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June 2007
Take 10: Coolest new coaches
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There are 69 new football head coaches in Georgia. Here are the 10 that jump out to me - five in metro Atlanta and five outside metro Atlanta. I don’t know every new coach in Georgia yet, so if I’ve missed a good one, tell me about it.
Best hires in metro Atlanta
Jeff Measor, Centennial: All I know about Measor is that he’s young (29) that he was Coffee’s offensive coordinator and that he beat out more than 250 applicants for a job that is prized for its booster club and fan support. No reason Centennial can’t become a contender in that area.
Bill Ballard, Peachtree Ridge: Ballard was 53-8 in his five seasons at Tucker, but expectations will be high after the state championship, so Peachtree Ridge isn’t the easiest job in town.
Bill Hobbs, Union Grove: Hobbs comes from Cypress Grove in Florida, where he took his team to the playoffs in the school’s fifth season. Hobbs’ defensive coordinator at Cypress, Frank Hepler, is the new coach at newly opened West Forsyth.
Dennis Roland, Central Gwinnett: While at North Gwinnett in 2004, the Bulldogs improved to 9-3 from 2-8 in Roland’s only season. He is taking the head coaching job at Southeast Louisiana State.
Franklin Stephens, Tucker: One of the state’s more highly regarded assistants, the former defensive coordinator at Camden and star player at Georgia Southern gets his first head job. Tucker is loaded this season, so there’s pressure to win big right away.
Best hires outside metro Atlanta
Blair Armstrong, Banks County: The former Peachtree Ridge coach has suffered only two losing seasons in his 26 years as head coach, and he’s never taken a job at an established program. Banks County last had a winning record in 1997.
Charles Flowers, Dougherty: Flowers, who averaged 12 victories in his last seven seasons at Shaw, returns to coaching at sleeping giant Dougherty.
Brent Miller, Elbert County: Miller, formerly of Chamblee, is 106-76-1 in 17 seasons at schools that don’t otherwise win. No reason Elbert shouldn’t be a perennial region contender.
Eric Parker, Burke County: Parker came to Laney in 1997 when the school hadn’t won a playoff game since 1966. Laney won 11 playoff games in his last seven seasons in Augusta. Now he’s at Burke, which has all the pieces to become a state power.
Bradley Warren, Gilmer: From Central Gwinnett, where he was 24-11 the past three seasons in one of the state’s premier regions, Warren returned to the country to find Gilmer. He’s from Dade County and feels closer to home in more ways than one.
Go on. Take Ten. Who do you think will have the biggest impact? Send us your list of the state’s top 10 coaches taking the reins at new schools this season.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: Take Ten
What can a coach do to prevent his star from transferring?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Is it is possible for the little guys, the Berkmars and Central Gwinnetts of the world, to catch up to the big guys, if their star players continue to decide that the grass is greener at the Peachtree Ridges and Wheelers?
“What can I do,” asks Berkmar football coach Wendell Early, who saw his best player, junior defensive end Kevin Minter, transfer to Peachtree Ridge this summer.
Central Gwinnett basketball coach David Allen knows the feeling. His superstar Richard Howell transferred to Wheeler this month. Howell’s father cited the need for his son to play on a national schedule—something Wheeler is already doing—in order to increase his exposure.
Howell is considered to be one of the top 30 junior prospects in the nation and already has offers from some of the top programs in the nation. Does he really need any more exposure to pick up that 50th offer?
Besides, Allen was already in the process of putting Central on a national stage. The Knights were scheduled to participate in this year’s Great Florida Shootout, a national tournament featuring many of the top high school programs from across the country.
“We had to bail out, after Richard left,” Allen said. “I’m sitting without a Christmas tournament as of now.”
So the next time a Kevin Minter or Richard Howell walks through the door at a Berkmar or Central Gwinnett, what can the coach do to insure they stay around?
Upgrade facilities? Increase the program’s exposure by playing a national schedule? Install a player-friendly offense?
“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it,” admitted Allen, “but you can’t treat a player different than the rest. Something has to be done, though, if we’re going to preserve parity in high school sports.”
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: David Purdum
Seeking exposure: Right or wrong?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Their high school basketball programs have reached elite status, and players and parents want in.
The latest family seeking “more exposure” for their athletic child made its move Monday, when Richard Howell Sr. decided to change addresses so that his son could play basketball for Wheeler High. Richard Jr. said good-bye to Central Gwinnett and its one trip to the finals in 1983 and hello to national power Wheeler, which has three state championships in the last six seasons.
Academically, the schools are compatible — each receiving high marks from the state Department of Education. Basketball-wise, there is little comparison. The younger Howell, a 6-7 forward, is one of the top juniors in the country and according to his dad, several of the nation’s top college programs already have offered scholarships.
It’s not the first transfer in metro Atlanta. It won’t be the last. For years, the top players in the state have switched schools easily, with parents sometimes moving a few miles to make the school change legal by GHSA regulations.
But does that make it right? If Howell has received offers from North Carolina, Michigan and others, does he need additional exposure during a high school season?
Your turn to dish: Should the GHSA step in and stop a trend that has resulted in hundreds of high school athletes changing schools in the past 5-10 years for athletic reasons? And what if you are the parent of a gifted basketball player? Would you move so your son or daughter could play for a better program?
Permalink | Comments (47) | Post your comment | Categories: Derrick Mahone, Fastbreak
Gimme Five: Peachy preps grow where?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Scout.com recruiting analyst Scott Kennedy gives us the five Peach State high schools where college coaches are sure to find a star prospect whenever they come calling:
1: Stephenson
2: Tucker
3: Westlake
4: LaGrange
5: Peach County
You give US five: Is this list right on or way off? Shoot us YOUR top five schools college coaches should visit when seeking grade-A Georgia football talent.
Permalink | Comments (19) | Categories: Gimme Five
‘Two-a-Days’ exposure too much?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The good ol’ days are gone for high school football.
Where local media used to be the only outlets paying attention to local teams, national outlets are showing more and more interest. Small towns like Hoover, Ala., used to have their beloved teams all to themselves. Then came MTV’s “Two-a-Days” program, which took the Hoover team to a national, reality-TV level.
And now, Hoover’s football program is entrenched in a grade-changing scandal that has caused the resignation of athletics director Jerry Browning, who cited philosophical differences with the school’s leaders, according to the Birmingham News. Former U.S. district judge Sam C. Pointer Jr. will lead the school’s investigation.
The Hoover High program wanted widespread attention. But the result is not the sort of spotlight some metro area coaches would like to have.
“I’m not real crazy about opening up our program for everyone else to criticize it,” said Marist coach Alan Chadwick, who has led the Eagles since 1985. “A lot of coaches want to be in that situation, where football is an end-all deal. And that’s kind of losing sight of what high school sports should be about.”
While Chadwick might turn down MTV if its suitors came calling, Woodstock coach Mike O’Brien — a 12-year coaching veteran in the state and former Valdosta coach — indicated he would lean toward embracing the exposure, if given the opportunity, for the interest it would generate in his program.
Most coaches are going to have their own philosophy, but the question becomes whether it’s good for high school athletes to be exposed on a Hoover-type, ESPN-type level.
You make the call: Are scandals the by-product of such TV shows? Are 16-year-olds equipped to handle it? Would you want your school to sign on with MTV or ESPN if it meant greater exposure for the team? Debate starts here.
Permalink | Comments (43) | Categories: Forum
Collins Hill — the best program in the state?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sports Illustrated recently named Collins Hill the ninth best high school athletic program in the nation.
S.I.com pointed to the Eagles three state titles and basketball superstar Maya Moore as the biggest reasons for the honor.
Collins Hill was the only Georgia program recognized.
Do you think Collins Hill is the best program in the state? Do you even think the Eagles are the best in Gwinnett County?
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: David Purdum
GHSA yawns at recruiting verdict
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s little that high school football and basketball fans around here like to complain about more than recruiting.
Today, the Supreme Court ruled that high school associations are not violating free-speech rights by penalizing schools and coaches for recruiting athletes from other schools.
The case stems from a 1997 incident in Tennessee, where the coach of 10-time state champion Brentwood Academy near Nashville invited 12 eighth grade students from another school to attend his team’s spring practice.
Does today’s ruling mean Georgia just got the high court’s endorsement to crack down on recruiting? Not at all. Georgia has always had that, and the Supreme Court just affirmed it.
Don’t expect any more Georgia schools to be busted for recruiting as a result. Those penalties are quite rare as it is.
The Georgia High School Association’s stance on recruiting hasn’t changed: ”We don’t have a mechanism to go out and hunt violations. We just react to what we’re asked to do,” Ralph Swearngin, the GHSA’s executive director, reiterated to me today.
The easy thing would be to tell Ralph to get his head out of the sand, but consider this: Despite all the rumors and allegations that fill up message boards about cheating and recruiting, Swearngin says he gets only two or three official complaints a year about recruiting.
So if recruiting is really a problem, is the GHSA to blame for not being proactive? Or should we look at the fans and coaches who complain but do nothing to substantiate it or bring it to the GHSA’s attention?
I’d like for the GHSA to do more, but I also suspect there are far more accusations than facts out there.
Tell Todd about it: Who’s to blame when recruiting gets out of hand? Or is the system OK as-is? Debate starts here.
Permalink | Comments (29) | Categories: Forum
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