[EKUAlum05]

I'll second that Kentucky is firmly a middle of the pack football state... and for the most part KY football is much better than it should be based on population and number of D-1 athletes produced.

More than state's... it is specific areas that drive HS Football. For example in the NE the public schools are normally crap programs, but the private schools (think of like a Don Bosco Prep) are super powers.

In Georgia the city of Atlanta is relatively weak when it comes to football... but the surrounding suburbs are strong. In Gwinnett County where I live I can travel 15 miles on any given Friday and see any of these teams who has been ranked in the National Top 100 at some point over the past 5 years without leaving the county (Grayson, Peachtree Ridge, Norcross, North Gwinnett, Brookwood, Parkview, South Gwinnett, Buford). On top of this, even the middle tier and bottom tier programs are competitive within a couple TD's and there are 6-8 more of them.

The suburbs surrounding Atlanta constitute the vast majority of titles won in Georgia, especially in the largest classifications. The Valdosta area used to be a hotbed, but it has significantly declined.

I am not insinuating recruiting is the key to football success, but having a major metropolitan city and a program with strong financial stability goes hand in hand with our national powerhouses. Great programs don't have to recruit because the talent pool naturally flows to them. The number of elite programs in that metropolitan area then vary depending on the talent pool as ALL the great players simply cannot end up at one school.

That is what makes Highlands, Trinity, and St. Xavier so successful. Everyone wants to throw recruiting allegations at them, but the truth is they don't have to. Parents will recruit themselves. If you have an elite program with a history of winning and a quality school then it is human nature for parents of children to want their kids to pay there. People want to win..they also want the best opportunity for their kid to be successful.

The area that hurts KY the most is Lexington. The lack of a dominant program in the city has resulted in the talent pool dissipating over all the schools fairly evenly, and a sort of complacency has set in. Now the quality of football is simply mediocre. The talent pool of Lexington would support the rise of an additional elite KY power team and potentially raise the level of play in the city by default. LexCath came the closest to doing this under Bob Sphire, but they have since slid back. county School around Lexington have enjoyed success with teams like Scott Co, Boyle County, and right now Bourbon County surging.. but I still think if the right coach came to the right school in Fayette County there is a sleeping giant that could be awoken.