[Hoot Gibson]

Kentucky ranks 26th in the country in population. At best, the state ranks 26th in football. There are too many "running clock-type" games for Kentucky to be considered a good football state. All of the lop-sided scores on any given Friday night suggests that there is a severe shortage of competent high school football coaches and/or severe shortage of community support for high school football in Kentucky. Strong competition builds strong teams and it is very difficult for good teams in Kentucky to put together competitive schedules.

Sure, teams like Trinity and Highlands can put a few quality out-of-state teams on their non-district schedules, but there is nothing they can do to address extremely week district competition. Compare that to the strong Cincy or Indianapolis teams that often play a strong out of state team or two early in the season and then play a brutal conference or district schedule before the playoffs. Schools of near equal enrollment should not be consistently blown out by district opponents, but that is commonplace in Kentucky.

A state whose football competition is dominated by the same handful of teams year after year cannot claim to be a strong football state.