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06-14-2014, 10:49 PM
I don't know if this has ever been posted on BGR or not but here we go.
Together, the four shared â three directly â in the most memorable night in the sports history of Lawrence County.Nov. 21, 1997. Breathitt County High School brought a 42-game football winning streak to Louisa for a Class 2A football playoff game with upstart Lawrence County. By the time the Bobcats left, there had been an epic Lawrence rally, a post-game scuffle and the goal posts had been torn down.In Lawrence's 36-28 victory, Phillip Ratliff served as the defensive coordinator for then-Lawrence County head coach Chuke Williams. Wide receiver Gerad Parker caught two touchdown passes. Jason Michael was the starting QB for the Bulldogs.Then an eighth-grader, Dontae Wright was watching the game in a brand-new, North Carolina-blue jacket â which he ruined with joyful diving into the post-game muck on the field amid the raucous victory celebration.Said Michael: "That's a night I'll never forget."Said Parker: "For our county, that night was everything."What Michael and Parker, Ratliff and Wright have done since is far more improbable.Would you believe that little Lawrence County has produced its own coaching tree with branches that reach not only into college football but the NFL?Ratliff is the tight ends coach at his alma mater, Marshall. Parker, the former University of Kentucky wide receiver, is passing game coordinator at Tennessee-Martin. At the tender age of 26, Wright coaches the defensive line for head coach Terry Bowden at North Alabama.After serving as quarterbacks coach with the San Francisco 49ers last season, Michael â the QB of Western Kentucky University's 2002 I-AA national championship team â was just hired to coach tight ends by the San Diego Chargers.How does a rural county of some 16,573 end up with four guys climbing the ladder in such a hyper-competitive world?This is how.The story starts with Ratliff.During the late 1980s, the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder was The Man in Lawrence County, an old-fashioned three-sport star. No one in his family had ever earned a college degree, Ratliff said. "My mom and dad, it was a very strong Christian home and they pretty much demanded that I was going to go to college," he said. "Financially, the only way I could do that was to get a scholarship."He did, to play football at Marshall.In Huntington, Ratliff thrived. He became a two-time I-AA All-American as an offensive lineman and was a captain of the Thundering Herd's 1992 national title team. The next year, Ratliff started his coaching career by serving as a student assistant at Marshall.Back in Louisa, the impact of his success at Marshall was profound.Said Parker: "It meant so much to see someone from where you were succeeding like that. Made you think you could do it, too."Of all the Lawrence County coaching tree, Michael would seem the most destined to coach. His father, Eddie, was a high school football coach before he became a longtime school administrator.Yet at WKU, Jason studied civil engineering.In Bowling Green, Michael became friends with a man who was a big University of Tennessee supporter. One day, the man called Michael on the phone, said he had a UT sports notable visiting and invited the Western quarterback to come meet him.That was Michael's introduction to Phillip Fulmer.The meeting eventually led to Fulmer offering the WKU quarterback an entry-level shot as assistant strength coach in 2003. The next season, Michael was UT's graduate assistant working with defense and special teams.Even while establishing himself at the lowest levels of college football coaching, Michael had an insight vital across nearly all careers: The key to advancement is networking."I would go to the Senior Bowl and the (NFL Draft) Combine and try to meet people, get my name out," he said.A pair of NFL assistants, Don Martindale and Rob Ryan, who had worked at WKU at various times helped him break into pro football.Today, Michael has worked on the staffs of the NFL's Raiders, Jets, 49ers and now Chargers. That's in addition to the year (2008) he spent coaching tight ends for Fulmer at UT.He's 31 years old."Jason Michael is on track to be an NFL head coach," said former Lawrence County football coach Billy Goldsmith.Gerad Parker's first sports love was basketball.At small high schools, the success of any team depends on getting all the best athletes to play. When Parker got to Lawrence County High, the school's veteran quarterback, Michael, offered him a deal."I told Gerad if he would come out for football, I'd come out for basketball," Michael said. Parker became one of the most prolific wide receivers ever to play high school football in Kentucky. He caught the eye of Hal Mumme, who gave him a scholarship to UK.In Lexington, Parker was never a star, but he did become a contributing player.By the time his playing days were winding down, Parker was unsure of a career path. He was flirting with the idea of going to Nashville and trying to become a country singer.His Kentucky wide receivers coach, Joker Phillips, instead asked Parker if he had ever thought about coaching. One thing led to another, and Rich Brooks eventually hired the former Cat as a grad assistant.Nevertheless, Parker's career journey did eventually lead to Tennessee â for a job coaching at UT-Martin.To become a football standout at Lawrence County, Dontae Wright surmounted more obstacles than any child deserves."I grew up without a dad," he said. "My mom died while I was in school."From youth sports on, the coaches who worked with Wright filled a void."I've known since middle school, I wanted to be a coach," Wright said. "The guys I had that worked with me were such a big influence on me, I wanted to be that for other kids."Wright earned a football scholarship to Miami (Ohio); as a senior, he was both a starting linebacker and team captain.When his playing career ended, UK had an opening for a grad assistant on the defensive side of the ball. Wright had a connection in Lexington."I went in to see Coach Brooks, told him about Dontae, and just said if you bring him in for an interview, you'll hire him," Parker said.Brooks brought Wright in and interviewed him. And hired him.There are basically only two kinds of coaches. Those who are head men and those who want to be.Said Michael: "Someday, sure, I want to be a head coach."Said Ratliff: "My goal is to be a head coach."Noted Parker: "I want to be a head coach."And Wright: "I'd like to be the head coach some day at the University of Kentucky. Or at my alma mater, Miami."Yet the four guys from the same small Kentucky town working their way up the coaching rungs have another goal all their own: being together again on the same side â just as they were in 1997 when Breathitt County's 42-game winning streak ended."We talk about that all the time," Parker said.Said Ratliff: "One of us gets a head coaching job and gets the band back together. Whether that would really work, obviously, a lot would have to go into that. But it would really be something if we could pull it off."
Together, the four shared â three directly â in the most memorable night in the sports history of Lawrence County.Nov. 21, 1997. Breathitt County High School brought a 42-game football winning streak to Louisa for a Class 2A football playoff game with upstart Lawrence County. By the time the Bobcats left, there had been an epic Lawrence rally, a post-game scuffle and the goal posts had been torn down.In Lawrence's 36-28 victory, Phillip Ratliff served as the defensive coordinator for then-Lawrence County head coach Chuke Williams. Wide receiver Gerad Parker caught two touchdown passes. Jason Michael was the starting QB for the Bulldogs.Then an eighth-grader, Dontae Wright was watching the game in a brand-new, North Carolina-blue jacket â which he ruined with joyful diving into the post-game muck on the field amid the raucous victory celebration.Said Michael: "That's a night I'll never forget."Said Parker: "For our county, that night was everything."What Michael and Parker, Ratliff and Wright have done since is far more improbable.Would you believe that little Lawrence County has produced its own coaching tree with branches that reach not only into college football but the NFL?Ratliff is the tight ends coach at his alma mater, Marshall. Parker, the former University of Kentucky wide receiver, is passing game coordinator at Tennessee-Martin. At the tender age of 26, Wright coaches the defensive line for head coach Terry Bowden at North Alabama.After serving as quarterbacks coach with the San Francisco 49ers last season, Michael â the QB of Western Kentucky University's 2002 I-AA national championship team â was just hired to coach tight ends by the San Diego Chargers.How does a rural county of some 16,573 end up with four guys climbing the ladder in such a hyper-competitive world?This is how.The story starts with Ratliff.During the late 1980s, the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder was The Man in Lawrence County, an old-fashioned three-sport star. No one in his family had ever earned a college degree, Ratliff said. "My mom and dad, it was a very strong Christian home and they pretty much demanded that I was going to go to college," he said. "Financially, the only way I could do that was to get a scholarship."He did, to play football at Marshall.In Huntington, Ratliff thrived. He became a two-time I-AA All-American as an offensive lineman and was a captain of the Thundering Herd's 1992 national title team. The next year, Ratliff started his coaching career by serving as a student assistant at Marshall.Back in Louisa, the impact of his success at Marshall was profound.Said Parker: "It meant so much to see someone from where you were succeeding like that. Made you think you could do it, too."Of all the Lawrence County coaching tree, Michael would seem the most destined to coach. His father, Eddie, was a high school football coach before he became a longtime school administrator.Yet at WKU, Jason studied civil engineering.In Bowling Green, Michael became friends with a man who was a big University of Tennessee supporter. One day, the man called Michael on the phone, said he had a UT sports notable visiting and invited the Western quarterback to come meet him.That was Michael's introduction to Phillip Fulmer.The meeting eventually led to Fulmer offering the WKU quarterback an entry-level shot as assistant strength coach in 2003. The next season, Michael was UT's graduate assistant working with defense and special teams.Even while establishing himself at the lowest levels of college football coaching, Michael had an insight vital across nearly all careers: The key to advancement is networking."I would go to the Senior Bowl and the (NFL Draft) Combine and try to meet people, get my name out," he said.A pair of NFL assistants, Don Martindale and Rob Ryan, who had worked at WKU at various times helped him break into pro football.Today, Michael has worked on the staffs of the NFL's Raiders, Jets, 49ers and now Chargers. That's in addition to the year (2008) he spent coaching tight ends for Fulmer at UT.He's 31 years old."Jason Michael is on track to be an NFL head coach," said former Lawrence County football coach Billy Goldsmith.Gerad Parker's first sports love was basketball.At small high schools, the success of any team depends on getting all the best athletes to play. When Parker got to Lawrence County High, the school's veteran quarterback, Michael, offered him a deal."I told Gerad if he would come out for football, I'd come out for basketball," Michael said. Parker became one of the most prolific wide receivers ever to play high school football in Kentucky. He caught the eye of Hal Mumme, who gave him a scholarship to UK.In Lexington, Parker was never a star, but he did become a contributing player.By the time his playing days were winding down, Parker was unsure of a career path. He was flirting with the idea of going to Nashville and trying to become a country singer.His Kentucky wide receivers coach, Joker Phillips, instead asked Parker if he had ever thought about coaching. One thing led to another, and Rich Brooks eventually hired the former Cat as a grad assistant.Nevertheless, Parker's career journey did eventually lead to Tennessee â for a job coaching at UT-Martin.To become a football standout at Lawrence County, Dontae Wright surmounted more obstacles than any child deserves."I grew up without a dad," he said. "My mom died while I was in school."From youth sports on, the coaches who worked with Wright filled a void."I've known since middle school, I wanted to be a coach," Wright said. "The guys I had that worked with me were such a big influence on me, I wanted to be that for other kids."Wright earned a football scholarship to Miami (Ohio); as a senior, he was both a starting linebacker and team captain.When his playing career ended, UK had an opening for a grad assistant on the defensive side of the ball. Wright had a connection in Lexington."I went in to see Coach Brooks, told him about Dontae, and just said if you bring him in for an interview, you'll hire him," Parker said.Brooks brought Wright in and interviewed him. And hired him.There are basically only two kinds of coaches. Those who are head men and those who want to be.Said Michael: "Someday, sure, I want to be a head coach."Said Ratliff: "My goal is to be a head coach."Noted Parker: "I want to be a head coach."And Wright: "I'd like to be the head coach some day at the University of Kentucky. Or at my alma mater, Miami."Yet the four guys from the same small Kentucky town working their way up the coaching rungs have another goal all their own: being together again on the same side â just as they were in 1997 when Breathitt County's 42-game winning streak ended."We talk about that all the time," Parker said.Said Ratliff: "One of us gets a head coaching job and gets the band back together. Whether that would really work, obviously, a lot would have to go into that. But it would really be something if we could pull it off."
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06-14-2014, 10:54 PM
Jason Michael is now the Offensive Coordinator for the Tennessee Titans.
[Image: http://media.kentucky.com/smedia/2011/02...ate.79.jpg]
[Image: http://media.kentucky.com/smedia/2011/02...ate.79.jpg]
06-14-2014, 10:58 PM
[Image: http://prod.static.titans.clubs.nfl.com/...son_ci.jpg]
Jason michael for the Titans
Jason michael for the Titans
06-14-2014, 11:01 PM
Phillip Ratliff at Marshall University
[Image: http://media.kentucky.com/smedia/2011/02...ate.79.jpg]
[Image: http://media.kentucky.com/smedia/2011/02...ate.79.jpg]
06-14-2014, 11:05 PM
[Image: http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pi...174515.jpg]
Phillip Ratliff is now an assistant coach for the Charlotte 49ers.
Phillip Ratliff is now an assistant coach for the Charlotte 49ers.
06-14-2014, 11:06 PM
[Image: http://media.kentucky.com/smedia/2011/02...ate.79.jpg]
Gerad Parker and Dontae Wright at UK.
Gerad Parker and Dontae Wright at UK.
06-14-2014, 11:12 PM
[Image: http://media.kentucky.com/smedia/2011/02...ate.79.jpg]
Dontae Wright with North Alabama.
Dontae Wright with North Alabama.
06-14-2014, 11:17 PM
[Image: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pur/...28168.jpeg]
Gerad Parker is now coaching at Purdue
Gerad Parker is in his second season as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Purdue. He was hired Feb. 11, 2013.
"Gerad is just what I was looking for in our tight ends coach," head coach Darrell Hazell said. "He's a young and energetic coach with passing game experience. His background will help in the development of some very special tight ends in our program. He will also serve as our recruiting coordinator. His addition brings another smart, well-organized coach with a passion to make Purdue great to our staff."
Parker joined the Thundering Herd coaching staff in the spring of 2011 and spent two years as wide receivers coach. This past season, Marshall led all Football Bowl Subdivision teams in passing offense with an average of 365.1 yards per game.
Under Parker's guide in 2012, wide receiver Tommy Shuler led all FBS players individually with 9.2 receptions per game and finished 18th nationally with 94.8 yards per game average. In a Sept. 29 game against Purdue in West Lafayette, Shuler set an opponent record vs. the Boilermakers with 19 receptions for 200 yards.
Prior to Marshall, Parker spent three seasons at UT-Martin as the Skyhawks' passing game coordinator, recruiting coordinator, wide receivers and running backs coach. He began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Kentucky, his alma mater.
A four-year letterwinner for the Wildcats, he was twice named to the SEC Scholar Athlete Honor Roll (2002 and 2003), was voted as the "Most inspirational Player" by his teammates in 2004 and was the UK Football Scholar Athlete of the Year (2004). He was collegiate teammates with current Purdue supervisor of football operations Tommy Cook.
Parker earned his bachelor's degree in business management from UK in 2003 and a master's in education, also from UK, in 2005.
Gerad Parker is now coaching at Purdue
Gerad Parker is in his second season as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Purdue. He was hired Feb. 11, 2013.
"Gerad is just what I was looking for in our tight ends coach," head coach Darrell Hazell said. "He's a young and energetic coach with passing game experience. His background will help in the development of some very special tight ends in our program. He will also serve as our recruiting coordinator. His addition brings another smart, well-organized coach with a passion to make Purdue great to our staff."
Parker joined the Thundering Herd coaching staff in the spring of 2011 and spent two years as wide receivers coach. This past season, Marshall led all Football Bowl Subdivision teams in passing offense with an average of 365.1 yards per game.
Under Parker's guide in 2012, wide receiver Tommy Shuler led all FBS players individually with 9.2 receptions per game and finished 18th nationally with 94.8 yards per game average. In a Sept. 29 game against Purdue in West Lafayette, Shuler set an opponent record vs. the Boilermakers with 19 receptions for 200 yards.
Prior to Marshall, Parker spent three seasons at UT-Martin as the Skyhawks' passing game coordinator, recruiting coordinator, wide receivers and running backs coach. He began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Kentucky, his alma mater.
A four-year letterwinner for the Wildcats, he was twice named to the SEC Scholar Athlete Honor Roll (2002 and 2003), was voted as the "Most inspirational Player" by his teammates in 2004 and was the UK Football Scholar Athlete of the Year (2004). He was collegiate teammates with current Purdue supervisor of football operations Tommy Cook.
Parker earned his bachelor's degree in business management from UK in 2003 and a master's in education, also from UK, in 2005.
06-14-2014, 11:21 PM
[Image: http://www.msueagles.com/images/2013/1/3...Wright.jpg]
Dontae Wright is now the Defensive line coach at Morehead State.
Dontae Wright is now the Defensive line coach at Morehead State.
06-14-2014, 11:24 PM
Not to bad for tiny little Louisa Kentucky!
:notbad:
:notbad:
06-14-2014, 11:39 PM
Paintsville — The area lost a high school coaching great on Thursday.
Former Lawrence County coach Charles �Chuke� Williams, who was 58, died after a battle with lung cancer. He put Bulldog football on the map during a seven-year coaching span from 1994 to 2000.
The Bulldogs went 68-18 � winning 80 percent of their games � behind a belly option offense that pounded on opponents and routinely was one of the top three rushing teams in the state.
During a three-year span from 1997 to 1999, the Bulldogs went a combined 37-4 and twice reached the state semifinals.
�He�s what the game of football represents � a tough, physical, grinding game,� said Gerad Parker, a former player who is now an assistant coach at Tennessee-Martin. �That�s the way Chuke coached it. He was very, very disciplined with the way he approached the game.�
Lawrence County�s 36-28 victory over Breathitt County in the 1997 quarterfinals represented the school�s biggest victory.
The Bulldogs snapped Breathitt County�s long winning streak and fans tore down the goalposts and marched them through town.
The �99 team scored 767 points during a 12-2 season with the losses coming to Sheldon Clark (18-16) and Fort Thomas Highlands (76-36) in the state semifinals.
Parker was a senior in the �99 season and a top candidate for Mr. Football after becoming the state�s all-time leading receiver.
Lawrence County honored Williams back in September and put him in the school�s Hall of Fame.
As a former option quarterback under coach Walter Brugh at Paintsville, Williams was always looking for the right leader. His quarterbacks at Lawrence County included Jason Michael, Alan Short and Dontae Wright, among others.
Short had a long relationship with Williams, who groomed him to be a quarterback.
�From the time I was in seventh grade, he worked with me on being the quarterback of the future,� said Short, who is an assistant at Adair County High School. �I had a long, long history with Chuke Williams.�
[Image: http://d6673sr63mbv7.cloudfront.net/arch...2cd2af.jpg]
Former Lawrence County coach Charles �Chuke� Williams, who was 58, died after a battle with lung cancer. He put Bulldog football on the map during a seven-year coaching span from 1994 to 2000.
The Bulldogs went 68-18 � winning 80 percent of their games � behind a belly option offense that pounded on opponents and routinely was one of the top three rushing teams in the state.
During a three-year span from 1997 to 1999, the Bulldogs went a combined 37-4 and twice reached the state semifinals.
�He�s what the game of football represents � a tough, physical, grinding game,� said Gerad Parker, a former player who is now an assistant coach at Tennessee-Martin. �That�s the way Chuke coached it. He was very, very disciplined with the way he approached the game.�
Lawrence County�s 36-28 victory over Breathitt County in the 1997 quarterfinals represented the school�s biggest victory.
The Bulldogs snapped Breathitt County�s long winning streak and fans tore down the goalposts and marched them through town.
The �99 team scored 767 points during a 12-2 season with the losses coming to Sheldon Clark (18-16) and Fort Thomas Highlands (76-36) in the state semifinals.
Parker was a senior in the �99 season and a top candidate for Mr. Football after becoming the state�s all-time leading receiver.
Lawrence County honored Williams back in September and put him in the school�s Hall of Fame.
As a former option quarterback under coach Walter Brugh at Paintsville, Williams was always looking for the right leader. His quarterbacks at Lawrence County included Jason Michael, Alan Short and Dontae Wright, among others.
Short had a long relationship with Williams, who groomed him to be a quarterback.
�From the time I was in seventh grade, he worked with me on being the quarterback of the future,� said Short, who is an assistant at Adair County High School. �I had a long, long history with Chuke Williams.�
[Image: http://d6673sr63mbv7.cloudfront.net/arch...2cd2af.jpg]
06-14-2014, 11:46 PM
Lawrence County’s own achieves dream job as offensive coordinator with Tennessee Titans
Zack Klemme
The Independent The Daily Independent Fri Jan 24, 2014, 06:03 AM EST
LOUISA — Jason Michael is known as a driven individual, but one anecdote in particular about the former Lawrence County quarterback, shared by former Bulldogs coach Billy Goldsmith, stands out.
“His daddy told me his goal was to be an offensive coordinator in the National Football League at age 35,” Goldsmith said.
Michael is exactly that. The former Bulldog was named the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator under new coach Ken Whisenhunt last week.
“This kid’s a goal-oriented, special, special kid,” Goldsmith said.
Michael, 35, called his new position “the job I dreamed about” in a release on the Titans’ website.
“This is a great situation,” Michael said. “The opportunity to work with Whiz and follow him there to Tennessee is exciting both professionally and personally. In the one year working with Whiz, I learned a great deal and we worked really well together. His ability to create an offense that is built around the strengths of the players led to success for us in San Diego and it will be fun to come there and create an offense that is built around a new group of players.”
Goldsmith, now an assistant coach at Boyle County, coached Michael in eighth grade. He tells another story about Michael’s collegiate career at Western Kentucky that, he said, further illustrates what Michael is about.
“They had 120 kids or so on Western Kentucky’s football team,” Goldsmith said. “They’re doing wall sits, you know when you squat on the wall and see how long you can sit there and it burns? Everybody drops when they can’t take any more, and it comes down to (Michael) and one other kid, and he looks at that boy and says, ‘I don’t know how long you’re prepared to be here, but I’m gonna be here all day.’
“That tells you right there all you need to know about Jason Michael.”
Michael graced the cover of The Independent’s football preseason preview tab in 1997. He earned the starting signal-caller’s job at Lawrence County as a sophomore in 1995 and led the Bulldogs to a 31-6 record over three seasons in coach Chuke Williams’ belly option.
The Bulldogs started his senior year 13-0 and knocked off heavyweight Breathitt County in the 1997 Class AA playoffs, 36-28, regarded as the greatest win in school history. Lawrence County was upset by eventual state champion Bourbon County in the state semifinals.
Eddie Michael, Jason’s father and a former Bulldogs coach and Lawrence County school superintendent, noted his son is one of several Bulldogs from that era who have entered the coaching profession.
Gerad Parker, Michael’s teammate at Lawrence County, is Purdue’s tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. Phil Ratliff, who played at Marshall, is UNC Charlotte’s offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, and Dontae Wright is Morehead State’s defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.
“He played with some great kids around here and we had a top-notch program at the time that had a lot of emphasis on football, and it worked out great for him,” Eddie Michael said.
After departing Louisa, Michael went to first Army and then Western Kentucky, quarterbacking the Hilltoppers to the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA national championship. He was named the school’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2003.
An attempt to obtain further comment from Michael through the Titans’ media relations office was unsuccessful before press time.
Michael has 11 years of coaching experience, including eight seasons in the NFL. He joins the Titans after spending the last three seasons as the tight ends coach for the San Diego Chargers.
“Jason really impresses me with his knowledge of the run and pass game and he was a big part of putting together our plans last year in San Diego,” Whisenhunt said in a release. “He is very familiar with the offensive system that we want to implement here, which includes bits and pieces from a number of offensive systems. He is intelligent and a good communicator. He was responsible for presenting a couple of game-plan packages to our offense each week and he was impressive.”
While working with the tight ends in San Diego, Michael helped Antonio Gates to the fourth-most receptions (190) among NFL tight ends over that time period. He also totaled 2,188 yards and 18 touchdowns. Gates led the Chargers in receptions (77) in 2013, while second-year tight end Ladarius Green posted 22.1-yards per catch. In two of his three seasons in San Diego, the Chargers offense ranked in the top 10 — fifth last season and sixth in 2011.
Eddie Michael said Jason was preparing to enter the engineering field after graduating from Western Kentucky, but that he got an opportunity to serve as a graduate assistant for the University of Tennessee under coach Phillip Fulmer in 2003, and “that’s the whole thing that turned him.”
He entered the NFL ranks in 2005 as a quality control coach for the Oakland Raiders and then became an offensive quality control coach for the New York Jets in 2006. In 2007, he was promoted to tight ends coach for the New York Jets.
Michael returned to the University of Tennessee to coach tight ends in 2008, Fulmer’s final season, and he spent 2009-2010 back in the NFL as a San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach.
Michael graduated from Western Kentucky with a degree in civil engineering technology and was named a I-AA Athletic Directors Academic All-Star and a second-team Verizon Academic All-District IV honoree.
Michael is married to Jamie and they have a newborn son, Wyatt
[Image: http://debug.cnhi.zope.net/dailyindepend...ebc2ba.jpg]
Jason Michael poses in front of the Dog House at Lawrence County High School in 1997. Michael was featured on the cover of The Independent's 25th annual high school football preview issue that season. THE INDEPENDENT FILE PHOTO
Zack Klemme
The Independent The Daily Independent Fri Jan 24, 2014, 06:03 AM EST
LOUISA — Jason Michael is known as a driven individual, but one anecdote in particular about the former Lawrence County quarterback, shared by former Bulldogs coach Billy Goldsmith, stands out.
“His daddy told me his goal was to be an offensive coordinator in the National Football League at age 35,” Goldsmith said.
Michael is exactly that. The former Bulldog was named the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator under new coach Ken Whisenhunt last week.
“This kid’s a goal-oriented, special, special kid,” Goldsmith said.
Michael, 35, called his new position “the job I dreamed about” in a release on the Titans’ website.
“This is a great situation,” Michael said. “The opportunity to work with Whiz and follow him there to Tennessee is exciting both professionally and personally. In the one year working with Whiz, I learned a great deal and we worked really well together. His ability to create an offense that is built around the strengths of the players led to success for us in San Diego and it will be fun to come there and create an offense that is built around a new group of players.”
Goldsmith, now an assistant coach at Boyle County, coached Michael in eighth grade. He tells another story about Michael’s collegiate career at Western Kentucky that, he said, further illustrates what Michael is about.
“They had 120 kids or so on Western Kentucky’s football team,” Goldsmith said. “They’re doing wall sits, you know when you squat on the wall and see how long you can sit there and it burns? Everybody drops when they can’t take any more, and it comes down to (Michael) and one other kid, and he looks at that boy and says, ‘I don’t know how long you’re prepared to be here, but I’m gonna be here all day.’
“That tells you right there all you need to know about Jason Michael.”
Michael graced the cover of The Independent’s football preseason preview tab in 1997. He earned the starting signal-caller’s job at Lawrence County as a sophomore in 1995 and led the Bulldogs to a 31-6 record over three seasons in coach Chuke Williams’ belly option.
The Bulldogs started his senior year 13-0 and knocked off heavyweight Breathitt County in the 1997 Class AA playoffs, 36-28, regarded as the greatest win in school history. Lawrence County was upset by eventual state champion Bourbon County in the state semifinals.
Eddie Michael, Jason’s father and a former Bulldogs coach and Lawrence County school superintendent, noted his son is one of several Bulldogs from that era who have entered the coaching profession.
Gerad Parker, Michael’s teammate at Lawrence County, is Purdue’s tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. Phil Ratliff, who played at Marshall, is UNC Charlotte’s offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, and Dontae Wright is Morehead State’s defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.
“He played with some great kids around here and we had a top-notch program at the time that had a lot of emphasis on football, and it worked out great for him,” Eddie Michael said.
After departing Louisa, Michael went to first Army and then Western Kentucky, quarterbacking the Hilltoppers to the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA national championship. He was named the school’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2003.
An attempt to obtain further comment from Michael through the Titans’ media relations office was unsuccessful before press time.
Michael has 11 years of coaching experience, including eight seasons in the NFL. He joins the Titans after spending the last three seasons as the tight ends coach for the San Diego Chargers.
“Jason really impresses me with his knowledge of the run and pass game and he was a big part of putting together our plans last year in San Diego,” Whisenhunt said in a release. “He is very familiar with the offensive system that we want to implement here, which includes bits and pieces from a number of offensive systems. He is intelligent and a good communicator. He was responsible for presenting a couple of game-plan packages to our offense each week and he was impressive.”
While working with the tight ends in San Diego, Michael helped Antonio Gates to the fourth-most receptions (190) among NFL tight ends over that time period. He also totaled 2,188 yards and 18 touchdowns. Gates led the Chargers in receptions (77) in 2013, while second-year tight end Ladarius Green posted 22.1-yards per catch. In two of his three seasons in San Diego, the Chargers offense ranked in the top 10 — fifth last season and sixth in 2011.
Eddie Michael said Jason was preparing to enter the engineering field after graduating from Western Kentucky, but that he got an opportunity to serve as a graduate assistant for the University of Tennessee under coach Phillip Fulmer in 2003, and “that’s the whole thing that turned him.”
He entered the NFL ranks in 2005 as a quality control coach for the Oakland Raiders and then became an offensive quality control coach for the New York Jets in 2006. In 2007, he was promoted to tight ends coach for the New York Jets.
Michael returned to the University of Tennessee to coach tight ends in 2008, Fulmer’s final season, and he spent 2009-2010 back in the NFL as a San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach.
Michael graduated from Western Kentucky with a degree in civil engineering technology and was named a I-AA Athletic Directors Academic All-Star and a second-team Verizon Academic All-District IV honoree.
Michael is married to Jamie and they have a newborn son, Wyatt
[Image: http://debug.cnhi.zope.net/dailyindepend...ebc2ba.jpg]
Jason Michael poses in front of the Dog House at Lawrence County High School in 1997. Michael was featured on the cover of The Independent's 25th annual high school football preview issue that season. THE INDEPENDENT FILE PHOTO
06-15-2014, 01:06 AM
."We talk about that all the time," Parker said.Said Ratliff: "One of us gets a head coaching job and gets the band back together. Whether that would really work, obviously, a lot would have to go into that. But it would really be something if we could pull it off."
Would it not be something if when all these guys retire and take there coaching careers as far as they can that they would all come back to Louisa and be on the sidelins for the Dawgs. I don't think you would ever see em all at the same time but I would say you will see one or two of em come back. Heck we already have Alan Short as offensive coordinator.
Would it not be something if when all these guys retire and take there coaching careers as far as they can that they would all come back to Louisa and be on the sidelins for the Dawgs. I don't think you would ever see em all at the same time but I would say you will see one or two of em come back. Heck we already have Alan Short as offensive coordinator.
06-15-2014, 02:41 AM
Very impressive group of coaches and men from Lawrence Co double G. That was a really good read. Paintsville's team went to the camp in Charlotte just yesterday and hopefully got to meet coach Ratliff.
06-15-2014, 03:13 AM
TigerBlues Wrote:Very impressive group of coaches and men from Lawrence Co double G. That was a really good read. Paintsville's team went to the camp in Charlotte just yesterday and hopefully got to meet coach Ratliff.
I have met and talked to coach Ratliff a few times and he is a good guy. He helped build some of the best defensive teams Lawrence County ever had.
06-15-2014, 03:48 AM
All of this stuff that Lawrence County did between 1990 and about 2003 is why people talk about how good the Bulldogs were during that time. We were one of the winningest programs in the state at that time. I believe that the 1991, 1997, and maybe the 99 teams were all good enough to win a championship. I think a lot of the fans who got to see all of this got a little spoiled and get a little upset when they see the program struggle from time to time. No program will stay on top forever and things in this life always seem to come full circle. It was done here before and it can be done again and I hope that the Lawrence County program will be back on the rise again soon. I was at the the 1997 game against Breathitt County and it was one of the best football games I have ever witnessed. I was standing in the scoreboard end zone which at the time was on the opisite end of the field then it is now. I was standing with my brother in law who was a RB on the 1991 team. They say it was very cold and rainy that night but I don't think a person at the game even noticed lol.
06-15-2014, 08:01 AM
VERY Cool.
06-15-2014, 06:39 PM
A picture I found of Dontae Wright at Miami Ohio
[Image: http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/scho...04124.jpeg]
[Image: http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/scho...04124.jpeg]
06-15-2014, 09:49 PM
If anyone else has any pictures, videos or stories about Lawrence County football I would love to see and hear em.
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