JRidge

I'm a Papadeaux's guy Coach Bear! Lol  Seriously i thank you for all the kind words and i know everyone will not agree or even care for me for all that matters but i realize that a coach can be something special or a deterrent. Thanks for all your input and years of service. I have dedicated my time to coach and train on the little league football, baseball, basketball and track levels to hopefully set a good foundation for our youth. Coaching is time consuming as you know and often goes unappreciated by many but for those who lives are impacted positively through your efforts the opportunity for them to become successful in some capacity is greater.  A coach should have knowledge of all his players and a roll for them in his program. Some of your best coaches will even help his kid have a plan for life after athletics. When a kid can see successful former players return to their alma mater it helps them to know that they can be successful as well. I love sports and winning but like i said winning is for conversation and bragging for fans and resume building for coaches. That's fine, but give me a coach who can help change young people's lives for the better and a winners attitude and the other stuff will take care of its self. Thanks again!

Congrats to all of the All-District 22-5a 1st & 2nd Team selections. I'm especially proud of my son, Ozen's (Jr.) Elishah "Li Li" Simpson and my former player/neighbor who we encouraged at the age of 12 to start playing baseball. Congrats to Ozen's (Sr.) Deonte Darjean for working extremely hard to receive this notification. Great kid with great character and big things ahead of both of them.

Congrats to all of the All-District 22-5a 1st & 2nd Team selections. I'm especially proud of my son, Ozen's (Jr.) Elishah "Li Li" Simpson and my former player/neighbor who we encouraged at the age of 12 to start playing baseball. Congrats to Ozen's (Sr.) Deonte Darjean for working extremely hard to receive this notification. Great kid with great character and big things ahead of both of them.

Ozen, Beaumont, And most of all the student athletes would benefit from any coach that would put the entire kid first. Lately it seems like ozen has been just a stepping stone for the last few hires. Did they really care about the progression of their kids. who knows. I have always thought of coaches and community leaders. Back when I played coaches were an extension of your family. which means they generally cared about the well being of their kids. I hate to hear when coaches just leave so late in the year. this hurts the kids, the community and the school. Hopefully BISD will get it correct this time and hire someone who will honestly be there for the benefit of the kids. Winning is easy! getting Kids to Buy in is the hard part. Kids can and will always sense BS! but if a kid believes that a coach really care for them outside of athletics then they will run through a brick wall to get the job done! 

No I think you missed the real point and that is producing quality young men who can learned to be successful through discipline and hard work. Sports are only temporary and most programs will never become a powerhouse or even win a State Title. The programs that do usually have great parent, community support and dedicated/committed players who invest in their own futures. The coaches have invested time in their communities and have most times established good relations. Parents make sure their kids go to class, practice and offseason workouts. This usually is a good start to building a winning program but if anything we want young men with winning character who can contribute positively to their community. As the dust gathers on that coveted State Trophy in the end these young men's lives being successful will look even better! Now that's winning.

No I think you missed the real point and that is producing quality young men who can learned to be successful through discipline and hard work. Sports are only temporary and most programs will never become a powerhouse or even win a State Title. The programs that do usually have great parent, community support and dedicated/committed players who invest in their own futures. The coaches have invested time in their communities and have most times established good relations. Parents make sure their kids go to class, practice and offseason workouts. This usually is a good start to building a winning program but if anything we want young men with winning character who can contribute positively to their community. As the dust gathers on that coveted State Trophy in the end these young men's lives being successful will look even better! Now that's winning.

Ozensfinest I respect the fact that you have a right to express your opinion but I am not and never will be one of those parents to depend on any coach to get my kids into a school. My wife and i both are well knowledgeable of the opportunities available for most kids to get into college. We do the camp scene at colleges who recruit the size and type of players my kids resemble. They have done summer track for several years and now do travel baseball as I video all of their competitions to send footage to colleges. Coaches sometimes lie and I've seen it done therefore like I said before parental support is needed. You have some good points but sometimes you generalize everyone in your statements. If my kids stay healthy they will go to school free whether their team wins a game or not and I will still love them the same. What's important to me is did they prepare themself to play at their best and did they give they're all when they played? Also being able to make the right decisions and having a successful life. You're talking to a guy who's won in baseball, basketball and football who has a son who was ranked #1 in the world in one sport and #5 All-purpose back in the Nation on Rivals.com. I may look or sound like your average Joe but I'm not. Be Blessed my Brother! 

Ozensfinest I respect the fact that you have a right to express your opinion but I am not and never will be one of those parents to depend on any coach to get my kids into a school. My wife and i both are well knowledgeable of the opportunities available for most kids to get into college. We do the camp scene at colleges who recruit the size and type of players my kids resemble. They have done summer track for several years and now do travel baseball as I video all of their competitions to send footage to colleges. Coaches sometimes lie and I've seen it done therefore like I said before parental support is needed. You have some good points but sometimes you generalize everyone in your statements. If my kids stay healthy they will go to school free whether their team wins a game or not and I will still love them the same. What's important to me is did they prepare themself to play at their best and did they give they're all when they played? Also being able to make the right decisions and having a successful life. You're talking to a guy who's won in baseball, basketball and football who has a son who was ranked #1 in the world in one sport and #5 All-purpose back in the Nation on Rivals.com. I may look or sound like your average Joe but I'm not. Be Blessed my Brother! 

I'mma be a little bias..... My kid plays Football, Basketball, and Baseball.
           Football
1st Team All District Wr,P,KR
2nd Team PR
             BASKETBALL 
1st Team All District PG
               BASEBALL
Made The All Tournament Team at State Last Year at 2nd Base
* Hitting .500 10doubles 18RBI H 27 1HR  R 20  Slg%.740 OB% .562 OPS%.1302 SB 13 2-0 Era 1.75 Sv1
(MISS 5 Games Injured)
 
Jack(Vanilla Thunder) Dallas
*Both of them are Jrs

Congratulations to all those young men despite all the adversity they faced in their 4 years at Ozen.  Special congratulations to your son JRIDGE...

No I think you missed the real point and that is producing quality young men who can learned to be successful through discipline and hard work. Sports are only temporary and most programs will never become a powerhouse or even win a State Title. The programs that do usually have great parent, community support and dedicated/committed players who invest in their own futures. The coaches have invested time in their communities and have most times established good relations. Parents make sure their kids go to class, practice and offseason workouts. This usually is a good start to building a winning program but if anything we want young men with winning character who can contribute positively to their community. As the dust gathers on that coveted State Trophy in the end these young men's lives being successful will look even better! Now that's winning.

Jridge, man I want to meet you somewhere and buy you lunch. In my opinion you are spot on. I have 32 years in this business of coaching young men and I have seen a lot as well as experiencing my own interactions with coaches at my high school of Marlin Texas. But your statement of finding someone who actually cares for the young men as well as wins and losses is the key. When I was DC at Crosby in the 90's, we scrimmaged Ozen and I was impressed with the talent. We also played lamarque twice in the dome during those years and Ozen was the only team that had talent close to lamarque, now they didn't have the experience, coaching, support and other important variables. Unfortunately in our business many coaches are $ hoppers, looking to increase salary or if they are older, looking to increase their retirement multiplier. They are smooth talkers and tell the search or interview committee what they want to hear instead of having that committee due hard core investigating of the REAL reason someone wants to be the head coach of your foreign school. I have had the honor of working for 9 different coaches at 4 different schools, clear lake, Crosby, Aldine Eisenhower , and Baytown sterling. Two were truly great and successful and really cared about their kids and  this led to their success, Coach Stewart of clear lake and coach Carson of big Ike . Two others really cared for kids but weren't as successful for various reasons but I am proud to say I worked for them because they developed men. A few of the others were dull, unimaginative and thus unsuccessful. 3 others were cancers and harmed kids, I wouldn't spit on them to put out a fire on their burning body, yet they still get head jobs today because they get over on those who really do the hiring and are too lazy to research. Jridge I hope you are on the search or interview committee. I like to give the example of UT-AM with regards to coaching. Yes I am a UT grad but also a big supporter of AM ( my most successful player was Steve McKinney an Aggie, then colt, then Texan) and cheer for everything Texas. I had the honor of attending the last ut-am game at Kyle field. Before the game the Aggies HC, I forgot his name which tells you how little impact he had on Aggies nation but especially his players. Met the Aggies seniors as the were announced near mid field. They all came to coach former Texan tight end coach and just shook hands, I was appalled! The week before UT did the same senior recognition and players as well as their families met Mack Brown at the 50 where EVERYONE was crying and hugging. A M hired the no name coach because he looked like them and was a good old boy, thus no one remembers his name, yet former UT players are naming their sons Mack. I know and agree Mack overstayed by 2 years, but that showed why one program was successful and the other a non factor. I emulate Mack because one day I got to answer to St. Peter that I did all I could to help these young men become great men. That is why I still grind after 32 years. MUCH RESPECT TO YOU JRIDGE!!!!!
coach bear

We're not talking about you Ridge we're debating who would be a good fit for the program...you're saying Ozen should hire a guy that can get players in school when Ozen already sending players to college I'm just trying to understand your point and I know you personally so I respect your opinion I'm just waiting on you to justify why Ozen should keep hiring folks from within the area when it has worked in over 10 years try something new go get a coach from one of the big cities that know more football than the typical setx of doing things thats all I'm saying.

State titles are great, but helping steer kids and mold them into young men and teaching the importance of grades, staying out of trouble and citizens is better. So much more goes into coaching high school kids.

No I think you missed the real point and that is producing quality young men who can learned to be successful through discipline and hard work. Sports are only temporary and most programs will never become a powerhouse or even win a State Title. The programs that do usually have great parent, community support and dedicated/committed players who invest in their own futures. The coaches have invested time in their communities and have most times established good relations. Parents make sure their kids go to class, practice and offseason workouts. This usually is a good start to building a winning program but if anything we want young men with winning character who can contribute positively to their community. As the dust gathers on that coveted State Trophy in the end these young men's lives being successful will look even better! Now that's winning.

Ozensfinest  I belive that now a days the coaches having to compete with Playstation and Xbox has become a problem as well as kids or parents unwillingness to invest in their kids future through training and camps. Often parents are unwilling to push or motivate their kids to workout. The kids who parents do usually progress more or at least faster. My kids benefit from me as a parent and a skills trainer so they are use to working hard and it shows. People have goes sometimes but don't know how to reach them especially without some type of support.

Ozensfinest  I belive that now a days the coaches having to compete with Playstation and Xbox has become a problem as well as kids or parents unwillingness to invest in their kids future through training and camps. Often parents are unwilling to push or motivate their kids to workout. The kids who parents do usually progress more or at least faster. My kids benefit from me as a parent and a skills trainer so they are use to working hard and it shows. People have goes sometimes but don't know how to reach them especially without some type of support.

No not really, Lewis and Brooks were pretty good as well as Durley and Ozen and Coach Smith and Shafer. Nelson was also learning and developing until they cut h I m short. If we can't develop coaches in our community then something is really wrong. They need to be given opportunities and time to learn and establish their programs bottom line. Too much musical chairs going on and not enough stability. Give us someone who loves the kids and our community with good character, work ethics and knowledge of how to communicate, plan, organize, motivate, strategize and be consistent with showing love and discipline. HC have to be able to teach their staff effectively and understand what they need to be teaching and then trust that they are capable of carrying it out. Not an easy task but I believe if you can find someone local with these qualities or potential then go for it because most likely they will be here for quite some time. JMO

I believe that if you hire someone from this area it's more likely that they will be here for the long haul.  JMO

No not really, Lewis and Brooks were pretty good as well as Durley and Ozen and Coach Smith and Shafer. Nelson was also learning and developing until they cut h I m short. If we can't develop coaches in our community then something is really wrong. They need to be given opportunities and time to learn and establish their programs bottom line. Too much musical chairs going on and not enough stability. Give us someone who loves the kids and our community with good character, work ethics and knowledge of how to communicate, plan, organize, motivate, strategize and be consistent with showing love and discipline. HC have to be able to teach their staff effectively and understand what they need to be teaching and then trust that they are capable of carrying it out. Not an easy task but I believe if you can find someone local with these qualities or potential then go for it because most likely they will be here for quite some time. JMO

Just because you know X's & O's doesn't mean you know your personel, coaches and players strengths, game planning, game adjustments, your opponent's strengths and weaknesses, how to interact with your staff, players and community and how to manage your players and staff effectively! Also knowing how to allow your coaches to have input and having your players know that you are not just concerned with them helping you win football games but them as a person and investing in their futures. These attributes are rare and hard to find but are some of the attributes our late Alex Durley possessed and used to create quality young men who created wins! Coaches who have kids of their own will also know that kids will often make mistakes and disappoint you and will not be as quick to write a player off when pissed off. JMO

I believe that if you hire someone from this area it's more likely that they will be here for the long haul.  JMO

Just because you know X's & O's doesn't mean you know your personel, coaches and players strengths, game planning, game adjustments, your opponent's strengths and weaknesses, how to interact with your staff, players and community and how to manage your players and staff effectively! Also knowing how to allow your coaches to have input and having your players know that you are not just concerned with them helping you win football games but them as a person and investing in their futures. These attributes are rare and hard to find but are some of the attributes our late Alex Durley possessed and used to create quality young men who created wins! Coaches who have kids of their own will also know that kids will often make mistakes and disappoint you and will not be as quick to write a player off when pissed off. JMO

Signing day is just the start of the process, especially for smaller schools. I didn't sign with my school until sometime in April. Congrats to those kids! Getting to play college football, no matter where, is a huge honor and privilege.