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I haven't been a posting member of the board for very long so forgive me if I am asking a question you might have already answered in previous posts. I just would like to know why you feel that the Russell coaches cost them the game against Breathitt. I have always thought just the opposite...that Russell is so good BECAUSE of their coaches.

Russell hardly ever has any athletes that move on to play college football at a high level and yet they still manage to make it deep into the playoffs every year. I always thought the well executed ball control offense they run allows lesser talented players to compete with more talented players simply because they have been coached to do what they do so well. Now I am the first to admit I am no X's and O's expert! That is why I am asking you to explain to me where the weaknesses of the Russell coaches lie.

Was Russell really more talented than Owensboro Catholic in 2005? Were they more talented than Mercer County last year? Were they that much more talented than Belfry in 2005? Were they that much more talented than Belfry last year to go down to their stadium and completely dominate them? Didn't we lose to Belfry when David Jones (now playing for Kentucky) played for them? Didn't we lose to Breathitt when Justin Haddix (started at QB at Western Kentucky) played for them? Has Russell ever had any players that played college football at that level? I don't remember them if they did. I think it is amazing that Russell has been able to compete with teams like this the past few years.

It didn't look like Russell had the superior athletes this year against Breathitt either. The players at the skill positions for Breathitt County made some great throws, runs, and catches. Their quarterback was very accurate with his throws.

I have always thought that Russell's coaches seem to have a good plan and it appears they teach the players to execute it very well. They always seem to have been in the games that they lose. Whichever team has the playmakers that step up when the game is on the line seems to win. When Russell had players like this (i.e., Kasey Clark intercepting the pass against Belfry in '05 to make it to the state final game - in fact, there wasn't much difference between this Breathitt game and the Belfry game in '05 - Russell just needed an interception on the final drive to seal the deal - they almost got a couple but couldn't hold on), they won the big games. It just looked to me like they didn't have enough of those types of players this year. It could have gone either way.

That being said, I just want to know what the Russell coaches could have done with the group of players they had this year that would have made the game turn out better? Was it the offensive or defensive game plan that you disagreed with? Was it the in-game coaching decisions? As I said, I am no expert, but I am very interested in knowing as a fan who loves watching the competition unfold every Friday night.

I disagree with some of this. The coaching staff does do an excellent job of putting players in place That I agree with.

However Russell has had as much talent as anyone. Coaching aside. You can't win without talent and what has made Russell so successful is that you have had great coaching and talent over the years. There may not have been many division 1 players but there have been alot of very good players. That includes this group.

Examples of some of players on the level with Jones and Haddix are recently are Nate McPeek played for Marshall, Gross is now at Georgetown, Clark is at Murray State. Going back further Brent Muncy I believe played for EKU, John Groves played for Alabama then transferred to UK, TJ Maynard played for UK, Drew Ramey went to Geortown, Robert Brown and Jeff Frazier played at Morehead State, Josh Wills is currently at Georgetown and I could think of more that went on to play college football. Thats not a bad talent pool.

You have to catch a break every now and then to keep advancing. Had they picked off one of those passes you were reffering to then it is likely Russell wins the game.

For those who question the play calling. Breathitt ran that same slant route many times. If the ball does get intercepted, which it probably should have been twice, does Holcomb get criticized for running the same play to many times? Coaches run what they think will give their team the best chance to win.

People have been critical of the Russell offense for years. It is not flashy. But it is effective.