NEIFootballGuy

I am born and raised in NE Indiana, but I spent two season coaching in the Hoosier Conference at Twin Lakes for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. It was a fantastic experience for me, and although we took our lumps, I learned a TON about coaching against the best as a young coordinator. At that time, the conference was LOADED! Turns out, we weren't a real bad football team, but we played a whole bunch of really fantastic ones. Some core memories of mine: 2013 - After starting 2-0 the Knights of LCC came to Monticello, and I liked our odds. I had seen some highlights of Danny Anthrop from afar. Well, Jackson wasn't too bad either. And they had some kid that could sling it all over the yard, really good cover 2 fade thrower. As someone who had never coached against the Bombers, I was unaware that the double tight, double wing offense existed in that program. I had never seen a single play of it on film. The Indians show up, and I feel really good about our defensive game plan. Turns out, we will never know if it was good or not because we didn't see a single play of their base offense on the way to getting thumped 45-0. As a consolation, I did have my first wagonmaster that night. Austin Hooker broke his arm early in the season and couldn't play for Tipton. Well, by the time he came to Monticello, he was all fixed. He was an absolute beast. 2014 I don't remember Cronk the in 2013, by by God I do in 2014. We had to come back on a Saturday and that kid was everywhere. One of our coaches during the week wisely stated "I think he would be a better fit at DE, instead of ILB". I agree, then we could've at least ran away from him. The 2014 Bombers came to Monticello for what felt like a 10 PM kickoff. My defensive game plan was no better than anyone else's. Trying to teach the scout team to run that offense is the hardest thing I have ever done as a coach. And the Hoosier Conference Thread! I always enjoyed it. Fun times, tons of growth, great memories.

Not a pop-up kick in the sense that is referenced here. I was using our terminology. The kick was a high directional kick that was muffed.

This wasn't at start of the game, but this past season we scored 2 TDs in the matter of 20 seconds v. Adams Central. :33 left in 2nd quarter: QB scrambles and scores on long TD run. Pop Up kick, KOR team botches it and we recover. Next offensive play, Play Action pass that hit a wheel up the sideline. We kicked off to AC with :14.1 remaining in the 2nd quarter. Unbelievable flurry of plays by the Railroaders.

I will say I was impressed with Fairfield's size last Friday. They are large up front and have big, physical backs that are tough to tackle.

Big Train in a tight one WN rolls CN CC rolls Busco DeKalb by 7 or so FF PH Shenandoah SBSJ over LL (LL RB transfer hurts, QB gonna have to do a lot) Eastside rolls Woodlan

4A East Noble @ Angola: This one will be a close one. I believe EN is healthier and wins by a touchdown-ish FW SouthSide @ Leo: Lions by a lot New Haven @ Dekalb: If DeKalb chews some clock, gets some things going on the ground, and quadruple covers Graham they have a chance. New Haven in a close one. Columbia City @ Wayne: The Generals will have a tough time. CC 3A Norwell @ Heritage: Short straw for Heritage after a Norwell loss. Knights by a lot. FW Concordia @ Woodlan: Concordia finally gets to pick on someone their own size. Cadets Bellmont @ Garrett: RBT 2A Prairie Heights @ Luers: Luers Churubusco @ Central Noble: CN banged up, Busco surging...Eagles by a lot. 1A Fremont @ South Adams: SA by a lot

This is a really good topic and interesting topic. I am a 30 year old public educator and here are my observations. 1. It gets more difficult every year for kids entering college to justify spending $40k on a college degree to make $40k as a starting salary. I don't think a lot of parents are telling their kids: "Hey, I think you'd be a good teacher - you should go do that". 2. Because of point #1 the candidate pool in many subject areas is almost non-existent. Math, Science, Foreign Language Teachers are very limited. And it seems like it is pretty rare to hire a teacher nowadays who is also an all-in coach/sponsor for anything. It's hard to find teachers and coaches, but finding a student council sponsor isn't a cake walk either. 3. At a smaller school, you're not going to have a 5-6 coaches that are in the building nowadays - if you do, you're very lucky. Having a lot of lay coaches is fine, but whoever is in the building has to be a pretty dynamic person in terms of recruiting the hallways, monitoring offseason work, grades, behavior etc.

Indeed, it is.

Angola and WN are both in the NECC, not the ACAC. Would be very good for Angola, and I think they would be competitive in most sports. WN would struggle except for a few sports, and if you're talking football, they would struggle mightily. Not a knock on them, just would be a drastic change of pace.

During their HS career, a student is allowed to obtain 8 PE credits. 2 of those are taken up by the required PE classes (mostly for freshman). Once they run out of credits, they can still take the course, however it is no longer for a grade.

For a lot of mid-size or small schools in NE Indiana, the strength coach is a PE teacher in the building. At Garrett, it is not just football. All teams follow the same S and C program year-round. Ideally, the kids train during the school day through a class we offer. If they do not have that class, it is their in season coach's responsibility to have them training in the weight room at least two days a week. They coordinate that all through the S and C coach. If they do not have the class and they are not in season, there are training groups after school. Our S and C class is open to non-athletes, but they do and follow the same program as everyone else.

I think there is something to be said about having back-to-back classes also. I have seen many examples of a group that had good middle school successes, but the group ahead of behind them did not do well, resulting in average teams. IMO, at smaller schools, you need at least two solid classes in a row to fill all the spots with players in order to really achieve highly by the time those kids are juniors or seniors. Occasionally, there will be classes that have all the pieces themselves, which are really special groups. Rare, but special.

1 Point Games Tipton Twin Lakes 2 Point Game Delphi Lafayette Jeff Cass Rensselaer Logansport Eastbrook Western 3 Point Games West Central Covington South Central

My alma mater...Very cool set up. Always a high intensity, packed house that was always so much fun to play in front of. This place made me and so many others understand the importance of football.

Amen - Our locker room is separate from the school and is named after him. He is THE MAN. We deal with Coach Thomas' trickery yearly as they are a conference foe. His teams always execute well. I know I have said in my headset before, "How did they have the time to practice that to make it look that easy. I'll do some digging on the entrance, I think we have a video or two Hudl of it over the years. Here is a picture!