coaches office mike holcomb

This week the coaches welcome the great Breathitt County coach, Mike Holcomb to the show.  Plus another tough topic, the picks for the Ky championship week and another great Forgotten Heroes.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Coach David Buchanan coach Chuck Smith, two legendary high school
football coaches. This is the Coach's Office, a behind the

(00:33):
scenes look at Kentucky high school football.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to the Coach's Office behind the Scenes with Chuck
Smith and David Buchanan. This is season three, episode sixteen,
so we're sixteen weeks into this thing.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
That's pretty good. I'm Chuck Smith.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
I'm joined by co host David Buchannan and podcast editor
flashback storyteller Mike Yoakam.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Your YouTube version or or our YouTube version of this.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Podcast is at tcopt dot C, dot O, dot P
and if you hit like and subscribe, it really helps
us out.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
So we appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
We got a very exciting show for you tonight. We
have retired legendary Hall of Fame football coach Mike Hokum
with us tonight to share his ideas and his philosophies
on winning football.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
We will bring him one shortly.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Our tough topic for tonight is again by anonymous, when
the officials make a game deciding era.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
In your favor.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
How do you tackle that as a coach, administrator, or
a parent.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
I've never had him to do too many in my favor.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
I've had some and not in my favor, but I'll
have I'll have an answer and a comment for that,
and then we will pick the state champs for this weekend.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
This week will be the state championship week. A little
bit about Mike before we bring you on. As I said, Mike,
Mike hocom is our guest tonight. He's currently retired.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
He was the head football coach at Breathitt County, Leccher Central,
and Madison Central. He spent thirty five years as a
head football coach and his overall record, I believe is
three hundred and eight and one and twenty two. It's
pretty good. He spent most of his time and maybe

(02:39):
his mark really at Breathitt County. He won three state
championships there and he was runner up one year, so
he was in the state championship game four times. He
had a forty two game winning streak during that time.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
That's unbelievable. Forty two game winning streak.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
At Letcher Central, he was there for seasons and or
after he left the breath of I think he retired
from breath that took the Lecture Central job a few
years later, and then he stayed at Lesser Central for
three seasons, retired again, and then came back.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
In twenty twenty one and twenty twenty.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Two at Madison Central High School, where he had a
lot of success there.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
He also won his three hundredth.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
Game by beating LCA thirty eight to thirty four at
Madison Central in nineteen ninety five. Mike changed and everything
started to change because of Mike's leadership. But he changed
from a run heavy offense to a pass happy arsenal,

(03:48):
which really revolutionized the state of Kentucky in terms of
throwing the football. You know, Tim Couch and Mike Whittaker
were I think in ninety five he was a senior.
They were throwing the ball around some, but Mike was
winning state championships when he started throwing the ball. I

(04:08):
think he won in ninety five, ninety six, two thousand
and two, I think.

Speaker 4 (04:16):
I remember that one.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Well, yeah, And so he was winning state championships doing it.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
And then a few years later comes how Mummy to
the University.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Of Kentucky and he teams up with Tim Couch and
they're throwing the ball all over the field, and that
is really when everybody started to everybody start in the
state of Kentucky started throwing the ball around basically because
Mike was winning state championships and getting attention doing it,
and then Tim Couch and how Mummy doing it at

(04:48):
the University of Kentucky. It was just an awesome time
for high school football, and Mike gets a lot of
credit for that, as he deserves.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
To David, you want to bring Mike.

Speaker 4 (04:59):
On, I do. I'm really excited to have him a coach.
Thinking about this all day. A country boy cancer vive
has been running through my head all day, thinking about
being at your stadium in the nineties. You guys coming
out of that locker room getting ready to roll, and hey,
I know Chuck's been there for a playoff game. I

(05:20):
think you were there in ninety six. We were there
in ninety seven. It was a rough one, but that
was a great atmosphere. Breadthfit coach. When you were there
in the nineties, that was a special time. And I
get a kick out of having YouTube here together. You know,
when I helped Chuck when he was the DC at Mercer,

(05:41):
I would drive him crazy and he would tell me, David,
go down there and tell me how they're blocking us.
So that way, I'd had to get away from him
a Mike sort of had to do the same thing.
When we were in the All Star Game. He put
me on the headset and Mike told me, he said, David,
all I want to hear is the coverages. Don't say
nothing else.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
Saw.

Speaker 4 (06:01):
I'm like, hey, you guys already, Mike tell the truth.
Did you call Chuck to get help on? How do
I deal with David for a week?

Speaker 5 (06:08):
That really happened when we lunched together a few times.

Speaker 4 (06:12):
There you go, I do subject came up, but we're
really excited about having you on our show, and and
I'm going to jump right into it. You know, I
remember seeing you and you may not even remember this.
I saw you at the state finals in nineteen ninety two.
We were staying there, guys at that executive end, and

(06:36):
I bumped into these two or three times, and you
were really damn I mean, I was worried about you.
I've never seen you like that. Three years later, your
state champs. How did you get that turned around? How
did you go from a guy that I mean was
borderline hopeless to we're state champions. What happened?

Speaker 6 (06:59):
Well, first of all, we got a whole lot of
good players started coming out.

Speaker 5 (07:03):
And you know, we've got those things going.

Speaker 6 (07:06):
But uh, at that point, we we said we had
some things happened, uh and positively forward started our school system.
We became one middle school, uh put their kids and
uh uh we had grade schools out amongst the county.
So they made a middle school program and uh John
Paul Chapman and started took that and and started coaching that,

(07:31):
and that put all our kids together. And then we
dropped down and had fifth and sixth grade out in
the county, uh at the other schools.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
And uh.

Speaker 6 (07:41):
But along that time right there, I don't know, we
just you know, we went back to work, and you know,
we had some good kids coming in. And uh, I
was thinking about those kids in ninety two. They I
think the see they would have been ninety five teen,

(08:03):
I guess would have been coming in about that time.

Speaker 5 (08:07):
So they were real good. But we kept them separate.
We didn't.

Speaker 6 (08:10):
They played twenty some games JV and freshmen their freshman
year and they all stayed together and I think they
went twenty and one. So they sort of created a
winning culture amongst themselves. And then we started working them
men as they came up. Of course they started taking
over as the main players. But you know, just a

(08:30):
lot of things up. I know, I was pretty down.
One nine makes you pretty down. You know, Well that's
hard to there's not much positive things to say, so
you are down a lot, but you know, are super tend.
I went up to talk to him as soon as
the season was over. I said, you don't want to
see where I'm at with this degal and he said,

(08:53):
I'll coach your fine, just go back to work. Don't
worry about that. So, you know, we had to support
those people, and that's real big and I listened to
y'all show when I hear that, but that is truly
not just coach and talk if you don't have support administration.

Speaker 5 (09:07):
I mean we always did here.

Speaker 6 (09:08):
We had you know, superintendents and boards and our school
people that really wanted us to be successful in whatever
we were doing. And that was along with the great
community support. And that's we're just vital and they know
they hung with us. And then we we just got
some things going and of course the spread, you know,
the things we went to them to spread really hims.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
Where did you come up with that idea?

Speaker 2 (09:32):
Mike, did you just I mean, did you just all
of a sudden say, hey, we're just gonna we're gonna
change our offense. We're going up and we're gonna start throwing.
I mean did I mean where did you get Where
did you get all that information from?

Speaker 3 (09:44):
I mean where come from?

Speaker 5 (09:46):
Well?

Speaker 6 (09:46):
Not, well, we went to the ninety five. We went
and talked to my quitter because we had played down
in ninety four.

Speaker 5 (09:53):
We thought we was gonna have a real good football
team that was supposed to be our year. But uh, Matt.

Speaker 6 (09:59):
Sharp and and Shorty Combs and two guys that became
all staters, they missed that season. So uh, we rolled
along eight and one, but uh, Lesla can't put a
pre good whipping on us. And then we changed classes,
so we went down to double and they stayed a triple.
When Mike told me said, my quittaker said, if you

(10:19):
need to put this offense in with with the Chapman,
you got a quarterback. So I said, well, hey, when
when can I get it? And he said, we anytime.
I'll be there Monday. So I went straight to him
and and you know, we were already doing some of it,
but he basically come from him, and then he told
me he had got it from Florida State, basically what

(10:40):
he was doing, but they had Charlie Ward. So you know,
we started grasping all that stuff and trying to find it,
and and then we had the pieces, and uh, I
felt like I knew a lot about it, but when
the game started, I mean, just like you giving me
the keys to a Cadillac and.

Speaker 5 (10:56):
I didn't know how to drive it.

Speaker 6 (10:58):
I mean, we were just you No, we were throwing
it on fourth and one because we're playing so fast,
so we just settled down. But that's where we came
with it, and then our kids just really took to it.

Speaker 4 (11:09):
You know, I'm glad Chuck talked about this in the
beginning because you know, I mean, how mummy's a terrific
football coach. I'm not saying that he's not. But I
do think people get the timeline wrong. They think it
was how mommy was the first one and you and
Tim Couch and Mike Littaker you came first and then

(11:29):
those guys came in after you. But you know you
were you were the first ones really lighting it up
in Kentucky.

Speaker 6 (11:35):
You know, we were already doing that and uh when
they came, because they came in December of ninety sixth
we were on a waite to state championship and we stopped.
We always got to stop throwing work out. So I
went in to introduce myself to him and met him
and old I couldn't hardly get away from him.

Speaker 5 (11:52):
He was just like us.

Speaker 6 (11:54):
Uh, just just such down on the earth and I
all they want to talk about was throwing the football.
And so once he came, he opened up a source
of resource.

Speaker 5 (12:04):
Dress.

Speaker 6 (12:05):
He just opened his door to this. We stayed down
there all the time, and you know, he was just
great to be here, you know, in my opinion, yes, sir.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
Yeah, hey Mike.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
Kind of a follow up a little bit with David
in nineteen ninety five is when you won the school's
first state championship.

Speaker 3 (12:25):
That's breath it's first state.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
Championship and basically anything right, And how were you.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
Able to get that mentality?

Speaker 2 (12:32):
I mean to get I mean, to have the winning
season is one thing, you know, to have a good
team is one thing, But to have the mentality to
win a state championship, especially when your school has never
experienced anything like that at all, You know, how did
you get that culture in the school, you know that.

Speaker 3 (12:53):
Wasn't accustomed to winning. How did you get that?

Speaker 6 (12:57):
Well, Bretty Kenny had been a very U dominant, U real,
very strong athletic program before I showed up. Uh, back
in the sixties, they had a very dominant basketball program,
high profile, and the community and the kids and people

(13:18):
already had this work ethic and expectations. But you know,
they they had got so close sometime and for whatever reason,
those things didn't happen, and so we got the So
we got a second and third generation off those people,
kids coming through and and it's hard to explain that
about but our community, they're they're so competitive. You know,

(13:42):
if you go to a restaurant and uh, you know,
two guys sitting there, they're gonna first of an election
going on.

Speaker 5 (13:48):
One's gonna take one guy and one's gonna take the other.
They're just gonna see who they can be.

Speaker 6 (13:53):
So it's a very competitive community and they just love,
you know, the winning and who can win. So once,
like I said, we had flirted around with second round
playoff losses. You know, we got into the second round
a couple of times in eighty nine, we've been in
the regional championship game, and then ninety five, you know,

(14:13):
we had to get past a couple of teams, you know,
Russell and Belfrey. Those were teams that we had to
be able to beat somewhere along the line to change
the mindset. But the question I think that you're asking
is some of the times we were getting on the bus,
I feel like that before that ninety five years, somewhere

(14:35):
along the line, you know, we had some people that
already had played that game, already out the way it
was going to be played, and we had to overcome that.
And I think switching well, we went to double A
changed people we were playing, so we still had to
beat Russell and we had to go through them. But

(14:58):
I think after our win at Arline or long, we
got so caught up in it in a regional.

Speaker 5 (15:02):
Final, you know, we didn't have time to didn't think
about it.

Speaker 6 (15:05):
And then going to Damble in ninety five, you know,
I had family in that area and things, and they
were like, uh, well you've had a nice season, Uh,
but you ain't gonna be Damnble.

Speaker 5 (15:17):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (15:18):
But our kids were just so our coaching staff, the coaches,
and the players we were so intertwined within ourselves. You know,
we really didn't catch that agafotism that year long and
uh that maybe way you're not gonna be damn blah
blah blah blah. They just believed in theirself and uh
in the community caught board in it. And you've been there,

(15:40):
Chuck and Uh and David. That playoff weeks are so
quick and short, and you don't have time to even
know what's going on in the community.

Speaker 5 (15:50):
So we just got through it. And you know, I
don't know if there's any secret, uh anything.

Speaker 6 (15:55):
I think it was something we had really worked and
built for and uh, you don't have a lot of
people tell me. That came to me later and what said,
like our former principal who really worked that problem, he said,
I never thought you could do that here. I never
thought it could happen here, and of which they meant
it in a good way.

Speaker 5 (16:12):
But it's tough to get dirty. You've got to have
your community believe too, because you know that can be like, well,
you know, now you've done good, but you're not going
to beat those people. So we got by that someway.

Speaker 6 (16:26):
I don't know what the formula was, but I think
it was just h the confidence our kids had that
they could beat anybody.

Speaker 3 (16:34):
Yeah, that was an awesome time. It really was.

Speaker 5 (16:37):
Yeah, fast, a very fast time, you know.

Speaker 6 (16:40):
And then the teams we were playing were we're named
football programs.

Speaker 4 (16:45):
Yeah, and you were getting them. And I know from
experience being at Mason County, Uh, getting Russell back in
those days was a tough deal. And I still feel
like I will you know, we didn't play Russell after
two thousand and two, but I do think I think
of the Russell teams that we had to play at Mason,

(17:07):
I think their best one is the one that you
beat in overtime there in two thousand and two. That
was a I thought that was a really really good team.

Speaker 5 (17:14):
Oh yeah, Oh that was a wild game. Yeah that
was that was big.

Speaker 4 (17:18):
Yes, sir, hey coach. You know, it's sort of funny
now looking back on it. But you know, besides playing you,
actually I got to scout you in ninety six helping
out Chucks. I drove up there and watched y'all play.
But one of the things I know was when we
would watch you in the mid nineties, it seemed like

(17:39):
you would be in your shotgun in your spread. You
would get the lead and then you jump back in
the I formation for the rest of the game, run
the ball and get the game over with. And I'm
just wondering what was your strategy behind that? What I mean,
I can tell you what I think, but I'd rather
hear what you're thinking. Why would you do that? I mean,
your spread, spreads spread. It's like you go up twenty

(18:02):
eight to nothing and then bam, you're jumping in the eye.
I think you were ran, toss and trapped. I mean, it.

Speaker 5 (18:10):
Wasn't very complicated.

Speaker 6 (18:13):
Well, you know, all the stuff that we studied besides
adding the offense, we you know, the philosophy and things
that we got from it was saying, you know, we
were going to stretch the field vertically as we could
and as horizontal as we could, and you know you
I mean watching it. Then we was gonna throw that
deep ball. As much as you know we love throwing

(18:35):
the deep ball. We had good kids that could catch you,
and we had good quarterbacks, and we would do that.
But we also wanted to throw the fast screens and
the swing routes, and so it just seems like whether
their past game, but the defense had to chase us
so much, and they had to you know, everybody's running
down a different game instead of playing inside of instead

(18:58):
of playing inside a little box, you know, like the
Fort Knox in ninety six. You know they were Wishbone
and they were just beating everybody death. But they just
everybody most so they played they played in a little box,
you know, and and they were real strong defensive. But
we would get you know, we just felt like sometimes

(19:18):
people get guys a tard.

Speaker 5 (19:21):
I mean, we were just we could just run the
ball and we wanted to get the game over with
and make the clock run and go, because that's one
thing where you're throwing the ball if you're not successful.
Uh you know, we're in regional championships some one year
against Middlesbrough.

Speaker 6 (19:37):
We're here thirty fifteen after that. I'm not sure what,
but just the reverse of that. So we throw the
ball nine straight times, we're O and we're off. We
go all for nine and they've got the ball right back,
so we're not taking no time off the clock at all,
and they're getting back in the game. And you know
how football is. You off coached all your life too.

(19:59):
One play, a couple of plays you know, you're right
back in there.

Speaker 5 (20:02):
So we did. We did. Our philosophy was just let's
just win the game.

Speaker 6 (20:06):
And and then I didn't want to. You know, sometimes
that score would be more than you said, and I
just didn't. I didn't feel comfortable at that time throwing
it when he ahead thirty points, Its like you were
running the score up, and I really didn't.

Speaker 5 (20:20):
We didn't want to really do that.

Speaker 6 (20:21):
But our kids missed down on a lot of playing
time really because we did just run it, or we
put the other kids into that could you know, could
execute the offense.

Speaker 4 (20:32):
Yeah, you're pretty good at running the eye too.

Speaker 6 (20:35):
Back then, yo, that'd have been our base offense too,
you know when and that was part of the thing
I was watching. It's funny, since y'all asked me to
do this, I found our own games. But you know,
at one time we would line up in the eye
and go with the shotgun, and then we'd be in
a shotgun and go back to the eye. Now we
ran across the team in ninety six, it never got hard.

(20:58):
And I always said this team, that was the first
time we had played a team that was playing us harder.
At the end of the game, and they were when
they started, and of course that was Bull County right
before they right before they took off. And I'll tell
you those kids played, they played so hard. You know,
we was we were very lucky to get out of

(21:18):
there in ninety six with chucking them.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
And uh, you know what, Mike, you talked earlier about,
you know, the mindset of your kids to get into
that state championship mentality with in ninety six and we
haven't we hadn't won any yet, and I think I
think we kind of came with that mentality that you know,
this team is you know, one state championship.

Speaker 3 (21:40):
Uh, and you know it's it's on a row. It's
a hot team. And I didn't know if.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
Our kids felt like, you know, they could get over
that hump or not. But uh, it was a great
atmosphere and a great night. I mean that cannon was
going off and we had the stands were piped and
I remember there were stands. There was fans in deer
stands in the.

Speaker 3 (22:01):
Trees around the field watching the game. Out of those
deer stands, I said, God damn.

Speaker 5 (22:07):
And these people, the people.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
Will know how to know how to support their football,
you know.

Speaker 6 (22:12):
So that was whore we've been our new stadium, and
that that thing would fill up by there in those
years in ninety five, ninety six, in ninety seven, that
that that I old stadium, it'll be full of bus
six o'clock.

Speaker 5 (22:23):
I mean, you know, and uh, even.

Speaker 6 (22:26):
Though we love our new place, they the kids are
in Georgia. You know, you come out to see you
come out to warm up and there's a full stadium already,
even though not be that big at stadium, but it's
just you know, it's very rewarding to see people out
of that early.

Speaker 7 (22:43):
You know.

Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, Hey, Mike, my last question for you is you
know you won forty two games in a row. You know,
it really spanned from ninety five to ninety seven. Uh,
how were you able to get the kids to focus,
uh game after game, year after a year, you know,
or is that something it just happened. You didn't really

(23:06):
focus on it, you know, I mean.

Speaker 3 (23:10):
Take me through that.

Speaker 5 (23:11):
Uh well, you know.

Speaker 6 (23:14):
We we just uh we we never did. You know,
We've been talked about that before when I talked to
some people. We never did talk about our winning straight
we you know, we never did mission to our kids
like each week you gotta you know, now you won
this one in a row and uh if that back
in that time as you was saying passing, you know, uh,

(23:35):
seven off the state championship game is just like coming
up this week.

Speaker 5 (23:39):
You know, a couple of those Jewish we were like
this week, it's like.

Speaker 6 (23:42):
What December the finals going baby, December the sixth or seventh,
whatever it is, and maam, time you get through with
that and you know, celebrate a little bit and get
back in the white room and then it's time for
seven on seven. During that time of period are for
five years, we never did stopped with football, and it

(24:04):
was just the winning streak wasn't ever talked about. You know,
we were just talked about the high expectations, the uh
you know, working each day to to get better your
techniques and all those things. So it just you know,
having the great talent, and our coaching staff was a

(24:25):
you know, coach Chapman was there and and several of
our coaches that that was all the way through with
us say it was a push, push, push all the time.
Of course you know that brings in better more people.
You know, we would run a seventy seventy five on
our team then, and you know, we had good JV programs,

(24:45):
we had good freshman problems, and it was just a push, push,
push all the time. And we never really talked about it.
You know what, I talked with one of my former players.
I'm sure I'm not gonna mess think. I talked to
about form players this several times this week. And uh,
you know, when we went to Lawrence County got bat

(25:07):
I never imagine my we sort of got to the point.
I'm not saying we'd let down or anything, but we
just didn't think we could ever be beat.

Speaker 5 (25:16):
I mean, not Larrence canybatus. I never imagined that we
get Bate.

Speaker 6 (25:21):
Uh Now, I knew they had a good football team
and did a great job, but you just get to
the point where you expect to win and uh and
of course you know, along comes somebody's gonna bust your bubble.
I mean, it just happens. But we never did talk
about it, and we just but you all remember those years,
you know, seven on seven's were going on everywhere in

(25:42):
the gym.

Speaker 5 (25:43):
And we would we loved that because we ran our.

Speaker 6 (25:47):
Offense and then uh uh we did a lot of
the when we ran the confusion.

Speaker 5 (25:53):
You know, we got we got double work.

Speaker 6 (25:55):
So I don't know how it happened, but but we
never did talk about it.

Speaker 4 (26:02):
Hey, Mike, you brought that up. Did you get your gif?
I'm trying to remember. Didn't you come to Paris and
get that defense from Roger.

Speaker 5 (26:12):
Else?

Speaker 1 (26:12):
No?

Speaker 5 (26:12):
I come down and talk with Roger one time about
his off season program where he you know, he had
been at Trinity and did all those things, so we
we wanted to know what he did.

Speaker 6 (26:23):
And uh, uh, Coach Chapman got that defense and he
he got to study and kept working with it. And
uh uh he e's that in on me? To be
honest with you, I look up one night. We ain't
got no free safety, no word.

Speaker 5 (26:42):
You know.

Speaker 6 (26:42):
My first thing was I'll let him do defense. And
I was trusted him so much, did a great job
for us. And I said, uh, and we got tm
in out there. We don't have free safety. He said,
just just.

Speaker 5 (26:55):
What I got this coach, And I said, we got
He said we're in zero and I said we're in
man coverage, you know. Uh, but he went, you know
they took we took that. You know, we won with that.
No too, but uh that's he just sort of got it,
and then he got Bobby. He studied with Bobby Radmon.

(27:17):
Of course Kenney was running over the key Millsborough, and uh,
we liked it and served our purpose for a while.
But I think it got you know, at scheming it
pretty bad.

Speaker 4 (27:30):
Did you remember Neil POOKERELLI because I think Neil came
up uh to visit with Roger. But I was gonna
tell you when we played on the wreck Bow that
next year. You know, we knew that that Sam or
Will had to take the back out of the backfield,
so we had groups of pitch it and then roll
out to go out for a pass. And by one
of my coaches, he said he looked over the coach

(27:51):
Chapman say he just started shaking his head, like, man
that that son of a gun knows how this thing works.
But that's what I think you all. One thing I
like about your version. I like that, you know when
Rogers system, there was a mic that was stacked on
the nose, and I thought it was better when you
all put the mic in the rover like in a
five two look. I thought that was a I just

(28:12):
thought that was a little more sound than what we
had done at Paris.

Speaker 8 (28:15):
Yeah, it's uh, you know, it's just takes away so
many things, and then you've got to be there's a
couple of places that you better make sure you stop
for they're gonna reap you to death with it.

Speaker 4 (28:28):
You know. Yeah, yeah, it is, it's it's it's a handful.
But boy, I tell you what, if you have a
breakdown in one spot, it can be a foot race
to the goal line. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it
was like that. But uh but anyway, hey, coach Man,
you've been a great guest and uh, I really appreciate

(28:49):
you time tonight.

Speaker 3 (28:51):
Yeah, hey, Mike, you still live in uh Breck.

Speaker 5 (28:53):
You look at you. I'll helped Kyle this year. I
sort of.

Speaker 6 (28:57):
I didn't do anything last year, and uh, I've been
his assistant this past year. So you know, if y'all
been to Breathitt, there's not a whole lot to do,
and uh, football's going on every day.

Speaker 5 (29:11):
I can throw rock to the stadium.

Speaker 6 (29:13):
So I helped him this year, and uh, and of.

Speaker 5 (29:17):
Course I've helped him.

Speaker 6 (29:19):
I volunteered with you mayre about five years before I
went down a mass of central so I'm used to
it and it's fun to I like the assistant role.
You can you know I had five point fifteen year roll.

Speaker 4 (29:32):
Now, hey, all right, now I'm gonna put you on
the spot. Last question, Well, Mike Holk, could ever be
a head coach again?

Speaker 5 (29:41):
No, I don't see that happening. I don't see that happen.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
Right that.

Speaker 4 (29:50):
Hey, I'm not sure I can pay the right situation
and your s dog, I'm good at it. I don't.
I'll just say this, I would not be surprised to
see you back in it someday. But I can see
maybe now you think.

Speaker 5 (30:04):
No, yeah, I'm pretty happy what I'm doing.

Speaker 6 (30:07):
And uh, and my wife leads me around here clothes,
so she boss me around.

Speaker 5 (30:12):
So that's pretty much what you know. That's the way.
I don't see that happening.

Speaker 4 (30:19):
I got you.

Speaker 5 (30:21):
Appreciate you. I enjoyed it. Thank you all very much
for being on and I appreciate you all. You know, advancing.

Speaker 6 (30:28):
Uh, you know, promoting high schools football. That's it's the
greatest thing ever.

Speaker 4 (30:35):
Did I agree? I appreciate you, Mandy, Thank thank you, Mike.

Speaker 5 (30:39):
All right, thank you all, Thank you.

Speaker 3 (30:42):
David.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
We're gonna move on to the uh tough topic now
it's uh, it's an anonymous uh. And and the question
is to make a game deciding era.

Speaker 3 (30:58):
In your favor?

Speaker 2 (31:00):
How did you tackle that as a coach, administrator, or
a parent.

Speaker 4 (31:05):
You know, this one was not one of our tougher ones.
I'm just gonna keep my mouth shut and I'm not
gonna say a lot about it. I mean, the thing is,
when things don't go our way, I don't say a
lot about it either, because I think then you really
start down the road of making excuses. So I think

(31:26):
that's a dangerous road. But I think if things work
out in your favor, you probably can look out and
you can find ten things from the past that didn't
go your way that were close or could have been
a little better. I mean, I think you just smile
and you just keep on going, and the less said,
the better. That'd be my response. Yeah, Well, I.

Speaker 2 (31:46):
Haven't had too Like I said earlier, I haven't had
too many of those occasions in my career. But I
think that if it happened, I think you acknowledge it,
you know, and a and a calmly way avoid celebrating,
you know, excessively. Uh, you know, act with sportsmanship. Uh,

(32:07):
you know, don't dwell on one call. You know there
are there there are many calls in the game, and
uh to think that the officials are going to get
all of the calls correct would be unrealistic.

Speaker 3 (32:21):
You know.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
If if you coach long enough, then you're going to
be on both ends of those good.

Speaker 3 (32:26):
Calls and those bad calls.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
As you said, and I've always told my teams, don't
worry about things that you can't control. And you can't
control the officials, nor can you control the weather. Uh,
So don't worry about those things. But you can't control
your play, and that's what your focus should be on.

Speaker 3 (32:51):
There are many plays in a game. I don't it.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
You know, it shouldn't come down to one play. I
don't think one play decides a lot of games. I
think there's communications game and that's how I would basically
handle it.

Speaker 4 (33:06):
All Right, we're picking the state champs this week, so.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
I know, I know that everybody is waiting for your
picks because I don't think you've lost a game two years.

Speaker 4 (33:19):
You know what? All right, I got to come clean.
That's correct. Hey, so the first two years we do this,
you're correct. Twelve and oh so now I'm all shook up.
I'm like, I mean, yeah, that is so twelve, and
I'm like, well, man, I really want to go eighteen
and oh and dag on you. I've been working like

(33:40):
a dog on these dang six picks. So probably now
it's seen. The first two times, I didn't even think
about it. I mean, I just for a uh blah
blah blah, you know, boom, that's it. Oh now I've
studied it. Now I've talked to coaches and all this.
I'm like, man, I know I'm gonna Hey, I even
did this in my I had two games, like my

(34:03):
my games here in Red, but I put two in
Navy because I kept going back and forth. I'm probably
even gonna go I'm probably gonna even change my mind
while we're doing it, But hey, why don't you start
us off with class A? Who you got to I'm gonna.

Speaker 2 (34:19):
I'm gonna go and say it. And I know, I think,
I honestly think that Racelan will be really, really tough
to be. But just something inside of me just says
that Saya has had this Cinderella type of season, and
I don't know, if I don't know, I just got

(34:40):
a feeling that you know, it's gonna take a great
effort to be for them to win this game. It
would take a great effort, I don't I think Racelan
would possibly not have to even play their best game,
uh in order for Saya to get it done. But
I just got a feeling that it had this Cinderella

(35:01):
season and I think it's just destined to be the
state champion this year. That's where I'm going.

Speaker 4 (35:09):
I think it's a good pick, you know. I think
that this is one of those games in Navy for me,
going back and forth, back and forth, and I think
what's been tough for me is that you know, racelin
has been there and they do a great job. I mean,
they've done a great job. And I want to say

(35:31):
this too, for all six of these games, all twelve
of these teams. These are really good football programs that
are well coached. And if we're not picking a team,
it sure doesn't say anything negative about them. Man, if
you're playing, you're playing in the state championship. You got
your ball club and you know what you're doing. I
tell you what, when Sayer got pipeful, that got in

(35:54):
my head, that really did. And I you know, I've
worked with Chad off and on and uh coach Pennington.
I just it's like part of me feels like it
doesn't make sense because Raceland has been there and Sayer hasn't.

(36:17):
I'm I'm I'm going with Sayer. I think that I
think they're gonna win it and uh but again, but
I would not be surprised to see Raceland win the game.
But I'm gonna pick Sayer. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:30):
Well, we go to Beechwood UH and and cup Catborough
Cathleic in the in the two A game. I'm you
know who I'm gonna pick because I've been picking them
about uh FO three or four weeks ago or whatever is.
I've said that I thought they will win it, and
I still think it.

Speaker 3 (36:48):
One was pro Catholic is going to win it. I
do think it'll be a tough game.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
Beachwood is really coming on strong, but I just think
Osborough Catholic, I think it's their year to win it.

Speaker 4 (36:58):
Hey, I'm gonna go with bet on this one. I
think they may end up having a little bit more depth.
I think that they're starting to play their best right
now and I just you know, I've been in Owensborough
Catholic shoes where you've got a really good team, but

(37:22):
have you really got the depth to I mean, you know,
you and I have had this conversation. I think I
think it takes depth to win a state title in
Kentucky unless you're really talented, because I mean, that is
a five week grind in the playoffs is tough. And
I mean, and I've talked about this, what got us
a lot of what got us at Paris. I felt like,

(37:43):
you know, we had a good team. If we could
have played back in the days of the region the
district champ plays the region champ one game, then it's semized.
I mean, that would have really helped us. But for
us playing a gauntlet of Dayton Bellevue, New Cats. So
where I'm going with all this, I think, right I
think Beachwood I'm gonna put it. If it were the

(38:05):
old system district champs, first round in region semi finals,
I might be picking on spur a Catholic. I think
in a fifteen game season, I just think Beachwood is
going to have a little more depth and just have
a little more to finish the job. And I was
in public with you, I would have picked on sbur

(38:27):
A Catholic probably three. You know, this is another one.
Just like with Raceland, I probably would have picked on
sbur a Catholic three weeks ago. I still think their
quarterback at Well is absolutely a mister Football candidate. He
very well may be the best player in the state.
He's a great player. But I do think this week
that Beachwood is going to have the edge.

Speaker 2 (38:50):
Then we go to the three A game, which is
Cal and Union and kind of like the single A
game for me. I know that Cow will probably be
the heavy favorite, and I know they'll be really tough
to beat, but I'm just thinking that Union County they
knocked on the door last year.

Speaker 3 (39:09):
I think, you know, I think they might have the
team this year.

Speaker 4 (39:14):
I'm picking. So you're picking Union County, Yes, sir, I
got you. Okay. Well, hey, and here's the thing. I
got tagged in a tweet today about Jaron Johnson potentially
being mister Football. And he's a guy that we've talked
about on our podcast, and I do think he's an

(39:34):
excellent player. I think Union County is the real deal.
But I will say, even though I don't know how
much I should say or not say, I had really
I didn't think Cal was going to have the bodies
to make a run. I thought Central was gonna beat him.
I'm not really sure what to think that Cal is

(39:56):
still there, but at after what I've seen him do
the last two weeks, I'm I'm gonna go with Cal
and uh, I think Cal's gonna win three A, which
I think will be their third one, and uh, it'll
be the third one in a row. And uh, I
just feel like they're going to do it.

Speaker 2 (40:18):
Yeah, and they like, like you said, they've been there before,
so it'll be a tough, tough obstacle for Union to overcome.

Speaker 3 (40:27):
But and that that, you know, I think they might
have it in them.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
To four A Tillman and Paduca, Tilman and Franklin County.

Speaker 4 (40:38):
I went with Tillman as another name. There's another game
in Navy. Uh, that's another game that I could have
changed right now and said, I'm gonna go with Franklin County.
Franklin County plays great defense. You know Eddie James, their
head coach, Mark Peaches ro O C. I know those guys.

(41:03):
I know what they've been doing. But you know, we
had Sean Thompson on here as our guest and one
of the things that sold me not that this isn't
true of Franklin count I think it is true. But
Sean did a really good job of selling me that
he is very confident and comfortable in his system. And

(41:24):
I think stuff like that really pays off. And I
think that's true of Franklin too. I just think I
think right now, I think Franklin County's probably got the
better defense. I think Tilman might have a little bit
more overall talent. Plus I think Tillman's ability to get
guys in space with coach Thompson's offense in a really

(41:44):
close game, I'm gonna go with Tilman.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
I picked Franklin County in this game. I went with Franklin.
And I know Paduka is probably the favorite. They do
have a lot of talent, They have a lot of
kids that have been playing together for a long time.
But I think Franklin has just got some toughness, is
some grit and some uh you know, physicality that could

(42:10):
could decide this game. So and of course coach Eddie James,
he coached with me for a year or so, and
so I know what he can do. I know he's
a very good football coach. I'm picking Franklin.

Speaker 4 (42:24):
County, and you know, you did say one thing there
that I disagree with. Eddie does a great job and
I wouldn't be surprised to see Franklin County lift the trophy.
Absolutely not. All right, five A. This was another tough one, uh,
But eventually I went with Cooper over Bowling Green. I

(42:46):
just I think they've got a dominant team this year.
I know Bowling Green's very good. I mean, with Deuce
Bailey and the team that they've had. I know, you
know Bowling Green much better than I do, But I
just I think this is Cooper's year. You know, Coach

(43:06):
Borcher's was on here. You know, That's the other thing
I think we've had it. I think we've done a
good job of getting coaches on here because a lot
of coaches that have been on the podcast are going
to be playing Saturday or Friday. So again, I think
it will be a tough game, but I think Cooper's
going to get him. And I agree with what you
said last week when you said, although Cooper ended up

(43:27):
bowling out Highlands in the second half, I did think
all four teams last week were really good football teams.
That I could have seen winning the game. Which, congratulations
on a great job at South Warren. You all did
a super job this fall.

Speaker 3 (43:42):
Well I appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
And my pick for the Cooper and the Bowling Green
game is I'm picking Bowling Green. And I do know
a little bit about the five A class this year,
more so than I do the others. And I think
Bowling Creen has just got some really really good players,
you know, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

(44:04):
They can score some points. You know, they got a
great quarterback, they got a great receiver, actually got several receivers,
but one great one. And and I just think that
I just think they you know, they know how to
get it done. And I think they're hard to defend

(44:24):
unless you really know what you're doing. And you see
them all the time, and you know, and they're you know,
they're on different you know, parts of uh, you know,
four hours apart. They don't play the same common opponent.
So Cooper really doesn't know much about Bowling Green other
than what they saw against them last year in the
state state championship game. And I think if you don't

(44:48):
know a lot about them, you're going to have a
hard time defending them, and I'm picking Bowling Green.

Speaker 4 (44:54):
I got you, and I mean again, I wouldn't be
surprised to see Bowling Green win. Okay, our last when
I've lost track, who's picking first? You got the first
one on this one.

Speaker 2 (45:03):
Yeah, I'll take it at Trinity and Rileh in the
sixth A game and I'm picking Raulh.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
I really am.

Speaker 2 (45:10):
I know people think I'm crazy. Trinity, Saint X, and
Mayo have won like.

Speaker 3 (45:18):
Forty out of the last fifty.

Speaker 2 (45:21):
I have to look back at my numbers, or maybe
fifty out of the last sixty state championship, so people
will think I'm crazy to pick somebody over Trinity.

Speaker 3 (45:31):
But I tell you, Rile has been on a roll.

Speaker 5 (45:34):
Now.

Speaker 2 (45:34):
They've been on a roll, and they've had some pretty
impressive wins. I know they haven't probably played anybody to
the caliber of Trinity, but I just think they've got
it going on this year. I think Mike Engler and
he's he's one of our guests on here. He's just
done a fantastic job. And I just think it's time

(45:56):
for them to get it. And I don't think Trinity
has had a great year. I don't think they've been
as dominant as I thought they would be there.

Speaker 3 (46:05):
They are the returning.

Speaker 2 (46:06):
State champs, and I really thought they would dominate this year.
I said that earlier in the year. I thought that
they would be by far the best team in six save.
But they really haven't been by far the best team.
They've been the best team.

Speaker 3 (46:19):
But not by far. And so that's why I'm going
with Rob.

Speaker 4 (46:24):
And I would have gotten I would have agreed with
you until last week. And here's what got me. Last week.
They shut out Frederick Douglas and I just that really
got my attention. Again, I went back and forth on
this one. Would not be surprised at all to see

(46:47):
ryle win, but I did pick Trinity. Now I've got
ad biased there. Zane Johnson's dad the quarterback at Trinity.
His dad played for me at Mason County, Jordan Johnson.
Those guys are family. I love them. I want to
think that's not why I'm picking them, Okay, I want
to think that I'm really picking who I think is

(47:08):
going to win the game. And again I think that,
you know, the shutout last week of Douglas really got
my attention. But I've got to pick one I'm gonna
pick Trinity, and so if I if I got this right,
you and I picked differently for every game except for
game one. Correct. Yes, Now here's my take on this.

(47:32):
We are a lot of criticism of the RPI, and
you know what, some of it's justified. I think it's
insane that a district champ like Central goes to play
cal who is the district runner up. I think that's wrong.
I don't think it should happen. I think that RPI
needs to be adjusted so that out of state opponents

(47:52):
are more part of the picture because so many of
our best teams have to play out of state. But
there's one thing you can say about RPI. These are
six really good games. Because even the game that you
and I picked the same team, it was a hard game.
It's a hard game to pick because they're both good.

(48:15):
So so where I'm going with this is, do I
think RPI has got some issues?

Speaker 3 (48:21):
Yes?

Speaker 4 (48:22):
But did RPI give us six quality games for the
six state championships? And I think the answer is slammed dunk. Yes,
we got six great games. I think I got to
give them credit for it. Going outside I mean the roup.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
No, that's what I like about it. I agree with
what everything you're saying.

Speaker 4 (48:43):
Yeah, so you know, I just I'll tell you what
it got done, what I think it was intended to
get done.

Speaker 5 (48:53):
So yeah, I did.

Speaker 3 (48:55):
I'm I'm a fan of it.

Speaker 4 (48:57):
Our tough topic next week, man, This one comes from
an administrator, which I think we understand why he wants
to be anonymous, and is this what is the right
time for administration to take a program in a different
direction outside of the obvious. When do they decide to

(49:18):
do that? So whether it's ill, you know, as long
as it's not illegal and more something like I said,
when does an administration make that decision? So I'm looking
forward to hear what you think about that, And I mean,
that's going to give me a lot to think about it,
and it'd be a tough one to answer. And I
do want to add this to the Kentucky Football Coaches Association.

(49:44):
We'll be checking cards, but we are going to have
a hospitality room at the k Club and I hope
that our KFCA members will come over there. And what
I'd like to do we did this last year. I
would love to take an informal poll. Who do the
coaches think is mister football, who do the coaches think?

(50:04):
Or mister or is the coach of the year And
we talked about that last year. Maybe we can get
some tough topics from the hospitality room. But I do
want to give a shout out to Todd Shadowing, who
does all that. I think title is one of your
teammates at Kentucky. I hope our kfc A members can

(50:24):
be there. I hope, I hope they'll come back.

Speaker 2 (50:26):
Yeah, it's been really nice. Y'all have done a really
good job with that. And you know, uh, I hope
we get a good attendance at the state championship games.
It's really it's really awesome to go barn and watch
those teams, uh, you know, try to win, you know,
a state championship rint.

Speaker 5 (50:45):
It's pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (50:46):
Hey, I hope our listeners listen and.

Speaker 2 (50:52):
Continue to listen, I should say, and listen, you know
to Mike's historical segment that starts immediately after we sign
all and we look forward to hearing from you next week.

Speaker 7 (51:05):
Sports, and in particular, high school sports, are woven into
the fabric of Americana. High school sports are part of
the DNA of communities across the country. And that is
certainly true in Kentucky. Fans know the stories of the
big names, but there are many names and many stories
that have been lost to history. This series highlights those

(51:30):
forgotten he Rose. Welcome to this episode of Forgotten He Rose.
I'm your host, Mack Yoakum. Every sports fan knows about
the greatest football upset of all time, Center six Harvard Nothing.
The legendary center quarterback Beau McMillan scored a touchdown to
get the Colonels the lead over the mighty Crimson of
Harvard in nineteen twenty one. Bow was an All American

(51:54):
and bigger than life. But center didn't fall off after
that historic season. So who had to follow Bow McMillan.
It was the Mayfield Flash. Herb Covington was a cocky
freshman on that nineteen twenty one team. He was faster
than anyone on the team. That's how he got his
nickname the Flash. He was a sub in that famous

(52:17):
Harvard game, and when fullback and team captain Norris Armstrong
got hurt right after McMillan's famous touchdown, it was the
Flash who jumped up off the bench ready to go.
Coach Charlie Moran saw him and he went in and
he ran for fifty two yards in six plays to
help run out the clock for the Colonel's victory. In

(52:37):
nineteen twenty two, he was handed Bau McMillan's old quarterback job.
All Herb Covington did that season was make the All
Southern Team and was named All American. In a victory
over Louisville, he set a record when he dropped kicked
six straight field goals, all from over thirty yards. The
mayfield Flash led Center to an eight and two mark

(53:00):
with wins over Clemson, Ole, Miss, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Kentucky,
and South Carolina. In nineteen twenty three, he was again
named to the All American team after leading the Colonels
to a seven to one and one mark with wins
over Clemson, Kentucky, and Auburn. In nineteen twenty four, Herb

(53:20):
Covington led Center to a five to one and one
record and they claimed the championship of the South. The
nineteen twenty four team saw Herb and his six senior
teammates be dubbed the seven Immortals. After three games, the
Colonels were one one and one with only four games
left on the schedule. Those four games were with Kentucky

(53:41):
and Lexington, Tennessee and Knoxville, Alabama and Tuscaloosa, and against
Georgia n Danville. The Seven Immortals vowed that they would
go out winners, just like the legends McMillan, Robertson Weaver
had before them. Herb Covington and the Immortals did something
that has never been duplicated. They defeated Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama,

(54:07):
and Georgia on four straight Saturdays. It was Alabama's only
loss until nineteen twenty seven. There were only seventeen healthy
players when Herb and the Colonels met Georgia. How tough
were they The starters played every minute of the game offense, defense,
and special teams, and Herb Covington was again named to

(54:31):
the All American Team. Herb played pro football after graduation,
and he coached high school football in Florida, including coaching
future Florida Gator coach Jimmy Steele at center. He earned
twelve varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball, and for
three seasons, Herb Covington never missed a single second of

(54:54):
action on the football field. He is in the Center
College Athletic Addicks Hall of Fame. The immortal Herb Covington,
the Mayfield Flash, died on New Year's Day, nineteen ninety.

Speaker 9 (56:00):
Don't do, don't fucks, don't of itself. That's that. Don't
fuck ups An speaks.

Speaker 10 (58:40):
Koko. After the crop and in debt TEMEDT