[mysonis55]

That has absolutely nothing and I mean nothing to do with football as a whole. I cant speak for your 1 school, but that is 1 school. I can look around this region though and tell you for the most part the kids athletics are better than in years past. I even went back in time and showed you the same type of blowout, success and lack of success. I bet if you went back on that KHSAA site and checked the rest of the state in that year you would have about the same number of winless or 1 win teams and the same number of undefeated and 1 loss teams as this year. It may change a little when district play starts up because there are now 6 classes which makes for fewer district games.

[EKUAlum05]

Mayfield has one team who has habitually been a middle of the pack team that they have played thusfar, Marshall County. The Marshalls used to be a Middle of the Pack 4A team.. typically advancng to the 2nd round of the playoffs..losing 4 or 5 games a year...

Mayfield just demoralized 6A Marshall County 64-28
They defeated them 44-7 last year
It was 31-0 in 2011
It was 50-16 in 2010










In 1998 Mayfield won 17-7
In 1999 Mayfield won 14-0
In 2000 it was a 19-14 win by Mayfield
In 2001 Marshall County won 16-0

Once again I am talking about the MIDDLE OF THE PACK..not the habitual awful teams... not the habitual strong teams..the teams who are stuck in football purgatory and never really can challenge for a State Title..but would take on the habitual bad teams and still crush them.

As bad as Marshall County is... as bad as they get crushed when they play a good team...if they played a Logan County, Todd County, etc they would beat them badly

[mysonis55]

Big difference now. They had a coaching change and haven't been the same since. I like their new coach, he is a funny guy. He however isn't making the grade. They want to spread everyone out like every other team. They don't have the skill sets for that. If they would line up in the power I or maybe the bone, things would get a lot better for them. They have a lot of size. They only have 1 or 2 fast kids though. I see this a lot now, coaches tend to forget their strengths and try to mimic the other guys.

[EKUAlum05]

Big difference now. They had a coaching change and haven't been the same since. I like their new coach, he is a funny guy. He however isn't making the grade. They want to spread everyone out like every other team. They don't have the skill sets for that. If they would line up in the power I or maybe the bone, things would get a lot better for them. They have a lot of size. They only have 1 or 2 fast kids though. I see this a lot now, coaches tend to forget their strengths and try to mimic the other guys.

Kind of the entire point I made earlier in Post #13... and the crux of my argument. Especially with you basically saying they need another coach in order to be successful, as well as the fact his philosophy has basically differed 180 degrees from his predecessor requiring a change at the Feeder level I am presuming as well.

2. Coaching Turnover. In the age of the internet, message boards, social media, and a "NOW" society it seems Coaching Turnover happens quicker than ever. Guys either get the axe only a couple seasons in, or the young up and coming coaches move to a "better" job. As a result you have Feeder Systems that basically are doing nothing more than sticking pads on kids. Offensive and Defensive systems are not being taught, continuity is not there, and kids bounce from position to position. As a result the quality of product moving up is watered down..which in turns leads to a weaker HS product, which in turn leads to even more Coaching Turnover. A vicious cycle.

[mysonis55]

If you want to mention teams that are down, here is some that are up over here:
Mayfield
McCracken Co and before that Lone Oak
Caldwell Co
Ballard Mem
Bowling Green
Graves Co
Russellville



Paducah Tilghman is about the same they have just played a brutal schedule.

Fort Campbell is trying to get it back since moving up to 3a but they are on a first year coach and have had a tough schedule.

Christian Co seems a little down this year but it is because their crosstown rivals, Hopkinsville, is resurrecting.

[EKUAlum05]

If you want to mention teams that are down, here is some that are up over here:
Mayfield
McCracken Co and before that Lone Oak
Caldwell Co
Ballard Mem
Bowling Green
Graves Co
Russellville



Paducah Tilghman is about the same they have just played a brutal schedule.

Fort Campbell is trying to get it back since moving up to 3a but they are on a first year coach and have had a tough schedule.

Christian Co seems a little down this year but it is because their crosstown rivals, Hopkinsville, is resurrecting.

You just listed 4 historically strong programs who have State Championship appearances beyond 5 years ago... and PT, FC, and Christian Co are three traditionally strong programs as well... as I said...these are not the teams where the problem lies...in fact listing Mayfield, BG, Russellville, and Caldwell Co as being "up" just strengthens the argument that what is happening is that the strong are getting stronger...the mediocre are getting weaker..and the bad is becoming awful.

Lone Oak/McCracken is a success story..no denying that...they turned their program around this decade and should be commended

Ballard Memorial is the product of beating up on those awful lower tier teams..look what happened to them against a good team like Caldwell. They are the epitome of those Middle of the pack teams I was eluding to who feast on the weak and get blown out by the good teams

[mysonis55]

Once again your lack of knowledge about the west shows. Ballard Mem was until the past 2 years one of those weak teams the middle of the row would schedule. Caldwell has a whopping 2 state titles. The last one was 1998. Russellville has only 3 titles and their last was before Caldwells last. Just 2 years ago Murray was the king of Caldwell's district and it was killing Caldwell to get to the point that they could win their own district. Mayfield is up because we went through a stretch where we couldn't win our own district in 07-08. I guess you are just one of those that is set in downplaying ky football overall just because your team is struggling and you won't change until 15 years from now when they have a good year.

[EKUAlum05]

Once again your lack of knowledge about the west shows. Ballard Mem was until the past 2 years one of those weak teams the middle of the row would schedule. Caldwell has a whopping 2 state titles. The last one was 1998. Russellville has only 3 titles and their last was before Caldwells last. Just 2 years ago Murray was the king of Caldwell's district and it was killing Caldwell to get to the point that they could win their own district. Mayfield is up because we went through a stretch where we couldn't win our own district in 07-08. I guess you are just one of those that is set in downplaying ky football overall just because your team is struggling and you won't change until 15 years from now when they have a good year.

Once again your lack of knowledge about the east shows.

My team is the strongest they have ever been and is one of those who are crushing teams they used to at least get a competitive game against. My team has two State Titles and 4 Runner-Ups in the past decade...

Mayfield is up because they have evolved their program and maintained consistency from a coaching standpoint, in the feeder system, and because they are "MAYFIELD" and kids grow up dreaming of wearing the uniform... that and the fact that Mayfield gets nothing out of beating bad teams so they have moved to scheduling only quality programs.

And congrats on defending the teams that are not "good" programs by pointing out that Caldwell and Russellville "only" have a combined 5 State Titles between them... once again I am specifically talkign about "MIDDLE OF THE PACK" teams..programs who have only dreamed of having that single State Title run..let alone actually winning it 2 and 3 times respectively.

Just because they are not Mayfield does not make them good programs... there are maybe 5 total programs with the history of Mayfield.

[inyourface]

Yeah, I can see that. The good teams have become a lot better, but there are fewer of them. There are not many teams that are good year after year (Trinity, Highlands, Beechwood, Sheldon Clark, etc). It does seem that when a good team emerges from an otherwise faltering program, those teams compete but don't dominate (Johnson Central comes to mind).

Sheldon Clark? Really?

[footballfever]

If a person could go back over last 20-30 years a see the number of players to sign Div I each year it could give a little indication.
DI meaning the old DI AA, FCS now and DI A BCS now.

[Football1]

Great thread to read. And great viewpoints expressed. For me, the points around how kids have gained better training approaches and how offenses that have transitioned to rapid fire, spread, pass and score have surpassed the old power football teams are great points.

If your team is not filled with guys who love the gym and coaches who have learned the value of a modern explosive offense you may find yourself on the losing end. There are still great smash mouth programs but to win in those systems you better always have the size and strength advantage. Your scheme will do you no favors.

Dave Diamond
[email]cdavediamond@gmail.com[/email]

[mysonis55]

I bet if you check other states you will see the same type things. I know in Tn, I would just about be willing to say Trousdale Co has been in 7 of the last 10 state championships. I know Milan had been in 4 state title games in a row. I don't understand why anyone thinks this is a problem. If the teams work for it, then so be it. I just don't understand why anyone wants to say it is because of bad football in Ky. I look on here every year and notice teams from Ky beating the crap out of teams from every surrounding state. I really think the football is up in Ky and I would say if you look at your all star games and other state vs state games you will see that I am right on.

[Leonidas]

With all this great football being played out west I can't wait to see how many state titles come from west of Bowling a Green.

[mysonis55]

Maybe this will help to make it a little more clear for you all. I didn't get to all the surrounding states, but Tn is really close here so I worked on them. You mentioned all the teams with either 1 loss or none and all the teams with either no wins or 1 win. This is the same everywhere. This is what it looks like in Tn:

1a
There are 43 teams in Tn 1a
9 teams have either one loss or no losses.
17 teams have either one win or no wins.

2a
45 teams in 2a
12 teams with 1 loss or no losses.
16 teams with 1 win or no wins.

3a
53 teams
14 teams with 1 loss or none.
15 teams with 1 win or none.

4a
58 teams
10 teams with 1 loss or none.
15 teams with 1 win or none.

5a
58 teams
10 teams with 1 loss or none.
15 teams with 1 win or none.

6a
56 teams
17 teams with 1 loss or none.
11 teams with 1 win or none.