Well, Joseph has intentions on playing next year. Hes had a good year off. Caught a pile of fish. He got to miss the trainwreck of a season the football team has had. The coach made a big mistake, everybody knows it, but he will never admit it. But Joseph loves football and he misses it. Hes only got one more chance.

My nephew plays baseball for Jesuit Catholic in Tampa, a nationally ranked program. They have to go thru tryouts for both fall and spring seasons, no guaranteed spots just because you made the team last season. Head coach cut his own son in the spring of his junior yr, and cut the asst coaches son his sophomore yr.

Sports bring out the worst in parents. Coaching high school sports would be a great gig and a lot of fun if you didnt have to put up with crazy parents who think their kid deserves what he don’t have. Parents act like coaches don’t care about winning and play their buddy’s kids even when it’s obvious their kid is better. Take your kid somewhere else to play if he’s that good. Coaches are trying to win. If they don’t win they get fired. If they don’t win and they don’t get fired, gripe about the administration, not the coach.

You wanna know the truth? The coach don’t have to play the best kid if he don’t want to. It’s his team. It’s his job. Not your team, not the player’s team. He don’t have to run it how you like it. He gets to run it how he wants to. That’s why he became a coach. If you want to decide who gets to play, go be a coach. If he’s a bad coach he will not have a job long. But that’s his choice to make. Only his boss has the right to question his choices. Whether your kid is involved or not it doesn’t matter. It’s not his job to play who parents think is the best player. It’s his job to win games.

Sorry to be so blunt, but being a coach in the past I have heard it all before. I get tired of hearing parents fuss and gripe about stuff like a coaches decision like they have a right or their kid has a right to complain about it. When you choose to let your kid play for a coach that isn’t you, you forfeit that right. No kid deserves to play. Playing time isn’t decided by who deserves it or who doesn’t. It’s decided by the coach. Period.

99% of the time, coaches have very good reasons for why they decide to play who they play. You don’t know those reasons unless you are with the coaches, working 7 days a week, 80hrs a week during the season. In all the meetings and discussions about everything. 90% of parents only know what they see live at games, or what they hear from their teenage kids.

And before you throw rocks at me, my son played baseball in one of the most competitive high school programs in the state. His senior year he was passed over for a younger player with more raw talent than him, but not as technically sound as him. It sucked. It sucked for my kid and the other senior kid that was also passed on. But it is what it is. Not my call and not my kids call. Also the coach is a personal friend of mine. We coached football together at the same school. Me and my son had to respect his decision whether I agreed with it or not. That’s life.

And I know what y’all are gonna say. No Phillip, you don’t understand this coach is an idiot and he blatantly does this or that or whatever. I do understand. I’ve been around it long enough to know. It’s just personal because it’s your kid or your nephew or whatever.

All i ever wanted was for Joseph to have a chance to compete. The coach told me before practice ever started he would not be QB, no competition, the other kid was by far the best choice. At that point, that kid wasnt even on the team and Joseph had done everything he was asked to do for four years. During that conversation with the coach, he lied to me several times, then lied to Joseph the next day, trying his best to keep him on the team.
Pwyse, you are exactly right, hes the coach and its his team. His team has won less games than any other team in Cleveland history, he has gotten more kids hurt than have ever got hurt in a season. The team is smaller than its ever been and alot of the boys playing now are saying they wont play next year. We played for a state championship two years ago, then we got this coach. The next year, with more seniors than the year before, we lost several games, pretty bad too. This year so far weve beat one team that was a gimme, and it was closer than its ever been. He was by trade an offensive line coach. Our offensive line is the worst ive ever seen, with two linemen who weigh over 300lbs each. He didnt put a man on the field to recieve the kickoff at the first home game. At one of the jr high games, which hes also the head coach of, they got down by 40 or so and he walked off the field and went and sat with his kid in the bleachers with a quarter left to play. That all happened. If theres a silver lining to this cloud, i havent found it.

There’s probably not a silver lining. Sounds like he’s a bad coach. Hopefully for the school’s sake they can find someone more competent. I don’t know all the details of the situation, but it’s his decision to make. Usually a bad coach keeps moving down the totem pole until he is stuck coaching at some tiny county school that doesn’t put a priority in winning games. 99% of the time there is more to the situation than parents know. He didn’t coach Joseph in years prior? If he didn’t, I’d bet my paycheck he watched film of him playing. If he did, then Joseph did get a chance to compete for the position.

Just curious, why did the coach who played for a state championship leave the program?

Just curious, why did the coach who played for a state championship leave the program?


He had 3 sons. The last one graduated that year. He played all is cards that season and came up a touchdown short. He quit a week or two after the last game, didnt even finish the year out. Joseph played 1/2 of several games that year, when we were up good. The new coach made a boy QB the next year who was a senior and had not taken a snap at QB for several years. He was our best reciever. He didnt work out so he made the #2 reciever the QB, he didnt work out either. Joseph was the #2 QB all year. He warmed up #2 every ballgame. In warmups, he could obviously throw the ball better than the second QB. Joseph never went in a game one time with a starting lineman on the field, not one time. As far as film goes, Joseph really did pretty good up till when the nee coach came. He was the leading rusher in one game the year bfore. Had several good games. The boy who is the QB now didnt have any film at all, except soccer film. Hes a pretty good soccer player. The whole thing just dont make sense to me. The current coach was a assistant coach at a team who won state his last year there. So, im sure that had alot to do with why he got hired. He just hasnt panned out very well. They just lost tonight to the worst team in three counties. Ive often wondered if theres something about all this i just dont know or understand. Joseph says he gets along with the coach fine and nothing ever happened between them. I really think the new QBs dad filled the coachs head full ofnonsense about how good his son would be, he is a big talker, i know that to be a fact. Thats the only thing that makes sense to me.

The state championship coach retired, health and other issues that was his final run and it was a good one, and what walker is saying is all true i know for a fact. My kid didnt play this year either because of what the idiot did to joseph and others, he told my son he would playing a certain position and that was that and never let him compete for a spot anywhere else. This guy is a complete joke and came from a big 6a or 7a as a assistant that wins championships. Wish he would hit the road

All that is a load off bull dodo JW - sorry yall had to go theu all that. Sounds like they “Reaped it” 🤣🤣🤣 and good for them!!🤣🤣
I lov high school football and think the sport can emulate life some - its tuff. But it is changing from the sport i loved. We were undefeated and played a team last nite that should b an A higher than they are. We cant recruit - we a public school - but the rich private school team that just beat us can and does really well. We cant compete with these private schools that recruit. Mobile christian has at least 8 college players on their team. Basically we hav no chance to compete even when we really good. St James is the same way. They use to always be average to suckie until the $ school decided they dont want to be average. Then they all of a sudden got a bunch of dark colored guys that can fly - one of them is commited to sec as qb - many will play college ball. I would rather play normal hard working public school instead of rich private. Several sr were introduced last nite - a sr - he been at mobile christian for 4 years - has played footbal for 4 years. Congrats - u can pay a kid a lot if $$ to come to your school - what an achievement 🤣🤣

I talked to a private christian school coach from montgomery that beat a blount county team in the state championship game girls game for 2 years in a row and he told me they didnt recruit. And he was crying because they had to move up to 4a now cause of the competition rule. I told him it was fair becuase they get to go get the players they want and of course he didnt like that much and kept saying all the girls they had just happen to go there and i dont know for sure if he was telling the truth or not but all the other private schools seem to go get players and the ones he had were really good and iam not sure how you are that dang good playing 2a's higher than the size of your school and still winning. No public schools can do that or none i have ever saw

I hate to tell both of you, but y’all are dead wrong. The same rules apply to private schools and public schools as far as recruiting goes. Tdog and mjh97 public schools in mobile have kids move to their school districts to play football all the time. It happens at public schools all over the state. Saying your team can’t recruit because it’s a public school is a joke. It’s sooooo much easier for kids to transfer to a public school than a private school. Being a private school and playing in the AHSAA is a joke. They treat the private schools sooo bad with the rules it’s ridiculous. Kids count as 1.3 so they are already playing up a class. Then if you win too much they bump them up another class.

Just because a kid transfers to a school to play for a good program doesn’t mean they were recruited. Those kids go to schools with good programs without being recruited.

Why do y’all think a private school can recruit but a public school can’t? I’m curious to see what y’all are thinking on that one.

Tdog I’ve always liked you but your thoughts about Mobile Christian are just wrong. You are being a sore looser. And they are NOT a rich private school. Just a bunch of hard working God fearing parents that don’t want their kids going to these crappy Mobile county schools. Mobile Christian’s facilities are average at best. Kids drive normal vehicles. Many public schools in Mobile are much nicer as far as facilities go, they are just full of crappy kids and crappy teachers.

We aint wrong for this area - we aint mobile - we got 0 money - the schools in this region we play in small areas all in the same boat (unless u rich private n large area) - poor - 0 pull - no draw

We Never can bring kids in here - the private schools in big areas like Montgomery and mobile hav plenty of money. I had family go to saint james - they were never good - they got tired of average and ponied up $$ and got good w lot new players. Has nothing to do with rules - the newer private schools got plenty of $ and pull - public poor schools hav neither - ie - we cant recruit - nothing to recruit w - mobile christian can get who they want - it use to not be like this - the rich private schools are new to this league and there has been amd will continue to b talks to push back on them. We in an unfair league. The other playoff bracket opposite us - way easier - why - not hardly any new rich private schools - even playing field. Rich private = several good college type bought players on that team

And i never said they broke rules - said the game has changed - new private can recruit - old public (where we at n small area - Leroy - sweet water - jackson - thomasville - Clarke county - etc etc) cant and dont recruit - uneven playin field

I wish i had of put my kids in a private christian school years ago, or home schooled. Win more games or not, private schools are better for kids. Public schools suck. That might have alot to do with what yall are discussing

So pony up money and pull the parents and alumni together and put some money in the school. That’s what private schools do. The government doesn’t give private schools a dime. Every cent for the school is given by parents. Private schools are built by the parents. There’s no reason your school can’t be as well. The playing field is even. But don’t penalize private schools because parent sacrifice and invest in the school.

I’ve seen athletes flock to poor schools when they have a good coach with good connections that get kids into colleges. You just got to make it a priority and get the ball rolling.

I know it has a lot to do with it here. It always chaps me when someone from a public school sits back and talks about “rich” private schools. Most aren’t rich, the parents just invest and sacrifice money to send their kids there. The parents are mechanics, AC techs, small business owners, and so on. Are there a few rich private schools in the big cities? Sure, but not all of them are. Most are not. When I was coaching, most of the public schools we played were 10 times nicer and had more money than we did.

You can’t sit there and say the playing field isn’t level because you aren’t putting the effort in. The playing field is level, the amount of sacrifice and priority level is not.

Well they may not recruit like you say but is sure is funny to me how somebody living in goverment housing and goes to a school thats $8,000 or so a year to attend. And its also strange that the private schools are a 1A and just great atheletes go there so they win 3A state titles. Dont matter to me really but you will never make me believe the private schools aint out there recruiting, and i know public schools do it also we have 2 here in blount county iam sure does it alot

TDog I remember when Danny Powell was bouncing around from Jackson to Thomasville and Leroy and clark prep and all those schools, kids were transferring back and forth following him around. He was a good coach and kids wanted to transfer to where he was. It’s doable man.

Just because a kid changes schools to play ball doesn’t mean he was recruited. Kids transfer to play at good schools. And I’m not saying that private schools can’t give a kid a scholarship and let them not pay tuition. They do it obviously. But at a public school, EVERY player is on scholarship. Zero players have to pay tuition. Public schools have an advantage there by far.

Pyse 🤣🤣🤣 - hey i gone put $50k up for a kid - nah - aint got it - and it common knowledge they recruit - peiple in it say they recruit

Yea - private may b bettr in cases - not locally here and we will not move 2 hours to get it - where we supposed to be

Pyse - u can hav it - to stupid to keep going w it 🤣🤣