[HAIL PIKEVILLE!]

No disrespect to Coach Grizzle. I just don’t know if this is the right hire for Hazard. It’s going to be an uphill battle for him to earn the respect of the Hazard community. It’s very hard for an unproven Coach, no matter how talented they are, to go to a place with a proven tradition like Hazard who just lost a legendary coach like Mark Dixon. His first job is going to have to walk the fine line of implementing his own ideas into the program and trying to get the players and the community to understand them and support them without leaving them with the feeling that he’s trying to “sell” them something. He’s going to have to get used to hearing “Coach Dixon never done it like this” and not take it personal. I know what I’m talking about. I saw the Mike Jackson era take place at Pikeville and it was a monumental failure on nearly every level for every reason I named above were not handled properly. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s not going to be easy either. I wish Coach Grizzle good luck.