[Bazooka Joe]

Justin Haddix is a brilliant football mind and an outstanding coach; however, he is not the infallible human some of you portray him to be. I'm not going to get into a character debate, there's no need, and I'm not picking on him. We all fall short of perfection and he is no different. I've moved on and forgiven his trespasses just as I hope that any I've wronged have forgiven me.

On the football side, he isn't perfect either. He blew the state championship game against Louisville Central in 2018 and while his preparation was impeccable against Belfry in the semis in 2016, his poor play-calling late in the 3rd and 4th quarters cost us that one as well.

Hey, that's what being a young coach is all about. He's brilliant but made mistakes, and he has clearly improved even more as evidenced by his consecutive state titles.

Not looking for an argument, just think it bears mentioning that he isn't perfect on or off the field before I transition into my point, which is that this is a Corbin 2022 thread and the Redhounds end the drought this year.

Unlike some, I'm pleased with the staff and the approach/mentality with this Corbin team. This team is far bigger and more talented up front on the defensive side and will feature explosive, dynamic weapons on the offensive side.

We all know that JC, Boyle, Franklin, Central, etc. will be solid if not great, but I like this Corbin team. While nothing is certain and their inexperience could cause them to drop a game or 2 early, this bunch of Redhounds is better equipped to run the gauntlet late.

P. S. - Remember, I'm the guy that told you all AFTER Corbin dismantled Franklin County early last season that we had no shot to win it. I knew from watching a couple of scrimmages we couldn't stop JC or Boyle. And now I'm telling you this, we have work to do and need the good Lord to keep us healthy, but we're the most talented team in 4A this year, write it down.

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Yes Justin is a brilliant coach now with 2 state championship in what was supposed to be rebuilding years. In 2016 the defense gave up 324 rushing yards that night and it hasn’t got any better in the last 2 years giving up 384 and 455 yards in their season ending losses to Johnson Central. This will not win championships got to learn to stop a good running team. Before Johnson Central Belfry was putting up big numbers on us like 372 rushing in 2015 season ending loss.

Yep, very good points. I'll defend the defense in 2016 amd 2018 by saying that the vast majority of those yards came late, after we had lost momentum due in large part to offensive missteps.

Granted, in 2016 that Belfry team was LOADED and the margin for error was very small, but we were up 17-7 before he started making peculiar playcalls that disrupted our rhythm and gave them the ball quickly, repeatedly. 

We dominated the title game against Central and the defense was flawless for a half. I can't help but think our failures to score inside the 5 on multiple occasions up to that point had an effect. I'll never understand why we didn't kick thise field goals, we could've created a margin that would have forced them out of their comfort zone and made them put it in the air.

All that to say I agree with you completely, and to say that this year's defensive line is why I'm very optimistic. It's a good group, the best I've seen in quite a while from a size and athleticism standpoint. If they gel, we should be far more competitive against the run when we run into the ground and pound specialists.