Coaches Office Wrap Up Show

The coaches wrap up the 2025 Ky high school football season

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Coach David Buchanan.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Coach Chuck Smith, two legendary high school football coaches. This
is the Coach's Office, a behind the scenes look at
Kentucky high school football.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
Time for another coach's office, Trivia time Out, which Kentucky
high school basketball team featured a Hall of Fame football
coach and a Heisman Trophy winner who both made the
All State basketball team in their starting lineup.

Speaker 4 (01:07):
Welcome to the Coach's Office Behind the scenes with Chuck
Smith and David McKinnon. This is season four, Episode seven.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
I just lost you.

Speaker 4 (01:18):
All of the state championship teams have been decided. I'm
Chuck Smith. I'm joined by co hosts David Buchanan, podcast editor,
Trivia teler Mike Yokum. Our YouTube version of this podcast
is at Tea Coop. If you access it that way,
please hit like and subscribe. We would appreciate it. Our

(01:39):
show tonight, I think you're really going to enjoy it.
David and I are going to recap the state championship games.
We're going to talk a little bit about each game
in each class, all six classes. We're going to talk
a little bit about mister football possibilities and possibly even
who we think mister Football should be. And then we're

(02:01):
going to touch on the Coach of the Year possibilities
and who could possibly win the overall Coach of the
Year award. Our tough topic for tonight. We do have
a tough topic question, and that question is should there
be minimum requirements to host a Kentucky High School Athletic

(02:21):
Association Football playoff game. That's a really good question and
it's coming at a really good time. There were some
issues with that this year. I don't know if we'll
get into those, but there were some issues the games.
Of course, there's no Games of the Week or anything
like that. We're just gonna get right into the recapping

(02:44):
of the state championship games. First, David would probably like
to talk a little bit and maybe say something about
any of the hospitality room comments. David hosted the cost
room he does every year as part of the Kentucky
Football Coaches Association.

Speaker 5 (03:04):
Well, first of all, I want to say thank you
to the University of Kentucky their football program, coach will
Stein for allowing us to continue with this Todd shadowing.
One of your teammates is in charge of the k
Club and coach Mark coach Mark Perry. Yes, Coach Mark
Perry helps us get this set up each each year.

(03:26):
But it's a really good setup for our coaches and
it gets something come get out of the weather, we
get piece of form. We had door prizes from Kelly Wilkins,
who's one of our sponsors on this podcast.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
BSN.

Speaker 5 (03:40):
Adam Federley provided some jackets we gave away his door prizes.
Anderson County High School the culinary class made Christmas cookies
for the coaches and they were great. They were really
really good. So we had a good time of the
coaches hanging out and I just appreciate coach Stein Todd
shadowing coach Mark Perry for doing that. And then again

(04:03):
of course Jeff Marshberry and Jimmy Reed who sort of
put it all together.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
At the association level.

Speaker 4 (04:09):
Yeah, it was a really good weekend. I think the
accommodations and the hospitality was great. I think the games
were really good. And that's what David and I are
going to talk about right now. First let's get let's
kick off with the single a game. David kc D
Kentucky Country Day beat Raceland twenty to sixteen. Matthew Jones

(04:34):
I guess this was case Ed's first state championship ever.
They were able to beat Raceland, who has been really
battling every year. Seems like, you know, it seems like
it's always been with Pipeful. They just you know, they've
been knocking on the door. I think they'll get through
that door one of these days. They didn't get through

(04:56):
this year. They'd lost twenty to sixteen to KCD and
giving them their first ever state championship.

Speaker 5 (05:03):
David, Yeah, you know the fascinating thing about that Kentucky
Country Day. I think it was two seasons ago they
changed from a spread offense to a triple option offense
because they felt like that fit their team better. And
I'm not sure if this is correct or not, but
I went back and I looked at the status from
this game, and unless I missed something or they were

(05:26):
inaccurate and running thirty four plays of offense and winning
this ball game Friday afternoon. So I think they tried
to eat a lot of clock while they had it,
and hey, they were.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Able to find a way to win.

Speaker 5 (05:39):
Raceland did a good job of running the ball of Friday,
but Kentucky Country Day ultimately was able to keep him
out of the end zone and get the win.

Speaker 4 (05:48):
And I know they had some big defensive stands in
that game from Kentucky Country Day as well. And our
friend who were connected to through Mercer County coach Long
is the defensive coordinator, and I know he was really
excited about this state championship. His son, I think, is
one of the leaders of the team, maybe the quarterback

(06:10):
of the team. Yes, we were really happy for him
and happy that he was able to experience this with
his son. There's no feeling like that. What a great
story there.

Speaker 5 (06:23):
It really is. And you know the other thing about
Cayden Long and son. Cayden's uncle is Brad Matherley. And
you know Harricksburg High had all those great teams, but
Harrisburg High didn't get to the state championship game till
nineteen eighty eight when their quarterback was Brad Matherley. They
only had eighteen players, but they got to the state

(06:45):
championship game.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
So Cayden Long's.

Speaker 5 (06:48):
Got a little old holl getme and a little old
dog and he quarterback to a state championship. He did
a great job. And he's a fourth and forty quarterback
as well.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
Well.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
There you go nice Hey, David, Listen to the two
A game LCA. Lexington Christian Academy coach by Oakley Watkins
beat Owinsboro Catholic thirty three to twenty eight. It was
a pretty good, pretty competitive game. I think this is
coach watkins first or first year as a head football

(07:23):
coach and he walks away with I think it's elsa
second state championship. I believe that Paul Lanker won back
in two thousand and nine maybe, and so I think
this is LA second state championship. Coach Watkins was able
to get that done thirty three to twenty eight over

(07:44):
Oorinsboro Catholic. You know, I know they beat Oorinsboro Catholic
coach by Jason Morris. He's been there three I think
three straight years and he's finished up, you know, runner
up three times. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Now,
I mean, you get to the stations game, you've done
a really good job and to get their three string

(08:06):
years is quite an accomplishment. So hats off to Onsboro Catholic.
I'm really happy for Lexington Christian and I'm happy for
coach coach Oakley Watkins first year winning the state championship.
You know what, it's all going to be downhill from now.
You're not gonna top that every year.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Now.

Speaker 5 (08:26):
Hey, you know Oakley, he's a center college guy, so
I was happy for to see a guy from center
pull that off. And then ave I do want to
say this though, Owinsbury Catholic blocked a punt late in
that game and scored and they made it really interesting
at the end, And I just I think that says
a lot about coach Morrison the job he does, because

(08:48):
I think kids sometimes, if you're not in a well
coached program, kids will think punt return is when I'm
gonna catch my breath.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
And they didn't catch their breath.

Speaker 5 (08:58):
They blocked a punt, and he's he's done a great
job there, and uh at congratulations. Dolan's were a Catholic
on an excellent season. They did great.

Speaker 4 (09:08):
Yeah, and then we get into three. Ah, we got
cal uh Christian Academy of Louisville beating Murray forty two
to seven. This was coach Hunter Cantwell Cantwell's four pete.
He they won three, they won four in a row,
and it's just really really awesome. Uh. You know, Hunter

(09:28):
has been on our podcasts. Uh. Uh this past year,
he's always offering questions. He just I think he lives
in dye football and uh, his cow team is just
showing that. You know, they're just well coached and they're
killing people. And and what a year Murray had. This
is Melbourne Stingham is. I think this is his third

(09:51):
season as the head football coach of Murray and in
three years he's got them to the state championship game.
What an accomplishment. That's that's quite a feat in itself.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
David.

Speaker 5 (10:05):
Yeah, well, I want to say too, and I didn't
even realize it till I got there, but they have
a mister football candidate.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
And Wyatt Robbins their quarterback.

Speaker 5 (10:15):
Wyatt got hurt in the semi final game, so they
didn't happen for the state championship. Now, yeah, Coach Cunningham's
son came in there and played quarterback for him. He's
a freshman and he's going to be really, really good.
It's Kenyan Cunningham. I'm I'm pretty sure that's his son.
I'm you know, I'm not one hundred percent sure, but

(10:35):
you know, they battled and they competed, and I tell
you what, Coach Cunningham did a good job of, you know,
finding ways to be creative on offense, to be able
to move the ball some on on a really good
cal team. Uh, how was going to be tough to beat?
And then when they lost Wyatt Robbins, boyd, it got
it got it got even tough or even faster. Jackson

(10:58):
Burke in that game, I don't he might have completed
every pass. I mean, he has set a national record
completing over eighty percent of his passes. And here's the
crazy part. He's a sophomore. And Nash Whale. You know
that's the other thing too, You know I did. I
got those two right on MVP. Nash Way one and

(11:20):
Jackson Burke. They're both sophomores. They're both sophomores. They're both
going to be back next two years. So those teams
are going to continue to be among the elite in
their class.

Speaker 4 (11:32):
Yeah, I didn't know that Murray lost their starting quarterback.
It would be hard to beat Cow with the starting quarterback,
but without him, it's going to be almost Yes, yes,
four A And we got Boyle County coached by Justin Haddocks.
They beat Franklin County thirty four to nothing. This is
Boyle County's fifth state championship in six years and the

(11:55):
thirteenth overall title. Wow, and uh, you know, Boyle County
is just machine. You know, I know this is their
thirteenth title. Trivia question, who is the head football coach
when they won their first five?

Speaker 5 (12:10):
We know who that is. That's as my kids would say,
that's Uncle Chuck. So we already know that. We already
know the answer to that one.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
David Eddie at Franklin County. He was one of my
assistants and he has been he's been there knocking on
the door a few times now. He's been the runner
up a few times. And I tell you he's going
to get through that door one of these days. He
does a fantastic job, and he's going to get through
the door, no doubt about it. Hats off to Bull County.

(12:41):
They're there. They're just a great football program. They're like
a machine and they're just doing a wonderful job there
in thirteen state championships overall.

Speaker 5 (12:52):
And Hey, another thing about boyl you know I got
that MVP right. Also a driver, he's a junior, he's
back next year. He's a great football player. Uh, the
rebels ain't going anywhere, all right, So what we got next?
Five A?

Speaker 4 (13:10):
We got five A David and ne't Orainsboro. Uh Oinsboro
coached by DeMarcus Gainaway, and they beat Pulaski County, UH
coached by Travis Burns thirty five to seven. And uh
this was UH coach Gainaway's coach anyway, it's his first title,
UH in his first year as a head football coach.

(13:33):
So he's like coach Oakley Watkins. He's a first year
of head coach that took his team to a state championship.
What what a what a tremendous uh first year you
could you could have possibly is to take your team
to a state championship in your first year.

Speaker 1 (13:51):
Yeah he did.

Speaker 5 (13:52):
He did a really good job. Uh they've got uh.
They had the running back that's going to uh Vandy
Uh Hampton, a great football player, Evan Hampton. And I
tell you what Coach Ganaway's son, DeMarcus Ganaway.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
Uh, he's a junior.

Speaker 5 (14:11):
He is a really really good football player. He's their quarterback.
Coach Ganaway showing up was big. His son showing up
to play quarterback was big also. And that really that
really changed them. And uh, I think everybody in Red
black is thankful the Ganaway's walked through the door.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
They've they had a nice football team. They really did.

Speaker 4 (14:34):
Yeah, and hats off to Pulaski County and Travis Burns.
Travis is what was one of my assistants as well,
and he's in his second year as the head football coach.
So in two years he's taking his team to the
state championship game.

Speaker 5 (14:50):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (14:50):
Pretty pretty good, impressive accomplishment right there, Yes, sir.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yep, I agree, David.

Speaker 4 (14:57):
Let's going into six A and six A. Trinity coach
by Jay Cobb beat South Warren coach by Brandon Smith.
They beat South Warren. You know I'm part of that staff.
I helped with that staff. They beat us twenty eight
to fourteen. This is Trinity's three peat and they've won

(15:18):
three in a row now and their thirtieth overall.

Speaker 5 (15:24):
Well, and you talk about that a lot of our
podcasts is the domination of Trinity and Saint X, and
you know that's certainly been the case.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
I tell you what, though, I know.

Speaker 5 (15:37):
I know there's there's a bias because of what I
think of you and Brandon.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
I'll own that but I.

Speaker 5 (15:42):
Thought you all had a really good game plan for him.
They're well coached. You're well coached, you know. I think
Michael Fox, I think runs the defense at Trinity. I
think Tommy Williams runs it and runs their offense. And
then Zane Johnson. Can you believe this, Sane Johnson as
a junior, he's never ended the season without winning the

(16:03):
state title.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
He started, He's been the starter all three years. And
of course.

Speaker 5 (16:07):
That's you know, former player of minus Shordan Johnson's son.
So he Congratulations again to both teams on great seasons.
And I tell you what, if you were there to
watch it, I thought there were two.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
I thought it was the two best teams in the state.

Speaker 5 (16:26):
For what it's worth, I was very, very impressed with
both football teams. I thought that had nothing against the
other five or the other ten that were there.

Speaker 1 (16:36):
They were all good.

Speaker 5 (16:37):
But I did think that South Warren and Trinity just
seemed to be y'all seem to be at a different level.

Speaker 1 (16:43):
You really did.

Speaker 4 (16:44):
And this was Brandon Smith's and South Warren's first year
in sixth A. Yes, they got, you know, to the
state championship in their first year in six A and
of course, losing twenty eight to fourteen to a really
really talented Trinity team. I mean, they just have got
a lot of talent. There's no question about who had

(17:06):
the most talent. There's a lot of Division IE players
and already commits, uh and offers on that, on that
in that team, on that team, it was. It was
a fun, it was a good game, and I think, uh,
you know, Southmorton did a great job. I think Trinity
did a great job. Really impressed with Trinity's defense. And

(17:28):
Michael Fox he uh he was I coached or I've
actually played high school football with his dad, Tommy Foobi,
and uh I got to talk to him a little
bit too. But uh, great, great atmosphere. We had fun.
And let me tell you this, David, let's get into
something else here. These are our picks for the year,

(17:50):
and let me tell you what David has done. Okay,
David was five and we didn't we didn't. We didn't
pick the Trinity in South worn the sixth a game
because of my direct involvement with South Warren, so we
left that one off the table. So there's five games
that we picked. David was five and oh in the
state championship. Now he didn't miss a pick. He is

(18:12):
now over three years, twenty two out of twenty three.
Over three years, he's only missed one pick in three years.
He blames that on me, but he's only missed one pick.

Speaker 1 (18:23):
That is your fault, one hundred percent.

Speaker 4 (18:25):
And for the year, for the year in the playoffs,
just the playoffs, not the season, David is thirty one
out of thirty eight. That's eighty two percent. I mean,
that's unbelievable. And so I've got a suggestion here, and
you know, and well run get to the suggestion. My picks.

(18:45):
I was two a bout of five of the state
championship game, and you were busy.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
You were busy. I had time. He didn't have any time.
You were working.

Speaker 4 (18:55):
And for the for the playoffs, I was twenty four
out of thirty eight, which is sixty three percent, which
is really not that bad, but it is bad when
you put David's up there at eighty two percent. So
for that reason, I maybe I'm gonna make a suggestion
to the Kentucky High School Athletical Association because I hear
all these gripes about the RPI. Let's use cow preps well,

(19:18):
I'm saying, let's use D B B. David for the
playoff rankings and seedings and we'll go over there.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
Well, I don't know, hey want I gotta. I am
blaming you for that one.

Speaker 5 (19:35):
You kept telling me how much you all were struggling
at South Warren, and I was believing it, which I
should know better, because, as I've said often, I'm the
only guy that worked for Larry French that tells the truth.
The rest of y'all lie through your teeth. But I
was buying it that you all were really struggling. And
it just really hit me really hard watching your all
trending game and I'm like, that sucker's been lying through

(19:57):
his teeth. I'm like, they are phenomenal, and I'm like,
I should have picked Bowling Green, but I didn't pick
Bowling Bres Bowling Agree because they barely beat you, and
you're down there acting like you all.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
Can't spell football.

Speaker 5 (20:09):
But it's it is my fault because I should know
to never listen to you when you're telling me how
tough things are.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
I mean, it just that's round a goo.

Speaker 4 (20:17):
David is complaining about the Cooper Uh Bowling Green game.
I think it was last year. Last year, Yeah, Cooper
over bowling Green and uh and it's your.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
Fault because I thought I bought that you all were
not that good.

Speaker 5 (20:32):
And I'm stupid that after all these years, that I
would believe a word you say when you say that
we're not very good.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
That's all me, David.

Speaker 4 (20:42):
We're going to switch into the mister football uh talk now, Okay,
I know you've done some extensive research on this. If
you want to go ahead and go first, it it
be finer.

Speaker 1 (20:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (20:56):
Hey, so what I did is I went through for
the mister football part. And here's the thing. This doesn't
necessarily line up with what the KFC al do. I
tried to pick who I thought was mister football for
each class. So I picked seniors and I've got a
list of mister future mister football candidates. But uh, for class, hey,

(21:17):
how do you want to do this? We go back
and forth East class or you want me to do
all six, then you do all six.

Speaker 4 (21:23):
You do all yours because I didn't do it back class.

Speaker 5 (21:26):
I got Okay, So for Class A, my mister Football
is Caden Long. He's the KCD quarterback. He had to
do it learn a new offense, you know, here's what
I love in this modern day and age. You know,
the modern quarterback. He wants to sit in a shotgun.
He wants to sit in a shotgun, and he wants
to look like he plays on Sundays. Here's a kid

(21:48):
that said, we need to run the triple option. Hey,
I'm going to do it. I'm gonna get hit, I'm
going to do it. So when it led his team
to the state title, go ahead, I'm sorry.

Speaker 4 (21:58):
Whatever it takes to win.

Speaker 5 (22:00):
Yeah, And I like that. So he's my Class A guy.
Class two A actually out with miles edge. He plays
running back and linebacker Oldsborough Catholic, and I just like that.
I like that toughness. I like his willingness to play
both sides of the ball. He's been in the state
finals three seasons. I mean, he's playing some elite football.

(22:22):
And I think he's a tough son of a gun.
Class three eight, Wyatt Robbins is a senior.

Speaker 1 (22:27):
I went with him.

Speaker 5 (22:28):
He's got over three thousand yards passing and he led
his team to the state title.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
Class four A.

Speaker 5 (22:35):
I had co winners Cash Harney the quarterback at Cuff
cath and Cam east Step at Corbin who plays both sides.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
Of the ball. And listen to this.

Speaker 5 (22:46):
He's kicked a pat and he's got six turnovers on defense,
and I ate that's tough up. I mean, he really
does what he's got to do for his team. Up
for class five eight, my mister football was Evan Hampton.
He was the running back at Owensborough. I thought he
was the best player in the state. He's going to Vandy.

(23:06):
He was my overall pick for mister football. If I'm
going to put all six classes together, Evan Hampton is He's.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
Mister football for in my opinion.

Speaker 5 (23:16):
But the second place to me is Jacob Savage from
Ryle who played running back in linebacker.

Speaker 1 (23:24):
He signed with Indiana.

Speaker 5 (23:27):
He played both ways against a brutal six A schedule.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
How does a guy do that?

Speaker 5 (23:32):
How does a guy play both ways against a Northern
Kentucky's six A schedule?

Speaker 1 (23:37):
That sucker is a warrior.

Speaker 5 (23:39):
And I do think when I looked at all of
these guys that I picked, I think there was a
part of me that these guys.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
Were sort of old school, old football.

Speaker 5 (23:53):
I think that these are the guys that the football
gods would smile on. I really do. I like the
things I found out of out these guys. So they
were my six picks. Uh. I think Evan Hampton is
mister football in my opinion. And here's the thing, I
don't know. They may add some in. He wasn't even
the five A player of the year in Class A.

(24:13):
It was somebody else. And that's fine. It's another good player.
But I do think Evan is mister football in Kentucky.
And then I got a little wound up, got a
little carried away. Here I'm giving you an early list.

Speaker 4 (24:26):
Okay, let me get mine in then okay.

Speaker 1 (24:29):
You get yours, and now I'll get into my future picks.
Go ahead. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (24:33):
And I didn't do it quite like you. I didn't
go through the each class. I just went through who
I thought, uh the top two and possibly three candidates
could have been or should have been in my opinion.
And I did like I said, I didn't do it
by class. I liked the way you did it. You
did a lot of research. Appreciate that, but I didn't
quite do it that way.

Speaker 5 (24:54):
Well, I had more time last week than you did,
and I think that the uh, you know, the uh,
mister football and the way Kentucky does it selects mister football.

Speaker 4 (25:06):
Is that it's they select a missed a player of
the year in each class, and then from that list
they they can add any other candidate that they think
is a uh that missed that list that should be
on there, and then those are put on a uh,
you know, a ballot, and then they're voted on by

(25:28):
the Kentucky coaches head football coaches across the state. So
that's where mister football will come from. I'm not even
sure when it will come out, should be pretty soon.
But my choice for mister football, based upon what I
seen and have seen, is Evan Hampton of Owinsborough. I
think he is he is the best best player or

(25:50):
he finished the season as the best player.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (25:52):
He also won the Gatorade Player of the Year for
twenty twenty five. He has a state title under his
belt now. He's rushed for over two thousand yards. He
was the MVP, the final MVP of the state championship game.
He just has all the numbers and all the provincials
to be mister I've also seen him on tape. I've

(26:16):
also played again played against him, you know, in terms
of coaching a coach againsteyam and he really is the
real deal. He's a really really good football player, real explosive,
strong legs, can just run, balance all that stuff. He's
really good player. My second pick, or I think, you know,
probably should have been considered, is that Jacob Savage kid.

(26:39):
I've seen him on tape. I didn't coach against him.
He didn't play in our game when we played Ralph.
He was injured. He got injured the week before. But
I seen him on tape, and he is a man
among boys. He's like a I mean, he's just like
a really big, strong, just nasty, mean, just a heck
of a football player.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
He was.

Speaker 4 (27:01):
What separated him from the rest is he was a
two way player. He started both sides of all and
not many kids do that anymore. But he was a
star on both sides. He was a star linebacker and
also a star running back. He also won the Paul
Horning Award winner for twenty twenty five, so he won

(27:21):
the Paul Horning Award and Evan Hampton won the Gatorade
Player of the Year award this year, so both of
them split that award. So you know, Jacob Savage could
be in this funt and when this vote comes out,
to be mister football. There's the guy that I think
would have been in the conversation. I don't know what happened.

(27:42):
I don't know where he disappeared. But if you would
have asked me before the season started, who was the
best player in Kentucky, I would have told you number
thirty four running back from Manual and his name was Garyan,
a trainer, and he was one I've coached against hum

(28:05):
a couple of times, and this guy could flat play.
He was really good. I don't know what happened to him.
I think he must have got hurt this year because
when I did this, I went back and look for
some stats and there were several games he didn't play in.
So that makes sense to me. It makes sense now
why he's not in this conversation. I just think he

(28:28):
was on as When he's healthy, I think he's on
another level. I think he is a really good player,
if not the best player in the state. But at
the end, he didn't show. You know, he wasn't there
at the end. Evan Hampton and Jacob Savage work, so
I would go with My choice would be Evan Hampton.

Speaker 5 (28:49):
I got you, and I agree, Hey, it just works out.
Last Thursday, I got to talk to coach at clost
at Manuel, getting him to help me with the project. UH,
and he told me that trainer he thinks is the
top rusher in the history at Manuel High School. So
you're correct, he's a great player. Must have had some

(29:12):
injuries or some things that he's had to fight through.
But you're you're you're not a recognized I mean, if
you're the leading rusher at Manuel High School, you're you're
a special football player. Those guys, man, I tell you what,
I'm gonna do a great job there going to the
person and he is out.

Speaker 4 (29:31):
He's He's extremely hard to defend because of his speed
and toughness and explosiveness. I do think something has to
happen because I just he kind of disappeared mid season
in terms of UH and I didn't follow him to
see if he was injured, but I would bet that
he was.

Speaker 5 (29:49):
Yeah, I would say so. But he is a great player,
There's no doubt about it. All Right, So what're we
into next year for the future. Yes, I so here's
what I've got for twenty twenty six. You've got Zane
Johnson coming back for Trinity. He's going for his fourth
state title as a quarterback. I think Seneca Driver at

(30:11):
Boyle County is going to be a Mister Football candidate.
Vermel Caruthers, the quarterback at Owensborough Catholic, is going to
be a candidate. The Marcus Ganaway, the quarterback at Owensboro,
will be a candidate. And then I hope I'm pronouncing
his name correctly. Jehide Brown, the running back at CAL.
He's a great player. In twenty twenty seven, two state

(30:34):
championship winning quarterbacks are sophomores right now. Nash Whaland at
LCA and Jackson Burke at Call are both sophomores. But
I tell you another one that and I'm not going
to kid you. I almost picked Franklin County to win
for a because of this young man, Knox Ferrett, Notch

(30:55):
Ferrett is the Franklin County quarterback. He's a sophomore. He's
really really good. Ultimately, I went with Boyle because a
Seneca Driver and their debt, and you know they prove
that out to be the case. But I think he's good.
Another really good sophomore is Dion Davidson. He is the
only guy in this year I picked the MVPs last time.

(31:16):
The only one I missed was in the Class A game.
It was not Cave Long, it was Dion Davidson. He's
a running back and he'll be back. I've got one
freshman right now, the twenty twenty eight tailback at Danville
High School, j Von mws That cat is a big
time football player.

Speaker 1 (31:36):
And I think some really big.

Speaker 5 (31:39):
Schools are gonna be going through the hallways at Danville
High School to recruit j Von Mwes. He is a
really really good football player and I'm gonna see him
next year. Third week of the season. We're gonna go
to Admiral Stadium. It's gonna be a big challenge. But
Javon Mutes is really really good and he's only a freshman.

(32:01):
So uh, I think Davil's Davil's got a great tailback, quarterback,
and linebacker that all three of them are freshmen. So
Steve's got a shot at having a really really good
run here. And I think I think he's getting it done.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
I really do. He's doing a great job. Well.

Speaker 4 (32:17):
The the uh I didn't do it as in depth
as you do. I can't go back that far. I'm
I'm uh I just don't know. You you do watch
more than I do because you know you're you're the
head coach of Anderson County High School. But I'll tell
you what. Here's my here's what I think next year.
I think Saca Seneca Driver will be really really hard

(32:40):
to beat as mister football if he has the kind
of year that that I think he'll possibly have. I mean,
his presence, uh in the game on the field just
changes everybody's game plan. I Mean, the guy is uh,
he's he's he's he's tall. I am was six six whatever. Uh,

(33:01):
and he uh you know, he's built well, he can run,
he's athletic. I mean, uh, I don't know if he'll
be mister football, but he'll be the highest draft NFL
draft choice out of that class. Because that's a good point.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
He's a disagree on that.

Speaker 4 (33:18):
Yeah, he's got all the tools and uh, you know
he's going to be a very difficult uh if he
unless he gets hurt or something like that or doesn't
have the year. But I just don't see that not happening.
He's uh, as you know, a very athletic person. I know,
I know his mother when his mother was in school
at Boyle County. You could have argued that she was

(33:40):
the best athlete. Uh in a male or female. It
didn't matter. She was the best athlete at school when
she was a senior in high school. She was quite
an athlete. Okay, let's get into the coach of the year.
Go ahead, shoot away.

Speaker 5 (33:56):
All right, I'm gonna give my six per class and
then I'm gonna get my overall Class A. I went
with Matt Jones in Kentucky Country Day. I really got
a lot of respect for him and his staff recognizing
they needed to change their offense in the twenty twenty
three season or twenty four to say we're not gonna

(34:16):
run the spread, We're gonna run the triple.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
Man. I admire him.

Speaker 5 (34:20):
He sold that to his program and his team. We
got to do this to win, and is impressive. Class
two A. I went with Steve Stonebreaker at Danville restoring
Danville football. You know, you sort of went through this
a little bit in reverse. It is really hard to
build a program from the ground up when you're sitting
next door to a powerhouse. And when you took over
at Boyle County, I mean, Danville was just unbelievable at

(34:44):
that time. Well now it's in reverse. Yeah, no, they
really don't.

Speaker 3 (34:49):
It was.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
It was insane how good they were.

Speaker 5 (34:51):
And he's doing a great job there and it's tough,
especially with the dynamics now of guys moving around so much.
But I I thought he did a super job and
I think he's got a lot of supported Danville High
School to pull this off. Class three A this is
where my past got me a little bit. I went
with Kyle Niederman at Lloyd because he's gotten the Juggernauts

(35:15):
back up to the top of that class. And you know,
when I was at Mason County, first it was with
Rudy Tassini and then Roy Lucas, and we had some
wars with Lloyd Memorial and the Juggernauts, and really Lloyd
was sort of a measuring stick for us. You know,
if we didn't compete with Lloyd, we were among the
top ten teams in our classification and we were in

(35:36):
a district with him. In Class four A, I went
with Luke Salmons from Corbin as the coach of the year.

Speaker 1 (35:43):
I can't look, I'm not going to kid you.

Speaker 5 (35:46):
When they went to Highlands and won that game, that
was impressive over the type impressive, and then to go
to Bull County and be right there with them, and
that was impressive. I'm gonna say this though, I think
what impressed me the most. I went back and I

(36:06):
started googling stuff his response to that, the quote unquote
the fumble and all that he's first class?

Speaker 1 (36:16):
How many of us?

Speaker 4 (36:17):
What was he?

Speaker 1 (36:18):
Just? He handled it on the field.

Speaker 5 (36:21):
But if he's been blasting the officials or making excuses,
I haven't heard it now.

Speaker 1 (36:27):
I haven't heard it.

Speaker 5 (36:28):
I mean on his social media and everything, it's all
promoting his kids, it's all positive about their season. I'm
not sure that I could have handled it nearly as
well as as he has, But.

Speaker 1 (36:41):
I mean, I just I think he did a phenomenal job.

Speaker 5 (36:43):
And again the football part, playing boil so tough at
Boyle winning at Highlands is impressive. But I think the
thing I appreciate the most is how he handled the
adversity and much respect in that regard Class five A
man I went with DeMarcus Ganaway at Owensboro their first

(37:03):
state title since nineteen eighty six. I thought that was
really impressive to be able to come in and to
be able to pull that off.

Speaker 1 (37:11):
Sixth AD.

Speaker 5 (37:12):
I went with Brandon Smith at South Warren. They transitioned
to six eight very well, and they had a great
plan for Trinity and they really hung in there with
Trinity pretty much the entire game. And I just thought
that all six of these guys, I thought in their class,

(37:34):
they were the best in their class. But if I
step back and I look at the biggest assignment and
what I think is most impressive. You know, nobody's supposed
to be able to touch Trinity right now, nobody, nobody's
supposed to be able to touch him. And I tell
you what, South Warren had a great plan and they

(37:57):
were right there. So my overall coaching the year and
it's not because you're his dad and it's it's that's
not I really, I really think Brandon I thought that
his is a coach of the Year for the whole state.

Speaker 1 (38:11):
I mean, look, we all have vises.

Speaker 5 (38:14):
But if I step back and I look at five
eight to six A and I look at how they
played Trinity, and I look at what Trinity is.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
Now, let me put it that way.

Speaker 5 (38:25):
When I look at what Trinity is right now, they're
not just Trinity, They're Trinity on crack.

Speaker 1 (38:31):
Right now, they're really something else. So that's my pick.

Speaker 4 (38:35):
Yeah, well good, I just I mean, I agree with
a lot of your picks I have. I have, I
have a couple of maybe different but not really maybe one.
But anyway, here's what I did. I didn't And again
for those who are listening, the overall Coach of the
Year is voted on, just like the mister football candidate.

(38:57):
Every class gets votes for or a coach of the year.
So there's a you know, single, a double, a triple
A and so on and so forth, and then from
that list, the coaches vote for an overall coach of
the year, so that that will come out pretty soon.
I didn't do it that way. I didn't look at

(39:17):
that list. I don't even know what that list is,
to be honest with you, I haven't even seen it.
But here's what I did. I looked across the city
of Kentucky and who I thought did a really, really
exceptional job, and that's where I put on my list.
So coach of the Year, I have Brandon Smith South Warren.
He moved to six A and went undefeated, you know

(39:38):
until the state final game, and he took his football
team to the state runner up finished thirteen to one
beat a you know, really a powerhouse in the state
of Kentucky. Or he lost to the state of the
powerhouse in the state of Kentucky and in the state
championship game. My next pick is Melvin Cunningham of Murray.

(40:02):
I just think in his third season, he took Murray.
I mean, people, there's people who listening to this podcast
that's going to have to get on the map and
look and see where Murray Murray is. It's, you know,
in western Kentucky. But you know, he took them fourteen
and one in a state runner up finish in his
third year there. I just think that he just did

(40:25):
a fantastic job. And then I have DeMarcus Gainaway Senior,
who is the head football coach at Owensboro. He took him.
He lost his first two games, and then he didn't
lose again for the rest of the season. You know,
he took him thirteen and two and won the state
championship in his first year as the head football coach.

Speaker 1 (40:49):
You know.

Speaker 4 (40:49):
And then and then I have Travis Burns Pulaski County
in his second year. You know, Travis took Pulaski County
to the state runner up position, and that's I think
that's pretty a pretty big accomplishment in just your second
year as a hit football coach. And then I had
Steve Stonebreaker of Dan Well. I thought Steve did a

(41:12):
really good job. That program has been rock bottom. People
listening to this podcast, they do not understand how good
Danivil was during their heyday. They were an incredible d
and now they hit rock bottom and then he's kind
of given him life again. So to sum it all up,

(41:33):
in my opinion, David, I think the overall State Coach
of the Year should come from and be picked from,
either Brandon Smith or Melvin Cunningham. And I think the
others would be honorable mentioned. I think DeMarcus Gainaway, Travis Burns,
and Steve Stonebreaker would be honorable mentioned picks for me.
But I think that the two jobs, the two coaches

(41:56):
that I think just kind of went over the top
with their situation, uh and what they had to deal with,
would be Brandon Smith and Melvin Cunningham. That's who I
would pick from if I was voting.

Speaker 5 (42:09):
Hey, I think those are good choices, and uh, we
had a lot of overlap in our.

Speaker 1 (42:14):
Picks there, so that's pretty cool.

Speaker 4 (42:17):
Yeah, David, let's move on to the tough topic. That's
a lot of people like to listen to our tough topic.
And uh, that question is should there be a minimum
requirements to host the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Football
playoff game? And as I said in the pre show, there,
uh there was you know, some incidents this year with

(42:38):
you know, poor facilities, poor fields, that sort of thing.
So I said, it's a valid question, it's a good question,
and it's a good question for this time of year.
You know, maybe it can be a fixed and adjusted
for next year. What do you think?

Speaker 5 (42:50):
Well, I think there should be and I think that, uh,
you know, a minimum should be that that the teams
themselves can be a time accommodated with shelter and so forth.
I will say this though, and I don't even want
to talk about the schools. From my understanding, what was
sort of I guess why it was sort of let
us down this road. I think there was some miscommunication

(43:14):
between the two administrations that sort of made it turn
out like it turned out. And uh, and I you know,
I gosh, I'm not going to get into it now.
I've been I've had one get me I talked about
on Bluegrass Creps, but our locker and we had it
and it was right there next to it, but it
really wasn't the way it should have been. It was

(43:35):
bad and our opponent was Mike Yagle and Beechwood. Hey,
that's just great, exactly what we needed. So I do
think they're oight to the minimum requirements. But what I
don't want it to turn into, though, is that affluent
communities and school districts own the playoffs. If you've got

(43:56):
good locker facilities and those kids can get dressed and
get out of the weather, then I'm good. If the
field is playable. Now I'm not saying that it's perfect.
If the field is playable, then you play. And I
think as long as the shelter piece of it is addressed,
as long as the field is playable and the other

(44:16):
part of it is too, you know, we got it
was then. Oh it's hard to think about this one.
Two thousand and two, we're playing Russell again. They be
us twelve to seven in the rain at Russell. We
were number one in the state. So we're going back
to play them in the region championship. The Russell Field
was a disaster. Well, I then said, David, we're gonna

(44:37):
move to Ashland. Their field's a lot better. And what
I'm getting at is, most of the time coaches are
gonna they're not gonna have you come play at their
place if it's a disaster. They don't want to do it.
So we move it to Ashland and they beat us.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
Eleven to eight.

Speaker 5 (44:53):
I'm like, I'm never going to get over those two,
especially eleven to eight. But anyway, Uh, what I'm getting
at though, is that as long as you can accommodate
the lockers, the halftime to dress and all that. But
but I do think that's kind of it. Make sure
you got that piece in place, go ahead.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
What do you think?

Speaker 4 (45:13):
Yeah, my answer is absolutely there should be some minimum requirements,
especially when you get to the third and fourth rounds.
The first and second rounds you know you can maybe
live with, but when you get to the third and
fourth rounds, I think the field surface should be up
the par grass surface, uh that that is in good

(45:37):
shape or a turf. I think those two things. Either
you're going to have to prove that your grass field
is in is you know, in good shape, or you
have turf to play on. I think the you should
have adequate dressing facilities, you know, the restrooms should be
it should have restrooms in it. You should have it

(45:57):
should be a warm and big enough space, you know,
to get dressed in and uh and to be able
to meet at at halftime. It should be in close
proximity to the playing field. I mean, you're gonna have
to do this, and I just think that's important. I
think you should have sufficient lighting. I think uh, stands

(46:19):
should be separate if possible, to really to prevent uh,
you know, disagreements, fighting, bickering between fans.

Speaker 5 (46:29):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (46:30):
So it'd be nice to have separate separate uh uh
you know stands for the fans. I think it should
be treated as a big deal, you know, because it
is a big deal. The third and fourth rounds are
the quarterfinals and the semi finals. It's a big deal.
And I think that the facilities that that accommodates uh,

(46:50):
that situation should be adequate are better than that it
should be. It should it should be treated as a
big deal. And uh, I think that you know, there
should be a committee that that that approves it. I
think that the home team that's hosting. It should prove
that they can do those things, you know, provide a

(47:12):
warm uh you know, big enough space to get dressed
in that has restrooms. I think that if they can't,
then you that you should be considered moving it to
a place that can uh meet those accommodations.

Speaker 1 (47:28):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (47:29):
I do think that the field conditions have improved with
with you know, with the turf fields. There's so many
turf fields now, but there's there's a lot of fields
that aren't, you know, up to park. There's a lot
of grass fields that aren't up to part.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
Uh. You know, there's a lot of grass fields that
are up to part.

Speaker 4 (47:48):
I'm not saying they're not. I'm just saying that there's
a lot that aren't. And that's what the discussion is
is how about the ones that aren't. Should they be
able to host? No, they shouldn't. I'm sorry, but you shouldn't.
And uh, you know in the facilities have got to
be at it, you know, And you know, I just
think that's that's my opinion. I think it's the third

(48:08):
and fourth round. I don't think you should play on
a sloppy, muddy field, you know. I think, well to
last year, South Warren moved because we got all that rain.
In the third round, they moved their game over to
Warn Central High School because they have a turf field,
you know, because it didn't want to be on a sloppy,

(48:30):
wet money field for the game. I lost the game
on a and it was my home field and we lost.
In nineteen ninety seven, we beat Urban County during the
regular season pretty pretty handily, and then we played hosted
the game and our field was horrible, and we hosted it,

(48:51):
but we didn't really know what to do, so we
played it anyway. If you know hindsights twenty twenty, I
guess we could have asked somebody if we could use field.
I didn't know how it worked. I was, I was
kind of new at it. But we played the game
and got beat twenty to nothing. Couldn't get a furse down,
you know, because there was nothing but mud on the field.

(49:13):
So I've been there, done that. I think. I just
think when you get to the third and fourth rounds,
I think the facilities should accommodate a big deal atmosphere.

Speaker 1 (49:23):
For the kids.

Speaker 5 (49:26):
Hey, and I want to back you up on something
here at Boyle County, it should be turf because that
field was either a pond or it was pond dirt.

Speaker 1 (49:38):
But it was always.

Speaker 5 (49:39):
Tough at Boyle County not to have a muddy field
when you had rank. So you know that I love
by grass, and I do love by grass, but I
will concede this to you. At Boyle County, you need
to play on turf instead of on the pond dirt.
I agree with that one hundred percent.

Speaker 4 (49:56):
So I'm turf now.

Speaker 5 (49:58):
So but anyways, so they're okay, David, and I'll go ahead.
I'm sorry, I'll go ahead. Well, the only thing that
you said that I didn't like, I just don't like committees.
And I know that's because I'm old and stuff. I'd
rather I'd rather have somebody that somebody that both programs

(50:18):
trust and let them inspect it or find somebody.

Speaker 1 (50:23):
I don't know. I just I tell you what.

Speaker 5 (50:25):
I just get nervous on committees because committees is when
shady stuff happens in people hide.

Speaker 1 (50:31):
So that'd be the.

Speaker 5 (50:32):
Only thing out here. Here's where I'm going with this.
If Chuck Smith's going to come to Anderson County High
School and decide if our field's good enough, I'm good
with that I'll live with that. If you're sending me
a committee, I'm I'm already. I'm just saying I'm going
to trust you better than a committee.

Speaker 4 (50:52):
I don't think that they would ever get a committee together,
but I think that UH, the principal athletic directors should
take UH should take a pictures of their field and
UH and their in their dressing facility, restrooms, locker room,
and they should have to send it in on the
third round if they're the host team to the Kentucky
High School Athletic Association UH fox or or or email

(51:16):
those pictures UH to UH the Kentucky High School Athletic
Athletic Association and let them give the thumbs up or
thumbs down on it if they're hosting or.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
I got you, Yeah, I got you. Hi, guys.

Speaker 5 (51:28):
I would almost say this, though, I wouldn't want that
to be an automatic thing. I would want that to
be if the opposing coach was concerned about it, because
if the coaches it's automate. Well, we disagree on that one,
but that's all right. Hey, we're going to be boring
if we agree on everything. We don't want to do that.

Speaker 4 (51:49):
So Hey, David, I appreciate it was a good it was.
It was a good episode. Uh, I really like it was.
I agree to uh uh, you know, iron out some
some some things and and hopefully you know we're not experts,
but we like to give our opinion. Appreciate you, Yeah,
we do.

Speaker 1 (52:07):
We like to talk.

Speaker 5 (52:08):
Hey, it does it It's sometimes it feels like nineteen
eighty six and we're back in that office. We just
don't have Jack sitting there with the sweater tied around
his neck harassing me, or Coach French just sort of
sitting at his desk rolling his eyes, just trying to
get his work done without paying attention to us. But hey,
are our last episode. Think of it like a Christmas

(52:29):
gift for our listeners. They like the tough topics, they
love to hear those. I don't know how many we're
gonna do we're gonna get that ironed out, or what
they're gonna be on, but uh, we're gonna we're gonna
just our last episode's gonna be all tough topics.

Speaker 1 (52:45):
We're gonna go into a little bit more.

Speaker 5 (52:46):
Depth on them than I think we've been able to
do in the past. And that's how we're gonna finish
up season four and we're excited and looking forward to
it and it's gonna be great. So we appreciate our listeners.
And I know we've said it before, but our listeners
drive the content. We want to do a great job

(53:07):
for our listeners, and we appreciate it when you tell us, hey,
I like this, I like that. That helps us do
a great job. So please keep giving us the feedback.

Speaker 4 (53:18):
Thank you, David, and we'll be signing off and appreciate
you guys.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
Turning in the Coach's Office Trivia time Out Answer lag
a high Basketball featured Howard Schnellenberger and Paul Horning.

Speaker 4 (53:33):
Bonus points if you knew they also started Cheryl Sipes,
who started in the Notre Dame backfield with Horning, and
that their center was Jerry Harper, the all time leading
rebounder in Southeastern Conference history. Join us next time for
another Coaches Office Trivia time Out