[Hoot Gibson]

Do you think people thought JC would become what they did? I think Matney has exceeded even the highest of expectations while at JC. Dixon has won a state title and coached in a few more. He will be successful. If beating JC year in and year out is the bar we set for him, 95% of the schools in KY would be failures.

I fully expected JC to become the program that it is when they hired Jim Matney because I saw what he did at Sheldon Clark with fewer resources.

Besides, Johnson Central's program was not in bad shape before Matney turned down the JC job three years before he accepted it. JC was undefeated in its final regular season under Bill Musick. The program fell on hard times because of what I considered two bad hires that resulted in three very bad seasons. Johnson Central's feeder system remained strong as did its wrestling program, which were great assets that helped Matney turn the program around so quickly. His hiring also resulted in fewer good players crossing the creek to play for the Tigers.

Perry Central has the potential to develop a great football program. Losing Coach Dixon is probably going to negatively impact Hazard's program.