[charlie22]

I cant disagree with you, but in most schools around Eastern Ky, you'd be hard pressed to find any coaches who know how to develop speed out of a player. And the ones who do, obviously dont want to move here.
The one thing i believe a lot of schools need to realize is that speed is the number one thing in todays high school game. You can beat a team on that alone. To many EKY schools are hung up on getting there players to bench and squat as much as possible, when in reality, the players would be better off losing weight and getting lighter on there feet so they can move faster.

The one big difference that remains is that no matter how much you improve a players speed, schools in EKY still dont have the speed that schools in NKY and Lville has. Most of your best EKY RB's wasnt necessarily fast, as far as the track is concerned, but they were very elusive and hard to tackle. However, when playing teams from around the state with speed, there just runned down on every play. A school in EKY may have 3 or 4 really fast kids who are good running the ball, but when there pass game is non existent and the other team has TEAM speed on defense, they get tracked down every time. Which is exactly what happened in the Highlands/Whitley game in 08.


I blame it all on the passing game. They need to do away with passing nicker:

Definitely agree with you on speed being the name of the game. Wouldn't know if the problem in eastern Ky is due to the coaches not knowing how to develop speed and quickness or a result of a conscious decision to play the style of ball that they do (which calls for big, bulky and slow O linemen spending a whole lot of time on bench and squat lifts).

If you watch Highlands D carefully, it's very rare that one defender is on the tackle. It's usually several. Part of that is attitude and coaching. Part of it is that the opponent's O linemen have not developed the foot speed, quickness and technique needed to be able to maintain blocks, thus allowing Highlands defenders to get off the blocks and be able to fly to the ball.

To be fair to the eastern Ky coaches, it's not easy to just switch mentalities and off season workout philosophies. An assistant coach at another northern Kentucky school told me that after years of lobbying his head coach, he was finally able to convince the head coach to switch their off season program to something similar to what Highlands does. Rather than spending most of the time lifting, they started running their kids a lot and doing a lot of bag work and other quickness and speed drills. As is the case at Highlands, lots of garbage cans became vomit recepticles. :biggrin: It was tough; real tough. Kids started quitting. Parents started complaining. Administrators started questioning. Head coach said the heck with it and went back to the old system emphasizing lifting over conditioning and footwork.

Because of the other variables and priorities you and others mentioned, the crueling conditioning sessions are "accepted" by the Highlands players. At schools that don't possess those other variables and priorities, it's much tougher to do what Highlands does. The other northern Kentucky school I mentioned tried to make the switch too fast and the players were not ready for it. Should have been a more gradual conversion.

[SPORTS FAN 101]

Athletes
Athletes with work ethic
Coaches
Support from ADMINISTRATION AND PARENTS....
Good feeder program

[30 going on 40]

Why do you not see more white guys on the best 4x100 relay teams? Why are the best college football teams dominated by black kids in the skill positions?

Let me ask you this, how many places in KY have you lived? Or better yet (assuming here from your post), have you ever lived out of the EKY area? Just an honest question.

As far as Highlands goes, like it or not, they don't have many kids on their team who come from down on the farm or back in the holler and have parents/relatives who haven't ever picked up a ball, let a lone a football.

There isn't an offseason work out regime in the world that can turn thick ankles into skinny ones. Sorry.

No, but you can improve body comp. If it isn't going to start at home, then coaches need to bring in someone who can give athletes access to proper nutrition. It may not make their bones any less thick, but it will deflate the tires around the bellies.

[Fly Like a Duck]

No, but you can improve body comp. If it isn't going to start at home, then coaches need to bring in someone who can give athletes access to proper nutrition. It may not make their bones any less thick, but it will deflate the tires around the bellies.

Absolutely it can. All I'm getting to is the agility part. I know several who are lean/fit looking individuals who can't move for jack. At least not like you think they would be able to do.

It's like those "ceilings" I talked about. Everybody has one. Some are just a lot shorter than others, and for nothing more than bc of their DNA.

:Thumbs:

[30 going on 40]

Absolutely it can. All I'm getting to is the agility part. I know several who are lean/fit looking individuals who can't move for jack. At least not like you think they would be able to do.

It's like those "ceilings" I talked about. Everybody has one. Some are just a lot shorter than others, and for nothing more than bc of their DNA.

:Thumbs:

Like others have said, DNA...yeah. However, where NKY is really lucky, is that there are a ton of speed development programs here outstide of what the high schools offer. I did Tekulve's Accelerated Training in Cincinnati in the late 90's. Now there are at least 5 other programs dedicated to year round athletic improvement.

I do think that you are spot on w/ how important tradition is. Highlands fans are obnoxious to the 10000th power, but it is due to pride. Many had Grandpas, fathers, uncles, cousins, brothers all play and win. Kids grow up wanting to be Bluebirds. That is something that can't be manufactured, it is organic and grows out living the experience.

[2dog]

You said it with the african american population being higher as well. You're exactly right. It matters, especially if you are having to compete against schools with black athletes. If you aren't, then it doesnt matter so much.

Also, I was talking with a good friend of mine and he had an interesting criteria of factors that help seperate the "haves, from the have nots". And, it goes as follows (yes, there are exceptions to every rule), but the criteria goes as follows; the more of the following that you have AGAINST you, the harder it is:

1) Size of school (3A or smaller)
2) Soccer
3) "County"/rural school (non Independent) or in an area of <25,000 people
4) Large/Successfull band (not that football loses many kids to band, but for some reason, you just don
t see smaller schools that are adequately able to support both)
5) FFA
6) Black Athletes (lack of)


Personally, I think these factors above and my orignal post have a lot more to do with the rhyme to the reason(s) before anything else does.
The more of these that you have

#6? I went to one of the best programs in the state and we were all white. We beat the crap out of all or mostly black schools all the time! I DO NOT mean this as a racist statement, it's just the truth.

[2dog]

Definitely agree with you on speed being the name of the game. Wouldn't know if the problem in eastern Ky is due to the coaches not knowing how to develop speed and quickness or a result of a conscious decision to play the style of ball that they do (which calls for big, bulky and slow O linemen spending a whole lot of time on bench and squat lifts).

If you watch Highlands D carefully, it's very rare that one defender is on the tackle. It's usually several. Part of that is attitude and coaching. Part of it is that the opponent's O linemen have not developed the foot speed, quickness and technique needed to be able to maintain blocks, thus allowing Highlands defenders to get off the blocks and be able to fly to the ball.

To be fair to the eastern Ky coaches, it's not easy to just switch mentalities and off season workout philosophies. An assistant coach at another northern Kentucky school told me that after years of lobbying his head coach, he was finally able to convince the head coach to switch their off season program to something similar to what Highlands does. Rather than spending most of the time lifting, they started running their kids a lot and doing a lot of bag work and other quickness and speed drills. As is the case at Highlands, lots of garbage cans became vomit recepticles. :biggrin: It was tough; real tough. Kids started quitting. Parents started complaining. Administrators started questioning. Head coach said the heck with it and went back to the old system emphasizing lifting over conditioning and footwork.

Because of the other variables and priorities you and others mentioned, the crueling conditioning sessions are "accepted" by the Highlands players. At schools that don't possess those other variables and priorities, it's much tougher to do what Highlands does. The other northern Kentucky school I mentioned tried to make the switch too fast and the players were not ready for it. Should have been a more gradual conversion.

Charlie, you and I will never forget how tough a Highlands practice was! Death Valley and the Sled! No water ever! Bur haircuts during the longhaired hippy days! Run, run, run! When I was in Army basic training others asked me how a short fat boy could be so fast and tough. I just said, If you've been through a program like Highlands, this isn't so bad.:Thumbs:

[Harry Doyle]

.

[Harry Doyle]

.

[Hoot Gibson]

1. Head coach
.
.
.
.
everything else...

A good football program will quickly rot from the head with one bad hire. At Johnson Central, Bill Musick worked very actively with the Johnson Country elementary and middle school programs to build one of the best feeder systems in eastern Kentucky.

In Musick's final season, the Golden Eagles went undefeated in the regular season and seemed to have everything in place to continue its successful program. Yet, when Johnson County fumbled the hiring decision of Musick's two immediate successors, the team won only 3 games over the next three seasons.

Tradition, a good feeder system, a strong staff, community support, location, etc., all contribute to the success of a good football program, but a weak head coach can make any program look bad in a hurry. Because Musick had build a strong foundation, Jim Matney was able to turn Johnson Central's program around quickly, but if the school had hired another mediocre coach in his stead, then none of the hard work that Music did would have mattered.

[truebluefan89]

A good team may have a shot at winning it all in any one season, but the teams that are there competing for the ship year in and year out have a ladder:
1. Feeder programs
2. Support- community and school system
3. Athletes- large# that WANT to play
4. Head coach- an army is nothing without a leader
5. Good coaching staff- talent is only raw if it is not developed in a cohesive unit

Take any rung out of that ladder, and you will not go to the top

[Fly Like a Duck]

Listening to Bo Pelini at Nebraska today, and talking about how to make Nebraska successful, it takes going coast to coast to recruit...his reason is the obvious one, "population" (or lack of in Nebraska). He's right. All of us I think will acknowledge that when it comes to college football.

But, as I've said before, it also matters at the high school level. It might not be necessarily in true numbers of total population, but a small enrollment with a concentrated area of population (a lot of your 1A-3A Independent schools).