Players from TC say that their coach has been let go. Opinions on this and possible options for new coach? Cobb from Campbellsville perhaps? Griffiths frpm Green?
...Please change to Cotton, not Connon, thanks
The new coach will have their hands full because Taylor is in the district with Boyle, Lex-Cath, Mercer, and Marion.
Coach Cotton is a very good coach and has had success every where he has been. Taylor should be ashamed to only give him one year on the job. This program has always been bad and with this show of spinelessness by the administration it will only get worse. Taylor is a bottom teir job and will take years to even build a solid foundation. Giving a coach 1 year is a joke. Even after posting a 1-9 record, I understand that the staff had 65 kids out for winter workouts and the kids were buying in and working hard. Those type of numbers and player effort speak volumes about the direction the program was going.
This job may look somewhat appealing from the outside but do not be fooled. It is an awful job. Parents have unrealistic expecations of success and believe their student athletes should achieve this success without hard work. Obviously the administration has shown they are a bunch of yellow belly cowards. They can't stand up to pressure concerning the hire they have made. With Taylor moving in the district with Boyle, Lex Cath, Mercer, and Marion I don't think a quality coach would touch this job with a ten foot pole. I hope no one takes the job and the program crumbles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
papa pigskin Wrote:Coach Cotton is a very good coach and has had success every where he has been. Taylor should be ashamed to only give him one year on the job. This program has always been bad and with this show of spinelessness by the administration it will only get worse. Taylor is a bottom teir job and will take years to even build a solid foundation. Giving a coach 1 year is a joke. Even after posting a 1-9 record, I understand that the staff had 65 kids out for winter workouts and the kids were buying in and working hard. Those type of numbers and player effort speak volumes about the direction the program was going.
This job may look somewhat appealing from the outside but do not be fooled. It is an awful job. Parents have unrealistic expecations of success and believe their student athletes should achieve this success without hard work. Obviously the administration has shown they are a bunch of yellow belly cowards. They can't stand up to pressure concerning the hire they have made. With Taylor moving in the district with Boyle, Lex Cath, Mercer, and Marion I don't think a quality coach would touch this job with a ten foot pole. I hope no one takes the job and the program crumbles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree that if he was let go because of the record after one season, it is a bad move. As for expectation, every program that is halfway descent has the pressure of expectation. The school district is going to be building a new Elem. School and High-school that will have facilities that are as good if not better than most in the state. The parents are overzealous in Taylor County and they do make the coaching job miserable. The new hire needs to let the parents know where their role is and that is in the stands cheering for the kids. But everyone has a right to express their opinions in the end.
I also agree more than 1 year is needed. Even the great Chuck Smith had a 2-9 season early at Boyle. Good thing the people that had the power gave him the time needed to turn things around. :Thumbs:
Rebel55 Wrote:I also agree more than 1 year is needed. Even the great Chuck Smith had a 2-9 season early at Boyle. Good thing the people that had the power gave him the time needed to turn things around. :Thumbs:
Agreed. However, Chuck Smith will also be the first one to tell you that he had an administration that completely sold out towards making the program at Boyle a 1st class one. He also had a community that was hungry to win, but took a step back and let him do his thing. He also didn't have the likes of four teams heads and shoulders better than him standing in the way of making the playoffs. Yes, Boyle had Danville who was in their prime, but after that it was Estill County, Powell County, Western Hills, Mercer County, etc. In the early 90's, those were your very bottom tier of 2A schools.
Mercer County of today with the addition of Rains and the talent he will be inheriting, Marion County and how Jeff Robbins has turned that program around, Lexington Catholic and Boyle County in the same district as Taylor County the next four years is a totally different monster. All four of those schools are leaps and bounds ahead of Taylor. If they were still in their 3A district of Wayne, Jackson, Garrard, Casey and Somerset, then this job is a little bit more attractive.
I'll be highly surprised to see anybody, with any credentials at all (even well groomed assistants out there) want to go after this job. And, for those wondering about the merger of Campbellsville-Taylor County? Forget it. Even if it was to happen, it wont be in the next 4-5 years, and that's at the earliest if it did, which it won't.
Harry Doyle Wrote:Agreed. However, Chuck Smith will also be the first one to tell you that he had an administration that completely sold out towards making the program at Boyle a 1st class one. He also had a community that was hungry to win, but took a step back and let him do his thing. He also didn't have the likes of four teams heads and shoulders better than him standing in the way of making the playoffs. Yes, Boyle had Danville who was in their prime, but after that it was Estill County, Powell County, Western Hills, Mercer County, etc. In the early 90's, those were your very bottom tier of 2A schools.
Mercer County of today with the addition of Rains and the talent he will be inheriting, Marion County and how Jeff Robbins has turned that program around, Lexington Catholic and Boyle County in the same district as Taylor County the next four years is a totally different monster. All four of those schools are leaps and bounds ahead of Taylor. If they were still in their 3A district of Wayne, Jackson, Garrard, Casey and Somerset, then this job is a little bit more attractive.
I'll be highly surprised to see anybody, with any credentials at all (even well groomed assistants out there) want to go after this job. And, for those wondering about the merger of Campbellsville-Taylor County? Forget it. Even if it was to happen, it wont be in the next 4-5 years, and that's at the earliest if it did, which it won't.
As far as the job being attractive, it can be looked at a different way. What better opportunity is there than going to a school that is no good and plays against the best. If you even compete, not even win, then it opens up jobs all over the state. Reminds me of Kentucky vs. The SEC on a smaller scale. I look at what has happened just down the road about 15 minutes in Green County when wanting an example of a bad program turning into a very good one, it can be done with the right peices in place. Will it happen in 1-2 years, absolutely not. A program in the shape that TC is in needs at least 4-5 years to change the culture surrounding the program.
Why is Taylor County so bad relative to their competition?
-Is there is feeder program in place there locally that preps kids for Middle School football?
-Is there a stength and conditioning program that has produced 8 or 10 kids with 300 plus bench presses?
-Are there other sports in the school that attract and keep the best athletes?
Has to be some explanations that help to explain why this is the case.
Football1 Wrote:Why is Taylor County so bad relative to their competition?
-Is there is feeder program in place there locally that preps kids for Middle School football?
-Is there a stength and conditioning program that has produced 8 or 10 kids with 300 plus bench presses?
-Are there other sports in the school that attract and keep the best athletes?
Has to be some explanations that help to explain why this is the case.
1. There is a community football program as well as a program that Coach Cotton started to prep TC kids for their MS.
2. Lack of a legit strength and conditioning program is obvious even though if you ask the players, they would tell you that they do have a weight program, but obvioulsy, it is one that is not working. A strength coach is needed to oversee nothing but the strength and conditioning aspect.
3. They had the kids out last season, just not prepared to compete physically or fundementally. There is not another program @ the school that has better athletes, most play Football and another sport.
The line play for TCHS was the worst I have seen in years and they had no chance offensively. The kids were not physically prepared to compete and showed a total lack of knowledge of fundementals. There is not a certain person to blame for these issues, but Coach Cotton was the scapegoat IMO.
TheBrahmaBull Wrote:1. There is a community football program as well as a program that Coach Cotton started to prep TC kids for their MS.
2. Lack of a legit strength and conditioning program is obvious even though if you ask the players, they would tell you that they do have a weight program, but obvioulsy, it is one that is not working. A strength coach is needed to oversee nothing but the strength and conditioning aspect.
3. They had the kids out last season, just not prepared to compete physically or fundementally. There is not another program @ the school that has better athletes, most play Football and another sport.
The line play for TCHS was the worst I have seen in years and they had no chance offensively. The kids were not physically prepared to compete and showed a total lack of knowledge of fundementals. There is not a certain person to blame for these issues, but Coach Cotton was the scapegoat IMO.
It is amazing how the sport of football has changed over the years. No other sport is so heavily dependent on its players working hard in the weight room. In the last 7 years Coach Mills has transformed Knox Central by starting in the gym. Kids who don't lift for him don't play for him. They hold the white line down on Friday nights. Kids who buy in and commit transform in size and strength and they learn the value of working hard to achieve results.
It sounds like whoever lands this job will need to start by pushing kids to push iron and lots of it. Offensive line is the biggest place where a strength program or lack of it will show up for a team. Teams today generally put their 11 best athletes on defense. If your o-line can't hold them off so your can toss or or create a gap to run in you simply will not have success. That starts with bench, power clean, and squat for those big kids who without these lifts typically are just overweight big guys who represent little threat to a Dlineman who trains hard.
I wish them the best as they search for a leader who will be signing up for a big building project. But a journey of a 1000 miles starts with one step. Somebody has to sound the "forward march" so that journey can begin.
Football1 Wrote:It is amazing how the sport of football has changed over the years. No other sport is so heavily dependent on its players working hard in the weight room. In the last 7 years Coach Mills has transformed Knox Central by starting in the gym. Kids who don't lift for him don't play for him. They hold the white line down on Friday nights. Kids who buy in and commit transform in size and strength and they learn the value of working hard to achieve results.
It sounds like whoever lands this job will need to start by pushing kids to push iron and lots of it. Offensive line is the biggest place where a strength program or lack of it will show up for a team. Teams today generally put their 11 best athletes on defense. If your o-line can't hold them off so your can toss or or create a gap to run in you simply will not have success. That starts with bench, power clean, and squat for those big kids who without these lifts typically are just overweight big guys who represent little threat to a Dlineman who trains hard.
I wish them the best as they search for a leader who will be signing up for a big building project. But a journey of a 1000 miles starts with one step. Somebody has to sound the "forward march" so that journey can begin.
:Thumbs:
They were the poorest prepared team that I saw on film all of last season. Don't put it on the kids when the coach did a terriable job of adjusting his system to the talent he had available. Kids will rise to the expectations you place on them. Apparently there weren't enough expectations placed on the weight room. Coach Cotton did a terrible job coaching, hired an awful staff, and lost his team by the end of the season. I think their numbers dropped by 20 or so kids by seasons end. Put the blame where it needs to be, on the man in charge.
Taylor County screwed up on this one...it will be hard to find someone to step into this mess. Good luck.
papa pigskin Wrote:Can a guy that is hired in late spring really have much impact on the strength and conditioning of his team? If they were physically not up to par with other high school teams that is the fault of the previous coach. He definitely isn't responsible for having physically weak upper classman, that falls on the last staff. If given time im sure they would have vastly improved they strength and speed. To see results a solid winter program must be in place for several years. As I understand it they had a very solid one going at Taylor this off-season. The OL coach at Taylor designed the strength program. That same OL coach designed the strength program at Anderson County while he was there. You should check out their turnaround as far as strength and conditioning is concerned. They were featured in Bigger Faster Stronger magazine a few years ago. That same Anderson team went from winning 1 or 2 games a year to being a consistent winner year in and year out. Taylor could learn from some programs around the area in Anderson, Green and even as far back as Chuck Smith at Boyle. Hire a coach give him support, get out of his way and let him have time to build a program. If Boyle was trigger happy to fire coaches like Taylor then Chuck Smith would have never won his first state championship, let alone the four more that followed. Instead he would have been fired after a season or two of 8 or 9 losses.
This whole situation is a joke. I hope Coach Cotton lands on his feet at Mercer as the OC and scores 100 points on Taylor. They deserve every loss they get!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think we all will agree that one season is not enough to build a competitive football program. We do not know what led to this. I will support the kids and will watch them realistically year in and year out. But I expect the best effort from the kids and the people who run the program, no excuses. A few years ago Breathitt County had the motto "Find a Way" and that is what this program needs to do instead of making excuses and playing the blame game.
This is unfortunate, Never thought very high of the franklin system, because it doesnt actually need a coach, just someone with a card. I think Cotton came from LCA ????Maybe, but if he did, with the team they had last year they would have won the title with the wishbone. I think this is just a case that the SYSTEM isnt very reliable or doesnt actually show the true attributes of coaches ... But one year isnt alot of time.. But if it dont fit, it dont fit. Its hard to think Taylor could ever run something that takes kids with speed..
"There are more jobs and someone always ready to take one"
Football1 Wrote:It is amazing how the sport of football has changed over the years. No other sport is so heavily dependent on its players working hard in the weight room. In the last 7 years Coach Mills has transformed Knox Central by starting in the gym. Kids who don't lift for him don't play for him. They hold the white line down on Friday nights. Kids who buy in and commit transform in size and strength and they learn the value of working hard to achieve results.
It sounds like whoever lands this job will need to start by pushing kids to push iron and lots of it. Offensive line is the biggest place where a strength program or lack of it will show up for a team. Teams today generally put their 11 best athletes on defense. If your o-line can't hold them off so your can toss or or create a gap to run in you simply will not have success. That starts with bench, power clean, and squat for those big kids who without these lifts typically are just overweight big guys who represent little threat to a Dlineman who trains hard.
I wish them the best as they search for a leader who will be signing up for a big building project. But a journey of a 1000 miles starts with one step. Somebody has to sound the "forward march" so that journey can begin.
All of this was going on in the staffs first real off-season with the players.
Jackson05 Wrote:They were the poorest prepared team that I saw on film all of last season. Don't put it on the kids when the coach did a terriable job of adjusting his system to the talent he had available. Kids will rise to the expectations you place on them. Apparently there weren't enough expectations placed on the weight room. Coach Cotton did a terrible job coaching, hired an awful staff, and lost his team by the end of the season. I think their numbers dropped by 20 or so kids by seasons end. Put the blame where it needs to be, on the man in charge.
He beat your team and called off the dogs in the 4th quarter. You posted last year in a Campbellsville thread that Taylor had lost everything from 09. So he took "nothing" and beat you. How about you go apply and see what you can do in 1 year?
Not from Jackson Co. big guy so nice try. They did lose a lot but should have still been a .500 team last year. Better luck guessing next time.
Jackson05 Wrote:They were the poorest prepared team that I saw on film all of last season. Don't put it on the kids when the coach did a terriable job of adjusting his system to the talent he had available. Kids will rise to the expectations you place on them. Apparently there weren't enough expectations placed on the weight room. Coach Cotton did a terrible job coaching, hired an awful staff, and lost his team by the end of the season. I think their numbers dropped by 20 or so kids by seasons end. Put the blame where it needs to be, on the man in charge.
Coach Cotton is a good knowlegeable coach and knows x's and o's as good as anyone. You have to go into a job with a system and see how it works. I am sure he and his staff were already in discussion this off-season to implement or modify their schemes to adjust to the players. Everything in building a program takes more than one season. Im sure kids were prepared, execution on the otherhand may have been lacking. However, at all levels of football winning teams do 2 things well, block and tackle. Until this new staff had enough time to build the foundation of these 2 fundamental skills of football you could have had Bill Belichik coaching them and have the best schemes in the world but Taylor wouldn't have tasted success.
Kids rise or
fall based on the expectations you put on them. Coach Cotton and the staff came in and tried to instill a culture of accountability and discipline. Because of this, I would say he ended up with 20 less kids because they weren't willing to make a committment to the new expectations.
How can you blame Taylor's physical ineptitude on Coach Cotton and his committment to the offseason. The players he inherited obviously hadn't been held accountable to train in the off-season with the last staff. Coach Cotton hasn't even been on the job for one calander year. When you get a job in late spring you have to get the weights going as good as you can and hit the ground running with everything else. To see results you must have a sound winter program in for several years. As I understand it, the staff had 65 kids out for winter conditioning which started in November. So maybe those 20 they lost during the season were cancerous. They implemented the Bigger Faster Stronger weight program, which is proven, and added stretching and speed exercises from a track program. Some of the staff also visited Highlands and watched their off-season workouts to see what the best team in the state does to instill year round competition. We all know that Highlands is the standard in Ky high school football. So, from what I gather the staff was steering the ship in a very positive direction. However, we won't get to see where they might have taken the program.
Taylor County must think it is on the level of Trinity, Highlands, and Boyle. However, they don't understand that these programs weren't built over night. If Boyle had acted like Taylor then Chuck Smith would have been fired after his first or second season and Boyle would have never won a state championship, let alone the 4 more consecutive ones that followed.
I believe the Superintendent of the Schools is the problem. I think he has a major ego and being a former coach he tries to meddle too much. If I were him I would let the coaches do their job considering his record as a high school head football coach is well below .500!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe the district overall would be a better place if he tried supporting employees and motivating them instead of ruling by intimidation.
This whole situation is stupid. The people of Taylor have no idea what it takes to be successful. Maybe they could learn from the Anderson, Green, Allen, and Boyle Counties of the world. Those that know hard work will know success and those that have no hard will have no success. The administration and community need a reality check. God help the next coach that takes this job.
I hope Coach Cotton lands on his feet as the OC at Mercer and scores 100 points on Taylor. They deserve every loss they get!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is coach Cotton. I'd like to comment and put and end to this thread. I was so desperate to be a head coach I took the job without having met Cook or interviewed with him. My mistake. Then when I did get it I went all in committing to a long term re-building project with all my heart, brought my family here and bought my house. I instituted a program of fairness, character and accountability, began teaching fundamentals, instituted a feeder program, scheduled a freshman and full jv schedule and began the BFS strength and conditioning program. Not surprisingly not every kid and parent bought in right away. These are the things that will begin to show dividends in the long run. Every decision I made was to build long term dividends and permanent lasting success. In essence I was building a PROGRAM not a team for a season. I was given less than 1 year. Big mistake committing to people I don't know. I should have never come here but I'm a grown up and I did and now i'm paying for it. Another coach on my staff moved here from Mississippi and bought a house also. I feel bad for him and i'm sorry. I feel bad for the kids who had now bought in and i'm sorry for what their future looks like now.
Coach Cotton...you are a class act...I wish you well where ever you land. As for Taylor County...they just lost out on a good one. I hope people in Kentucky will learn that high school sports isn't the pro's or college football. It takes more than a year or 2 to get a program going in the right direction. I'm embarrassed on the way some coaches are being dismissed or forced to resign this year in Kentucky. Nobody realizes the true stakeholders in all this and who it hurts...which is the players.
Iam4thecats Wrote:This is coach Cotton. I'd like to comment and put and end to this thread. I was so desperate to be a head coach I took the job without having met Cook or interviewed with him. My mistake. Then when I did get it I went all in committing to a long term re-building project with all my heart, brought my family here and bought my house. I instituted a program of fairness, character and accountability, began teaching fundamentals, instituted a feeder program, scheduled a freshman and full jv schedule and began the BFS strength and conditioning program. Not surprisingly not every kid and parent bought in right away. These are the things that will begin to show dividends in the long run. Every decision I made was to build long term dividends and permanent lasting success. In essence I was building a PROGRAM not a team for a season. I was given less than 1 year. Big mistake committing to people I don't know. I should have never come here but I'm a grown up and I did and now i'm paying for it. Another coach on my staff moved here from Mississippi and bought a house also. I feel bad for him and i'm sorry. I feel bad for the kids who had now bought in and i'm sorry for what their future looks like now.
This thread was the first time I had ever heard of Taylor county so I certainly don't you or much about what you did or did not do. But I know it took guts to post publically what you said. That is admirable and to me a strong indication of what this program lost by not seeing you through the storm of a bad 1st campaign. Football, more so than any other sport, is not about having a couple of rock stars (who toss 90 mph or score 30 a game). Winning is a harvest that only comes when all the other work is done and time is provided for it to take root and show up as stregnth, loyalty, team atmosphere, and much more.
Lou Hotlz could not take a broken system in HS and make all that happen in 1 year. Best wishes for finding more fertile ground next time.
TheBrahmaBull Wrote:Players from TC say that their coach has been let go. Opinions on this and possible options for new coach? Cobb from Campbellsville perhaps? Griffiths frpm Green?
...Please change to Cotton, not Connon, thanks
why was he let go? wasn't he there for like a year?
Strikeout King Wrote:why was he let go? wasn't he there for like a year?
I dunno. But I agree with the rest of ya that 1 year is not enough time to turn anything around. I hope that there was another reason rather than the record.
Iam4thecats Wrote:This is coach Cotton. I'd like to comment and put and end to this thread. I was so desperate to be a head coach I took the job without having met Cook or interviewed with him. My mistake. Then when I did get it I went all in committing to a long term re-building project with all my heart, brought my family here and bought my house. I instituted a program of fairness, character and accountability, began teaching fundamentals, instituted a feeder program, scheduled a freshman and full jv schedule and began the BFS strength and conditioning program. Not surprisingly not every kid and parent bought in right away. These are the things that will begin to show dividends in the long run. Every decision I made was to build long term dividends and permanent lasting success. In essence I was building a PROGRAM not a team for a season. I was given less than 1 year. Big mistake committing to people I don't know. I should have never come here but I'm a grown up and I did and now i'm paying for it. Another coach on my staff moved here from Mississippi and bought a house also. I feel bad for him and i'm sorry. I feel bad for the kids who had now bought in and i'm sorry for what their future looks like now.
Sounds like you have your mind and plans in the right place. Wish you and the coach that came from Mississippi the best. We all agree that one year is not enough time to build a program, especially when there is not one when you came in. You had to start from scratch and did like you said, you were not building a team for one season, rather a program that would be competitive for multiple seasons. :Thumbs:
Football1 Wrote:This thread was the first time I had ever heard of Taylor county so I certainly don't you or much about what you did or did not do. But I know it took guts to post publically what you said. That is admirable and to me a strong indication of what this program lost by not seeing you through the storm of a bad 1st campaign. Football, more so than any other sport, is not about having a couple of rock stars (who toss 90 mph or score 30 a game). Winning is a harvest that only comes when all the other work is done and time is provided for it to take root and show up as stregnth, loyalty, team atmosphere, and much more.
Lou Hotlz could not take a broken system in HS and make all that happen in 1 year. Best wishes for finding more fertile ground next time.
:Thumbs:
I moved to Campbellsville 5 years ago and coached Babe Ruth team. The parents were great during the regular season when we won the Title, but when things got tough in the District they turned on me quickly. I talked to coaches in the City and from around the area and they said that Taylor County had a bad reputation in regards to the attitude and that they had a perceived superiority complex. I know when Coach Cotton went through as far as the parents and it is almost an impossible job to coach in TC. There are hundreds if not thousands of wannabe coaches in TC that know more than the coach in their mind.
Go Eagles Wrote:Taylor County screwed up on this one...it will be hard to find someone to step into this mess. Good luck.
Sounds like it was a mess before Coach Cotton took over and sounds like he had some good things going. It is terrible to put the blame on the new coach after just one season.
TheBrahmaBull Wrote:I moved to Campbellsville 5 years ago and coached Babe Ruth team. The parents were great during the regular season when we won the Title, but when things got tough in the District they turned on me quickly. I talked to coaches in the City and from around the area and they said that Taylor County had a bad reputation in regards to the attitude and that they had a perceived superiority complex. I know when Coach Cotton went through as far as the parents and it is almost an impossible job to coach in TC. There are hundreds if not thousands of wannabe coaches in TC that know more than the coach in their mind.
:ChairHit:
TheBrahmaBull Wrote:I moved to Campbellsville 5 years ago and coached Babe Ruth team. The parents were great during the regular season when we won the Title, but when things got tough in the District they turned on me quickly. I talked to coaches in the City and from around the area and they said that Taylor County had a bad reputation in regards to the attitude and that they had a perceived superiority complex. I know when Coach Cotton went through as far as the parents and it is almost an impossible job to coach in TC. There are hundreds if not thousands of wannabe coaches in TC that know more than the coach in their mind.
Nothing can compare to the satisfaction of coaching a youth sport and seeing a young kid learn a new skill and maybe even develop a little self confidence. ON THE OTHER hand, nothing can rival the frustration of dealing with that kids parent when he doesn't get to pitch or he bats in the wrong place in the order, or whatever mommy and daddy feels isn't just right... brings back bad memories. Special thanks to you and any person who has ever had to deal with such parents in TC or your county.