over the years are very unlikely to be those who would have been contributors anyway, as they probably don't have the mentality to put in the work month after month.

After seeing Ryan’s post, I wish the first part of the statement were true and we had a few more at Richlands. I’m going to have faith that there are 25 very good ones. 
Regardless, it’s shocking how football has lost its luster. Being part of a team was such an honor. The desire to play was there no matter the circumstances. Different times now. 

[1inStripes]

There are exceptions to every rule.....

[techfan]

1 hour ago, Union_Fan said:

That's not what I expected. I would have thought the loss coming from Hurley due to travel times.

Regardless of how many, they will be well coached and prepared every week.

According to what I was told by the coaches the summer workouts there were more Hurley kids than Grundy kids coming out over the summer. Really Grundy only had about 16 or 17 kids last year I think. 

[Real Sasquatch]

2 hours ago, frito gonzales said:

Drove by Graham this morning and numbers wise it looked way down...maybe not all the players were on the field yet. 🤷‍♂️

Practice doesn't start for them until Monday.

[Real Sasquatch]

1 hour ago, tornado99 said:

After seeing Ryan’s post, I wish the first part of the statement were true and we had a few more at Richlands. I’m going to have faith that there are 25 very good ones. 
Regardless, it’s shocking how football has lost its luster. Being part of a team was such an honor. The desire to play was there no matter the circumstances. Different times now. 

Could be some on vacation also...

[Union_Fan]

38 minutes ago, techfan said:

According to what I was told by the coaches the summer workouts there were more Hurley kids than Grundy kids coming out over the summer. Really Grundy only had about 16 or 17 kids last year I think. 

Good for those kids. I wish they all could realize what a great and historic opportunity this is to be a part of.

New school, stadium, field, colors, mascot, etc...

The excited will be very special for those first several games. Depending on success, maybe the whole season.

With success, I look for more next year.

[SXSW]

When it comes to high school numbers every school will change before opening day. I really liked the way Robbie Norris handled it when he was at Sullivan North, he went to NFL coaching clinics and learned roster management for 53 players. He told me one time about 55 is all you need, especially at a smaller school, and sometimes 55 is too many. He said you need 1st ,2nd and 3rd string which is around 40, because he didn't won't every player playing both ways. I am just glad we aren't having to worry about schools not having enough players to play. 

[Fairlawncat]

13 hours ago, Union_Fan said:

Good for those kids. I wish they all could realize what a great and historic opportunity this is to be a part of.

New school, stadium, field, colors, mascot, etc...

The excited will be very special for those first several games. Depending on success, maybe the whole season.

With success, I look for more next year.

Hurley High packs a gigantic punch historically. Limited resources. And God forbid, the Confederate flag stuff. How "der" them! This school did a whole lot more with less on the football field than 99 percent of other schools in VA over the last 30 or 40 years. Off the top of my head, only Galax did more. Somebody needs to write a book on Galax. Stupid over achievement in football. Soccer? I get it. The agriculture and Hispanic influence and preference toward soccer is understandable. I get that. But, don't start a sentence with But, so I will choose to do exactly that because some jack ass from Cornell said so, anyway, what Galax did in football is just stupid.

Back to Hurley. What's different from them and Galax in football other than state titles? Hurley doesn't have the geographical advantage (and kind of disadvantage) compared to Galax. Galax is confined (and benefited in some context) to walking distances to the school (which is good) but Hurley is not confined to that (which is good because you can draw that freakish athlete on the farm way out there), but it's also bad because of travel, distances, ease of daily workouts, etc. 

Conclusion? Back to Tester which I keep toting and know fairly well. These young men will realize the historical significance of the situation that they are in because of Tester. It's those tiny little variables that add up and will make SG a prominent force and powerful punch like Hurley was for their weight. But, SG is "on the clock," at the Class 2 level. The population will continue to drop (Unfortunately for Buchanan County). It's a race against time. SG has a 3 or 4 year window to *git er done," before the numbers drop to the levek of Class 1, and then.........we go back to Galax and how stupid successful that bunch was on the football field. Right now, I would think the focus is on winning and having SG rise to that level of Graham, Union, RV, and GC. 

[tornado99]

8 hours ago, Fairlawncat said:

Hurley High packs a gigantic punch historically. Limited resources. And God forbid, the Confederate flag stuff. How "der" them! This school did a whole lot more with less on the football field than 99 percent of other schools in VA over the last 30 or 40 years. Off the top of my head, only Galax did more. Somebody needs to write a book on Galax. Stupid over achievement in football. Soccer? I get it. The agriculture and Hispanic influence and preference toward soccer is understandable. I get that. But, don't start a sentence with But, so I will choose to do exactly that because some jack ass from Cornell said so, anyway, what Galax did in football is just stupid.

Back to Hurley. What's different from them and Galax in football other than state titles? Hurley doesn't have the geographical advantage (and kind of disadvantage) compared to Galax. Galax is confined (and benefited in some context) to walking distances to the school (which is good) but Hurley is not confined to that (which is good because you can draw that freakish athlete on the farm way out there), but it's also bad because of travel, distances, ease of daily workouts, etc. 

Conclusion? Back to Tester which I keep toting and know fairly well. These young men will realize the historical significance of the situation that they are in because of Tester. It's those tiny little variables that add up and will make SG a prominent force and powerful punch like Hurley was for their weight. But, SG is "on the clock," at the Class 2 level. The population will continue to drop (Unfortunately for Buchanan County). It's a race against time. SG has a 3 or 4 year window to *git er done," before the numbers drop to the levek of Class 1, and then.........we go back to Galax and how stupid successful that bunch was on the football field. Right now, I would think the focus is on winning and having SG rise to that level of Graham, Union, RV, and GC. 

Dixon did a great job with the talent at his disposal, much like Palmer at Graham. 
I don’t know about long-term prospects of success, but Tester’s strength in my opinion is not what he will do, though I know he will add on, but more due to what he’s already done. He’s worked with a talented group that has grown more and more cohesively playing together under his leadership. The players already know their roles, so it’s more a matter of refining and executing. There isn’t much guesswork left. Basically, they have a head start on the majority of the teams they will face that are of a similar skill level. My guess is that is more of the key to Hurley’s past success. They leaned into developing or structuring the most talented classes (holding back groups or athletes strategically)when they came around more than simply punching above their weight. Smart, nonetheless, if true. 

[Unchained]

Not to start another thread for this, but Fresh Off The Clock did a great interview with Thomas Jones yesterday. It is worth heading to their page and watching it.

[Sixcat Adjacent]

On 7/31/2026 at 9:05 PM, tornado99 said:

Dixon did a great job with the talent at his disposal, much like Palmer at Graham. 

Both programs have/had one very important thing in common…a consistent flow of incredibly talented out-of-state transfers. 
 

That’s not intended to diminish what Dixon and Palmer achieved. Just stating facts. Without those transfers, neither program would be quite as successful. 

[Fairlawncat]

13 minutes ago, Sixcat Adjacent said:

Both programs have/had one very important thing in common…a consistent flow of incredibly talented out-of-state transfers. 
 

That’s not intended to diminish what Dixon and Palmer achieved. Just stating facts. Without those transfers, neither program would be quite as successful. 

I think it is spot on that the transfers helped Galax and Graham and both coaches likely would not have achieved the amount of success they had without the transfers. But........I also think there is credible direct link ultimately due to Palmer/Dixon being great coaches. Meaning......great coaches usually get the transfers. Mike Smith for years had the residents of Phoebus screaming. Brad Bradley (initially) had all of them po'd in and around Lynchburg. Even Paul Wheeler at Rustburg and then at Lafayette po'd Bruton and Jamestown. Lineburg at Radtown was getting one or two a year from Pulaski after Hicks left Pulaski. 

My point is that I noticed that this can come off as a chicken or the egg scenario. I no longer think it is. I think it's far about a great coach that has that charisma that draws kids (the transfers) I stead of the coach "out cheating" his colleagues, and I know sixcat you never said this, nor did anyone in this thread. I'm bringing it up because I heard it many times from fans here in the NR Valley.