[tcb]

COUGARMAMA,
I am definitely not blaming the boys for last year. I just think it was a bad year all the way around and I do think it was mainly because of transition (Change) and it wasn't good for anyone. The coaches came in with a mindset and stuck to it regardless of how bad it got and it wasn't good for our kids. Our kids were used to a certain way of doing things and didn't respond well to the changes they were asked to make. It's OK for our community to dislike a certain way a coach coaches but I think that some of our community turned their backs on the kids along with the coaches and that was horrible for our kids. It was a mess and I for one would love to be able to go back and let it all start over again and maybe everyone would of handled it differently but we can't do that. Hopefully it will get better and back to the way it should be in Letcher County with our boys winning football games and loving the sport they way they used to love it. Hillard was a very hands on coach that spent most of his time developing personal bonds with the kids and let his coordinators worry about the X's and O's portion of it and Mike was not that kind of coach, he's more of an X's and O's type of guy that has a system and sticks to it and always wants to be hands on and have complete control of every aspect. I've known both types of coaches and seen both types do very well, it just didn't work for our guys last year. I do think that (some) parents not all would say things in front of their impressionable child and you know as well as I do that when a kid hears something from Mommy and Daddy they take it to heart and begin to have the same attitudes that they have towards their coaches, so if Daddy thinks that the coach is an idiot and says this in front of them the kid will also think the same and this makes it hard to coach the boys that feel this way. From what I have heard I think the players and coaches have learned an expensive lesson from last year and both sides seem willing to flex and work together this year. The ones that I feel sorry for is the senior's, they were a great bunch of kids that everyone loved but now they don't get a chance to see the changes that will hopefully be made.

Wow. Definitly agree with the mommy/daddy thing. Probably would help if the daddys gave support and continued mining coal. Instead of trying to re live their younger days through their sons, and trying to be a coach instead of a miner. Also it sure would'nt hurt if the mommys gave a little support and continued driving their SUVs around with a cell phone in their ears. Instead of crying out everytime little Johnny gets yelled at.