BTF

Yes....5,3,1, & 1......Thanks for the corrections.

They have 2 Sectional Championships, 2 Regional Championships, and 1 State Championship over the last two decades. Those aren't staggering numbers by any means, but they do have one heck of a winning percentage over the same time period. I think that's enough to qualify them as a Blue Blood considering their past. You like the idea of an "island" conference? It certainly makes scheduling easier, but then it puts those conferences in a bubble like the SAC. Which is fine I guess if you are satisfied with the competition.

Great post. I understand access from Indy to Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Fort Wayne. But why Champaign? Access to Evansville should have been given priority over Champaign. And certainly Ft. Wayne to Chicago makes more sense than Indy to Champaign.

Enrollment?

I would like a couple of examples if you don't mind taking the time. I'm still at: 40 (Coaching) 30 (Enrollment) 30 (SES)

Snider, Homestead, and Carroll will all be strong contenders from sectional 3. Dwenger will once again be a contender to win state. Northrop is due for a breakout season at some point..........I think the coaching is pretty good over there. Concordia and Luers are always dangerous and North Side appears to be on the upswing. Wayne has proved that it can be successful under Eric Moore. South is the only weak link in in my opinion.

I would say "working harder" is one piece of the puzzle, but certainly not the only solution. I did say in my post that "that some schools put coaches in better positions than others"........I was referring to the "mountain" you speak of. I always said a good college football program was determined by 1/2 good coaching and 1/2 good recruiting. At the high school level I'm thinking 1/3 coaching, 1/3 enrollment numbers, 1/3 socioeconomic factors? Or maybe 40/30/30? There could be some differing opinion on this. I think FW North and FW South are good examples of what can be accomplished in a lower socioeconomic situation. SS had success between 2002 and 2009. NS has been hit or miss every since Doerffler left after 1996.

Concordia has a home field. No turf.

Running over Ritter in the state championship game helped his cause. As a Butkus award winner and the #1 linebacker in the country, I'm sure he probably would have won regardless. I'm just making a point that this should be addressed by the voters in the future. A RB, QB, and WR are only as good as their offensive line allows them to be (to an extent of course). And they only rack of big numbers as a result of kids on the other side of the ball allowing them to be on the field more.

I don't think being a high school football coach is any different than any other profession. Whoever works the hardest and puts the most time in is the most successful in their field of work. You can point fingers at this or that, but at the end of the day, the head coach needs to be held accountable. I understand some schools put coaches in a better position than others. And some programs require 5 or 6 years to build something versus others. But when it's all said and done with, the main success of a program begins and ends with the head coach.

Agree. Well deserved. He will do well at the next level. I don't dispute Charlie winning, but why should it have been a landslide? The other five kids were pretty dominant at their respective positions. For the last 25 years, the award has been handed out to a kid who either played RB, QB, or WR. Are there not 22 positions on the field (not including special teams)? I think a congrats is in order for the other five young men who were nominated. Spencer Wright, Ty Wise, Richard Hamilton, Kyle King, and Randy Holtz.

Honestly, I'm not sure what they have coming back. Probably most important component is coach Mike Brevard. He seems to have them on the upswing. There is some talent at North Side and they always seem to pick up a coach who knows what to do with it. Kasey Kolkman (7-4 in 2008. Losing to Snider by 1 in the second round). Ryan Hall (9-3 in 2012. Losing to Snider by 10 in the sectional championship. Snider went on to represent the north. Then losing to Snider in overtime a year later). Mike Brevard (improvement in each of his first 3 seasons). Remember the Dale Doerffler days? North Side has some bad a@# teams under his reign. He beat Snider 6 times in a row between 1987 and 1991. Sandwiched right in between two of Snider's greatest teams of all time.................1986 under Mike Hawley and 1992 under Russ Isaacs.

I agree, it's not the brand, it's the coaching........................and the numbers.

The way I see it, there has never been a talent problem in the region. I always viewed the problem being coaching. I'm not saying the Region hasn't had any great coaches, but by and large, they are being outperformed by their counterparts in other areas of the state. Is that a fair assessment?

I really wasn't familiar with the coaching nucleus at Luers outside Matt Lindsay. I know there were men on that staff who took football pretty seriously.

The Homestead area is starting to see some growth again with the booming economy. The Carroll area is absolutely going crazy, so I see their enrollment continuing to grow. Snider's enrollment has been on the downturn for several years now. Many white collar families have moved out of the Snider district in favor of Carroll and Homestead. I believe you are correct with regard to the challenges Snider faces in the future. But with a solid core of coaches, they will remain a top force in the SAC in the near future. I see Homestead always being good like they have in the past with the occasional run on talent to topple Snider. I have great respect for the Homestead coaching staff, but I often wonder what they are NOT doing to get to Snider's level on a consistent basis. Valid. Less students and lowering socioeconomic status.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the DAC in the first place. They would be my pick to challenge the SAC. And yes, Merrillville and Valpo would fit in nicely at the top of the SAC. I think what separates the SAC and DAC is depth. South Side is really the only bottom dweller. Wayne was near the top just a couple of years ago, as was Luers. They will both have a run on talent and climb back up again. Homestead would be my 3rd pick to challenge. If Garrett and Kolkman stay together, Dwenger may be the kingpin of the SAC. Homestead is the same community it was 16 years ago with the same coaching staff it has today. They've always trailed Snider and will more than like will continue to do so. If they haven't done it by now, they probably wont outside of an occasional win here and there. I think Carroll has more potential than Homestead. Outside of some of the Indy burbs, their community is growing faster than any other in the state. And like I said in an earlier post, they have the coaching to get it done.

It's a good topic. I just think there is a gap between the SAC and the next best. DT brought up some interesting points though. One being Snider's reign as the SAC's premier team. The main contender has actually been a contender for decades..............Dwenger. Jason Garrett is a great coach and has been stellar in his first two seasons. Of course having a guy like Casey Kolkman on his staff helps. We will know over the next few years whether or not this conference belongs to the Panthers or Saints. Snider will always be near the top with Russ Bush (48 years with the program), Russ Isaacs (43), and Kurt Tippmann (28) leading the charge. There will be a lot of talk in 2020 about Carroll and Homestead. Carroll looks to have enough pieces of the puzzle coming back to dethrone Homestead and take the bell (victory bell that goes so conference champ). The Chargers also have a pretty good coach. Doug Dinan was an assistant under Russ Isaacs for 17 years at Snider. He knows what he's doing. Homestead returns QB Luke Goode. That in itself makes the Spartans a contender. Four great teams at the top. Then you have Concordia, Luers, and maybe Northrop (still waiting for them to breakout) on the outside looking in. Should be a fun 2020.

I really didn't think there was a comparison between the two conferences. So I went to Sagarin to see if I was wrong. I have much respect for Evansville area football, but I don't think they challenge for the SAC for third. Homestead over Memorial by 11 Dwenger over Central by 18 Carroll over Mater Dei by 15 Snider over Castle by 16 Concordia over Jasper by 6 FW North over Evansville North by 2 Northrop over Reitz by 5 Luers over Vincennes by 4 Wayne over Bosse by 12 FW South over Harrison by 21

Top three are cut and dry. MIC, HCC, SAC.............in that order.

And many coaches have leadership classes for their upperclassmen. It's the difference between a good program and a "play pretend" program (not really a program at all). Kids who lock a teammate out of a locker room and physically assault him are being taught nothing about leadership. Starts at the top.

Sounds to me that this goes deeper than just missing workouts. If one of the better players was missing workouts, would he be left out of the locker room? This is a bullying issue and has less to do with not showing up for lifts. I would go straight to the head coach and make sure the issue is addressed. Sounds to me like there is an overall culture issue on that team. Ninety percent of the time, it starts with the top. Be nice, but firm at the same time.

Lol, 14-8. But I don't think they should lose their king of the north designation just yet. They had 5 straight semi-state appearances leading up to 2018. Snider has always been a close second. Merrillville and Valpo were good this year, but neither of them are certainly worthy of the designation. Who would be your "king of the north?"

Isaacs bleeds black and gold. He's perfectly happy as Tippmann's "assistant". Personally? I'd love to see him take over another program.................. even if that would mean a big hit to the Snider program. Won't ever happen though.

I'm showing Penn is 5-2 against Snider since 2000. An upset by Carroll in the first round of 2012 prevented a what would have been loss number three. But your point is valid. Penn won 4 of the last 5 against Snider.