Rez Ipsa

Yes. 
A good administration. 
Community support as well. 

Let’s look at PAM. In my opinion they should be the NorthShore of 5A. They have talent all over the field. That talent can’t seem to equate to a deep playoff run. If PAM had the right coach, they would dominate.  This is an example of where Coaching matters more than talent. You can have all the talent in the world, but with no guidance, you aren’t going to make those deep runs. 

Science teaches - to have a fire you need three things… fuel, air, and ignition source. 
 
I’d argue that to have a TOP TIER football program, you need athletes, coaching, and community support. Sometimes you end up with a really talented bunch of kids or a really exceptional coach and it’s the last thing that you needed… but not “the biggest reason for our success.”  You can look at the recent local rises and falls of historic programs and take your own conclusions, but the fact remains… you’ve got to have all three to be consistently successful. 
 
Did Coach Rowe at Bellville finally learn how to coach over the summer? No, he’s got a good group of kids.  PNG has shut a lot of mouths that said “you’ll never see another SC from mid-county-they don’t have the athletes.” WOS is an example of what a great coach (or a not-so-good coach) can accomplish with a group of good athletes. 
 
It takes all three (talent, coaching, and support) with the first two being almost equally important and the last being a minority third. 

I’ll lean towards coaching… but you better have the talent level to go with it.    You shouldn’t have to have Duncanville talent every year to win, but you have to have athleticism.
But a head coach, perhaps more importantly the staff he hires, and the culture he instills is most important in the success of a program…. Just my opinion.

Why then, did PnG get obliterated in the 3rd round in 2021 (we could barely make a tackle), bring back most of the same key players, and go straight to state the next year? And then, with a new crop of guys, we go straight back? Conventional wisdom said the Mid County schools had no hope to recreate the success of the 70s. Look at us now.
The main variable that changed was the coaching. PNG went from a team that couldn’t even sort of hang with the best, to a team that could beat the best. Coaching is the most important factor, most of the time.
 
I refuse to believe that West Orange suddenly doesn’t have good players. What - was there a chemical leak in the hospital nursery exactly sixteen years ago? Did the gene pool change? What about Hampshire Fannet? They went from bottom-dwelling nobodies to a disciplined, smart, tough, athletic unit - They just happen to have good players now?

Bout Carthage? until the Lord of the Rings came along they had 1 appearance in state title game in the early 90s. He takes over and suddenly a record breaking juggernaut is created with the same bloodlines and talent that has always been there.

Why then, did PnG get obliterated in the 3rd round in 2021 (we could barely make a tackle), bring back most of the same key players, and go straight to state the next year? And then, with a new crop of guys, we go straight back? Conventional wisdom said the Mid County schools had no hope to recreate the success of the 70s. Look at us now.
The main variable that changed was the coaching. PNG went from a team that couldn’t even sort of hang with the best, to a team that could beat the best. Coaching is the most important factor, most of the time.
 
I refuse to believe that West Orange suddenly doesn’t have good players. What - was there a chemical leak in the hospital nursery exactly sixteen years ago? Did the gene pool change? What about Hampshire Fannet? They went from bottom-dwelling nobodies to a disciplined, smart, tough, athletic unit - They just happen to have good players now?

This can be said for the other tale of two cities: PNG and Nederland.  And the answer is obvious.  One coach has been able to develop the talent he has to win and the other doesn’t have the ability to do the same.  Remember they have access to the same type kids!

Your opinion: When the new coach was hired at WOS, the talent just happened to fall off at the same time?  Or could there be another reason for their team’s downfall from what they’ve been used to?

Just a thought here and I understand there might be some controversy around this. 
I think Crosby's implosion and PNG's ascension should teach us a couple very important lessons. 
1) We overvalue the effect of athletes (bo's and joes) on the success of a program and undervalue the effect of coaching. 
2) Great coaches will get the enrollment involved and working. At the end of the day the single most important thing for late playoff success is depth and coaching. Yes losing a great QB/RB/WR/LB can end a season early but if you don't have depth at all the "not superstar" positions and if the backups aren't just as willing, able and wanting to play as the starters you cannot have success at the highest levels. 
I think this is true because of a couple of reasons, Winner win. If you are successful and win others want to be a part of that, from that 6'8 300 lbs kid that's never touched a football to that 5'6 kid who will run through a wall to get his chance. They all are important and they all need to feel like part of the team. If you win then no one cares about being the backup. If you win people will be happy to just be on the team. If you win you can have 65 athletes on Varsity every single year. 
Even a team without elite athletics' talent can execute plays at a high level if they are well coached. Practice times, culture of work, and accountability set the standards for developing 14 year old's into athletic 17 years old's. That being said great coaches can overcome program deficiencies that previously existed. 
 
Crosby and PNG prove this. PNG has no more talent now than it has for the last decade. Crosby has no less talent than it has for the last decade. It's about how that talent is coached, brought through the system, and executes daily. 
 
My ramblings. 
 

I'm only here until my flight leaves for St. Lucia tomorrow. As pitiful as this season was I figured I might as well spend a week taking it out on some Wahoo and hitting some golf balls in the ocean. My old lady is from Oak Cliff and her nephew plays for Duncanville so I've been getting the treatment at the house all bleeping year, smh.  

Crosby is going to sing more kids in the next two years(this year and next year) than anybody currently in the district besides PAM. Teams like Baytown Lee don't beat Crosby because they're more talented. It's easy to point to talent when the system and playcalling doesn't fit the personnel. BH doesn't have near the talent that PAM does and still beat them, PNG doesn't have near the talent FBM does and still beat them. People said Duncanville was finished before Samples got there and turned them into a contender after going 3-7 his first year there, same caliber kids they've always had with a 4k+ enrollment.
We've had multiple D1 kids before and lost in the 2nd round, we've signed 0 D1 kids and made it to the state finals. Guy on the sideline matters a lot, even moreso when the administration is so poorly run which is exactly why I predicted Willis to have a similar record to the one he did at Crosby even though he had a team with multiple kids that ended up playing in the SEC championship last Saturday.  

An understated benefit of deep runs, and one of the reasons deep runs tend to come in bunches. After this season, PnG will have a full 12 more weeks extra of practices and game experience , over the past two years, than most teams in the state. South Oak Cliff will have 18 extra (over the last 3 seasons) - That’s nearly 2 full regular seasons extra! That experience can really build if underclassmen are taking advantage. 

Congratulations on the win.  Heck of game.  A few mental errors at the end but nothing major.  

An understated benefit of deep runs, and one of the reasons deep runs tend to come in bunches. After this season, PnG will have a full 12 more weeks extra of practices and game experience , over the past two years, than most teams in the state. South Oak Cliff will have 18 extra (over the last 3 seasons) - That’s nearly 2 full regular seasons extra! That experience can really build if underclassmen are taking advantage. 

Good Luck PNG ! Pulling for y'all to win it all ! Y'all are the best team on this side of the bracket . Carry us all and get that Championship !

Gonna be a helluva game!!!  It will be won or lost in the trenches. Can PNG stop the dynamic running attack of SOC? Can PNGs o-line keep SOC d line pushed back enough to open gaps for Nguyen and Chatangier?  Can PNG secondary stop SOC? Can PNG receivers win the one on one battles that SOC loading the box is going to create? Can PNG line hold up against the rush that is going to be coming on passing downs?  I can't wait to find out the answers to these questions!!!!  GO PNG!!!!

I watched SOC against Midlothian and Lovejoy. 
Midlothian took a good lead then tried to keep running outside and throwing shirt passes. Didn't work. PN-G will go right at them and rarely throws passes to the line of scrimmage. 
SOC was not as big as I expected. They have some size but nothing like last year. The d-lines for both Midlothian and Lovejoy were much smaller than what PNG will bring. 
It will be speed vs size. We will need to play a full 4 quarters of A ball. SOC can get down and still make a run. 

Like I've been saying, keep eating what y'all been eating.  On the first play let them know they are playing a team from Southeast Texas and don't let up on the gas.  Make us proud Indians.  

An understated benefit of deep runs, and one of the reasons deep runs tend to come in bunches. After this season, PnG will have a full 12 more weeks extra of practices and game experience , over the past two years, than most teams in the state. South Oak Cliff will have 18 extra (over the last 3 seasons) - That’s nearly 2 full regular seasons extra! That experience can really build if underclassmen are taking advantage. 

An understated benefit of deep runs, and one of the reasons deep runs tend to come in bunches. After this season, PnG will have a full 12 more weeks extra of practices and game experience , over the past two years, than most teams in the state. South Oak Cliff will have 18 extra (over the last 3 seasons) - That’s nearly 2 full regular seasons extra! That experience can really build if underclassmen are taking advantage. 

An understated benefit of deep runs, and one of the reasons deep runs tend to come in bunches. After this season, PnG will have a full 12 more weeks extra of practices and game experience , over the past two years, than most teams in the state. South Oak Cliff will have 18 extra (over the last 3 seasons) - That’s nearly 2 full regular seasons extra! That experience can really build if underclassmen are taking advantage. 

Thank you that means a lot coming from one of the premier powerhouses in Texas.

You will be back. Ill be there rooting you on. With this trip PNG and WOS both have 8 trips to state each. It is an honor to share such a stat with WOS, Literally an honor. You guys are the blaze setters for SETX. We all respect you. 

The offense is a little more dynamic. Defense IMO is better in terms of scheme and body movement, but we took a slight step back from last year in terms of individual reads and tackling.