Athens Bulldogs 2014

[Raider6309]

^Top teams in Athens history are 1965 and 1971(before the playoffs). 1989 team was better than the 1990 team. 1965 team was loaded with D1 talent
1965 New Lex vs Athens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-iU9dH2lBc

[Orange and Brown]

^Top teams in Athens history are 1965 and 1971(before the playoffs). 1989 team was better than the 1990 team. 1965 team was loaded with D1 talent
1965 New Lex vs Athens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-iU9dH2lBc

65 was before consolidation wasn't it?

Let's keep things post consolidation for the sake of the discussion.

[Orange and Brown]

^Top teams in Athens history are 1965 and 1971(before the playoffs). 1989 team was better than the 1990 team. 1965 team was loaded with D1 talent
1965 New Lex vs Athens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-iU9dH2lBc

You just proved my point, Athens had never acomplished anything other than 1 playoff appearance and several league titles before Adams took over as head coach.

[C-Bolt]

Not sure, but I don't remember Athens even being close to a league title most of the 80's and maybe most the 70's except possibly the early to mid part.

[Orange and Brown]

Not sure, but I don't remember Athens even being close to a league title most of the 80's and maybe most the 70's except possibly the early to mid part.

12 league titles in an 80 year run in the SEOAL.............
Not exactly a storied history. 1 playoff birth.

I'll say it again, Ryan Adams is the best coach in school history.
No one can make a reasonable argument against it.

[93Bulldog]

You can't compare 'playoff success' and use that as a factor when talking about different coaches from different era's.

The playoff landscape has changed way to much! i.e. in 1989 I believe there were only 4 divisions, yet the same amount of teams participated in Ohio. Makes it a little tougher when you have stacked regions with a ton of teams.

I also don't see the problem with comparing a 'pre consolidated' coach to a coach now ... it's still Athens.

[Spartan]

It's about the kids anyway.

[Orange and Brown]

You can't compare 'playoff success' and use that as a factor when talking about different coaches from different era's.

The playoff landscape has changed way to much! i.e. in 1989 I believe there were only 4 divisions, yet the same amount of teams participated in Ohio. Makes it a little tougher when you have stacked regions with a ton of teams.

I also don't see the problem with comparing a 'pre consolidated' coach to a coach now ... it's still Athens.

Okay then, who is the winningest coach in school history going back to the beging of time?

[Orange and Brown]

It's about the kids anyway.

That's true to a degree.

But honestly,

You can have a team full of D1 prospects but if you don't have a good coach, they will never reach their potential.

On the flip side, if you have a darn good coach (and staff), you can push an average team to be a darn good team.

You can say its all about the kids in the program but without good coaching, those kids arent going to have a lot of success.

[Orange and Brown]

34-49-5

Does that number mean anything to you Bulldog fans?

[93Bulldog]

I'm not going to argue that Ryan is a terrific coach and leader. I love having him at the helm.

I'm just not going to be so quick to degrade coaches before him.

So many factors play into the whole thing.

And we might not want to leave offensive coordinator Nathan White out - and offer him up some credit. Athens was (1-3) versus Nelsonville-York, with the lone win being the OT thriller, before coach White took over the offense.

[Orange and Brown]

I don't think you would be degrading any coach before him, but okay, if you say so..........

[LHS 72]

Not sure, but I don't remember Athens even being close to a league title most of the 80's and maybe most the 70's except possibly the early to mid part.

If the 71 team of the dog's was good wait a minute the only reason you guys got a share of the title was because the Chiefs went into Ironton and beat the tigers in 71

[bengals01]

^Top teams in Athens history are 1965 and 1971(before the playoffs). 1989 team was better than the 1990 team. 1965 team was loaded with D1 talent
1965 New Lex vs Athens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-iU9dH2lBc

The 1968 Athens team better than 1971. in 68 they were out right SEOAL champtions.

[questionmark]

Don Eskey has 78 wins as Head Coach, most in the School's History...

[SOHSP]

Great article about Joe Burrow in the Dispatch.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories ... nough.html

[doubleplay643]

I posted the below on the TVC Ohio predictions topic earlier this week, but reading that article is awesome and sort of shows what sort of expectations are in store for this fine area team.
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It may be an interesting dynamic this season for Athens, and what I mean by that is they will have to contend with expectations and some distractions they did not have last year.

First is the entire area's expectations of a "perfect" season, coming off a couple excellent regional runs the last two years the "pressure" will really be on to move past that and no matter how grounded and focused the team is they are still 16-18 year olds that "hear" the chatter and noise surrounding a play-off run.

Second is the inevitable distractions that having several players moving on to major D-1 programs and the possibility of others receiving looks as well as the season moves on, fact of the matter is people will talk about it (a lot) and those kids will have to juggle that in addition to school and games. Again, these kids are young and no matter how focused and mature (and they clearly are well-spoken mature kids) it is just another thing to deal with that they didn't have to deal with last year.

Last is playing Zanesville and Steubenville. Yes I know Zanesville is down but fact is they were Regional finalists last year and athletically they will put kids on the field that can play and match-up decently with Athens' weapons. Going into Big Red country is an experience all in itself and know matter where their program is (up or down) they will be physical and the atmosphere is like "Texas HS Friday Night Lights" so how they handle that will be interesting.

If Athens rolls out of week 10 having handled the distractions, the "chatter/noise" about some of their individual athletes success and team expectations, and handle Zanesville and Steubenville then look out Region 9 and the likes of Marion Franklin and others because this may indeed be the year. From everything I see sitting 45 miles away is that this team and its players are grounded, mature, and focused so my prediction is they can handle the above road blocks.

[93Bulldog]

All they care about it Gallia Academy, double643.

[Auburntgrfan]

Hey bulldog folks. Heard that the twins transfered to Pickerington. Hope that is not a fact. Athens shouid not stumble along the way this year, many seniors, battle tested. sincerely hope they can make that run deeper this season. still love my Warriors, just calling it like I see it.

[GalliaGrad78]

No way King Burrows allows the twins to transfer! lol j/k