[Orange Blaze]

I disagree with you about the Russell coaching change in 2014.  Coach Ivan McGlone's last teams at Russell were uninspired groups that weren't competitive with good teams, sort of like what I saw last night on the field for Belfry.  Every coach has his time and when it goes downhill, it goes fast.  That doesn't mean I don't respect what legendary coaches like that have done in their careers.  It's just the reality of the passage of time.

As for Raceland getting better since "the prodigal son" left, I disagree here as well.  That same "prodigal son" had beaten Raceland by double digits for the past 3 years including a 41-0 demolition in 2019.  The problem for the "prodigal son" now?  Raceland took advantage of the COVID year and Russell didn't.  5 sophomores who were on the losing side of that 41-0 beating were now on the winning side of this year's 40 point Raceland win over Russell as 5th year seniors.  Add in the fact that 2 players on the Russell sideline in that 41-0 beating are now the QB and leading WR for Raceland this year.  Throw in a couple of decent Ohio transfers and a couple of decent Ashland transfers to the mix of old players and you have "Raceland getting better" defined for you.  It wasn't due to the "prodigal son" leaving Raceland.

As for Tackett, he has done a great job this season and should be at the front of the pack for 3A coach of the year.

I’ve never been a fan of the Covid holdback rule.  I get it people lost a lot during that period but I feel like too many schools took advantage of this rule for the wrong reasons.  If a kid was struggling academically because of Covid then sure hold them back but I don’t agree with the mass holdbacks that you saw at a lot of schools just to get another year of sports.  I know a lot of people get all bent out of shape and say kids only get to be kids once but sometimes you just have to learn the hard way that life isn’t fair and there are no do overs.  As much as I love my Rams this season will always have an asterisk beside it in my mind because we are winning with a team full of kids that should have already graduated.