[Gridiron_Raid]

I would not usually post this, but last night was so disturbing that I need to see if anyone else has noticed this. Harlan came to Bell last night, and Derrick Akal may have had the worst coaching performance I have ever seen. He never got off the bench once, never said a word unless he was laughing or talking to someone behind the bench. After half the team had came back on the floor, and the refs had to wait for him to get back to the gym. His team was there, they were about to start, and then here came akal with no care in the world. He then was staring in the crowd for a while cause all the Harlan Girls parents had left, because they were down by 40 at half, and you could read his lips saying “where is everyone.” His assistant stood up to coach someone on the floor, and akal pulled his shirt. Now i don’t know what he said, but that was an awkward interaction. He never called a time out once, never called a play, nothing. When they played at Harlan, he got a technical for saying more cuss words at a ref than what the Lynn Camp coach said in that video. 

Someone that people used to claim was a top 5 region coach, or even higher, just went to the bottom of any of my tiers of coaches. I have seen winless teams from christian academy’s and missions have 100 times the passion that was shown last night. I think it was shameful and he should step down at the end of this year or Harlan Ind will never have a player again that doesn’t transfer to the team down the road.

[shottaker23]

I would not usually post this, but last night was so disturbing that I need to see if anyone else has noticed this. Harlan came to Bell last night, and Derrick Akal may have had the worst coaching performance I have ever seen. He never got off the bench once, never said a word unless he was laughing or talking to someone behind the bench. After half the team had came back on the floor, and the refs had to wait for him to get back to the gym. His team was there, they were about to start, and then here came akal with no care in the world. He then was staring in the crowd for a while cause all the Harlan Girls parents had left, because they were down by 40 at half, and you could read his lips saying “where is everyone.” His assistant stood up to coach someone on the floor, and akal pulled his shirt. Now i don’t know what he said, but that was an awkward interaction. He never called a time out once, never called a play, nothing. When they played at Harlan, he got a technical for saying more cuss words at a ref than what the Lynn Camp coach said in that video. 

Someone that people used to claim was a top 5 region coach, or even higher, just went to the bottom of any of my tiers of coaches. I have seen winless teams from christian academy’s and missions have 100 times the passion that was shown last night. I think it was shameful and he should step down at the end of this year or Harlan Ind will never have a player again that doesn’t transfer to the team down the road.

I've been around the 13th for a while, and Akal while being a good person, has never been confused with being a Top 5 coach lol. Even his good teams pretty much done everything on their own, he never did much coaching. Granted his talent level is wayyyyyy down this year but their is a few good looking younger kids---if someone would work with them. Best of luck to the kids in a bad situation.

[HCS]

Akal has coached like that for years. I saw them Saturday and he was up several times against Jackson over at Clay County. I didn't see last night except on the computer, and I didn't really notice.
I think the logic is he prepares them for what they are going to do in practice and doesn't feel the need to run up and down the sideline.
I've never coached, so I wouldn't try to say what's the best way to handle that, but he has had quite a bit of success over the years. He won two girls 13th Region titles at a high school with less than 200 kids.
Harlan had been a non-factor in boys basketball since the glory days of the 90s. I think they made it to the regional once in around 15 years. He took them seven straight times. He won three All A regional titles in a row and was runner up last year.
I saw them over the summer and thought it was the worst Harlan team in 40-plus years. They looked like a below average junior varsity team. It amazed they were up 19 at Knox a few weeks back and they have been competitive in several games this year even with four freshmen starting. They have almost no chance to be competitive this year and are already a lot better than I anticipated.

[15thRegionFan1515]

Akal always coaches like that. His players know what is expected of them.

[Old School Hound]

13th Region KABC Coach of the Year for '22-'23 season.

[TopSportsFan23]

Great coach. 
End of the day all coaches are great 
When they have great players
In high school 
When they don’t it is also their fault 
Small school
Small community 
Big rival down the road 
But reality is he a good coach who the community loves and also is competitive when he has players

[Old School Hound]

Mark Pope couldn't win with the kids Harlan has right now.

[runthepill]

This team actually is not far behind the Harlan 2017 team. I believe that team won 5 games and his son was an 8th grader. This team starts 4 freshmen and the 17 team actually had some veteran players with his son. Also 2 of the 3 that come off the bench are freshmen as well. Get back with me in 2 yrs and then we can have this Derrick Akal discussion again

[Cyrus Jones]

I've only caught a couple of Harlan's games this year but I don't understand the correlation between standing up and yelling and being a good coach. I would think that this year on the boys side of Harlan is more about teachable moments than anything.

[Gridiron_Raid]

Just replying in a post directed toward anyone and everyone, there isn’t a correlation between standing up, or even yelling, and being a good coach. But there is a correlation between giving effort to your players and being a coach I can respect on the sideline. When I watched them play against middlesboro last week, he stood and communicated with his players actively. He was engaging. He was interactive. However at Bell he never said a word, looked up from his hands or clipboard very seldom, and sometimes didn’t go into the huddle for timeouts. Now he may have had the stomach bug, Who knows. But I think when you are in a big game against a more talented team, that is when you can teach young guys in the moment more than anything. I can speak from experience.
When Brad Sizemore had a team of a sophomore, 2 freshman, and 8th graders off the bench. HE WAS MORE ENGAGED THAN EVER in these games. Those players learned early on what it’s like to play a district opponent on the road and what adjustments they have to make, even down 20 or more. That team should’ve won less than 10 games and found a way to win 15. Now look where the same players are, neck and neck with HC for a chance to go to rupp.
Akal had players on the floor lost, and he gave no direction. A few days later, and a few days after my original post was made, he was as engaging as ever for a district win. When you don’t have the talent to sit back in your chair and watch them out-athlete every team they play like 2 years ago, you have to be a coach. In my opinion if you are going to hate on Calapari for his coaching tactics with talent or when he didn’t have it, same goes for Akal.