Bluegrassrivals

Rumors are flying in New Castle that Ray Graham will be the next Football coach at Henry Co

Great hire! Is he retired? Will he teach or just coach? Will he keep the system in place or implement his own offense? Will he hire all new coaches or keep the current staff members? Will Ledford coach at Henry next year?

YES tell us old henry man......whats going on at Henry County????

Not sure about anyone coming with him. School budgets are tight, so maybe 1 coach will get hired, but that will depend on the teaching situations. I heard he runs the "System" or known as the Tony Franklin system. If anyone knows about him, please conment. I do not know the man.

Old Henry Man Wrote:Not sure about anyone coming with him. School budgets are tight, so maybe 1 coach will get hired, but that will depend on the teaching situations. I heard he runs the "System" or known as the Tony Franklin system. If anyone knows about him, please conment. I do not know the man.

You will get a great guy. He will win 6-8 games every year. He will run a 3 back power,bone,wing-t mix on offense. He will base in a 5-2 monster on d with lots of weekly adjusting. He never had many assistants at Harrison.(likes to do a lot himself)
They run the Franklin offense at LCA but Graham had no input and never ran that at Harrison.

Iam4thecats Wrote:You will get a great guy. He will win 6-8 games every year. He will run a 3 back power,bone,wing-t mix on offense. He will base in a 5-2 monster on d with lots of weekly adjusting. He never had many assistants at Harrison.(likes to do a lot himself)
They run the Franklin offense at LCA but Graham had no input and never ran that at Harrison.

It should be 8-10 games a year. I like smash mouth Football, and it may suite Henry Co.

I can say with certain matter of fact that if he changes much some of the staff will not stick around...nor will some of the kids. HC has had a great deal of success, more than any other time in school history, and the new HC could rattle the confidence if he isn't careful. However, I feel VERY certain (having talked with Ray), that nothing will change. He plans on sticking with the TFS and keeping the defense intact. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Old Henry Man Wrote:Rumors are flying in New Castle that Ray Graham will be the next Football coach at Henry Co

You are getting a quality coach and human being. He will do things with class, honor, and the way they should be. I don't see him changing his style though, he will run the system he wants.

ole ball coach Wrote:I can say with certain matter of fact that if he changes much some of the staff will not stick around...nor will some of the kids. HC has had a great deal of success, more than any other time in school history, and the new HC could rattle the confidence if he isn't careful. However, I feel VERY certain (having talked with Ray), that nothing will change. He plans on sticking with the TFS and keeping the defense intact. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Change is not always bad. From what I here, Coach Graham has alot of experience, and has been successful, so before everyone starts giving treats about leaving or players not playing give the man a chance.
This coach may gain the respect of his players.

Enjoy Ray. He is full of great stories. He is a good guy. He is a good old school football coach.

I don't disagree, however, change is not always necessary. I stand by my statement, no threats made, just the reality of the situation. However, Ray has told me he will not change much. Has some folks he wants to bring in to call the offense and is going to stick with the Franklin System and is hoping to keep Ledford to call the defense. He knows what works for this team and doesn't want to see it fall off.

The team switched Defenses last year, and they were still good on D.
I am saying let the experienced coach do his thing, and everyone should be on board. If a player quits because the team may put in a different system, the kid did not want to play much anyway.
After next year, a new system on Offense may be needed.

By the way, I hear Henry County hit a Home Run on this Hire.

I am well aware that I switched the defense last year, but I had the trust of the kids. However, I am not worried about the kids sticking around, I am worried about the staff staying intact. It is VERY difficult to put a GREAT staff together and that is what we had. Putting a staff together in a rural county is very difficult when there aren't positions offered in the school system and there just aren't many quality coaches in the county walking the streets. Right now they (current staff) are waiting to see what happens before making decisions, if they don't like the changes or feel they are going to go in the wrong direction, then I can know some that won't return. However, Ray isn't changing a thing, so YOU don't have to worry. Schemes have to be evaluated every year, but there is enough talent there for years to come to keep things fairly similar.

HC did make a good hire, but any of the finalists would have been outstanding hires. Ledford, Dawson, and Johnson would all have continued the GREAT success that we had worked to achieve.

I don't think that is your worry anymore. If the Administration was obviously worried about that then they would have hired from within. They obviously felt that this was THE BEST PERSON for the job. It does take some time to build a staff, but if they care about the kids and the school, they will put their ego's to the side and coach. Henry has improved under Billy Martin, Chris Engstrand, and should do so under Ray Graham. The latter should be easier than the pass two, because a lot of the hard work was already done by the previous head coaches.

These kids will always be my worry, so that is the end of that-don't worry what I worry about-Thanks! The administration made the hire in part because he said he would not change much (that was a primary concern of the admin-as they knew what the current staff wanted). That is a fact, and I believe the man. The assistants will stay so long as they believe in the vision and direction of the program...I believe that won't be an issue (I have known Ray for many years-he is a very close friend of mine). I certainly wish my boys luck and hope they buy into what Ray asks them to do, he is a quality man. Good luck to the cats, I'll be rooting for you!

Sounded like to me you were more worried about the staff staying. Like I said if they are big boys and care about the team, then they will stay. But they may have their feelings hurt and leave? I guess time will only tell, on that one. As for your worries I don't care. Obviously the administration makes the decisions and they thought his ideas were best for the team at this time.

Of course I am worried about the staff staying, if you coached you would understand how important a QUALITY staff is. There is a reason this program is in great shape, it's because of this staff. THEY have the RELATIONSHIP with the players, their trust, their admiration. Without that...who the head coach is doesn't matter. That is the key to success...getting kids and your staff (and yes they are all BIG boys) to believe in a vision. Only time will tell, and I wish my old friend luck. Good things will continue.

Man what us up with all these capital words(QUALITY) etc etc. This looks like a Coach J post from that other site. First of all i am Buddy Ryan just because I did not get along with Ditka, does not mean i do not understand the importance of a quality staff. On my flag football team we have an excellent staff, but we look a lot smarter when we have an easy schedule and better players. You are stressing over something you have no control over. Can we both agree Ray Graham is a great hire, he is also a dog that is used to doing his own tricks. So with that said will he change?? That is the million dollar question, and only HE knows that answer. I told my wife a lot of things to get here to marry me and I bet you did too. Now that is funny, so relax enjoy the snow, and let things work itself out.

Well, you did have a rocky relationship with Mike...what about the assistant you cold cocked, what was his name?

Got an issue with the schedule?

I am past all that now- I am calmer now. The schedule I like is all wins baby.
:biggrin:

So you've changed? Hmmm, you mean old dogs change hunh?! Interesting idea. Hope you don't punch anyone out on your flag team.

Great pickup for Henry County

Had heard that Coach Ledford sent out an email looking for some coaching jobs, does anyone know if he is definitely not going back to Henry Co.? If so, why? I thought Coach Graham wasn't going to change anything. Not looking to start anything just curious if anyone knows what is going on?

I heard that as well. You had to imagine some hurt feelings, would be a result of not getting the job.

Coach Ledford is a class act, nothing wrong with having a back up plan if you don't agree with someone's philosophies. Not saying thats the case, but that is how it goes sometimes.

ole ball coach Wrote:So you've changed? Hmmm, you mean old dogs change hunh?! Interesting idea. Hope you don't punch anyone out on your flag team.

No I will still punch out someone but not near as often as I used to. So technically I have not changed. One thing that gets me still-is when they tie their flags in a KNOT.

Good hire, should bring some excitement to the program

Great Hire.
Coach Graham is a great man.

ole ball coach has the right to worry about Henry County as much as he wants, he has gained the respect from a lot of people in the county and developed close relationships with these kids. He will always be welcome here and he worries because he cares about these kids and wants to see them succeed. Its a little different kind of relationship you develop with your FLAG football teams. (by the way tying your flags in a knot is a 15 yard penalty) ha!!