Leaderboard

As a former MHSAA football official, I hate to see the way things are falling off as far as more people getting involved. A lot of the younger officials see it a a stepping stone and I don't blame them. Work a couple of years getting your feet wet and then take some JUCO games on Thursday, followed by adding some smaller college games on Saturdays and next thing you know, they give up the Fridays for travel. That is a good path for the younger guys that want to make it to the next level. Problem is, the old guard in MHSAA has done a poor job of trying to replace those guys. They need to be hitting up the colleges and universities trying to get the kids that officiate intramural games and try to recruit them or go around to high schools and talk with kids that are graduating and not going to play at the next level. It keeps them involved in the game and they know the game. Lot of ways to get it done, just have to try different approaches.

I think Vancleave will be fine going forward. I know their 9th and 10th grade groups are really solid and I hear the 8th grade group is good. Dogs were in for a down year from what I gathered anyway. Losing some OL/DL and their QB from last year. Bilbo was the only thing really coming back. Obviously being in a tough 5A region compared to the cupcake that is coast 4A is a little different. What are enrollment numbers going to be next reclassification? I have been told that both Vancleave and East Central are steadily going to continue to grow. I got to watch their last two freshmen teams and I was impressed with how they played and looked. Better days are coming.

Weigh the value of a degree from Vandy against a degree from USM and there’s your answer. Vanderbilt and it’s not even close.