[Hoot Gibson]

As previously stated, I agree and think that most of the talent that would be at Paintsville is playing at JC, if paintsville could put together a good season or two I think it may encourage a few kids to decide to stay and play at paintsville instead of JC, but when your in HS playing football you want to win, no one likes to lose, and JC has been a consistently winning program for the last 4-5 years, so if I had to decide between PHS & JCHS I would go to JCHS, but if I didnt think I would start I would play at PHS, but thats jus my opinion, would love to see PHS playing like they use to though

The problem for Paintsville is not that kids are not staying in the district to play for the Tigers. The problem is that kids who live in the Johnson County district are no longer opting to play for Paintsville when they enter high school. I might have made the same decision back when Paintsville was able to compete with JC. Hiring Matney was a game changer.

There may still be a few players disgruntled over playing time who transfer to Paintsville, but Matney will try to put his best talent on the field and that has not always been true in the past at Johnson Central. Consequently, JC no longer loses enough good players to Paintsville for it to matter to the Eagles.

One thing that many Tiger fans failed to recognize about the glory days under Walter Brugh was that Coach Brugh worked tirelessly to recruit players within the Paintsville system to play football. Anybody who attended Paintsville Elementary when he coached knows what I am talking about.

Brugh made not playing football uncomfortable for you if you attended Paintsville because he would personally tell you what a fine football player you would make and he would personally invite you to spring practice when you entered high school. If you were an athlete at Paintsville, you almost certainly ended up playing football for Coach Brugh. Walter Brugh was part coach and part football ambassador and that is an important part of the job, especially at a school with a small enrollment.