[Fly Like a Duck]

Titles should be earned, not playoff spots - at least not below the NFL level. The problem is not the records of the teams in the playoffs, the problem is that there are so many poorly coached teams that end the season with no hope of winning a game.

I don't think this is a very fair and accurate statement across the board.

Personally, to go along with the Pulp Fiction, I agree that these 4 seeds shouldn't be allowed (for the most part, there are always a couple exceptions like this year with Manual in 6A and Cooper in 5A), but the 4 seeds in these Class 1A-4A classes and most of the 5A-6A classes have no business going to the playoffs. If playing an extra game is what the KHSAA is after, then go to an 11 game reg season, take the top 3 and let the District Champ get a 1st end bye.

However, to address the bolded. There are several coaches I can think of, this year alone, who I think have proven they can coach:

Jeff Griffiths @ Boone County- They went 0-11 in his first season there this year. He was the architect that built one of, if not the most dominant defense at Bowling Green the last few years. He goes to Boone County last year, takes over a 2-9 team and as the saying goes, things usually get worse before they get better. I think that's going to be the case here. 6A schools can overcome the injury bug a little moreso than smaller schools, but they were decimated by injuries this year and it unfortunately started with his son who was an All State DE who was going into his senior year. Boone County will be back in the mix of things sooner than people think. I don't think this 0-11 season has anything to do with being poorly coached.

Greg Brohm- Thomas Nelson HS. This was their first year of Varsity play, and granted they didn't even make the playoffs due to being in a 7 team district, but I just have a hard time believing he is a poor coach. Apples don't fall too far from the tree.

Josh Jaggers @ LaRue County HS. This was his 2nd year as the HC at LaRue and they went 0-11. Right about a year ago, they/he defeated Corbin by 3 TD's in his first ever playoff game as a HC, took a Louisville Central team that they had no business playing with to the wire (@ Central) and were up on Bell County @ Bell County in the 3rd quarter in the 2nd round.vThere are several head coaches that have year of average to above average regular season records, yet took them 6, 7, 8, 9 years to get their first playoff win (some never win a playoff game). He gets his first ever playoff win in his first game vs. a true KY football powerhouse of all teams. Like Boone County, LaRue was decimated by injuries and even moves this season. They only had 8-9 Juniors and Seniors on the entire team; having to start in upwards of 15 freshmen and sophomores at times. That's a JV team. That's literally going into gun fight with knives.

Marshall Enoch @ Hopkins Co. Central- If you talk to those in West KY who have been coaching a while, there might not be anybody who has done more with less than Enoch. He took over a Hopkins Central team this past year who has struggled the last few years, and he was the last (and, maybe the only) head coach at McLean County to ever do anything. In 2009, before they went on their run to the title, an Enoch lead McLean team beat Paducah Tilghman in the regular season. I'm going to tell you how many times McLean County (or any rural small school for that matter) should ever beat the Blue Tornado, and that's never; let a lone in a State Championship season.

Some other programs and coaches in the past that come to mind when you think 1-9 or O'fer seasons are:

Luke Salmons @ Lawrence County- In '08, his first season in Louisa, they go 0-11. Now, I know there was a lot to be said about their strength (or lack of) schedule those 2-3 years after, but IMVH (yet non P.C) Opinion, scheduling is the majority of the battle at many of our KY High Schools…schedule those who are worse than you. The rest of his tenure at Lawrence is history, and he's gone across the river into West Virginia and taken care of business as well.

Brad Hood @ Allen Co.-Scottsville- In his first year, '06, they went 6-4 only to follow it up with a 1-9 '07 season. Three years later, they play Boyle County in what I still consider one of the most exciting State Championship games that have been played in the last 10 or so years.


Tom Duffy when he was at Henderson County went 1-19 over the course of the 1999-2000 season. It goes without saying, that his approach to coaching was often questioned by some over his 30 years, but it worked for him. You don't win multiple state championships at two schools & take Henderson County to the most Semi-Final appearances ever under his direction, and not be a good coach.

With all of this said, I'll leave everybody with this….I heard Kevin Wallace (HC @ Bowling Green) say this amongst a large group of coaches one time, "Boys, there is a reason why Mules don't run in the Kentucky Derby. I firmly believe there are several good head coaches across the state that are at programs where it's hard to constantly win without having some really bad year(s) in between." I don't remember what he said his record was at BG right now (I heard him say this within the year), but I do remember hearing him say how his record at Warren East was something like 45-61 before he landed the BG job (and, was actually the 3rd or 4th choice..it kind of fell in his lap) and the rest as we all know, is history.

Just my 2 cents….