October 27, 2023 Portsmouth West 15 - 27 Heath

[SiderSammy]

Not sure why the fans are so down on the team. West lost three games this year, all against good teams. Fairland was a toss up type game and the results showed that. Burg was a tough matchup given Burg’s D and the game being at the Ed; would have been an upset if West won. Heath, despite being the 9th seed, was probably the favorite in this game. They are a good team that’s played some good competition.

West has a good coach and some really good players. The problem is simply numbers to get to the next level. Next step is to build up participation in the younger grades that carry into high school.

The coach needs to gain control of his team including some of the the assistants. Negativity breeds negativity, You can’t expect players to want play for people who don’t believe in them.
Coach them hard, but don’t forget to build them back up. Also, you can’t expect your team to succeed when you’re constantly so predictable. When something isn’t working you have to adjust period or losing inevitable.

Agree with you on negativity breeding negativity. And the coach has to gain control of the team and the program; assistants need to be in-line.

As for predictability, that’s not necessarily bad. Some of the best programs are extremely predictable but just very good at what they do. Ed Miller when coaching Burg was incredibly predictable, but his teams executed at a very high level. Hence the success.

Kirtland is the same while executing at a level beyond Ed coached teams. Some posters even complain about how boring it is watching Kirtland’s offense. But this is what contributes to their success. They run simple plays and execute extremely well. The team has lots of players giving them depth while also providing experience; don’t see Kirtland starting many sophomores and freshmen. Teams are consistently starting and playing seniors and juniors, then just reload each year.

Comparing us to Kirtland is apples to oranges, but I do understand what you are getting at. Those two programs you mentioned are vastly different from us in what they do and how they do it from the administration on down to player development. They’ve had/have an established coach who demanded success for many years.

You have to to put your players in the best positions and situations to succeed with out your egos getting in the way as a coach and that isn’t being done. Negativity will never equal success. It really surprises me that coach lets this go on where as he seems to be a good guy. Maybe he needs to be more involved himself? The 2 who run things now aren’t getting it done. The group we will have the next couple years are really talented just as the last 2 years and deserve better than what is being brought to the table. The off-season is pretty much nonexistent and they are not held accountable to work hard. Just take a look at Ironton and Porter Township, they set the standard around the area.

It is said to the players that they aren’t giving their best to the team, but I think the very ones saying this should look in the mirror and really reflect on this year, be honest with themselves if that is even possible. Just because you played minimally in college doesn’t make you a good coach. For a few on staff, history speaks for itself. This momma will not put up with the negative nonsense.