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Gavit hires middle school coach to take over varsity program


Guest DT

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Something about this just rubs me the wrong way.

Weren't there once a set of standards and criteria for a varsity football head coaching search?

Next it will be bantam and pee wee coaches taking over high school football programs.  Is the talent pool that thin, or are these the most unattractive jobs in a world full of bad jobs?  

This is the path that leads to varsity sports becoming club sports.

Bad trend, which will continue and worsen over time.

 

 

 

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There’s a reason why Gavit is 32-60 this decade, playing against a very, very weak schedule. The shambles that is the School City of Hammond’s athletic program mirrors the conditions of the schools themselves. Consolidation will help. But until there’s a different philosophy and commitment at the administration level, it won’t change significantly. Why would an experienced, competent coach be interested in a program that might be gone in a year or two?

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21 minutes ago, Bobref said:

There’s a reason why Gavit is 32-60 this decade, playing against a very, very weak schedule. The shambles that is the School City of Hammond’s athletic program mirrors the conditions of the schools themselves. Consolidation will help. But until there’s a different philosophy and commitment at the administration level, it won’t change significantly. Why would an experienced, competent coach be interested in a program that might be gone in a year or two?

If the school and program are doomed for the scrapheap in a few years, wouldn't contraction be a better option?

I like the idea of Hammond consolidating down to Morton on the east side and the new Hammond High on the far West side.   Clark and Gavit should contract now, saving lots of funds for future reinvestment in go forward programs for all students.   

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South Bend Washington went a similar route with their recent hire.  Outside the box thinking or apathy? I'd lean towards the latter.  Not a knock on either of these new coaches, I sincerely wish them well, I just dont understand the middle school to high school HC jump.  

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It might be a bad hire for other reasons but the notion that it is for the simple reason that he's a MS coach is straight up garbage. There are plenty of good MS coaches and can't understand why HS coaches play the holier than thou card on MS coaches esp ones in their own program. 

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29 minutes ago, RipZGo said:

It might be a bad hire for other reasons but the notion that it is for the simple reason that he's a MS coach is straight up garbage. There are plenty of good MS coaches and can't understand why HS coaches play the holier than thou card on MS coaches esp ones in their own program. 

No one said there aren't good middle school coaches, but you can't deny the fact that the jump from MS HC to high school varsity HC is a HUGE jump on so many different levels. That is probably why you do not see it very often and can cause some people to question that hire.  Note Dame attempted their "Bold Experiment" with Gerry Faust and it didnt pan out too well, hopefully it is a different outcome in Hammond and SB.

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What is the pool of applicants for some of these jobs? I wouldn't think that Gavit and SB Washington are highly sought after positions, maybe I'm wrong but I wouldn't think a lot of guys are interested in taking over a program that might not even be around in a few years.  Maybe taking a chance on a successful middle school coach who knows the kids coming up is an easier choice than taking a coach from the outside.

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Coaching at the middle school level may actually help prepare a coach more than being a coordinator or other varsity assistant.  The most difficult part about being a head coach is not the coaching part, as that does not change regardless of the level,  it is the administrative aspects of the job that it is impossible to prepare for.  As a middle school coach, there are a number of administrative duties that parallel those of a head coach.  Finding the right person for a job is as inexact a science as there is.  I understand that there are any number of factors that must be weighed by candidates when choosing places to be interested in, and the same goes for the schools when evaluating candidates.  I hope Gavit found the man they were looking for!

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I'll preface this by saying I don't know the situation very well, but is it possible the middle school coach runs the same offensive and defensive schemes as the high school team and they are looking for some consistency therein? Maybe the dude is a good leader on and off the field and he has built some relationships with the kids already. Again, I don't know the situation so I may be way off base, but calling it a bad hire before the coach even has a practice seems a little asinine to me.

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Not familiar with the school's situation, but I wonder if there are other factors at play here. Maybe (hypothetical) there was a large number of athletes who decided to not play football in high school because the program was so bad, but played in middle school for the coach who was just hired. Perhaps the administration feels by bringing him up to the high school level will get those kids back out (assuming the kids who quit liked playing for the coach in MS). Is it a big jump from MS to running an entire high school program? Absolutely. But if the school feels like he can turn the program around and do it quickly then what's the harm in trying. Maybe it's their last ditch effort at saving the dying program, where if the immediate future is uncertain anyway, what's the worst thing that can happen? 

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10 minutes ago, eschnur66 said:

Coaching at the middle school level may actually help prepare a coach more than being a coordinator or other varsity assistant.  The most difficult part about being a head coach is not the coaching part, as that does not change regardless of the level,  it is the administrative aspects of the job that it is impossible to prepare for.  As a middle school coach, there are a number of administrative duties that parallel those of a head coach.  Finding the right person for a job is as inexact a science as there is.  I understand that there are any number of factors that must be weighed by candidates when choosing places to be interested in, and the same goes for the schools when evaluating candidates.  I hope Gavit found the man they were looking for!

Couldn't have said it better myself. 

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31 minutes ago, eschnur66 said:

Coaching at the middle school level may actually help prepare a coach more than being a coordinator or other varsity assistant.  The most difficult part about being a head coach is not the coaching part, as that does not change regardless of the level,  it is the administrative aspects of the job that it is impossible to prepare for.  As a middle school coach, there are a number of administrative duties that parallel those of a head coach.  Finding the right person for a job is as inexact a science as there is.  I understand that there are any number of factors that must be weighed by candidates when choosing places to be interested in, and the same goes for the schools when evaluating candidates.  I hope Gavit found the man they were looking for!

 I would agree if all those things are true.  However in my 20 plus years, many MS coaches, especially lately are the convenient hire and none of the things that should go on do, including teaching fundamentals of the game.  That of course, should concern the HS coach but sometimes they are not in touch with their feeders.  I hope it works out for them.

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In South Bend Washington's case the new middle school coach had extensive experience as a high school coach including a years as a coordinator.  He also has been able to get great number of players out for football at the middle school level and more importantly keep them out for the entire season.  Recently SBCSC has been hiring former Notre Dame player as head coaches and that hasn't worked out.  They were great players but their organizational skill were sorely missing and even preparing a practice plan was difficult.

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1 hour ago, eschnur66 said:

Coaching at the middle school level may actually help prepare a coach more than being a coordinator or other varsity assistant.  The most difficult part about being a head coach is not the coaching part, as that does not change regardless of the level,  it is the administrative aspects of the job that it is impossible to prepare for.  As a middle school coach, there are a number of administrative duties that parallel those of a head coach.  Finding the right person for a job is as inexact a science as there is.  I understand that there are any number of factors that must be weighed by candidates when choosing places to be interested in, and the same goes for the schools when evaluating candidates.  I hope Gavit found the man they were looking for!

I can agree 100% with this. 

Comparing administrative duties at the MS vs. HS is apples and oranges. HS is infinitely larger. 

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1 minute ago, Impartial_Observer said:

I can agree 100% with this. 

Comparing administrative duties at the MS vs. HS is apples and oranges. HS is infinitely larger. 

I disagree with the apples to oranges part.  They are not that different, however the high school happens on a larger scale (not sure it is infinite).  The point however, is that when you are a varsity assistant, you are shielded from the administrative duties that being a head coach requires.  When you are in charge at any level, there are admin responsibilities that can help to prepare you for the higher level.

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20 minutes ago, eschnur66 said:

I disagree with the apples to oranges part.  They are not that different, however the high school happens on a larger scale (not sure it is infinite).  The point however, is that when you are a varsity assistant, you are shielded from the administrative duties that being a head coach requires.  When you are in charge at any level, there are admin responsibilities that can help to prepare you for the higher level.

Fair enough. 

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11 hours ago, DT said:

Something about this just rubs me the wrong way.

Weren't there once a set of standards and criteria for a varsity football head coaching search?

Next it will be bantam and pee wee coaches taking over high school football programs.  Is the talent pool that thin, or are these the most unattractive jobs in a world full of bad jobs?  

This is the path that leads to varsity sports becoming club sports.

Bad trend, which will continue and worsen over time.

 

 

 

Kind of like hiring a community organizer from the streets of Chicago to run the country. Whoops! did I just say that? Sorry. Banish me to the OOB turf.

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2 hours ago, QB said:

Not familiar with the school's situation, but I wonder if there are other factors at play here. Maybe (hypothetical) there was a large number of athletes who decided to not play football in high school because the program was so bad, but played in middle school for the coach who was just hired. Perhaps the administration feels by bringing him up to the high school level will get those kids back out (assuming the kids who quit liked playing for the coach in MS). Is it a big jump from MS to running an entire high school program? Absolutely. But if the school feels like he can turn the program around and do it quickly then what's the harm in trying. Maybe it's their last ditch effort at saving the dying program, where if the immediate future is uncertain anyway, what's the worst thing that can happen? 

As someone somewhat familiar with the situation, I can tell you that numbers had never been better. The former head coach is a good football coach, and an even better person. I try to stay out of these conversations, but I don't think it can be stressed enough that Robert was doing good things over there. This had to do with the admin being unhappy with wins/losses (according to people in the program). Again, the admin is entitled to make their decisions on staffing, and they chose to go a different route. I have zero knowledge of applicants, etc.. The admin felt the need to move on, and that is their prerogative.

Edited by CoachK_75
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53 minutes ago, SenatorFan said:

Kind of like hiring a community organizer from the streets of Chicago to run the country. Whoops! did I just say that? Sorry. Banish me to the OOB turf.

I enjoy this type of humor, find this quite funny, and stand by the thought that no matter what person is elected, the country will elect again in four years.  

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6 hours ago, DT said:

If the school and program are doomed for the scrapheap in a few years, wouldn't contraction be a better option?

I like the idea of Hammond consolidating down to Morton on the east side and the new Hammond High on the far West side.   Clark and Gavit should contract now, saving lots of funds for future reinvestment in go forward programs for all students.   

Craig Buzea got his start in the profession as he 8th grade coach at Portage’s Fegley Middle School...

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I wonder how many people posting actually know the coach personally? To make a broad sweeping statement expressing concern about a MS coach being hired is not fair. It is apparent from a coouple of posters that know him that he is qualified for this position. Best of luck to the coach and the Gavit program.

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Having coached at both levels myself, I can tell you that it is a HUGE jump.  Even from the middle school to freshmen level!  The middle schools have no governing body.  You can do whatever you want!  Practice as much (or little) as you want.  Play as many (or few) games as you want.  There are no eligibility requirements.  It can be the Wild Wild West if you let it.  Then you get to the high school and the IHSAA has more regulations than the Obama administration.  (I know nothing about politics. I had to google that.)

As with many of you, I wish these gentlemen the best of luck.  But it isn't going to be easy...

    

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