Coaches Office with guest Coach Jamie Reed

The coaches welcome Oldham County Coach Jamie Reed.

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 (00:42):
Okay, welcome to the Coach's Office behind the scene with
Chuck Smith and David Buchanan. This is season four, episode twelve. Gosh,
we're already twelve weeks into this thing. I'm Chuck Smith.
I'm joined by co host David Buchanan, podcast editor slash
storyteller Mike Yoacom. Our YouTube version of this podcast is

(01:03):
at tea cop If you get on that, then please
hit a like or subscribe. We appreciate it. Our death
coach for tonight, Jamie Reids. He's the head football coach
of Oldham County. Yes, I said Odham County. Uh and uh,
I know that Jamie is well known across the state,

(01:23):
but he made his mark somewhere else.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
We're going to get into that.

Speaker 4 (01:26):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
He's moved across town to Oldham County. Now after taking
two years off. He took two years off to get
into administration, decided he didn't want to do that or
he wanted to get back into coaching, so he took
the Odham County job, and so he's back in the saddle.
He's he's he's he's working their sideline. We're gonna bring

(01:50):
him on in just a second. The tough copy for
tonight is another good question. It's late season, you know,
pending your playoff run, you know, is what's been your season?

Speaker 5 (02:04):
Is it?

Speaker 3 (02:04):
You know you're getting ready for a good playoff run.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
You are you coming to a stop with you know,
you know, an off season that you would consider an
off season.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
How do you handle it? It's a pretty good question.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
David and I will talk about that question here later
on in the show, and then we're going to pick
some first round upsets. David and I will go through,
maybe go through each class and pick who we think
might be some first round up says there's usually not
a lot, but we're going to try to scrounge up
a couple just to make it interesting. A little bit

(02:37):
about Jamie before we get started, a little bit about
his background. As I said, he's the head football coach
of Odham County High School. He's currently got his Odham
County team to six and four. He spent thirteen years
across town at South Oldham from twenty ten to twenty
twenty two. He won over one hundred games there. You

(03:00):
get just a fantastic job there.

Speaker 5 (03:02):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
He built that program into a firehouse. He advanced state
quarterfinals four times, to the state semifinals two times, and
then he decided to take a couple of years off
and to get into administration. Uh he now is you know,
as I said back in the saddle Acrosstown at Oldham County,

(03:23):
We're going to get into that here in just a
little bit.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Uh, David, you want to bring on Jamie?

Speaker 5 (03:28):
I do.

Speaker 6 (03:29):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (03:30):
You know, coach read I hear a lot of good
things about him because the Anderson County staff they were
playing Southold while Jamie was building the south Oldham program,
and uh that that staff has had a lot of
respect for Jamie and the job he does. And Coach Reid, Hey,
we really appreciate your willingness to come on our podcast.

Speaker 6 (03:49):
Thank you so much for being here tonight.

Speaker 5 (03:51):
Hey, I appreciate you guys having me on. You know,
I've I've seen it when you guys started that, and
I was like, man, that'd be cool one day to
get a chance to talk to those guys and and
have a little fun.

Speaker 4 (04:02):
Well, we're excited to have you. Hey, I'm going to
get it started off. I think they're gonna be all
easy after this first one. Walk us through this. Why
did you leave South and then later you become the
head coach at Oldham County?

Speaker 6 (04:16):
What what happened?

Speaker 5 (04:18):
I'll tell you. When I left South, I really thought
I was done. I thought I was done coaching. And
you know how it is in Oldham County, and I'm
sure it's not much different from any other county. If
you have success as a coach and you're good with people,
then people start sinking their teeth in you a little
bit about doing some administrative stuff for doing more, you know,

(04:40):
you can have a bigger impact on this or have
a bigger impact on that. And uh and I kind
of let that, you know, I'll kind of let that
go to get to me a little bit. And I
was like, man, I have a greater impact. You know
my classroom. By trade, I'm a special education teacher and
I normally teach the behavior units in the in the
public school, the eb D classrooms or the PBS classrooms.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
However you have it, and there's generally only.

Speaker 5 (05:05):
About three or four kids in those classes, right, and
so they're saying, you can have an impact on you know, coach,
you just impacted those five kids and your your kids
on the football team. You could have a greater impact.
And so I went to school to do that, you know,
went back to school during season and just really put
all my effort in trying to do that. And you know,
and so I felt like the time was right. You know,

(05:27):
it'd been at South for thirteen years. We had knocked
on the door a couple of years, but I really
felt like it was time for somebody else to give there.
You know, I don't I don't know. Our kids start
getting to a point where they wanted to run some
shotgun and you know, just the different things that kind
of creep in. Right. We're a flexbone team, and you know,
and it's like you kind of started having some doubt
on one end, like were we ever going to get there?

(05:49):
And then you got people on the other side pulling
yourky come be an administrator. And so I joined the
administration team at East Oldham Middle School and I love it. It
was also it's a great experience, and they're right, we
had a chance to have an impact on more than
the kids that we had. But you guys know, as
longtime coaches, they put us in a box. They don't

(06:10):
think we can coach and be a principal at the
same time. For some reason, we're gonna, you know, not
give one side or the other a great chance right do,
a great chance to be successful. And so it's one
of those deals that And luckily I've been in our
county long enough that they gave me an option and
they said, well, you can stay at East Oldham for
this year and then we'll see how that goes. But

(06:31):
you guys know, run the high school program, you have
to be in the building to see what your kids
are doing day to day. But so it's one of
those things. I was really torn. I missed football. There's
no Friday nights in the administration, you know. And I
know people gave me a hard time for leaving South
and going to Oldham County, But what they don't realize
is that I have a great love for our county

(06:52):
in general, and even though I was at South for
all those years. When you play Little League baseball here
in Oldham County, you play at the North Oldham Little League,
which is really a lot of kids from La Grange
and a lot of kids from Crestwood and so my
sons uh spent there growing up years playing baseball with
the Oldham County kids.

Speaker 6 (07:10):
Right.

Speaker 5 (07:10):
So I don't see it. I didn't see it as
the way some of our fans saw it as much
as it was, you know, all he went to south
now is going to see. I looked at it as
I'm keeping the love in house. Uh, And I have
a chance to work with the kids at Oldham County
High School, which is which they've had multiple coaches over
the last four years, and I just was like, still
trying to look out for our kids.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, they needed some stability, and that's what you're bringing.
And uh, you know, there's really nothing wrong with you know,
just recharging the batteries, you know, getting a different view,
a different picture. And you know, I always believed, I
really did. I've always believed that you could stay too
long at a place.

Speaker 3 (07:53):
And then I've had this conversation many times, and I
think sometimes if you stay.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
Too long and you know, I don't know, they feel
too comfortable with you, it's it's a change as good
as what I'm getting at.

Speaker 3 (08:07):
But I understand that now, listen, if My next question
for you, Jamie is, uh, you know, what's it gonna take.
What's it gonna take to get Odham County? Uh in
the same contention for state titles that you had south
old them? What would it take?

Speaker 1 (08:23):
You know?

Speaker 5 (08:24):
As a as a coach, right, And we're all kind
of stubborn and hard headed. I think, you know, we
get a few move ins and I think we have
a chance. But the biggest thing we face right now
as we got the University of Trinity in our district. Uh.
And and that's a little unfortunate. You know. I think
they do a good job, but they're different than us.
They're different than than just about anybody else in the state.

Speaker 6 (08:45):
Right.

Speaker 5 (08:45):
Yeah, And so I was so downtrodden after we played them. Uh.
And I shouldn't have been, right, just everything that you
see from year to year, you know that you're gonna
have to have a really special group to beat them.
But I had never faced Trinity before. But I just
felt bad because you don't like to lose them atter
who it's too. And we get back to practice on
Monday and my quarterback comes up to me and puts

(09:08):
his arm around me. He said, Coach, we got more
first downs in this game than we ever have, you know,
and so that kind of puts it to me. You know,
we want to win championships, we want to win all
the big things. But at the end of the day,
these kids, man, they're not They're looking at different things, right,
But I think to get to the program that we
had at south OLDUM takes a little time. You know,

(09:28):
we only won you know, five six seven games a
year the first couple of years at south oldm took
us five years to get out of the first round
of the playoffs. You know, people forget about that. You know,
you get hired at a new job, they just remember
the last couple of years. Yeah, they forget about the
first couple that it took. And so we've gone back
to kind of our flex bone roots. I think, you know,

(09:48):
as long as we have to buy in the biggest
thing is that we don't want to lose kids because
they feel like they can't play college ball if they
come out of an option offense. But we're a blue
collar bunch, you know. And I had to talk with
our kids because we came out the beginning of this
year and we were in shotgun and trying to be
multiple trying to do some things that you see on Saturday.
And then obviously when you run into a trinity or

(10:09):
a ballard, you know, our kind of thing. What we
said is that we can out Trinity Trinity, right, we
came out ballid ballad, so we have to do something
a little different. And and that was amazing that I
thought I was gonna lose the locker room when I
said that, but I had more had nods and confirmation. Uh.
And then when we did Senior Night, you know, it
was really it hit home for me because out of

(10:31):
our twenty six seniors, most of the great majority of
our seniors, when they said what do you want to
do after high school, they're all joining the workforce, you know,
so these guys are not looking to you know, go
d one and you know, they're wanting to have a
great high school experience, do the best they can and
have some bragging rights, right. And so that made me
feel real, real good about maybe going back to a

(10:52):
little bit more three yards and the cloud of dust,
if you will, uh, and just building those relationships.

Speaker 6 (10:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (10:59):
I like hearing you talk about your offense because Jim
McKee's one of my best friends in Scott County and
he runs that ancient wing team, and as a guy
that's got to coach against him, you have no idea
how much I would love to see him get in
the shot gun and start rolling the ball. I wish
he would. I wish he would do that, and he's

(11:20):
smart enough. I don't think you're gonna do that. But
I think there's a lot of value in what you
said about you know, we're going to be us.

Speaker 6 (11:30):
And I think it's a good thing to be different.

Speaker 4 (11:33):
I always have thought for Jim that wing team, ball
control and being different, that's gonna give him a chance
against some of those schools.

Speaker 6 (11:42):
And it sort of played out that way.

Speaker 4 (11:44):
So I like how you're thinking, and I think listening
to you talk, he goes back to you know how
your bosses wanted you in a leadership role. I think
that's evident because you sold the flex bone in Oldham
County in twenty twenty five. I mean, you're you're really
good leaders. That's pretty cool. I'm glad, and it's a
great offense.

Speaker 6 (12:03):
You know, the the public's perception of being under center,
you know, I don't, I don't.

Speaker 4 (12:14):
I don't go with the mainstream on stuff like that
these days.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yes, coach Uh was a flexibone.

Speaker 4 (12:21):
Guy that is the central Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I mean, hey,
maybe my bias is coming out. I need I need
to calm down and get somebody on that is going
to throw the heck out of the ball.

Speaker 5 (12:32):
But well, you know, we go back and forth right
where you know, we're I'm a Christian, right and we
believe in humbling ourselves and things like that. And what
happens uh, and I think it happens to all of us,
even us as coaches. Right, Like we see I seen
Chuck at boil I see the the guy who replaced
Chuck at Boil, right, and we say, hey, we want
to do some of that Haddocks ball. Or or you

(12:52):
see the guy Freddie Douglas, you know, and you're like, man,
that guy is. They're spreading out. They look like guys
on Saturday. But the reality of it is is that
our niche is just a little bit different. You know,
we don't have some of those kids, but we have
kids that have arms. We have kids that that dads
go to work and get dirty every day. You know,
I call Belfry over our break and their head coach

(13:15):
Matt Varney, and he spoke with me because we had
always been an inside beer team and run some midline
and some belly, but we had never been an outside
beer team. And you see guys like teams like Belfry, right,
and they're able to have sustained success, and they don't
always have those guys that are just everybody's beating the
door down, right, So we're not just kind of going
out on a limb in the prayer. We're actually still

(13:35):
researched this as hard as it would if it were
throwing it around fifty sixty times a game.

Speaker 3 (13:40):
You know, we still try to put that work in.

Speaker 4 (13:42):
You know, it's funny you say that we met as
a staff today and you know, we had an RPO
that we've carried with us for probably the last ten years,
and schematically, on paper, man, it looks good. I mean
on paper, it looks like you can't ever stop it.
I told my coaches today, I said, guys, I think

(14:02):
we're twenty years out from running this. I said, I'm
not even putting it on the wrist bone or on
the wristband next year. And it's just because I think,
at the end of the day, like what you're doing.
You've got to figure out, you gotta there's got to
be a balance between schematically, this is what I like
versus Okay, this is what my kids can actually do,

(14:24):
And sounds like you're doing a really good job of
finding that sweet spot of a schematically this is sound
and if it's what my kids can do. And I
tell you what, you know, we're not very We're not
very complex at all. But I do think though that
schematically we have tried to do some things that our

(14:44):
kids just have not been ready for the last three years.
And that's my fault. That's my fault. That's not the
kid's fault. That's my fault. So hey, here's the next question.
All right, so you're surrounded by a lot of good teams.
You sort of allude to this already, you're right outside
to Louisville. I mean, he sort of answered it. But
see if there's anything you want to add. Is there

(15:05):
anything that you haven't said already that talks about, you know,
in this current environment of kids going everywhere and transferring schools,
is there anything you would want to add to what
you've already said on you know, how you're keeping your
kids at Oldham County. I mean because you sort of
it's like you, I guess, because you saw the question,
you sort of anticipated answered it.

Speaker 6 (15:25):
But is there anything you.

Speaker 4 (15:26):
Want to add on in coaching in this era of
kids moving around, how you're going to keep them at
Oldham County in the middle of Man, a hot bed
of some really good football.

Speaker 5 (15:36):
Absolutely, you know what. And that was our thing that
motivated us to get into the shotgun when we came back.
You know, we had that two years off and you say, Okay,
if we could have done some things, what would have
been different? You know? And in that process when we
were winning those games at South you know, I was
I was lucky enough to have an interview at Moyle
after Chuck retired and you know it obviously went to

(16:01):
Hatts and he's done a great job. And I had
an interview at Highlands when when when the coach I
can't remember the last coach was there when he left,
Brian Winer coach uh and uh, and had an interview
there and uh. It never got to any one of
those places with those jobs that they extended an offer.

(16:22):
But I could tell what we were doing was not
something that they really wanted to do offensive. I think
they enjoyed the wins. They enjoyed how we run our program.
But that's just kind of where they're at. But there's
no pressure on us. Our our principal is Bobby Redman's daughter.
Uh O, our head principal, doctor Brown. And so it's

(16:42):
so funny she she's so into the into football. But uh,
but to to what you're saying is that our quarterback
last week Friday Night, accounted for five touchdowns. He threw
two touchdowns over the game and uh and he rushed
for three. Uh And to me, that shows leadership. That

(17:04):
shows that you can run offense, and we are gonna
throw it right, We're gonna run it. And so I
try to tell our guys, you know, like you're gonna
have a chance if you can read the option, you
can do rpo. The coaches is gonna see you throw
a fade ball. They're gonna see you throw a slint ball.
They're gonna see you throw a comeback. They're gonna see
you run midline.

Speaker 6 (17:20):
Right.

Speaker 5 (17:20):
So it shows because those are the guys that we're
gonna miss. Right, We're gonna still get those receivers. And
the great news that we're seventeen hundred enrollment. Right now
at Oldham County, we're building up a ton of affordable
housing in our area that was not necessarily what Oldham
County is known for. And so really we don't lose

(17:42):
or have a whole lot of movement in our county,
right because it's the cost of living is just so
much higher. Right. If you're here, you're here for a reason.
And so really the thing is if we can find
a way to get the quarterbacks either to stay or
I'm a big Notre Dame fan. You know, I just
bought a book the other day. I was in Bowling
Green and went to a thrift shop and found a

(18:03):
book about new Holtz and the nineteen eighty eight season.
Then he had Tony Rice. What's for all intensive purposes?
If he's a high school kid, that kid's probably a
mic linebacker, free safety type kid, right, and Coach Holts
put him at a quarterback position where he could show
us athleticism and lead the team. Guys like that are
We're gonna benefit from guys like that. So it's knowing

(18:24):
who we are, knowing what we want to be, and
then find a way, you know, and then we still
have defense to sell. You know, we're gonna press cover corners.
You know, we pressed Trinity, we pressed Ballard right, and
we're gonna continue do that. So we're we're not as
high tech on offense. We try to stay a little
bit more modern on defense and special teams because we
get it right. We're not tone deaf to the to

(18:47):
the culture. But I just have a firm belief that
if you're winning, especially at a place like Odham County,
you know, it matters to us. Just about every business owner,
small business owner, a lot of our judges, they all
read raised Moden County High School. South Oldin was more
of the They called it a and I had to
look this up. I had no idea what this was,
but they called it a bedroom community because nobody really

(19:10):
lives there outside of Monday through Friday. On the weekends,
they were back in Nashville, or they were back in Cincinnati,
or they were And so if you ever drive through Prestwood,
you know we have you know, two restaurants, right, I
mean it's not, but if you go through Oldham County,
you know it's actually has that city feel and the people.
We had to a pre season parade Oldham County Day

(19:32):
and you should have seen the amount of people who
came out for us to throw candy to So I
think it's a place that it really means something and
they can buy into what we're trying to sell.

Speaker 6 (19:41):
Yeah, a coach.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
In this era and to follow up with that, in
this era of players, you know, moving schools and stuff
like that, how important do you think it is to
win the county championship?

Speaker 5 (19:54):
Oh, it's huge, it's huge, right, And we almost had
it this year we lost the South. We had we
had a hell mary at the end of the game,
and I'm telling you, with two receivers between their two
arms and two legs, it hit all four body parts
before it rolled out of battles. And it's a big deal,
right And and but you know, we have a freshman

(20:15):
kid who's really dynamic this year, Dixon Mount and he
was getting he was getting looks from all of the
major schools, right and and so, but Dixon was the
kind of player that was humble. And so it's actually,
as momus from Wall County, chuck, So you set her up,
You set me up with this, right, she's so used
to win at Wall County. But we had to have

(20:35):
honest relationships and honest conversations, right. And I told her,
I said, look, he's a freshman here, he's going to
go through some growing pains, but he's a special player
and we want him here. And and so we had
to foster that relationship.

Speaker 6 (20:47):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (20:47):
And I think we can do the same thing when
it comes to you know, different players later on and
down the line if they want to go to O
C or or South or North. But but I think
winning helps, right and and and when you look around,
you know, I went to college at Tuscalom College and Rainville,
Tennessee Division two. Our arrival school was Carson Newman with

(21:08):
Ken Sparks, and Coach Sparks ran a split back beer.
And people can say what they want to say about
running the ball, but Coach Sparks teams average about seventy
three points a game. Uh And it was beautiful to
see those running backs going up and down the field.
So again, nobody at Carson Newman probably ever complained when
Coach Sparks are there about throwing the ball. Uh. So,
if you got to that level, I think that you know,

(21:29):
we'll be all right.

Speaker 2 (21:31):
They in the in this era of the r P I, uh,
then because I know the county championship was county. You
all beat North and then you lost to South and
Fork beat South, so it was all it was all
jacked up, so it was all even.

Speaker 3 (21:48):
So if you go to the r P, I you
know who won the county championship that North. There's no
way I had.

Speaker 5 (22:00):
The look ill, you know, and I like, no, I
like what, I like what coach Roberts is doing over there.
But but I think I think our schedule is uh,
you know, it's uh the coach he left his job
did not do a good job of of scheduling.

Speaker 7 (22:21):
But anyway, listen, Jay, I got another question for the
last question here is, Uh, if you could change one
thing about the football playoff structure, what would it be?
Kentucky's football playoff structure?

Speaker 5 (22:35):
All kind of trouble. I'm going to get in all
kinds of trouble for this. And I know, but you know,
I was born and raised in Texas. Uh, moved to
Georgia my last year, my last year of high school
ball in Georgia and all that, and and I just
really think there's something to be said, uh public versus private.
You know, you know, we're We're Catholic. My wife and

(22:57):
I and our family were Catholic, and so we have
all sorts of love for Trinity and X. But there's
certain situations where I don't I don't think that's a
very fair deal, you know. And and I wish that
our playoff system would would let publics play publics and
privately play privates. Now I know that this has probably
been a discussion before I even dreamed about moving to Kentucky.

Speaker 6 (23:19):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (23:19):
And again, there's certainly nothing against those kids, uh and
those coaches. You know, we're all presenting our situations. But
an elite program like Trinity and an elite program like
like Christian Academy, and in say next, I mean, hey,
play a regional schedule, you know, play against the Cincinnati schools,
play against the schools in Tennessee, and have your niche right,
take your trailway buses to every game, and treat like

(23:41):
a college. And hey, I'm okay with that. If the
kids lucky enough to be in that kind of environment,
that's that's great. But you know, there's a lot of
situations where there's a lot of six eight teams you
know that just won't ever have a chance, right, so
what do you know? And I think as a coach,
you never want to say that. But the real, the
real is of that, right is, is that that's tough.

(24:03):
And I know there's times that they don't win it,
but more often than not, uh, those teams are just
geared a little bit for a different kind of success,
uh than the public school. And we don't want to
ever have moral victories, right Like if we beat Simon
Kentton Friday night, you know, I think somebody made the comment, well,
whoever wins that game is waiting for the mighty tea,
you know, and that's like, you know, yeah, so uh,

(24:23):
you know, We're gonna keep fighting that fight because that's
what we do as coaches. But if I could change
anything again, like I said, I'm not trying to start
a trust, start a world win, but you know, teams
like that, I think they should have their own their
own postseason or or even you know, regular season as well.
But that would be my only I think. I think, uh,
coach tech Commissioner Attacking does a great job, you know,

(24:44):
other than that, And like I said, I realized that
some things are probably bigger than than that position, right
that Trendy's been wielding a lot of power for a
long time.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
Yeah, well, you know, when you're not the only coach
that feels that way. I mean over the past and
we've had this discussion on here many time over the
past fifty years, Trendy st x or mail a few
times has won it eighty over eighty percent of the time.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
Yeah, that's that's a lot.

Speaker 6 (25:14):
Yeah, and I would say I would add this though.

Speaker 4 (25:17):
You know, in Louis Louisiana, it's not a public private split.

Speaker 6 (25:21):
It's a select non select split.

Speaker 4 (25:24):
So even if you're a public school but you've got
a lot of transfers, you're going to play in the
select playoff. And I think, to me, I sort of
think the public private debate, I think it's sort of dead,
but I think the select non select I really sort
of think that's where we are right now in Kentucky

(25:46):
high school football.

Speaker 6 (25:48):
And I don't know if anything will ever change.

Speaker 4 (25:50):
I don't know how it's gonna play out, but I
wish we could just look at that whole picture and
not just a private versus public I just I think
that would be to me, I think that would be
a better approach.

Speaker 5 (26:01):
Yeah, absolutely, Yeah, theny.

Speaker 3 (26:03):
We sure do appreciate having you on. We appreciate you
taking the time to be on.

Speaker 5 (26:08):
Yeah, I'm so excited that you guys, I got a
chance to do. This is one of the things that
I felt like I missed out, you know, along with
that state championship and Losive state championship. Said, I didn't
win a state now, I didn't get a chance to
talk with coach Smith and coach Bukennan. So this is
this is check the.

Speaker 6 (26:21):
Box for me.

Speaker 5 (26:22):
I really appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (26:23):
Well, you've done a wonderful job.

Speaker 4 (26:25):
And like I said, they've been singing your praises at
Anderson County because they always sort of rehashed what you
did at South Oldham and they speak very very highly
of you.

Speaker 6 (26:35):
So I think it's pretty cool that we got to
have you on here.

Speaker 4 (26:38):
And Hey, my sons that Notre Dame we used to
go to every last home game at Notre Dame in
the fall. We did that for like, I don't know
about ten fifteen years, and that's cool to see that. So, hey,
go Iris and go Wildcats who wanted Auburn this weekend,
We're pulling for both of them.

Speaker 6 (26:57):
There.

Speaker 5 (26:58):
That's awesome base coach.

Speaker 3 (27:00):
Thank you, David. The next segment of the show, of course,
is a fan favorite. I think it's the tough topic
and it uh, you know, it's by Dan Giga. I
guess that is how you say it from Bluegrass.

Speaker 4 (27:15):
Preps, right, Yeah, I don't know how to say it either.
I think that's it.

Speaker 7 (27:19):
I think it's yeah, yeah, anyway, the question is uh,
I think it's a good question.

Speaker 3 (27:25):
Uh, it's an interesting question.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
It's, you know, pinning your playoff run, you know, versus
a season ending tough season or you know, maybe uh,
you know, you gotta you're preparing for a good run
in the playoffs. How do you handle it? You know,
sort of like if you think, you know, you're getting
ready for a big playoff run, you know, how should
you handle week ten?

Speaker 5 (27:47):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (27:48):
Versus if you're really.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
Had a you know, a bad you know, uh season
and it's almost over, how do you handle week ten?

Speaker 3 (27:57):
That's the way I answered it. That's the way I'm
doing it.

Speaker 6 (28:00):
Yeah, Hey, I'll go first.

Speaker 5 (28:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (28:03):
And here's the thing too, I mean, uh you yeah,
I mean we've had some good teams over the thirty
three years, but uh, you've you've had a lot more
of that than I have, and I've had to live
through the hard times the last three years. And so
let me let me talk about that part. And you
you the good part, but hey, the tough part. And

(28:23):
you know, if you had told me that I would
be facing the situation that I faced Anderson where and
we've got two games and we know it's over, I
mean I'd have thought, ah, like, that's that, that situation's
gonna implode. I'm like, there is no way that we
can hold that together, and that really that hasn't been
the case. I think part of it is it goes

(28:46):
back to the very beginning. You know, when trying to
build our program, we really try to stay locked in
on one rep, one play at a time, one day
at a time, and we try to do that whether
things are good or bad, and that we were We're just
we're going to get better.

Speaker 6 (29:01):
So I think that's been part of our approach. Uh.
I think it's also good too.

Speaker 4 (29:08):
That you're really clear with the kids that you know
we're still trying to get better. I think it's a
coach when you're in that last week and everybody in
the program knows it's the last week.

Speaker 6 (29:22):
I think the level of.

Speaker 4 (29:23):
Energy and effort that you're going to put into that
it's got to be exceptional. And I think you've got
to coach those details just as hard, if not harder,
than you have all week, like you know, the pad
level on the video and your and your proper step.
And I think that through the whole thing, you're always
trying to, you know, help them understand, to say, you know,

(29:46):
we still you know, we're still playing football. We still
we still we got to be who we are, We
got to do what we do. And uh, I really
I think our kids, I think they've responded well, uh yeah.
I mean there's other things to it also, you know,
like we go Wednesday, six a m. Hey, the last week,

(30:07):
let's feed him breakfast after practice. We don't always feed
them after practice, but we do on that Wednesday. I
think things like that will help. And I will say this,
I was disappointed we didn't win last Friday, but I
will say this, our kids played their guts out. They
played really, really hard, and we still got to get better.

(30:28):
But I will say that for the last three years,
Week ten we won that one. We were owing nine
and one last year and took a district champ had
to score with ten seconds left to beat us, but
they got us. But we played hard. But I mean
I can honestly say week ten, even if I don't

(30:50):
think we played well, I think our kids have played
really hard and they've given a great effort. So I
just think you don't really dwell on it. I think
that you just you try to do what you always do.
I mean, I would say when you're having those big runs,
probably you're probably really coaching that each rep and every
snap at practice was.

Speaker 6 (31:10):
Going to be exactly what you wanted. I mean, I
would think.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
So.

Speaker 4 (31:14):
Anyway, I don't know if that's a real good answer
or not, but I think I think it served us well.

Speaker 5 (31:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:21):
Well my answer is, you know, if you're getting ready
for that playoff run, you know, like then week ten
you know, and week ten. For people that don't understand,
is the way Kentucky has structured the playoff system is
that you finish your district schedule after week nine.

Speaker 3 (31:37):
So week ten is a non district game. You know,
it doesn't bottom line is it doesn't have a whole
lot of meaning to it.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
You know, you've already finished your district. You know, a
seed you're already seated in your district. So anyway, I
wanted to make that clear when you get to that
week ten, if you're getting ready for that playoff run,
I think it's business as usual. And I'm a big
believer in team chemistry, a big believer in stay the course.

Speaker 5 (32:09):
You know.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
I want to go into the playoffs on a winning
note or momentum. You know, even if I didn't win
that we I wanted to play well. I wanted to
I wanted to have some momentum. You know, we were
going to practice to win that game. We were going
to get ready to win that game. I think that's important, uh,
you know, going into the playoffs. You know, just it's
kind of like, uh, you know in baseball, when they

(32:32):
get to the end of that tournament at the end,
then I know a lot of baseball coaches will uh
you know, when they get into that uh bracket, they'll
hold their best pitcher, you know, for you know, the
second or third round.

Speaker 3 (32:47):
That's just not my personality.

Speaker 2 (32:48):
I wouldn't do it like that I was a baseball coach.
Well I'm not a baseball coach, but I wouldn't do
it like that. I mean, I think you gotta you know,
you gotta, you gotta win that next one, just uh,
just to keep that momental and that chemistry going. But
that was always my approach, you know, with the big
getting ready for the big playoff run. Now if my

(33:09):
season and I have had a season before where you
know I wasn't going to make the playoffs and uh,
you know it, and you know the season was over.
You know I've fallen short, you know, So what what
would I do with Week ten? It would be a
preview for next season, is what it would be. I
would have a period in that game where there would

(33:31):
be no seniors on the field. Uh, it would be
next year's lineup, projected lineup. I would have all of
the kids that I thought would be starters next year.
They would play a couple of series. I would do that.
I would show respect to my dedicated seniors of course,
that have been with me. I certainly wouldn't abandon them

(33:52):
and abandon them and not let them play the last game.
But there would be times in the game where there
would be different series where there would be no singers
in the game. It would only be next year's projected starters.
And that's the way I would handle Week ten getting
some momentum going for next year and getting ready to go.

Speaker 6 (34:13):
I got you. That's good stuff.

Speaker 4 (34:15):
I do think looking back over it, and you talk
about the importance of Week ten, man, I can honestly
say I don't remember a team ever not playing hard
week ten.

Speaker 6 (34:25):
I just don't.

Speaker 4 (34:26):
And I would say, would you say that's probably true
of your teams as well. I mean, I think I
think they always play hard, whether we were ten and
oh and head into the playoffs or nine to oher
or things were bad. I just I don't know. I
think the kids. I think the kids have played hard,
and I've been again, maybe not always well, but I
think that I've always played hard. I just wondered, do

(34:48):
you feel like that as well with your kids?

Speaker 6 (34:51):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (34:52):
Yeah, I mean it's it's been a while since I
haven't been, you know.

Speaker 4 (35:01):
But I'm saying, even when you were, you were killing
everybody and you're playing a meaningless Week ten game, I
would say that your kids probably still played hard even
though it was a meaningless game.

Speaker 6 (35:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (35:16):
They didn't have a choice.

Speaker 6 (35:17):
They didn't have a choice.

Speaker 5 (35:19):
You know.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
We we were getting ready for a playoff run. I mean,
we were getting ready to have a playoff run. There
was no choice.

Speaker 6 (35:26):
I got you.

Speaker 3 (35:27):
Yeah, there you go, all right, answer an answer your question.

Speaker 6 (35:32):
David, I think you got it. There you go.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
All hey, David, they were going to go to the
last segment, which was I would just want to sum
up to see the rapid fire that we did, the
season ending rapid fire, and.

Speaker 3 (35:46):
How how the finals, how the final standings were.

Speaker 5 (35:50):
Last week?

Speaker 3 (35:51):
You were, you know, seventy percent. What's is low for you,
believe it or not.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
Seventy percent was not good for you, not based upon
what you'd been doing all year, but it's still pretty good, right, Uh,
you were.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
Seven out of ten. I was six out of ten.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
So for the year, David, for the year, you ended
up eighty out of one hundred and four, which is
round seventy eight percent round up to eighty percent. Well,
I mean that is fantastic. I mean that is really
really good. I ended up fifty eight out of one
hundred and four for the year, which is around fifty
six percent, you know, I mean really, fifty six percent

(36:29):
is not really horrible if you're betting, you know, if
you win, you know, fifty percent of abe, you know,
but eighty percent is outstanding and that's what you were
hitting eighty percent.

Speaker 3 (36:42):
That's fantastic.

Speaker 4 (36:43):
I've got to work out my personality because every week
you bring up that I should be going to Vegas,
I have had no one call me and say, hey, David,
can I take you to Vegas?

Speaker 6 (36:54):
Zero?

Speaker 4 (36:54):
So I want to have a I'm wanna have a
more sparkling, fun personality going forward.

Speaker 6 (37:00):
You didn't count on it. It's it's gonna happen.

Speaker 5 (37:03):
That's pretty good.

Speaker 2 (37:03):
Now, I'm telling you, hey, listen, our last segment of
the night is we're going and we decided that in
the playoffs, we're going to go ahead and and predict.

Speaker 3 (37:12):
Some possible upsets and if you want to, we'll just
take it by class, you know, if you want to
and and and single Ay.

Speaker 2 (37:20):
Do you see any kind of upsets major upsets in
a single Ay?

Speaker 6 (37:26):
Well? All right, here's here's the thing.

Speaker 4 (37:28):
I have been through these brackets multiple times.

Speaker 5 (37:33):
Now.

Speaker 4 (37:33):
Can I find away teams that I think can win? Yes,
But I don't know that I would call it an upset.

Speaker 5 (37:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (37:40):
I mean, if bethel Ham goes to Fulton County and wins,
is that an upset?

Speaker 3 (37:47):
That's the only one to get in.

Speaker 2 (37:49):
That's interesting because that's the only one out of single
ay that I came up with, And it would be
a three beating the two.

Speaker 3 (37:55):
And is that really an upset? I don't know, but
that was the only one I could come up with.

Speaker 6 (37:59):
Yes, I mean, and that's the thing too.

Speaker 4 (38:00):
It's like, and I hate to say this, uh, but
then if you start looking at the RPI, sometimes the
visiting team has got they they've got a better RPI
than the team they're going to play. So like, okay,
so we're sitting here saying Bethlehem beating Fulton County would

(38:21):
be an upset. Well, Bethleham's RPI is fifty five and
Fulton Counties is thirty seven.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
Yeah, well, I mean, I don't one of them being
three beating at too. Let's you can argue that all
night long. Let's go to two A. Do you see
anything in two A?

Speaker 6 (38:41):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (38:41):
Let's see, all right, I've got the ones I got.

Speaker 6 (38:45):
I didn't divide them up real well by class.

Speaker 4 (38:48):
I don't think I will say, I don't think it's
gonna happen. But I think the best shot of a
two A upset is Washington at Somerset.

Speaker 6 (38:58):
That's don't find it.

Speaker 2 (39:00):
Yeah, And I was going to ask you about that
because you actually played Washington, and I was going to write,
do you think Warshton could have could beat Somerset?

Speaker 6 (39:09):
I think they could. I don't.

Speaker 4 (39:11):
I think they've had some injuries this year.

Speaker 6 (39:13):
I don't.

Speaker 4 (39:14):
I don't think that they're quite what they were maybe
at the beginning, But I still think that I still think. Well,
here's the thing, I'm biased. I'm a huge John Tate
Smith fan. He's their quarterback. He was one of my
quarterbacks that I work with. Now they're a big underdog,
So if they can go and win at Somerset, that

(39:37):
would be an upset.

Speaker 6 (39:38):
Do I think they're going to I don't.

Speaker 4 (39:41):
But looking at to A, I think they had the
best shot of a quote unquote upset because you know,
to me, I know we're if we're going to go
by the seating then it's a little different.

Speaker 6 (39:53):
But if you really go.

Speaker 4 (39:53):
By RPI and the whole deal, I think the best
shot of an upset is Washington at Somerset. But I'm
sort of think I still think Summerset probably will get and.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
Again and and and and saying in two A, I
think that Webb the boys. I don't know if I'm
saying that right. That's the one out of the gabble.
But of Lobell then I think they're going to Monroe County.
They're a three monros of two. I think they'll win possibly.

Speaker 5 (40:20):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
I mean, I say it's a possible upset.

Speaker 6 (40:24):
There's a good versus two.

Speaker 3 (40:26):
But when you go to.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
Monroe County and you got John Petted on the other
side line and he's got wound up, and they're gonna
be physical as all get out. It depends on if
Webb can handle that physicality or not. But yeah, that's
the possibility of an upset. Hey three A David three A,
let's go to three.

Speaker 4 (40:45):
Well, uh, the sales goes to Garrett County, and we
just played the sales and I think they're both really good.

Speaker 6 (40:53):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (40:54):
I don't know how the r PI shakes out. I
could go check that, but I can see the sales
getting Garrett. I hope Jeff Hester and Boom Goldsmith don't
drive to my house and punch me in the mouth
on this one. But uh, but I do think the
sales could get them. I think Wauru at Union County
might be a possibility. Uh, Markstown will be Markstown will

(41:18):
go to Level Central and when there are three little.

Speaker 6 (41:22):
I can see that. I can see that. Yeah, that came. Yeah,
I could see that. I do.

Speaker 3 (41:29):
I don't think the Sales will beat Garrett at Garrett.
I think that, Yeah, Garrett has a great following to
have a lot of people there. Jeff Hestroll have that
defense ready to go, and uh, I don't think the
Sales may not get a first down.

Speaker 5 (41:45):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (41:46):
I got you.

Speaker 4 (41:47):
I want to tell you what has happened at the Sales,
and I got to be the recipient of this.

Speaker 6 (41:52):
They have moved a.

Speaker 4 (41:53):
Really good freshman to running back. He is really good
and he has made their offense much better. And their quarterback,
Cameron Bishoft, does a really good job throwing the ball
and moving around.

Speaker 6 (42:05):
I just a cart. They still win.

Speaker 4 (42:07):
And you know, I'm a big Jeff Hester fan, and
Jeff and I played against each other in nineteen eighty two.
But I do think though that the Sales offensively, I
think they're trending in the right direction. I do think
I think that I think it'll be I think'll they'll
have to play really good defense to get for.

Speaker 2 (42:24):
A day, I got the ones I've got is I
got John Horden and Franklin Simpson. I think that's only
a two. John Harden's the two, Franklin Simpson's a three.
I think that's an interesting game only for the reason
that I think Franklin Simpson will probably beat John Harden.
But what's interesting about it it is Doug Preston, who

(42:47):
is the head coach of John Harden, won several championships
that Franklin Simpson left there went to John Harden.

Speaker 3 (42:54):
That'll be a really interesting game to follow and watch.
I'll be excited or anxious or curious to see how
those kids at Franklin Simpson respond, uh, you know to
Doug being on the other sideline. So that's gonna be
an interesting game. And the only other game that I
could think of in four A would could Callaway County

(43:15):
beat e Town. That's a four beating a one.

Speaker 6 (43:20):
Yeah. Uh, I don't know, huh. I hadn't thought about
that one. You you, I.

Speaker 4 (43:26):
Mean that's a good point because Callaway is pretty good,
and that's a that's a really good district. Logan County
and Callaway. Uh, I mean you're right, I mean that
that's a good one. Uh, but yeah, I don't know
the only other one I saw in four A and
I still think I still think Harlan County will win it,

(43:46):
but I do think that Wayne County. I think Wayne
County is going to have a shot at Harlan County.
I think they'll have a shot. And I don't know
how to'll finally turn out, but I think they'll have
a chance.

Speaker 6 (43:58):
I know what you got onside?

Speaker 3 (44:00):
Yeah, I got uh.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
I think Madisonville North Hopkins is a three, Greenwood is
a two. You know, Madisonville has had some nice wins
this year, but man, they're just kind of up and down.
You don't know what you're going to get. And they
got that great running back. And then Greenwood has been
kind of up and down. So it's gonna be which

(44:22):
which Greenwood shows up, which Madisonville North Hopkins shows up.
But that's three versus two. North Hopkins could beat Greenwood.
I don't know if they will, but they could. And
then uh, I've got Collins over Dixie Heights, which Collins
is a three and Dixie Heights is a two. I
don't know if that would be an upset because Collins

(44:44):
has got a really nice football team this year. And
then my other one would be South Laurel, which is
a three over mcgunners.

Speaker 3 (44:53):
I think that that game will happen.

Speaker 6 (44:55):
Last year, I only picked one first round upset.

Speaker 4 (44:58):
Last year, I picked one, and I picked North Laurel
to go to Montgomery County and win, and they did.

Speaker 6 (45:05):
But I'm like you, so I'm looking at RPI.

Speaker 4 (45:08):
If you look at RPI, South Laurel is actually a
pretty big favorite. If you look at RPI, Collins is
actually a pretty big favorite. I know I keep messing
you up because we're looking at the seating instead, but
I agree on those lower seas.

Speaker 6 (45:23):
I think the one game.

Speaker 4 (45:25):
That might be a quote unquote upset would be I
do think that Baron County will be able to give
Apollo a good ball game, and maybe Barron County can
get them. I don't know, but I do see that
one as more of a true upset. I looked at
that Madisonville North Hopkins and I mean you and I

(45:46):
don't know. I wonder if High Tower has had some
injuries or something and that explains why they're up and down.
Just because I think he's such a great player that
I would bet that they probably go the way that
he goes, and uh, if he's healthy, I'm going with
Madisonville Norms Hopkins, but I don't really know that.

Speaker 3 (46:07):
So all right, our last last to be six A.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
Yeah, fix a, I've got I've got old Them over
Simon Kenton. I think Oldham's the three seeds, Simon Kenton's
the two. I think Oldham will beat Simon Kenton. I
don't know if it's that big of an upset, but uh,
I do pick that one. And the four I got
Brian Station over Lafayette. Brian Station's a three, Lafayette's the two,

(46:31):
and then the four A are the four versus one?
I do have g r C Clark County over Takes Creek.

Speaker 4 (46:42):
Yeah, and I think, yeah, I mean, and here's the thing,
I know, I just keep irritating you with this. G
r C has got a higher rp I than tast
Creek does, even though they're four and Tates Grease one.
So yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah, the lower seed. Yeah,
they're the favorite. But g r C Beach Stage Creek,

(47:04):
I don't. I don't know that i'd see it is
an upset.

Speaker 3 (47:07):
Uh, four versus one?

Speaker 6 (47:10):
I got you.

Speaker 4 (47:11):
But still though four had four had a higher RPI.
I don't think all them over Simon Kenton is an upset.
Uh three over two? Yeah, I mean, I just I
think the closest thing I'm seeing on here to an upset.

Speaker 6 (47:28):
Uh guys. I looked at I promise you.

Speaker 4 (47:33):
I tried to really prepare well, and I can't look
at I just didn't see anything I can see.

Speaker 6 (47:40):
I don't there's nothing. Yeah, I can see this. I can.

Speaker 4 (47:45):
Well, it's just because I just I just think, you know,
a lot of the RPIs are sort of out of whack.
Well I don't know if they're out of whack, but
just the fours and ones and all that. I think
norths Harden can give bulleties a decent game. I wouldn't
be surprised if Davis County. Hey, I can see Davis
County upset in Hopkinsville, and Hopkinsville does have an RPI.

(48:08):
It's not that much, but there they edge them a
little bit by on the RPI.

Speaker 6 (48:12):
So I don't know. I don't think I did a
very good job with that.

Speaker 4 (48:16):
Really what I was gonna do, but I didn't want
you to come through the computer and push me in
the mouth. What I wanted to predict is there will
be no upsets. That's what I wanted to predict. I
wanted to predict there will be no upsets. And I
was going to define an upset by this. There will
be no upsets where more than point one RPI separates

(48:36):
them and the lower one wins. You know, to me,
that would have been an upset. I just I didn't
see anything in there. But hey, you know what, hey man,
I don't These kids and coaches have a blast playing
Friday night, and uh, they're getting to kick it off
and that's that's what matters.

Speaker 6 (48:51):
It's always have fun and put yes, absolutely, yes, Hey David.

Speaker 3 (48:56):
We wrapped up this show. What we got for next.

Speaker 4 (48:59):
Week, Well we're excited about it. David Clark, who has
made the move from Barstown to Lexington. Kathleen will be
our guest. And you worked with David when he was
at Barstown, so that'll be cool. And then this is
from atl Cat Atlantic Cat. What is the role of

(49:19):
the parent in a football program? And he sent me
a lot of stuff and that's what I tried to
narrow it down. But I think that's a great question.
I remember something you told me all along you know,
people want to roll in your program, and if you
don't give them one, they're going to find one. So
I mean, that's that's something we've got in the book.
We give our parents. We say this is the role

(49:39):
of the parents. So we'll talk about that next week.

Speaker 6 (49:42):
And I think, hey, I shared this with you.

Speaker 4 (49:46):
I got a message from a coach this week dealing
with parents and playing time in November. I'm like, man,
poor guy, you know, but yeah, I you know, we'll start,
we'll get into that. You always get aggravated with it
because I'm always ready to answer the next week's question.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
I appreciate you guys tuning in. See you next week.