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Who?

This is hilarious!! It’s always my favorite when, in the midst of defending themselves from being called a disaster, coaches post on here under their real name and prove that they are actually a disaster!!

Like the rice?

Here's the question: Will he be allowed to bring in his own staff and begin implementing his own program? Think about it, Hardin has not hired an unfamiliar coach since Tod Stark, and that lasted about half a season. Haynes has been hired twice and Barrier has family all over the school, both teachers and students. This has traditionally been Hardin's Achilles heel. Even when they have gotten promising coaches to take the job, the community, parents and school board can't get out of the way long enough to give the guy a chance. I saw this announcement on Twitter last night, and there is a ton of positive energy around Coach Smith from many txhsfb coaches throughout the state. This leads me to believe they may have gotten a real good one with this hire. Those in Hardin need to stand down for a couple of years and let him work. If you will let him bring his own staff and let him lay the foundations of a program from the 7th grade on up, you might just have a chance to improve your program. Only time will tell....

It's been rumored for years, but I do not think it will ever happen. Hardin is a pretty desirable district for people in the area and lots of kids actually zoned to HD choose to go there. Athletically, consolidating with HD can only hurt Hardin because it would ensure they would never drop the classification really needed for Hardin to become competitive. I think they missed 2Ad1 by about 6 ish kids this past year. As discussed on other threads, Hardin volleyball is a great program and will continue to be that way as long as the Snell's are in town. All of those things equal a slim to none probability that a consolidation of the HD and Hardin district ever happens. Based on what we are hearing here, I think Hardin's football program is probably about to drop to a level of obscurity that no one even thought existed. As we speak, one high school football coach is trying (maybe) to keep interest in the program up, maintain summer conditioning for all athletes, and try to figure out who he is going to work for/with next season. This is BAD. Add to that the fact that admin just signaled their unwillingness to support the things needed to build the football program by denying the request to add additional staff in the upcoming year, and you have a recipe for chaos. This actually might be the final nail in a coffin that has been closed for many many years. If I had a kid in that district, and he had any interest in pursuing football in high school at all, I would do anything I could to get him somewhere else. Hell, even Liberty is at least decent shape and has renewed hope and excitement around the new coach. It's really a shame.

If this is true, its really bad.

Congrats Coach Buchta.

So, who would be remotely interested in this gig? I'm assuming an assistant from the area probably or someone looking to get that first crack at a head coaching job. It's football only so no AD attached, which severely hinders their interest pool. Is there anyone on staff who might be promoted?

Well there you go. I'd call that confirmation. Congrats to Coach Barrier on his next stop and good luck to Hardin in finding a suitable replacement.

It's complete nonsense to post something like this when there is no confirmation. I know we all love to discuss and predict, but the fun stops when you start interfering with a man's life, livelihood and family. Even if it is true, if he has not had time to tell the players, it's no ones place to try to break that news. I have no idea what is true and what isn't, I just know, this isn't the way.

Geez. I'd like to say I am surprised by that outcome, but I am not.

This is true. No argument from me.

Athletes are still around the area, Liberty just needs to figure out how to get them to come out and play football. The same families of the athletes from years are still there and they're still having kids. Lackey needs to put in call to Anthony Chambers and to Reggie White and capitalize work they're already doing with the youth in the area. Having guys like that running Summer conditioning training and hanging around the program will do nothing but increase the profile and make more kids want to play football for Liberty. The avenues are there for Liberty to return to credibility.

Yup. Something easy. QC or consultant....something like that is my thought.

Or taking a job with TCU,

By all accounts, I've heard there is a ton of excitement around this hire. Everyone seems to have taken to him and is optimistic about the future with Lackey at the helm. We will see I guess, but I wouldn't bury Liberty yet. There are athletes in that area. If he can get them to come out, stay out of trouble, and buy into his program, he may be successful. I expect WOS to take a downturn, so maybe that helps also.

From one dumpster fire to another.

Is this the same Jason Smith that once was the owner of a Beaumont based semi pro football team? Circa 2003 or 2004?

Yes, the Morgan Family is from Hardin and the surrounding area and Anthony's dad was the AD/HC in Hardin for a couple of years. I believe Anthony was in JH during that time. He didn't get Hardin to the promised land soon enough to his dad was sent packing and took a job on staff in Carthage. The rest is history. I believe Anthony is actually living in Hardin now working in the oil and gas industry. He was very fun to watch and was a heck of a football player. How did the people in Hardin let this happen? Well, that question could be asked about many things over the years. I didn't see Anthony play in JH so I don't know if he looked like he was going to be as good as he ended up being or not.

Threading the needle will come as he continues to develop. The mechanics are off the charts for an 8th grader, he's a coaches kid so he has that working in his favor, and he absolutely loves the game so he works harder than anyone else in the room during the offseason. He has all the ingredients of a big time player. Will it all pan out? Who knows. But it will be fun to keep an eye on.

The biggest fish that ever got out of the pond at Hardin was Anthony Morgan, and he had to go because the dummies at Hardin ran his dad out of town on a rail. He ended up winning multiple state championships at Carthage and the rest was history. Barrier has a significantly higher ceiling than Morgan.

His name is Brady Barrier and he is Head Coach Ned Barrier's son. He is incredibly talented, already bigger and more skilled than any QB Hardin has seen in a while. I know this is probably going to generate some comments from the peanut gallery, but he is going to be a very special player and has a chance to be big time. Not asking you to believe me today, but I'll be available to discuss more in depth in 3 years or so when everyone else knows.

Taylor can get them right, and at least make them competitive, but the community is going to give him a couple of years. The ceiling at Tarkington is 5-5 and the occasional playoff appearance. That's it. Set those expectations and they can be somewhat respectable.

Talk about a guy who made a fool of himself on the daily. That is a blast from the past!!!!

One word in both situations, PROGRAM. Karen Slack has built quite the program at Liberty, and her success is aided by the Texas Dirt Diva's organization being right there in her back yard. Chandler has dome increcible things with that select softball program to develop players feeding into Slack's program. Randy and Regina Snell have done the same in Hardin with volleyball. It's expected to win and the girls coming up know that. In both situations, stability is present in leadership of the two programs........stability gives the ability to build. When you understand your job is safe even if you underachieve once in a while, you feel open to building there. When you think you are going to get run off the next time you are below .500, you're always looking for the off ramp.