OldTimer

So Far Liberty has had Huffman's number - never lost to them. Team that seem to own Liberty - Cleveland

It appears that Liberty has a new BB Coach - a Coach Jones who was an Asst. Varisty Coach at A&M Consolidated. Good step for Liberty as they badly needed a change - have always had good kids but no leadership from the head coach.

If OSU does pay this and then need to raise their tuition in the next several years - there may be a revolt on the OSU campus. ;D Self is a great coach - but those dollars are just ludicrous for any coach. And if Self does not win immediately there may be a revolt anyway. I still do not think that he will leave KU - but no college coach is worth that kind of money

For What?

I’m sorry but I need to start this post by saying that I think Huffman is a quality school and generally fields competitive teams and are truly good sportsman. But to give them the 1st place position in this district – or even the top 3 – just because they dropped from 4A makes little or no sense. If my information is correct they were 2 – 8 last year and in the previous years in 3A never won the district (one year they shared the leagues best record with Liberty but Liberty was the Champ due to head to head win). If we were talking baseball I agree they have a good chance of being district champs but this is football and history (recent history) does not support this argument. I think they will be competitive but district champs – maybe in a few years. Also, trust me on this – Liberty will be in the top 3 of this district next year. Go Panthers 8)

If he takes the job – and I do not think he will even being an alumnus at OSU – he will have the problem of long term recruiting. Kansas is a talent magnet and top-level talent will go to Kansas regardless who is the coach. There are only a few programs that can be said for and the others are Kentucky, UCONN, North Carolina, Duke and Indiana (I might have missed 1 or 2) but these are the top BB schools in the country. Texas comes close locally. OSU - if he does not bring immediate serious wins will again become a recruiting problem. Then he will have a hard time winning and therefore take a chance of losing his status as one of the best coaches in college BB. I think he would definitely help OSU but sorry don’t see it happening – why take a step back.

Wes – No I have not had the pleasure to introduce myself to the new coach – Hope to meet him in the near future. And Pantherplayer or myself would never make the Liberty Spelling Team – Thank God. : (Thank the Good Lord for Spell Check)

You can’t take Liberty out of the discussion for the top 3 as they have proven to be a contender every year. Last year they finished 4th for the first time in like 15 years - Even in 2005 when they did not make the payoffs it was due to a 3 way tie for 2nd place and due to tiebreaker they were left out. That being said Top 3 will come out of: Liberty, Splendora, Huffman and Cleveland

Well at least you can say he is confident is his abilities as a Football Coach. And in regard to the Spelling Bee - No Contest = Liberty Wins easily

No I am not a School Board Member or a Henchman and do not work for the School District. Just a Katy Tiger graduate that moved to Liberty and raised my family here and like the town and the people in it.

I feel the need to make is clear where I stand before I get started. (1) I WAS NOT for the termination of Coach Stewart; (2) I do NOT know either Donald Douglass or Chad Taylor; (3) I am NOT privy to the discussion that the School Board had regarding this hiring; (4) My last High School Child will graduate this year so I will not be affected by this decision at all; and (4) I will and would support all Liberty High School Athletics regardless who was hired. Should I be mad that the person that I thought was the best candidate – which I heard off – WAS NOT HIRED? (He was not By the Way) From what I know (Limited) of Donald Douglass I wonder if he would support some of the things that have been implied on this site. First I think DD would be proud to have some of the people on this site and the support that they have provided him – but I also feel that if he is the man that I have heard that he would be against some of the postings as well. I think it is fine to support your candidate for any position – including AD – and do everything you can do to get that person the job. However, if he/she does not win the position then back off and look for the next candidate to support. To call people “racist†or “Stupid†just because your candidate was not given the position is in this case UNSPORTSMANLIKE! (And wrong). I know all the School Board members and KNOW that race never – so much for a second – played a factor in who was hired. And I do not feel that just because any applicant once played or went to school in Liberty should have been a determining factor either. Hire the best applicant for the job - period! I agree with a previous posted that if this site is indicative of the Liberty School District then getting good solid candidates for any position will be hard in the future. Go Panthers.

I will state again that I do not have a dog in this fight other than I am a long time supporter of Liberty Athletics and will continue to do so regardless of who is the AD. But it is oblivious from the last several posts that unless “your guy†got the nod that the School Board made a major stupid mistake. That is a very short sighted way to look at anything – have any of you looked at or know the qualifications of the new AD before we start saying that they hired badly or should your boy be hired simply because he is a home town boy. I for one hoped that they hired the most qualified applicant regardless of if was homegrown or not. I have the utmost respect for the information that I have heard on both Chad Taylor and Donald Douglass and they appear to be good qualified coaches. But nobody seems to have researched the qualifications of this Mr. Shane Deel BEFORE we start blasting him as being a poor coach and selection by the school. He has been the DC for Magnolia and Bryan (5A) for the last 7 years and followed the head coach – Bob Bellard (son of Aggie coach Emory Bellard) – from Magnolia to Bryan. Coach Bellard is also from what I can determine one of the Winningest coaches in the area for the last several years. So obviously his head coach thought highly enough of him to bring him along when he transferred. From all indications they had a winning tradition at Magnolia and brought the same to Bryan. I get the impression that some people that post here felt that Donald Douglas was entitled to this job simply because he wanted it and was a homegrown product. He from all accounts is a qualified coach but several of the applicants were good qualified coaches. It may prove out that Liberty ISD made a major mistake in not hiring Mr. Douglas but to throw Mr. Deel under the bus before you know what his qualifications are and to allow him NO CHANCE to prove himself if just not right. And Liberty wonders why our Athletic Program seems to always suffer – Its because everybody wants “their guy†to lead and won’t support anybody else.

What the UN_Beatable HJ lost - I Can't believe it - It just must be a mistake :

etbu - man you make me feel bad - you seem to always take the high road. I agree we should always defend the school that you support. I am a Liberty supporter but have always been impressed with how Huffman seems to handle their athletes and how they seem to always display good sportsmanship. As you stated nobody has a crystal ball and I will be at the game as well. Hope to see a good quality well fought football - with no injuries.

RBarker - and on what do you base this prediction on: (1) History - sorry Huffman has NEVER beaten a Liberty team; (2) Huffman's stellar record from the last 2 years - oh sorry they are not that good; ??? (3) or just good ole blind HOPE. 8) Well maybe you will win - but history is not on your side in this argument. And Stomp is a strong word coming from Huffman - when was the last time they stomped anyone - specially Liberty? Oh that's right go back to (1) and that is Never!!

If PantherAlum is right - and I have reason to doubt him (I have heard the same thing - just not the number of 5) - then all the people that posted that Liberty was a "Dream Job" may have been unrealistic in their expectations. Just kinda sad as the athletes are the ones that need to know who is going to be their leader for the next few years. I agree with Wes57 - we need to know who the AD is as soon as possible and then Liberty needs to get behind whoever that is and build a winning program for all sports. I personally have had issues with the super that have nothing to do with Athletics and have not been very impressed - for what that is worth.

I live in Liberty and personally know most of the School Board members – and they are all good people. But in this case they are setting the new AD up to have problems right out of the gate as he will effectively have no chance to teach their coaching philosophy to his players until 2-A-Days and perhaps some “un-official†summer workouts. I have intentionally not asked the members who they are taking to and where this situation stands as I felt that if they wanted the public to know they would have informed us. And this is pure speculation – but I have heard (no verification) that 2 of the coaches have turned the job down – and that may be the reason for all the meetings. I also wonder if once the perspective coach does an on hand inspection of the facilities at Liberty that they begin to have second thoughts. I have always stated that I felt that the overall facilities at Liberty are some of the worst in the area. :'(

I really don’t have a dog in this fight other than the fact that I actively support all Liberty athletics. And I will state again that I personally do not know Mr. Douglass – but I have heard many good things about him. I was hoping the district would get a person that had previous AD or at least a 10+ year OC or DC history on their resume. I know it is not required but is a definite asset. If Mr. Douglas gets the job I hope that he has thick skin - if the football team does not immediately become very competitive he will be guarding his back like coach Stewart did for his last 3 – 4 years – regardless of what anyone says now and regardless of how good the other programs do (i.e. BB, Baseball, Girls, Track, etc…). Panther Grad – I partially agree with you, as I believe from everything I have heard it was not his coaching but his administration that was under fire. But the fact of the matter is that the parents that came after coach Stewart are the parents of young adults that did not get the chance to either “Start on the football team†or “Start where the kids or the parents thought they should playâ€. The main criticism that I personally have is the seemingly lack of support for the other athletics other than football. My son was a 4-sport letterman at Liberty and played varsity BB for 4 years – so I kinda understand some of the criticism of the programs other than football. But that being said – I was not in favor of letting coach Stewart go. : Good Luck and best wishes to whomever the School chooses to lead the program. I think I would have gone with Chad myself. 8) Go Panthers

Hey - Football - I also live in Liberty and do not know DD personally but wish the school to get the best coach/AD possible and that normally means Experience. DD was certified in 06/2006 per the website you listed = not a whole lot of certified time on the job. I am hoping that Liberty can get a little more history with the AD position than 1 - 5 years.

Do not take the fact that any coach is around the school as a sign that they have been offered anything. I do know that the school has invited several of the applicants over to the school to show them around. I do not know Mr. Douglass - but I have heard from several people on this site and in Liberty area that he has not been certified at this time - It this true? If so I do not think he would be offered the job. ???

Ok got lost there a sec or two wondering what Wal-Mart has to do with the athletic program. ;D I support Liberty all the way – and this is my take. Until Liberty is willing to invest money, time and support the athletic program will struggle. Anyone that has any current knowledge of the Liberty area knows that what is provided the athletic program is in a desperate need of repair, replacement and updating. > The only place that will come from is the school board and super. At this time I do not see that happening. You reap what you sow – the kids at the school see that the school district is not willing do anything for the program so they are not either (not all – but many).

Yeah – Liberty and Dayton would be a good draw. But lets be realistic – Dayton has 3 times the number of students in the High School (1900 +/- to 600 +/-) so to call this a fair and equal game is going a bit far. Last person is right – Dayton at the moment is at the top of their game and Liberty has had a down year or so Dayton is piling it on – that is their right. But it was not that many years ago that Dayton was average to bad and went to the playoffs in a “weak†district and lost in the first or second round every year. What goes round comes round. Liberty will be back and then we can talk. Go Panthers

I actually heard that he 2 top choices have both turned the job down. ???

My opinion- my son graduated in 2007 and played Foorball, Baseball, Track and Basketball. Heres my take: Football Field - Field itself is ok. Dressing Rooms are terrible. Press Box is falling apart. Scoreboard only works some of the time. :-[ Basketball Gym - I really pretty good except the view from the stands is somewhat blocked. Baseball Field - School has none - the city allows the school to use a pretty nice filed at the city park. Softball Field - Very Poor No seating and no lights. The city also allows the softball team sometimes to use a field at the city park. :-[ Track - track itself ok. No lights and the stands are old and in poor shape. So overall I have to agree that Liberty's facilities are not very good and are not maintained by the district very well either. I hope that the current administration sees fit to upgrade this situation. Now the 40 kids quote - he is wrong there they have a lot more than that in the program depending on the sport - and there are a few hall walkers (but not many).

Socrates - you are right if - Tarkington (4 - 6) wins its last two games and Kingwood Park loses its last two games then Tarkington will be the 3rd team from the district. Only problem is that Tarkington has to play both Cleveland and Coldsprings and at the moment I don't see them beating them both. :'(