Coach_K

This is pretty interesting.  I am interested in see what the finished product will actually look like.  

It is nice to see that boosters/sponsors are helping keep the facilities looking nice.  With school budget cuts and the state having an "accounting error" in which they were $100 million dollars short, the only way to maintain and improve facilities is through this type of fundraising.

https://www.nuvo.net/news/lawmakers-face-m-shortfall-in-two-year-budget/article_af40fea0-61dd-11e9-8f79-634d08e50a44.html

"For charter schools, territory is the state of Indiana."

I find the statement about charter schools interesting.  Why would a private school allow the charter schools to be able to use the entire state?  I don't think this will help private or non-charter public schools.

1 hour ago, Impartial_Observer said:

Sports proposals typically begin with the coaches association. They poll the coaches. I have been told the IHSAA is typically looking for a majority participation from the coaches and a 70%-80% yea vote to go along with depending on the the proposal.  

Proposals coming from particular sports then go thru the IIAAA (Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association) to try and gain favor with the AD's. You need to have your ducks in a row and present proposals to the IIAAA at their November meeting, to get things on the agenda for the IHSAA's Annual Meeting. 

I've never been involved with the principals association, but I would assume it's a similar process. 

I don't think each process happens exclusive from each other. I know some proposals coming from the IIAAA are sometimes discussed in the principal meetings.  

Also, some changes are voted on by ADs and Principals in their Area Meetings.  

Commissioner Cox runs through them and takes votes. He will put his own spin on items and even if it is approved through the coaches association, conferences or particular area of a state does not mean everyone will agree with it. 

I have seen the Northern and Southern parts of the state approve a proposal while the middle part of the state voted against it, and was not approved. I’m not saying the middle part of the state has more power, but simply 2/3 does not always  rule, especially if the commissioner doesn’t agree.

10 hours ago, Lysander said:

Chatard's current Head Coach since 2017 has been a lay coach.

I am just curious if this is the route schools are going.  There might be a variety of reasons for it including teacher salary being so low, retired teachers who still want to coach, etc.  I know some coaches put in 15 years of teaching and coaching then resign from coaching but keep teaching thus having less teacher vacancies in traditional teaching areas, PE and Social Studies.  There are also coaches who were coaching 2 and 3 sports now coaching 1.  I am one of those guys.  I put in 7 years as a varsity track coach, 5 years as a middle school basketball coach, and am in my 10th season as a football coach.  In the schools I have been in lay coaches are an integral part of the entire athletic dept.'s coaching staff.  

Some schools simply place an importance on academics only over the guy/girl who can teach and coach.  Some schools are too small to field their entire coaching staff through teachers, while others can.  This has just been something I have been curious about for about 5 years and finally decided to ask. Feel free to share more insights.

Regardless of what happened or how this all went down. Good luck Coach and good luck Evansville Central in finding a new coach.

Looks like a highly desirable location, but it comes with expectations!

There are a lot of open assistants jobs out there, so I was wondering...

Are more schools moving towards lay coaches as assistants?  (Especially with the the current state of teacher funding in this state. See the link below.)

I know schools are moving this way in other sports, but I find it difficult to comprehend.  I was an AD with all lay coaches and it was almost impossible to keep the coaches informed on different matters and the students grades/behaviors. Curious about input

https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/04/02/the-evolution-of-u-s-teacher-salaries-in-the-21st-century-infographic/#3687036977f0

This is one of the most difficult situations I have seen.  Firings and resignations of multiple administrators obviously is extremely difficult for the students and teachers in that school corporation. 

I do not envy the people who take those positions and work with those individuals on the school board.  I will note there was a sharp drop in graduation rate from 2016-2017 (94.4%) to 2017-2018 (80.6%) per the IDOE Compass.  I fully admit I do not know the day to day happenings of the Eastern Greene Schools, but I have to wonder IF academics plays a role in any of this.  I doubt it, but I think it should be at least brought up

8 minutes ago, Titan32 said:

I have been told from a very good source with direct ties to the decision makers at Jasper that thier preferred outcome is a football merger of the PAC/BIG 8.  If done creatively they could basically keep the same schedule they have today except they trade GS for Mt. Carmel in football.

You could be right. I could be right. Or there could be another answer. Like I stated above, southwestern Indiana is interested in the decision.

54 minutes ago, DumfriesYMCA said:

I’m confused...

 

if Jasper joined the PAC they would still play HH every year and it would be more meaningful as it would a conference game.  Southridge has the potential to be dropped but in a format without tecumseh (7/7 division split) jasper would have 3 non conference games and they could easily fill that with a game with southridge.

 

 

maybe I’m swinging and missing here...but it seems that jasper isn’t concerned with keeping their big games or rivalries, but rather keeping the relationships in check while they actively seek out leaving all those schools in particular....just a fail safe in case they don’t get into the SIAC  don’t want to make any other school upset. 

 

Calling it as I see it  

I’m also confused on what Jasper gains from joining the PAC. Even with big and small divisions, Jasper and Booneville would be the only 4A schools. So they would be in the same situation by not playing bigger schools.

Unfortunately, you only get 9 games a year in football so relationships are important. Whatever Jasper and the rest of the Big 8 decides to do will have consequences to their schedules and relationships with schools. 

On 3/21/2019 at 10:57 AM, SEAL_63 said:

So apparently... VL and Jasper are still entertaining offers from the SIAC.  Whether this is for all sports, or just football I'm not sure. It'll be interesting to see where this goes. Vincennes already plays all SIAC schools in basketball (minus Castle) and would like to add more Eville opponents on their football schedule. Jasper is probably pushing harder for this because of the sectional competition they face in both sports.

Obviously, this would split the remaining Big 8 teams permanently. I could see VL wanting to keep these schools together in a Big PAC division.

Jasper could care less based on what I've heard...shocker.

I have heard something similar from a person with ties to one of the schools in question and connections with the SIAC. My understanding from this individual is that Jasper joining the SIAC (they’re preferred destination) hinges completely on Vincennes Lincoln joining with them.

It is my understanding that this will be for all sports. I don’t know either school’s athletic prowess outside of football but I agree that this probably doesn’t make a lot of sense for VL. Jasper, Castle, Reitz, Central, North and Harrison are all 4A in other sports, so 6 of their 9 opponents will be much larger than they are.  Could be good for Coach Salters and the football team to play stiffer competition than a weakened Big 8 schedule. 

Regardless, I don’t see Jasper joining the PAC even if there is the large and small divisions. I know they will lose a lot of money from not playing Southridge and Heritage Hills, but I guess that is a decision they are ok with. (Personally, I want to see Jasper and Castle play.)

VL would lose their game with North Knox (if they still play), forcing them to lose a big county rival and check. The PAC makes more sense for VL due to size alone. 

I think no matter what happens the southwestern part of Indiana is very interested.

When I was a coach in the Big 8 one of my biggest issues was the strength of schedule due to the teams in the conference. I am not sure what decision will be made but the bottom line is you have to take the other sports in for consideration. I know we focus on football but what about wrestling, basketball, baseball, track, volleyball etc. I think the ADs will have a lot to think about, more than just football.

I used to coach track at one high school and football at a different high school.

The schools were both ok with it because the school where I was employed and coached track did not have football.

I have seen the highlights but admittedly do not know much about the kid.  Does he play other sports?

The real question you should ask yourself is do you want continue watching high school sports? 

There is a shortage of officials everywhere and if you think that nothing needs to change then continue to yell and scream at the officials.  Games are being cancelled and rescheduled because of the shortage of officials.  

Here is a FB post from one of my friends who officiates a few different sports:

"There has been lot’s of talk about officiating the last few weeks and how some people believe officials are “out to get their team”. While some officials are better than others and most officials are better than me, I can tell you with 100% certainty that I have never heard an official talk about or engage any behavior to cheat a team or players.

In 2018 I traveled over 7500 miles to officiate contests. No way I would do that just to stick it to a team."

The fact is YOU personally might not need to change, but other coaches and fans might need to change their behavior.

I think another issue facing coaching turnover is the coach's family.  Coaching any sport nowadays requires the whole family to be on board.  I am a young(ish) coach with 2 children under the age of two.  When looking for a coaching job, I immediately ask my wife what she thinks about the possibility of moving to the community. My wife has some flexibility with her job, but we can't just pick up and move.  My wife is very supportive and wants me to advance in coaching, but she understands how political some school corporations can be.

Everything Driven T brings up is valid.  I have been a part of a coaching staff where there has been poor admin support.  This has affected coaches drive to coach, wanting to stay in the profession and time which some coaches put in.  Currently I work in a school which does not have football (so I coach at another school), but every time the administration hires a new teacher, coaching any sport is not a conversation to be had.  Some schools are simply devaluing the importance of extra-curricular activities.  It is a sad state of affairs for some schools in Indiana.

Putting in turf at a parochial school would most likely mean it would be used for other sports as well.  Without knowing much of anything about Luers (except football is pretty good) I would imagine it would be a major investment from alumni, boosters and sponsors, with a less money coming from the school/athletic dept.  The turf would have to be used by soccer and lacrosse (if applicable) and possibly track, softball, baseball, cross country for conditioning purposes.

It's tough to say without having the sectionals set yet, but the 3A sectional in southwestern part of the state has been pretty dominant lately.  Gibson Southern, Evansville Memorial (now 4A success factor), Vincennes Lincoln and Heritage Hills all have been very good in recent seasons.  Southridge possibly joining that bunch (due to success factor alone).  That could be an area of the state to watch for 3A.

With the way the Big 8 has performed in the playoffs in the past number of seasons, maybe a smaller conference is a good thing.  This allows the schools to add another team who they are not familiar with and push them come playoff time.  Washington and Mt. Vernon are currently down in football but competitive in other sports, but Princeton and Booneville have both surged in the conference, with Booneville winning the conference this past season.  However this success has not brought any deep postseason runs.  Jasper, Vincennes Lincoln and Booneville could add a 4A or 5A school to their schedule.