Cougar14.2

Coach Snelson is like Coach P’s mentor. Coach Snelson is well informed of his situation. At the end of the day a coach should never tell a recruiter “that’s not the kid you want to offer”, all kids aren’t the same. It was just going to be easier for him to play at Dickinson than it would be in the district. 

On 7/20/2023 at 7:02 PM, pakronos said:

PAM also let off the gas and to be honest, coaching happened that game as well lol.

If the RB doesn't fumble late Crosby most likely ties the game up and we're having a different conversation. Either way, coaching happens to y'all every games so there's not really anything y'all can do about that. 

On 7/18/2023 at 9:57 PM, Cougtalk said:

When you taught the coaches... I'm getting old. 
 

21 personnel will be a stark contrast to what cougar fans are used to seeing. Puts a lot of pressure on the OL/RB's. 
 

I'm assuming some west coast passing concepts will be applied or does it seem to be a more vertical passing game? 
 

any major changes on defense or is it still some form of a 3-3-5 that's so popular in Hs football. 
 

 

That was my main concern running that style offense. Two games I would point to is our game in 2013 against Elgin and last year against Longview. Both ran 21 personnel and neither had a great offensive line but both rushed for around 400 yards on us. Elgin ran a lot of overload/student body type stuff and Simmons ended up with like 45 carries for 345 yards and just wore us down. Longview had a great RB but the way they could playaction off of their run game just made all of our defenders stand still which eventually led to bad run fits when they did decide to hand it off. I said all that to say you can make the offenses look completely different out of the same set but Coach Willis has a more pragmatic approach than Rio and Coach P so I think you're going to see a variation week to week regarding how we attack our opponent. 

The receiver we got from BH last year transferred to Dickinson but we have two receiver transfers that are eligible and both are built like and play similar to Kirkwood, the GCM transfer is even a little bigger than Kirkwood. With Eudy's arm strength and accuracy I think it's safe to say we'll be going up top quite a bit. 

Not sure the defense will look a lot different scheme wise. We're still going to run a three safety base set but I think it will look more like Carthage's version of a cover 3 vs just calling it a three safety look and playing the box safety on the LOS like we did with Michael Ray. We also got a linebacker from the swamp that looks like he'll go great with Windfont on the second level.   

First day of practice for Crosby today. Feels like we have a better group of senior leadership this year, we'll see how it works out. With the hiring off the new safeties coach last week I believe the staff is finally complete. 

3 hours ago, AledoAlumni said:

So you didn't move? 

Guy is pretty convincing, has a lot of gravitas on the high school level. It’s a different approach than the last two guys but I think he’s made some solid hires of alumni recently to work in different capacities that could help stabilize the program, if not anything else. 

On 7/16/2023 at 6:25 PM, jayhawk said:

the only thing I know is D.C. mag  said the QB was a sophomore (must be decent  being that young).

Was thisclose to having a transfer RB to pair with him

On 6/26/2023 at 2:23 PM, BlackShirts5 said:

Loyalty is a bichhh. Biggest regret was not taking mine where they were wanted. Instead my loyalty got the playing D3 and Walking on at UIW lol. 

Yeah, that was really my main concern. It doesn't feel right as a parent not giving your kid what you think is the best opportunity for success. It sucks to watch your kid run over players from teams like FB Marshall and then watch the kids he ran over pick up double digit offers, Offers that they would also be in line for if they were at that school, simply because they're at that school.

Luckily, I think my son will end up in an OK situation. The backup RB from last year picked up a couple of FBS offers and Rivals rated him a 4 star so I think that will draw additional recruiting interest to the program. Based on the texts and DM's from the coaching staff where he's going to camp this weekend I think he's in good shape to pick up his first D1 offer but again, as a parent you want to put you kid in the most promising situation possible.  

On 6/23/2023 at 7:39 AM, 2wedge said:

If I was Coach Willis, I'd tell this guy to pound sand, screen shot all these DA posts from this site, and tell him to take it up with the UIL. 

What would I be taking up with the UIL? Coach said he would sign the PAPF but would first like an opportunity to go over some things with my son, they talked for a couple hours and my son called and told me he wanted to stay. End of story/situation. Just like DA parents can get on social media and argue in favor of the school choice bill, I can freely state my opinions here as long as they're within the guidelines. 

The vast difference between me and most people is that everybody in Crosby knows exactly who I am and I don't have any problem being asked/confronted by a coach or parent about anything that I've ever posted on here. In short, you don't have to take screenshots because it will always be here. 

On 6/22/2023 at 8:34 PM, 89Falcon said:

With 1000% certainty, I can guarantee you that every coach in Crosby is laughing as well. Probably be remembering him for years to come when they are telling old stories. 

Which ones? The one that asked me to write a letter to the UIL for him or the ones who don't post but DM things that they want in a public forum? Maybe it's the ones who text me and say, "You didn't hear this from me but .  .  .  "? Different coaches on our last two staffs did it for years, so with 1000% certainty I can tell you that coaches don't laugh a parents who contributed multiple all-district sons to the program. 

On 6/22/2023 at 7:55 PM, AledoAlumni said:

Ex: I just talked to him for about an hour to see if I could clean PAPF and I told him I don't think Crosby will make the playoffs or be very successful in the offensive system he runs.

Lmao!!!

Exactly! After I told him that his exact words to me were "I appreciate that, and I respect the hell out of you for coming to me first." before we watched film over the offensive system he's going to run this year.

What's even funnier is the other day when he walked over to the senior citizen fans who go to every practice and workout and want to fire the coach after every loss and said "What are your concerns, ask me anything you want?". These are the guys who will tell a kid's parents "That boy can't play dead in a western." so you can only imagine the stuff they said. Coach Willis stood over there in that brutal sun and answered every question they had, I liken that to Coach P showing at at the park in Barrett Station to make sure people weren't trying to steal his kids. I'm sure Coach Willis never had to deal with narcissistic parents at Cedar Park or C'ville Heritage and Coach P never had to go to the hood in Corpus to keep his kids from being swiped. Some coaches adapt and some don't. We'll see how it works out. 

It's going to be interesting if Crosby somehow gets it worked out. Even for a down year last year we were a failed 2pt conversion at BH and one score away at PAM(starting RB and QB didn't play) from winning another district championship. With the new free agents that got cleared and the old ones from last year that are finally eligible, this Crosby team should have the largest collection of offensive and defensive skill talent since the days of the Twins, Singleton, Perry, etc. 

Crosby is going away from our normal 4 wide spread we've ran for the last decade or so and will switch to a multiple offense with 21 being our base personnel formation. TCU baseball commit(pitcher) Kade Eudy will finally get his time under center, he's the best passer of the football we've had since Jaiden Howard. Both running backs are north of 195lbs, run in the 4.5's and have looked very healthy on the camp circuit and Summer workouts. The junior running back has earned 4-star status after picking up offers from TCU and UTSA this Summer and the senior running back returns after being a unanimous first team all-district selection last year.  

Last year was the first time in a long time that Crosby didn't have a real deep threat on the outside which allowed defenses to load the box against the run game. With the free agents being cleared we now have four receivers that are over 6' and 180lbs, three with verified track speed. Really excited about the GCM transfer who was killing people in 7 on 7 before we had to stop playing and has Kirkwood type ability to play both sides of the ball. The receiving core has a chance to be extremely dangerous with Eudy back there getting the ball to them on time and on target. 

On the defensive side of the ball junior LB Copelin Windfont has picked up multiple FBS offers this Summer and big 6'3" 330lbs AJ Johnson has switched from OG to NT where he started at as a freshman in the '21 playoffs. We were already going to be fast in the back seven but free agent we picked up back there should really bolster us. 

Coach Willis is walking into a team with more overall skill talent than Riordan walked into in '12 and more than Prieto walked into in '19. May not mean anything at all since Crosby was a lot better in the trenches in those years though? 

When we hired Willis I was worried about our participation rates and that is still a major concern, especially since it's almost certain we'll be moving to 6A in '26. That being said, Willis has the sideline looking like an HBCU step show right now. Jabara Williams will be our DC, Coach Williams was drafted by the Rams in 2011 and played LB in the league for few years before he started coaching. Craig "Sqwirl" Williams will be our RB coach, Sqwirl scorched this area for years at Crosby and will get his first coaching opportunity at his alma matter after graduating from Baylor last year. My cousin and classmate Stephen LaSalle has just been hired as an assistant after being at North Shore for the last three state championships. 

I think Crosby still has a lot of question marks but based on what I've seen so far I still felt confident enough this weekend to bet one of North Shore's coaches a bottle of 1942 that we would finish better than 4-6. 

On 6/20/2023 at 11:19 AM, 89Falcon said:

You would be one of the ones in the community that sabotage the coaches before they ever get started. They hired to Coach Willis to "get the job done" and empowered him (as they should) to do his job. You did not want before you ever knew a thing about him because of his age saying that they should not hire a 60 year old coach (which you were wrong about). I expect you will be against anything he does without consulting with you first. 

Parents can't sabotage a coach, especially "before they ever get started". I was being facetious when I said he was 60, that was to highlight he's by far the oldest coach Crosby has initially hired in my 25+ years following the program. We don't have a prim and proper community like Cedar Park or Colleyville so you have to be able to deal with the BS as just part of your job at Crosby.

I didn't want him because he wasn't going to move the needle participation wise and what do you know, rates have dropped even more and kids have transferred out so I was dead on in that assessment. I just talked to him for about an hour to see if I could clean PAPF and I told him I don't think Crosby will make the playoffs or be very successful in the offensive system he runs.

Instead of getting through that we sat in his office and he broke down film of Coastal Carolina vs BYU to show how Crosby would operate against fronts like CE King, talked through recruiting contacts and set up a meeting with my son about trying to get him to stay. I'm not against everything but I've been doing this for a long time and know what good football is supposed to look like. Meanwhile, we haven't run a single offensive play this Summer. I'm sure you know a lot more than me about what goes on at Crosby and I thank you for your concern about the program. 

On 6/20/2023 at 9:37 AM, Pkvalt said:

Seeing as how his job is the athletic director, not just football coach, it sounds like he’s doing his job and bringing in people for all sports, not just football. That’s the part of all this people forget.  Football get the most attention, the money, the most everything. I understand why but other sports, especially girl’s sports have always taken a backseat.  

Girls sports are always going to take a backseat, as they should. Football and sometime boys basketball are the only sports that have a chance to end up as a net positive for for the school financially. I just talked to Coach Willis about singing my son's PAPF to transfer out and she happened to be there and assured that football was still the priority. She's there for football, the girls' stuff is just an added benefit.   

13 hours ago, Matthew328 said:

Coach Willis wanted Coach Cameron, he's had a DPP/football ops type person at his last two stops, he has a defined role for the position and he values it

Coach Willis screwed over the guy he promised the head girls track coaching job to so Coach Cam could get the job. He's a guy who's a lot better suited to run the football recruiting side of things too. That's one of the reasons none of the guys really trust him or want to work for him. Coach Cam is a generic recruiting coordinator that's going to handle all sports. She's more suited to be a college on-campus recruiting coordinator than a "help you get football scholarships out of high school" person. She will very much help the girls' programs as we've never had anybody to help promote them. 

12 hours ago, Reagan said:

Joe Willis has a winning record and a State Championship.  I'd give him any benefit of the doubt.

JOE WILLIS
14 years; 113-62-0; 12-6-1

Take out the state title year in '12 where he won his first year as head coach at CP with Chris Ross' program and he's a 99-60 or .623 for his career. For comparison, Crosby's old coach Jeff Riordan is sitting at 100-37 for his career even after going 2-8 his first year at Chapel Hill. Dude can just flat out coach 

15 hours ago, 2wedge said:

Ummm, what you just explained about the NC QB is a violation of UIL rules and could cause NC to have to forfeit those wins if it can be confirmed. I hate to break it to you, but "believing in yourself" only gets you so far. Learning how to fight through adversity, compete no matter the circumstances, and adapt to a changing environment is what will help the kid actually succeed in life beyond football. I know the kid your talking about, and he's not D1 material and certainly not pro material. So what has his dad really gained him by teaching him to run away from adversity and take the path of least resistance? 

Lol, maybe in the past but if the coach doesn't check that "moved for athletic purposes" box on the PAPF then you're good. In most cases the coaches at the schools kids are leaving from know why the kids are leaving and sign their paperwork without issue. For instance, Channelview's district MVP QB from last year just transferred to CE King. Kid's family probably never even moved to Sheldon and Coach Hurts still signed his paperwork. 

I never said anything about CE King's old QB being D1 or going pro? I said he would be furthering his college athletic career now that he moved and had another opportunity. Going 11-1 and then winning the Bayou Bowl MVP seemed like it worked out awfully well for him vs sitting on the bench for a year. Not sure what not getting an opportunity to play in college because you sat on the bench all year would've taught him? So what did his dad gain him? A subsidized and basically free education when you add his academic aid. Make sure you're not getting the path of least resistance confused with the path less traveled. 

Joe Burrow wouldn't have gained anything by continuing to sit behind Dewayne Haskins and Justin Fields at Ohio State so he could "learn to deal with adversity". Matter of fact his eligibility would've expired without him even playing a meaningful snap. He believed in himself and transferred to LSU and became the #1 pick in the draft though. 

On 6/13/2023 at 10:34 AM, MrFleet23 said:

All I know for sure is that she is from Crosby. And that’s she’s already hard at work implementing programs that we didn’t have. Still looking forward to  Crosby having a great season. For whatever reason historically Crosby has done well when they’re not favored to win. 

She's good on social media but is going to have trouble answering to college personnel directors about a football player's lateral quickness or about a guard's mid-range game. She's really going to be a plus for girls' sports recruiting due to her high activity level on social media though. She's also going to be our head girls track coach which may be concerning to some considering she couldn't really win anything even with all the thoroughbreds North Shore has roaming the campus. This hire was also directed by the supt. 

On 6/13/2023 at 9:50 AM, Pkvalt said:

It blows my mind that kids are transferring over a coach. Did anyone ever consider that if everyone stayed in their hometown instead of jumping ship for an easier route, they’d be stacked with talent and be successful? Not to mention the fact that the kids would actually learn something so important in the real world like loyalty, dealing with adversity, etc. Just my 2 cents as a mother of a female athlete who’s dealt with mediocre programs in Crosby.

Sidenote, what’s your thoughts on the new recruiting coordinator?

It's a new day, with open enrollment schools everywhere parents are moving their children to a place where they have the best opportunity for success.

My co-worker's son was the starting QB for CE King two years ago, a new staff came in and said they were running a different system and that the QB job was probably going to go to a kid that just transferred in. Instead of keeping him there with the new coach my co-worker got an apartment in New Caney so his son could play there. He ended up leading New Caney to an 11-1 season and furthering his opportunity to play college football. He could've stayed and learned the lesson of dealing with adversity, but he transferred and learned the lesson that "if you believe in yourself you can create your own path to success." 

As far as loyalty, one of Crosby's 8th grade QBs transferred to BH. The kid's dad is way more hard core Crosby than I am, and almost loyal to a fault. Now his son is in a 10x better situation because he broke that loyalty. 

The kids aren't leaving just because of the coach. They're leaving because it's about to be July and they haven't ran a single offensive play or defensive set. Moreover, they don't even know who's on the coaching staff yet? Willis just put out a tweet last week asking for coaching resumes, but I'm sure in his interview he told the supt. he already had everything covered. Our supt. just isn't competent enough to vet things on the athletic side. It no surprise that the 6'3" receiver transfer you were depending on contributing this season hasn't shown up to a single workout after you say you want to run the ball 80% of the time. I would go ahead and count him as gone too. At the end of the day though, the head football coach will always have support from the parents of borderline kids who just want to see their kid get on the field. 

On 6/13/2023 at 8:09 AM, AledoAlumni said:

I literally wrote "From my experience"..... So yeah, my opinion is based upon facts. But hey, chicken little. Good luck!

Exactly, just a blind shot in the dark with not a single fact related to Crosby. No reputable coach even wants to work for the guy. 

11 hours ago, AledoAlumni said:

Did I say Crosby was like Cedar Park? I said "From my experience his teams play hard and don't quit. I think y'all got a good coach." And you're right. Yall did struggle at the LOS against us. However, our skill kids also outplayed yalls. But back to my point. I think Coach Willis can get yall going in the right direction. 

What are you even making the comparison for then? "Jon Kay's teams played hard at North Shore." You think you're going to still make that type of statement if he went 2-8 at Galena Park and his teams lost by an average of 20+ppg? The last three years he's 14-20. I've probably watched 10-12 Tyler Legacy games since we've hired him while I'm sure you've watched none. Those teams didn't play hard, even with multiple high major Alabama level FBS players, and Legacy certainly wasn't headed in the right direction. 

He doesn't have near the attraction he did at other places like CP and CH. The guy he offered the OC job to turned it down and the DC is also coming out of retirement after giving up 37ppg last year. Some kids that were going to have a major impact on the program have already transferred, especially the kid we lost to North Shore. 

You can think whatever you want to think but as someone who knows nothing about the inner-workings of Crosby and even less about the current personnel in the program outside of what gets talked about here on SETX I don't think your opinion is based in any fact whatsoever. 

.

On 5/23/2023 at 6:35 PM, BHFAN said:

Just move to BH and get it over with you know you want to be an Eagle 🫶

Lol, I can’t even stand all that blue during track meets. I wish he had this kid back at Crosby now though. He left because he was in the same class with little Prieto and wasn’t going to beat him out. Now we lost two stud qbs because of this grease fire and will probably be rolling with Willis’ son at qb. 

On 5/23/2023 at 7:50 PM, PNGFaithful said:

Never seen such a bitter fan. 

Fan is short for fanatic. Usually fanatics can’t see without team colored glasses. I’m Crosby to the core but some things are just blatantly obvious, like Crosby being 6 days away from summer workouts starting and still not having a coaching staff. Seems like nobody want to work for the guy people here think is a solid hire. 

TCU offers Crosby running back Wesley Yarbrough last night: 

3 hours ago, Vini vidi said:

Not a fan of high school coaches recruiting kids in. Know it’s done a lot especially east Houston and beyond but something about winning with what you have is appealing. 

There is something to that. What sucks is when you have a bunch of homegrown kids and lose to one of those teams though. Almost everybody you play deep in the 5A and 6A playoffs have free agents though. It's just like the transfer portal in college now, if you want to be/stay competitive you get with the game. CE King looks like they're trying to become a Desoto to North Shore's Duncanville and one that they all have in common is open enrollment. The only way to combat playing some of those all-start teams is to get into the talent acquisition business yourself