Rez Ipsa

In at least seven years!

Unless the region matchups change for the semifinals, it would have to be in the state championship. It would be a huge matchup.

It won’t take long. Jeff Joseph took over a png team that was not nearly as far ahead as Lovejoy, and he brought them to state using a lot of Dodge’s system and training. What Todd Dodge himself can do with a regional runner up program with resources, buy-in, and fan support is terrifying. Region 2 just became a nightmare. Too early right now to say whether SOC is getting dethroned as region champ. I agree Anna is going to be a problem, but it remains to be seen how good they are in 5a.

I’m sure he has no reason to not find and recommend the best coach (though, if I’m Nederland I would have wanted him to include the best coach - himself - on the list).

That’s going to shake up Region II.

I think he’s joking

Yep - PNG has to rely on coaching up the boys we have, and SOC openly rebuilds like they’re in the ncaa. They had no pass rush against PNG last year - If we face them next year, they’ll have an all new team tailor made to deal with us. It’s ridiculous. And , if they win we’ll all stand there and clap and pretend there was anything organic about their team. If we win, they’ll file grievances and try to put asterisks and insinuations on the victory. I’m not saying they’re breaking the rules by all these transfers. They’re a magnet school and PnG isn’t, etc. But the idea that all the schools don’t put their teams together under the same rules challenges the idea of high school sports altogether. .

To coach or to select a coach?

The other guys aren’t in such high demand, probably aren’t as expensive. And they’re true Nederland fans — They might be doing it for free.

It would have to be high, otherwise every school in the state would be getting TD to help get them a coach. Unless he’s only saying yes to a few schools, money is the only barrier. He doesn’t want to spend all of his time doing coach selection, and it’s not every school that can afford it.

My observation was that Neumann didn’t use a complicated offense. In fact, I would argue that the defining theme of the six-year MCM streak was that Nederland ran a far more fundamentals-based, simple scheme on defense and offense than PNG, which enabled the team to achieve precision and confidence, especially in do-or-die situations. I think that tended to be the difference in those close games. So many games in that era came down to one or two plays where Nederland executed and PNG didn’t. One of the big differences between PNG now and PNG then is the commitment to mastering a few simple plays and expanding from that only as mastery is achieved, versus the razzle dazzle of the Faircloth era. I’ve heard PNG under Joseph be compared to Katy due to the similarity in the offense and the obvious family connection, but there’s also a similarity between Nederland under Neuman and PNG under Joseph. There’s at least a philosophical link between PNG now and Nederland under Neumann, which is they’re both good at just doing the few plays they’ve mastered right, and building from there. Nederland doesn’t need to blow up the printers with new or more complex plays.

I have trouble thinking that group won’t find a good one.

Absolutely - For all he gets criticized for various failings on defense, he’s a great coach and left PNG in a prime position for Joseph to build from.

I don’t think the bottom has fallen out. The biggest danger for Nederland has been being mediocre and/or bad for so long that it becomes the standard. But, looking at this year, if Nederland goes from 2023 to being able to get past the first round (as compared to a 56-6 beat down), we’re talking a massive improvement. Not even close to this year, even if the on-paper record is similar.

I don’t think it will take 4-5 years. I’m thinking 2-3 or 3-4 at most, and it could be faster. I don’t think it will be as quick a turnaround as PNG (so, not a one-year transformation) for all the reasons I’ve said. It depends on who they hire. A great coach can defeat all our expectations. I won’t be surprised if Nederland finishes in 3rd in district next year and makes it to at least the second round.

Sounds like a lot of people got let go. I bet there’s a deeper story than football.

Right - this is something I think needs to be underlined. Joseph inherited a healthy program with kids who had won several key games and had had a deep-ish playoff run. He didn’t have to “rebuild” so much as “redirect.” It sounds like Nederland will need to do something closer to a true rebuild. That’s going to be key in how people evaluate the new guy. If the standard is “do exactly what png did and go straight to state,” that’s probably not going to work, because Faircloth left PNG in a state that is ahead of schedule relative to where Nederland is. But, I don’t think we’re talking a several year rebuild. I think Nederland just needs to get kids back , get more kids in, hit the weight room better and structure themselves to go toe-to-toe with the power and conditioning of elite programs. They aren’t far off - If Nederland had 1% improvements across every category of improvement, they become an entirely different team. A lot of Nedeand’s woes amount to just being left behind, not so much getting worse . The last two years, Barrow would probably have gone at least 1-1 against PNG if Faircloth had stayed the coach, because Faircloth built his teams the way Barrow does - Poor conditioning, low strength training, no attention to defense, and just hope you win by two points in a shootout. Joseph doesn’t do that, and he showed that there‘a a recipe for the mid county schools to compete at the highest level. Nederland can do it too, but given the current state of the program it might take a year or two to really see the results. But it could also be immediate, as we’ve seen.

With no data, my assumption is participation is down. This is based on anecdotes from Nederland people who at least claim to be aware of kids who might otherwise be playing who are walking the halls instead. And, it seems to follow that if a program isn’t doing well there’s at least a few who walk away. Participation goes up with success. PNG had at least one key player come back between Joseph’s first and second years. That might just be a coincidence (unrelated to the success in Year 1). Also, just given Nederland’s history of having good players, I assume those people still exist even if they aren’t on the team. The only other explanation would be that Nederland just doesn’t have good players right now, which I refuse to believe, and I strongly suspect a new coach will prove me right.

[Hidden Content] a good one just became available

Right. It certainly served to emphasize the difference in where the programs were. It’s one thing to have a down era; it’s another thing entirely to have your rival win state while you’re struggling. Like, if PNG and Nederland had both been 2-8 the last two seasons, they’re both probably eventually looking for new coaches, but it doesn’t become such a focus on one school’s success or failure. Regardless, I have trouble believing Nederland doesn’t right the ship sooner than anyone thinks.

I think PNg’s success was mostly symbolic in its effect on Nederland’s choices. The Nederland coaching staff failed on their own - If you changed nothing about PnG over the last two years and Nederland was posting strong 9 to 10 win seasons, they would still have their coach.

My guess (hope) is Barrow and the Super have been talking about this for a few weeks. Everyone sees the writing on the wall, most of all those two. If so, it could mean steps were quietly being taken in the background to identify solid candidates, beginning before the announcement.

Hands off!

I wish PNG would schedule like this. It’s not a golden bullet, and it only really helps you go deep in the playoffs if your team is already good enough to build from the butt-whoopings. But if we could schedule something like Summer Creek/PAM, North Shore, and Astascosita, we’d really help ourselves out. We’d likely start 0-3, or 1-2, but who cares? It’s about getting ready for the playoffs. And if we could make the travel work, I’d love a matchup with College Station or Aledo.

Coach suggestion, assuming he’d even be available, for Nederland: SOC’s defensive coordinator.