Highschool Player Development

[Squoshua17]

Originally Posted by Ohio Vol

This reflects a common problem in youth sports of any kind. Is a coach supposed to develop players, or is he supposed to win? And if it has to be one or the other rather than both, which one takes priority?

Ultimately, I think this is where the idea of limiting coaches might actually have some type of benefit. If there are X number of coaches competing for X number of paid spots and they can't just add more paid positions, one who is used to collecting a paycheck (who is normally an overall more experienced or better coach than the volunteer) is more likely to go elsewhere to ply his trade. This would increase the competitive balance, but it would also serve to encourage that coach to get his old friends into the fold at a new school as well.

I take pride in developing players, but to get a position group of seniors to become hard-nosed, refuse to lose roughnecks requires a deft touch when also trying to guide and nurture sophomores to prepare them for when they'll be juniors and seniors.

Good coaches develop players AND win. This really is a numbers game. Someone commented earlier about how in Ohio, schools that were splitting have seen recent success. That may be true, but there is already a precedent set for coaching salaries. So yes, there are probably 10 good coaches in OH to every 1 in TN. In appearance, we have good "programs" in TN. Truth be told, those programs are merely a product of consistent good coaches, rather than talent pool of the locale. Gary Rankin (won 4 state championships at Riverdale, moved to GA for a year or two, then to Alcoa-where we know what he's done) Back in the 80's and 90's, Calvin Short had gone to 5 state championships with Gallatin, winning 2. He retired, only to become principal at Portland where by sheer magic, they went from a 2-8 team to 2 back to back state championships, winning one. Short then retired there, and Portland fell to 1-9. Shaddowens (coached Rod Wilks at Smyrna) won 2 states in a row, left Smyrna for Blackman, and now Blackman is probably a top 5 program in the state. My point is, that there are very few GOOD coaches in the state of TN. I have said all along that one thing we don't have that ALL the other top recruiting states have is larger schools. We've never had them. 2,000 is tops in TN. And larger schools means there are fewer coaches, but those coaches get paid more. And coaches WILL follow the money. If you don't believe me, watch how many of our coaches leave for GA, AL, and other states next year. And since WE don't pay anything compared to those states, we are forced to have Dewey the literature teacher serve as a coach. Our kids here in TN are of the same size and speed as anywhere else in the country. We just don't have the coaches to hone their raw abilities.

[Remy]

Originally Posted by Gp_rocky top

+1,000,000,000,000,000
That was a very professional, and neutral post.

It was actually a very dumb response in my opinion and an attempt to hide covert racism. For you see people of all races are fat slim tall short bald hairy fast slow athletic not athletic smart dumb healthy unhealthy and just about every yin or yang one wants to consider. Greyhounds as one example used have been bred over many centuries to be what they are. Slavery ended in the 1860s consequently forced breeding of human slaves ended then as well and not all slaves were forced to breed as animals. It's ignorant and insulting at the minimum to continue the fallacy that in the 21st century US black Americans are somehow great breeding stock for sports programs. This is as bad as the recently started whites only basketball league going in Georgia. It sounds like some of you would be great recruits there.

[midstate]

One of the problems in this state is that there is not the support and interest in the major urban areas of TN that there is in, say, Birmingham, Atlanta, or Jackson, MS. I live in Middle TN, and the only high school program in the midstate that is near the level of the schools in the aformentioned areas in support are Murfreesboro Riverdale, Brentwood Academy(and they can recruit nationally), Gallatin, and maybe White House. Notice I did not mention one Nashville school. Maplewood appeared in the state championship game last year, but they play in a run-down facility near Fort Airpark, and the last time I went to a Maplewood game, there were more people hanging around outside than were in the stadium. I think it is a shame that when you go to a McGavock-Overton or Hillwood-Antioch game, there might be 400 people in the stands. In Knoxville, unless you go to a Halls or Powell game, you will hear the crickets singing. The interest is simply not there. Go to a game in Russellville, Florence, Enterprise, Decatur, or Huntsville, Alabama. There will be close to 10,000 in the stadium for most games. Russellville has a stadium and fieldhouse that rivals those of most DII colleges. In kno

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Originally Posted by midstate

One of the problems in this state is that there is not the support and interest in the major urban areas of TN that there is in, say, Birmingham, Atlanta, or Jackson, MS. I live in Middle TN, and the only high school program in the midstate that is near the level of the schools in the aformentioned areas in support are Murfreesboro Riverdale, Brentwood Academy(and they can recruit nationally), Gallatin, and maybe White House. Notice I did not mention one Nashville school. Maplewood appeared in the state championship game last year, but they play in a run-down facility near Fort Airpark, and the last time I went to a Maplewood game, there were more people hanging around outside than were in the stadium. I think it is a shame that when you go to a McGavock-Overton or Hillwood-Antioch game, there might be 400 people in the stands. In Knoxville, unless you go to a Halls or Powell game, you will hear the crickets singing. The interest is simply not there. Go to a game in Russellville, Florence, Enterprise, Decatur, or Huntsville, Alabama. There will be close to 10,000 in the stadium for most games. Russellville has a stadium and fieldhouse that rivals those of most DII colleges. In kno

My kids go to Geraldine which is a little 2A school in Dekalb county AL. There are usually around 1,000 people there on friday nights.

[jps2194]

Originally Posted by Ohio Vol

This reflects a common problem in youth sports of any kind. Is a coach supposed to develop players, or is he supposed to win? And if it has to be one or the other rather than both, which one takes priority?

Actually, the best way to win is to develop the players (all of them).

As a youth or high school coach, you do not have any control over what players you have (at least legally). Therefore, to win games, you must develop the talent you have and use a system that plays to your team's strength.

I've been a youth coach for 7 years and the coaches that don't teach technique simply don't win. I have one son that plays for a coach that is only interested in developing his own son's technique and then teaching plays to the remainder of the team. They have a ton of raw talent, but it has gone undeveloped. As you can imagine, they don't win many games. I've had teams where we were much less talented, but we coached them hard on technique and beat teams that were way more physical.

So, I'm very confused about question about what a coach should do. In youth sports, you have to develop players to have a chance of winning games!

[FlVolDoc]

Originally Posted by orangeclad21

it is player development but one thing people in tennessee needs to realize is that tssaa has the head coaches and high school programs hands tied. I know this because I coach at CHATTANOOGA CENTRAL and the head coach is only alloud to pay four assistants. so its hard to just go and get great coaches. other states have a better system to work under.

Go Purple Pounders
Class of 65

[nbakerld]

Originally Posted by jed

Look in the NFL, what is the black/white ratio? I would say 75-80% black easy. How about the NBA? The total population of the US would show a ratio that is the exact opposite of that. More like 75-80% white. The numbers don't lie. African Americans are (generally speaking) better athletes. Also you can compare the demographics of these states with the number of NFL players produced. Example. Mississippi produces more NFL players than just about anyone per capita. They also have (just about) the highest minority population per capita in the US. They also have a very low population.

66%

Racial Breakdown In US Sports Including MLB, NFL, NBA, & MLS Chinese or Japanese