Middle School Football in Campbell Co.

[sportsnut]

Devilcoach, please don't pay any attention to what one ignorant person says. You stay the course and keep up your positive attitude. Remember, winning is contagious and once your boys can learn how to win and you get the athletes to do it, the sky will look much clearer. I am glad that you have agreed to do the job and your boys are lucky to have a coach that cares!

[bulldogcoach]

well said sportsnut, learning how to win is the tough part, that is why I think it may be damaging to the kids spirit if they were to get humiliated. But devil coach if you think your team might be able to keep it close then go for it...I saw where you said that you only have 3 kids on the team as of now, if JMS is still the way it was when I was there they are already working out with 40+, its a hard job & I hope you can build the program....I wish you luck, My dad & grandfather both played at Jellico High, I would love to see them succeed on all levels

[devilcoach]

Thanks. By the way, Burchfield has a very young team also and I plan to see if they'd be interested in playing twice this season. I also have a team in Kentucky who is in the rebuilding stage as well. I don't want people to think that I'm planning to schedule 8 teams on the level that LaFollette and Jacksboro are on. I'm going to drop Williamsburg for a while (reference my rule book comment in a previous post) and try to play teams who play by the rules and don't try to injure players. I'd like to play Burchfield in the season opener at their house and then again for our homecoming. By the time homecoming rolls around, we should be up to speed. Fairview is sending a bunch up and the coach at Huntsville told me he sent ALL of his starters up. If we are going to turn this ship around, this would be the season to do it. We only have 3 returning and only 2 of them will be in the 8th grade. That should get rid of our losing attitude. If they don't think they're supposed to lose, maybe they won't.

[devilcoach]

Well, the schedules are set for the 2007 season of Middle School Football and the coach of the LaFollette Owls was gracious enough to give the Jellico Blue Devils a game in mid-season. I can't make any guarantees about the score of the game, but I do guarantee that we'll have fun playing. Grace Christian was added to my division this year so it took some doing but we got 'er done. The Owls have a great program and we respect them a lot. I talked to some of the kids and they're looking forward to the competition. The best of luck to the Owls this season and we'll see you in September.

[bulldogcoach]

That sounds like a good deal, LMS had an exceptional year this past season...but in the past they have been an up & down program....Maybe you guys could pull an upset...Good luck

[devilcoach]

Thanks. We're not really counting on any upset or anything. We're just looking to start an exciting series. LaFollette may be up and down, but their "down" is too often better than our "up." Our boys have convinced their selves that they can't beat Williamsburg because of their very lose interpretation of anything you'd call a rule and although LaFollette is a much bigger and usually better team than we are, they're good sports even when they flog you. I'm excited about it, we'll see how it turns out.

[Ball Coach]

devilcoach said:

Thanks. We're not really counting on any upset or anything. We're just looking to start an exciting series. LaFollette may be up and down, but their "down" is too often better than our "up." Our boys have convinced their selves that they can't beat Williamsburg because of their very lose interpretation of anything you'd call a rule and although LaFollette is a much bigger and usually better team than we are, they're good sports even when they flog you. I'm excited about it, we'll see how it turns out.

Please define "loose" interpretation of the rules...Elaborate if you would.

[devilcoach]

It's got to the point that it's just no fun to play Williamsburg at their house anymore. There are several teams in our division who have dropped Williamsburg and it's mostly because of their "regular" refs. They have one who got into an altercation with some fans and just about took a beatin'. One school I play in the regular season packed up and left in the middle of the game last year and will not schedule them again. They're a good team and by halftime they had almost 100 yards in penalties and the Jackets had none. A homefield advantage is one thing but dang..... from the chain crew to the clock operator it's a mess up there and we don't want to be a part of it. I think you know what I mean.

[Ball Coach]

I didn't know what you meant...I have no personal experience with the way they do things down there. Knowing some fine folks from "the burg" this sounds out of character, more like something Whitley would do, but I do not doubt it. It is sad to hear that though I know that is one of Jellico's traditional rivals, and to have outside forces such as this interfering with something that has so much history is sad...is it like this at the H.S. level as well?

[devilcoach]

Not so much. I think the officials we have problems with are not "real" refs. At the High School level the game would be more important than at the Middle School level and would therefore need certified refs. I think part of the problem is that when they play Jellico or Fairview or someone else they have no respect for the don't really put a lot of effort into the game. I know last time we played there there were very few 'burg fans which is very uncharacteristic for them and the chain gang and clock operator payed little if any attention to the game. It just seems like us single A Tennessee schools don't deserve the full treatment up there. And you are right, it's a shame and it does sound more like Whitley than the burg. My principal and my AD have forbidden me to even scrimmage Whitley.