[Hoot Gibson]

Hoot... if you go back and read my original post, you'll see I didn't aim my answer toward the original question of this thread but qualified my own particular viewpoint.

While I agree Johnson Central is certainly heading toward that "Friday Night Lights" kind of program (with everything that entails), I personally don't think JC has enough seasons behind them at that level to be considered as Belfry's equal. 10-12 years simply isn't enough time.

And no, having a State Title in the trophy case isn't what it's about. It's about all the other things I mentioned consistantly over an extended period of years.

Four years is an eternity in high school football. It is plenty of time for a great coach to turn a 1-9 team into a 10-0 state title contender. One year is time enough for a bad coach to take a 10-0 team and turn the program into one characterized by poorly motivated players, infighting, finger pointing and field a team posting an 0-10 record.

Its great that Belfry has managed to avoid tough times for a longer period that most schools have, but it does not take a dozen years to take a high school football program from doormat status to one of the best in the state. Dudley Hilton did it at Bourbon County. Belfry has a great program because of Coach Haywood. Whether Belfry has a great program one year after Coach Haywood retires will depend on how good of a job the Belfry administration does in choosing his successor.

You can talk about decades long (or 12 years) tradition all you want, but what matters is hiring a great head coach and allowing him to do his thing. That is all that separates great football programs from bad football programs.

Does anybody doubt that if any school in eastern Kentucky turned its football program over to Matney, Haywood, Hilton, or Dale Mueller, that they would have a top tier football program within no more than 2 or 3 years? Or that if any program, no matter how great, turns its program over to a mediocre head coach, that the program will cease to be an elite one?

Great football programs are not built by constantly looking in the rear view mirror.

Constant focus on what needs to be done today to continuously improve the team and to ensure future success is what makes a football program great. Belfry has that focus and so does Johnson Central. Lose that focus on continuous improvement, and any great program will immediately begin to decline. Too many Kentucky teams enter each season expecting to be unsuccessful because of past failure. Belfry and JC fans should be thankful that their teams are among the lucky few who expect success every season.