[Elwayfan]

ADL, the reason Pikeville even has Coach Jackson right now, is because the Pikeville administration and some fans were tired of "just winning District Championships and making the playoffs."

Jackson's predecessor, Chris McNamee, made the playoffs every year and won his fair share of District Championships, as well as having a Regional Championship under his belt from 2000, and this was NOT good enough to keep him on as the head coach.

He was pressured out because Pikeville was not making the state semi-finals or winning state championships, so yes, the expectations at Pikeville are VERY high. Is that fair? Probably not, Pikeville hasn't won a state championship in a long time, but you still have a lot of people at Pikeville that cannot get over those previous years when Pikeville was super-dominant and they believe that Pikeville should still be the dominant force in the mountains. Part of the problem with that is, Belfry is the school to be going to right now. If a kid wants to be part of a winning team, that has a chance to make it to state....right now they would sure like to be at Belfry.

Also, I've heard from a couple different people that Jackson is really pushing the kids hard in the offseason. Making them lift weights non-stop and hardly ever giving the kids a day off. Just from what I've heard football is zero-fun right now at Pikeville.

I understand that it's not "all about fun" (save me the corny Remember the Titans quotes) but these are 14, 15, 16, 17, maybe 18 year old kids. They aren't being motivated by money, they aren't being motivated by a scholarship, they are playing because they WANT to play and if it's become so unenjoyable at Pikeville that no one wants to play, it's going to be hard to dress a full team in the future.

I think Pikeville is feeling the effects of having a terrible little league and junior high program for a while, before Jackson got here. They only have one feeder program, and if it's not where it should be then you will suffer from it later on. Coach Jackson has had to deal with alot of people that were used to things being done a certain way, instead of the right way.
The strongest programs in our area have the strongest youth programs.
I know people have some concerns and they should, but to get on here and start attacking people is the opposite of what fans have always done. You should rally behind your kids and team in hard times just like you would in good times.
Also, don't forget that there are some people involved in the Pikeville School System that want to see Pikeville Football not do well for their own personal agenda. Some of those people are probably posting on here right now.
If any of the athletes are reading this, be smart, think for yourself and don't listen to people who may not have your interest at heart