[Shogun]

Hogwash of a question. The coaches who are the best are the one with the better players. Any functioning adult with proper football IQ and a teaching pedagogy who are committed will win. The best coaches are the ones who take 1-9 talent and win 5 games with them.

I'll die on the hill that Donny Daniels was one of the best coach in the mountains. Just because South Floyd didn't win a state championship doesn't make him less of a coach. The same is said for anyone in that boat.

This is what keeps me from putting Larry French on a pedestal. For at least the past 20 years, he’s stepped into some great situations to make himself look better than he is. I have no doubt that Robbie Lucas would have had the same success at Lincoln if he was given the time. Boyle County was recovering in the post-Chuck Smith era, but having Lamar Dawson on your team doesn’t hurt. Southwestern was bad under Stephens, but the underclassmen when French stepped in had won multiple state titles at the middle school level. Middlesboro always has some talent, and their schedule softened significantly after French took the helm. I’m not saying the guy can’t coach. He clearly knows what to do with talent when he has it, but he’s not a program builder like some of the other guys being mentioned, and his name definitely doesn’t deserve to be up there with some of the all time greats.