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Let's be honest, a lot of coaches *and teachers* go from p/p to public for financial reasons, and the pension/retirement is a part of it. It's one reason I've stayed in education when I had opportunities to leave. But the way you're phrasing it is that it's a parachute job that he's not putting anything into, which couldn't be further from the truth. O'Shea isn't putting less into NC's program than he did at LCC, but it takes a lot to build up a culture where there hadn't been one. I hesitate to call what O'Shea has done at NC a "failure." He took over a program that hadn't had a winning season in 11 years and one that had gone 1-29 in the three previous years. Since, he's posted three winning seasons playing one of the state's toughest schedules (they play Fishers & HSE in addition to the MIC schedule - a real meat-grinder). They struggled last year, but the body of work of North Central with O'Shea has been pretty darned good. Do I expect NC to become a potential perennial state championship contender? Not necessarily. NC is a really difficult school to win at. There may be no Indy-area suburban public school that gets hit harder by transfers than NC (Cathedral, Chatard & Brebeuf are all in - or right next to - NC's district and they lose a lot of students and athletes to those schools). Their district has suffered a lot of out-migration, especially to Carmel, over the last 30-40 years. While that's happening elsewhere (Pike->Brownsburg/Zionsville, Southport/Perry Meridian->Center Grove, LN->HSE/Fishers, Ben Davis->Avon/Brownsburg, more recently LN/LC->Mt. Vernon and Warren Central->Mt. Vernon/New Pal), that pattern seemed to hit NC before it hit those other communities. Success is measured in different ways. We tend to think of it as "are you playing on Thanksgiving weekend?" But to a lot of programs - especially in this open enrollment era - just simply being above .500 or having a chance to win a conference/sectional is a win for a lot of programs.

I'm using my original moniker. I've been here since before I did a story on TA and the GID in (I think) 1999 for the Daily Reporter in Greenfield. We became fast friends and remained so.

Wow. I was really active back then. I joined the Gridiron Digest the week before Semi State in 1998. Been a wild journey.

I think it’s safe to say, as details come out, this young man, pulled off some Dirty Harry level stuff. Had little to no cover when the shooter started. Engaged the shooter starting at about 40 yards Continued to close the distance between him and the shooter again, with little to no cover AND way out gunned. Hit the shooter eight times out of 10 rounds fired. Cleared bystanders while engaged with the shooter. •••OPINION*** This young man, was in the right place at the right time and willing and able to do what had to be done. With NONE of the training, experience, firepower, and resources that the officers in Uvalde had. This shooting has illuminated several points central to the firearm debate in this country. Laws/policies will be ignored. The ability to defend oneself is a fundamental right that should not be infringed. Hitting an astounding 80% of shots taken, the hero fired his gun 10 times to stop the shooter. What if there were two shooters? What if he was wearing body armor? What if he only hit him two out of ten times? 10 round capacity mag laws only inhibit law abiding citizens from defending yourself. If you want a “why” this is pretty conclusive. This was over in 15 seconds. Think about that very carefully, hundreds of lives were altered/ended by an event that last 15 seconds. Imagine your 22 year old self standing in line with your girlfriend to get a cookie…….

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2022/07/20/indiana-football-coaches-anonymous-answers-on-seeding-ihsaa-tournament/65375858007/ (Note: story is behind a paywall)

Howdy, TGD has existed in one form or another since 1998. After some deep digging, I believe that I found one of the oldest archived Gridiron Digest forum pages... https://web.archive.org/web/20010126140300/http://sportsonly.com:80/p/1565/#post Enjoy

Still rockin my OG moniker.

Of course it is, just like the Fort Wayne newspapers. Too bad they are all left leaning, it's costing them millions. Don't mix business with politics...........it's a death sentence. I would say so. I like the idea of using the ranking, but some coaches will abuse it when already up 35 points.

OK...I just gave you an example with Mark Haste, who was not a PP coach that struggled at North Central after having an incredibly successful state championship program at Tri-West. Did you skip by that one?? If you call 3 winning seasons out 5 and a sectional title in one of the more tougher sectionals in this state following a coach with a 1-29 record a failure, then all I can say is that you are a very tough grader. Hope your boss doesn't have a tough as grading scale....

One Armed Man at an Indiana Mall Offered Better Protection Than 376 Cops in Uvalde https://reason.com/2022/07/20/one-armed-man-at-an-indiana-mall-offered-better-protection-than-376-cops-in-uvalde/

I started posting/reading around 2001 as a freshman in college. I’ve lost/forgot passwords a few of my early accounts. Now I’m 41 and starting to dream of retirement.

So it was over the weekend?

Eh, need to see how LN fares losing their playmaker at WR. Think LC will be much improved but not ready to rank them top ten yet. I think Mallory is among the most overlooked coaches in Indiana and loved Patterson’s answers to the Facebook group.

Whaddya askin these SIAC heathens for? They wouldn't know a good pie if it hit em smack in the gobber. 😄 I keed. For pizza I'd personally hit up Harper's on Main Street. If you're looking for something else, I'm partial to the Carriage Inn a couple minutes south in Haubstadt. The tenderloin sandwich as big as your head will cure what ails ya. Welcome to God's country!

That's it? Could seed the tourney and have a tipoff with a running chainsaw or a rabid raccoon. That's be pretty unpredictable.

Same here ... have always been foxbat.

Count me in !!

I doubt it. They may flip a few, but most people who are going to Brebeuf, Cathedral & Chatard are doing so as much for academic/social reasons as for sports. And even if you're transferring for sports, the path to a trophy is much more likely at those schools as NC, even if the Panthers won a H2H matchup. When North Central had Derrick Mayes and Eric Allen (and Allen grew up at Pike but then transferred), they were stacked and couldn't get out of the sectional because Ben Davis was just loaded. They haven't really had *that* kind of talent since.

Some sales pitch. "Come play for us. We know we suck so we scheduled some cupcakes."

I agree with this. Every team needs them. It’s high school. Even the best football programs are not at their best each year. A program needing to get things going definitely needs to find games that they can win. Also to note, North Central is the 4th biggest school in the state.

You are also the same person who thinks teams need to schedule all of these tough out of state opponents for big time matchups.

You realize the Moore's are at North Putnam not North Vermillion, right?

Where's Donnie Baker when you need him? He'll set everyone straight on the WRC this season. I swear to God he will.

Basketball and baseball forum are in a different link.

Definitely started by 2001 (multiple lives ago with gaps between) when my cousin moved to Indian Creek and Coach Gillin took the reigns while Joey Siderwicz took over at Martinsville.

Not many from the old days left.

Hobart doesn’t so we don’t get to play in the transfer portal unless someone actually moves here lol. It would be nice to have the kids that go to Merrillville but live in Hobart city limits. it’s all a haves and have nots game anymore. Open enrollment is a big equalizer for some public schools. In my opinion no real reason to complain about privates for a lot of schools. Some sports are worse than football see wrestling… it’s absurd. Feel bad for kids coming up through programs working their tails off and buying in only to be replaced by outsiders. Whatever I’m a dinosaur I suppose.

I can't speak for others, but IMO if you define "failure" in HS football based solely on W-L record, you don't get the point of HS football.

Center Grove and Carmel have zero bearing on North Central's ability to win the MIC going forward.

Again define "failure"? What one school deems failure, another school doesn't. Kevin O'shea and Jason Simmons were hired a year apart. While Simmons has the better resume on paper, I don't think you'd find many people who'd agree that Jason Simmons has done a better managing expectations than O'Shea.

Nailed it. Washington Twp had (has?) one of the worst youth programs forever and not sure if there's been anything done to fix it and it may just be out of Coach O'Shea's control. Several Washington Twp kids end up playing CYO ball and ultimately settle at the three P/P's you just mentioned who are all right near NC stomping grounds.

Triton Central was taking out ads in the Hancock County newspaper (likely targeting the New Pal kids who live near TC) and aggressively recruiting students in Franklin Township a few years back when it was going to a New Tech curriculum. That may have backfired, as New Palestine's school board and superintendent were stridently opposed to allowing out-of-district transfers at the time even though open enrollment had been a thing in the state for a few years. Once those ads started running, NP felt targeted and opened it up to open enrollment. Once that happened, a significant number of students living in the Triton Central area transferred to New Pal. Now that the cat is out of the bag and open enrollment is a thing, you will see public school districts openly recruiting students from other districts. Many have marketing/communications/PR types now, in part, to assist with that (by my observation, most do a pretty lousy job because they're not marketing/PR experts but some crony of the superintendent who might have written the company newsletter at one point and has the in to get the cushy job with admin benefits).

I am not predicting Zionsville’s demise like a couple of others I saw but they will have an uphill climb replacing significant talent in their first year in 6A. Fishers has 1500 more students than Zionsville thus I think they have less growing pains/a less steep climb into the top ten. I see no one past 7 in my list as a significant state title contender however.

When I say this it’s only opinion. No real knowledge of it. PH- W/ the loss of their Head Coach and star QB they will step back a bit and no longer lead the WRC. COV- New HC, Star QB gone, limited people to fill in at QB, and some players said to be not returning NV- They started looking better last season and have continued to build. I’m sure they will return strong SV- Just a guess here, not sure who they have lost FC- I think Herb King is looking to make a statement with his new team. All the sudden everything at FC is about football and building a team. Although I think they will fall short this year Attica- Do they even have a team? RP- ? Seeger- I’ve heard they are a complete mess, with limited practice time and a new coaching staff. They have some strong players, but I think they abandoned their program last year

He is in the FO stage of the FA&FO process Word was he wanted to be Governor next. I think this attention he has sought hurts him. Looks like he is struggling on the fundraising side as well. https://indypolitics.org/campaign-cash-4/

A friend mentioned the page to me around 04, and this is what it looked like then. Great find.

The video is aimed at starry-eyed parents in hopes of separating them from their cash. Sad thing is it works.

Just finished a nice 3-way scrimmage here in the Fort featuring: Northrop,(Indy) Pike and Carroll. I cannot tell you how fantastic it was to be on the gridiron!

All schools have to have asses in desks to make it work. If you’re not in high school, you are going to be targeted for recruitment.

This may come as a shock to some… but many coaches look for a forever home and just stay. It’s not always about the next biggest thing. Lots of the coaches on this list may never leave their current home. Life is about what’s right for you…not what others think is right for you. Even for a coach, there are lots of things in life more important than the profession itself, and what these things might be are as individual as a finger print.

Some bad takes here: - Brebeuf at #1 in 4A - East Central only at #10 - Any 4A North team being ranked higher than a 4A South team - Zionsville over HSE - Whiteland at #3 in 5A - No Valpo in 5A - No Norwell in 3A - No Park Tudor in 1A - No Heritage Christian in 2A - Triton Central at #4 in 2A