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I thought this was an interesting tidbit from TMQ:

"The obsession with winning right now -- not winning most of the time, winning right now -- is spilling over even into the prep ranks. Georgia's Valdosta High has fired three coaches in seven years; one was fired with a 70-20-1 record. The boosters are furious because it's been a decade since the school's last state championship. Since public high schools can't recruit -- at least, not legally -- they are at the mercy of changes in demographics, and in Valdosta's case, the school now has about 1,000 fewer students than a generation ago when it was a juggernaut. But Valdosta continues to play in Georgia's biggest-school classification, because the boosters demand this; of course the school is having trouble winning. Fire the coach! Fire the next coach! That's sure to improve outcomes!"

WTG Titletown!!

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When exactly did high school football cease being a sport?

RHTFISH wrote:When exactly did high school football cease being a sport?

It was a business, when I got into education 10 years ago. So IMO over ten years ago.

I witnessed this as a Varsity Baseball coach. I don't coach now and don't intend to again at the HS level.

Education is sure not the #1 priority when athletics and coaches are involved.

Plus some HS coaches don't teach at all, their job is coaching. Everyone just turns their head to this and they draw a good state salary plus supplement to prepare for Friday night.

Recruiting is wide spread,
Breaking the season and practice rules is very common.

It is big business and alot of money coming into the gates or suggessful programs.

This is where the administration needs to step in, tail shouldn't waggle the dog. Sometimes boosters have to be put in their place. They should drop down, dominate at that level and new boosters will show.

This is a very lopsided and inaccurate portrait of what has happened. Bunch of so called experts and just know it alls think they know, but they don't.

The talent is at VHS to be a winner. Everybody who doesn't know assumes the legendary coach Bazemore won because of talent. I can tell you, nothing is farther from the truth. Valdosta won with smaller guys and less talent many years, because they worked harder and the coaches were smarter than the other team. Bazemore, then Hyder and even then O'Brian matched their systems to their players. That hasn't happened since. To give you an idea, the only team to beat Lowndes in the regular season was nearly beaten by Valdosta. Had Valdosta had a placekicker, they would have won that game. Then VHS plays Lowndes and gets blown off the field. Tomberlin was told last year that he had to fix the offense. He chose to be loyal to his offensive coordinator and that lead to his downfall. I hate it for him.

The last two coaches were poor coaches. Darlington turned out to be a piece of dung as a man and a coach. Without players who could run his swinging gate, he was clueless. Tomberlin, on the other hand, was a really great guy, but his coaching staff (especially offensive coordinator) stank the place up.

The only one I had a problem with being let go was the first one, Coach O'Brian. He was a good guy and a winner. He ran into trouble because he held the title of AD and he did not want to deal with anything but the High School football team. Valdosta's teams are built from the Boys Club up to High School. It has always been the winning system.

The administration made the decision not to renew Tomberlin's contract, not the boosters. That decision was made when Lowndes embarrassed Valdosta for the 2nd year in a row.

I knew I could count on ol' MD to give us an unbiased take on this.
Chill out dude, it's just a game.


On a side note, where has WAM been?

Reel Cowboy wrote:I knew I could count on ol' MD to give us an unbiased take on this.
Chill out dude, it's just a game.


On a side note, where has WAM been?

I am chilled, just calling it as I see it. I am not even a member of the boosters anymore. Heck my daughter goes to Lowndes. I am a member of the Slapahoe Tribe. We can slap an idiot without even blinking our eyes. We are more stealthy than a ninja.

I don't keep up with WAM.