oldschool2

This ^ sums it up. A friend of mine showed me a video of WOS players sprinting up and down bleachers in the pouring rain during 2-a-days. Here's the difference in some folks' definition of "community support". At WOS...nothing was said. In fact, had a kid fallen I bet Coach Thompson could have said something along the lines of "If you aren't athletic enough to run up and down steps maybe athletics isn't for you." Of course, that's hypothetical...but had that happened I bet nothing would have been done then either because the COACH is trusted to do what's right for the team. Not the school board. Or a group of parents. Just like the other coaches mentioned. They aren't questioned either. Now...it does take talent as well. Someone would be extremely naive to believe that Cornell Thompson and Joe Lombard doesn't have extremely talented kids pretty often. But a coach has to be trusted to do what it takes to win even when they have lesser talent. That's the difference.

Not sure that I can think of any pros to being a head coach at HF. Other than simply having the experience of being a head coach...

And possibly arrested.

This will be good for Lumberton. Even if they don't win or even finish 2nd it will be a huge morale boost to know that the kids will be competitive in every game. I hope that the kids get the chance to play in a nice stadium as a playoff venue.

That ^ is the best thing any school can do for their athletic program(s). May not always result in banner years but having that kind of consistency will make them better than they would have been otherwise. I tell people that all the time...your goal should be to have you 7th-grade athletes have the SAME EXACT offseason program, expectations, strategy (offense/defense), training, etc...that they will have as seniors. There's nothing worse than having a group of kids have several different head coaches over that 6 year period. Now obviously coaches have to change certain things based on the players they currently have...but other consistencies won't change. Every successful school anywhwere...no matter the sport... all have the same thing in common for the most part. A coach that's been there a long time.

You're right...I was just making a point. But I feel pretty confident in the point being made. Example...I doubt Cornell Thompson would have any championship rings had he been at HF instead of WOS. Not only because they don't have near the caliber of talent that it takes..but secondly because he probably would've been fired or run off after a few years of losing there.

They can't keep coaches because of how "some" in the community act when things aren't going the way they think it should. What needs to happen is to hire a coaching staff...and then leave them alone to coach. Consistency will bring improvement. But if they're expecting state championships then they're going to keep running through coaches. I've literally had coaching friends tell me they wouldn't consider going to HF because of how they've heard parents are there. Maybe they aren't as bad as I hear...but perception is reality. You can't have a combination of "don't pay anything" and crazy parents. Might get away with one or the other but having both is a death sentence.

And no offense...but you’re living in a dream world. If Thompson were at literally any other SeTx school other than Newton over the past 20 years he would have zero state championships. I’ll promise you that. Barbers hill just had their 2nd season with a man that won 4 state championships at the highest level of high school football. Didn’t they miss the playoffs this year? And Coach K wouldn’t make the kids that HF is playing with a contender of anything. If fact...let Coach K have HF for an entire year 6 day’s a week. Silsbee would still beat them by 60+ whether they had a coach or not. Dont get me wrong...a good coach can make a difference where a bad coach wouldn’t. But part of the reason I defend coaches like I do is because they make up a small percentage of the results. It’s the players...always have been. Even Phil Jackson couldn’t win a ring without MJ or Kobe/Shaq. Since we’re talking basketball.

“Not follow the shot”? My single most hated saying in all of basketball. no offense...but if you suck so bad that you have to chase down a rebound after you shoot, then you don’t need to shoot. Ever.

False. If you are a good coach with bad talent you still cannot win unless you schedule teams as bad or worse than what you have. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how good of a coach you are.

I don't know Coach Jacks at all. I just have a habit of defending coaches. And it always comes back to the same point... It's not the coaches fault that your kid doesn't play or that your team isn't any good. They are more than likely just not good. I don't think there's a poster on this site that would argue whether or not I take the side of whatever coach is being discussed.

If a kid quits or doesn't play because of getting yelled at then the program is better off without them. Sounds to me like he's doing HF a solid.

Sorry...but no there isn't much more to it than that. When a coach is hired they are hired to teach the game and to win. If that wasn't the case then a coach would never be fired or runoff Only think I might add to the list of the holding of kids accountable. Which is probably what the yelling and screaming are about.

Oh, you don't have to tell me. Especially with HF... In fact, I was going to say that Coach Jacks better be careful or else he'll have a police investigation on his hands. HF kinda does that.

"yells and screams and belittle’s his players!"... well now. That changes everything. Who in the heck play for a guy that does that? Oh yeah...I did. Both high school and college. Except for the fact that my college coach liked to throw in the occasion basketball punt (only broke a few lights) and would literally get close enough to give you a good spraying while screaming. And that's when we were playing well. But what was the lesson from that? Let's see...2 championship rings. Plus the learning of more important lessons to count. Tell the kids to suck it up. There are two categories of athletes... Warriors and losers. They can either prepare to win a war or keep getting embarrassed.

Impossible to win with bad players. Well...bad compared to the opponents. I'm pretty certain he did very well at some previous coaching stops... Maybe HF just lacks talent.

There are five teams in 2A that are ranked (TABC) in top 25 with a record of 0-0. Love it.

Yes to both. And Newton will have a better chance of winning it this time if they don't ride up on a yellow bus the day of the game...like last time. If you don't want to spend the night before at least charter those kids a bus so they can at least ride comfortably.

Yeah maybe so. Definitely better to sleep in your own bed... But I'm still not convinced. Not a kid playing in the title game sleeps the night before anyway. And pre-determined sites are a part of every sport, every year. Besides, it's still no like it's across the street for DFW schools. Just like some SeTx schools would spend well over an hour or more if the venue was in Houston. It is what it is.

Every team in the state knows that they have to play in Arlington if they make it to the state title game. And people that have a problem with that are looking for excuses before anything even happens. There is no advantage...it's not a venue that anyone is used to playing in, even DFW schools. And there are so many people in the stands that it really doesn't matter as far as who may have the "home crowd". Tens of thousands of people are in the stands that are literally neutral fans. But by all means...keep spreading the message that schools from other parts of the state have a disadvantage from the start. Maybe it'll be best for those schools to save money and stay home. Since it's obviously tilted toward DFW's favor anyway.

DFW and panhandle schools were winning state championships back in the 20s...and have been ever since. The title games deserve to be at the best venue. Period. [Hidden Content]

1. West Orange-Stark 2. Newton 3. San Augustine 4. Katy 5. Longview 6. Cypress-Fairbanks 7. Manvel 8. College Station 9. Carthage 10. Teague 11. Tenaha 12. Tioga 13. Lake Travis 14. Southlake Carroll 15. Angleton 16. Corpus Christi Calallen 17. Waco La Vega 18. Cuero 19. Yoakum 20. Lexington 21. Mason 22. Burton 23. Euless Trinity 24. Cedar Ridge 25. Austin Westlake

When you know you're going to slaughter everyone in the district...like Silsbee is going to do...then taking a couple butt whippings early on won't matter in the scheme of things. But if the district is tough for everyone...Nederland...then you better make sure you get some wins and build confidence going into it so the kids at least know how to win. Getting wins is better than being "prepared"...especially if you think it might be a struggle. There's never been a coach in history go 0-25 but say "at least we had a tough pre-season schedule to get us ready".

I'll bet there's some quality basketball being displayed in this tournament.

I don't see much choice. There are only a handful of 2aD1 schools in the area. None of which are very close to HD...