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Being a High School head Football Coach is a 24/7 365 day a year job. The pressure to win in a lot of places isn't as important as winning with the right kids on the field. Parents and boosters in some places can dictate all the way down to what kind of offense and defense you run all the way down to play calling. Admins will listen bc the parents with the political stroke also control their jobs. You don't have to just build great young men and win games Wich is hard enough. You also have to do it while swimming in shark infested waters for not a lot of money for the hours you spend and stress you put on your family and loved ones. No coach's wife and children should be hurt by the decisions of such boosters and political crap but it happens every day. This is why young great coaches who could pore into the lives of their players for decades are getting out. sad but true

West Point brings back the 4 of the 5 offensive lineman. And TE's. Running backs won't be Daniels, Tillman, and Ewing but you kno we stay loaded in that area. Defense only losing 3 starters. Best defensive player missed the entire season and he's a Jr. Yeah the rumor is that Cham is retiring but he mainly let the OC and DC have free range to do what they do. I'm pretty sure they'll hire from within so nothing will change. Talented 9th grade group coming up.

The food and drink is good but the older I get the more it rings true. The kids running around screaming, climbing on me with dirty feet and hands all sticky from god knows what. Family cooking, cleaning and having ten different conversations at one time. We all are here . That is something you can’t cook in the oven or pour in a dam cup. Happy Thanksgiving boys

I’ve been on MST since the glory days of this site (2006ish) seen all of the changes it has gone through. There are still some familiar names here that have been around since that time as well that I recognize every year that have been loyal to their schools since day one. This site isn’t as active as it once was when there was less social media presence but the loyal few along with myself keep the train running every season.

Congratulations to Picayune!

What I've seen is that administrators kowtow to the squeaky wheel parents because they are afraid to lose their own jobs and will not take anything like a stand to support a coach for doing what is right to build team and individual character. In a word, it's cowardice. And in three: failure of leadership. And it's endemic in both public and private schools.

Vance forced his son into being the main focus of their offense from the first series and didn’t really try to involve their skill players . His ego envisioned making him MVP and multiple highlight reels. He deserves every bit of the criticism coming his way. He can’t get over the hump because he is not a good coach. He had no answer when Grenada figured them out halfway through the first quarter.. Ever since he came on the scene down here I couldn’t stand him. Hell, nobody outside of there does He’s the perfect Hattiesburg Tiger. this is mst tonight

Pending isn’t winning a championship. You invalidated your whole topic

To build on the Meridian blue turf thread I thought about starting one for all schools. I got the idea from seeing Choctaw County’s new stomping grounds. They did big things this off-season. Very impressive for a 3A school. Feel free to add any changes your school has made this summer.

So I am confused it this thread about Shelton Gandy to Meridian or Petal? May need to rename the post!

I get that people in some parts of the state have to drive more for the championship. But... it's the championship. You can't make a long drive once a year to support your kids? Keep the UM, MSU, USM rotation and be done with it. If folks don't go to the game because it's "too far," then that's on them. If going to the state championship is such a burden on you, watch it online. There is no centrally located stadium that is big enough AND that is in a place desirable to go.

The irony:

The one game I was looking forward to seeing and because of you guys I missed the first half. Thanks a lot for absolutely nothing!!!!

I think everyone has already expressed my sentiments on the WJ 2nd half play calls. Let me give a big thumbs up though to the tide broadcast on the NFHS stream. Although I missed most of their halftime, came back to it they were talking family praying together, mentoring young men, and dad’s being real dads. We need a lot more of that and I admire them for not being ashamed to express it publicly. I plan to go back an listen to the parts I missed.

Congratulations to Bray Hubbard, with a shout out to all of the other deserving players in consideration. Bray might be the first two time 6A winner, and he’s worked hard for this honor. Great player, good kid, wonderful back story including honoring his Mother in receiving this award after losing her to cancer five years ago. He and his family make Ocean Springs proud.

All of you are acting like expected fathers in the waiting room waiting for your child to be born with the release of the classification numbers. LOL. This is not really a big deal.

North Forrest is going to beat mize watch what I tell y’all

Clarkdale 16 Enterprise 13 Final Injuries and mistakes led to another Enterprise loss, let's get healed up and get ready for Hazlehurst or Raleigh; Enterprise can still win 3a.

I’ll play along. I really can’t understand the meaning of what you wrote. Maybe this will help . Ryan Earnest can’t coach defense. Has never had one in 2A or at Ridgeland.. That one y’all had last season was running on fumes from when Breland was there. Laura’s gotten as close to a championship as they ever will with him as head coach in class 5A. You will score points early in the season but as it drags on and weather turns skill people get dinged up . That’s the time defense has to tote the weight and the point where Laurel gets bounced. At that point you will run away from the board never to be heard from again. Defense wins championships. Unless you get lucky and the other teams best players are hurt, y’all know all about that.

Mississippi Schools High Association Schools Schools

As a teacher/coach...I can tell you first-hand that it is 100% due to 3 things: 1. Lack of support from administration 2. Lack of supportive and realistic parents 3. Availability to make more money for the same hours at a less stressful job. Coaches are just NOT appreciated like they were in the past for the sacrifices they make on a daily basis for OTHER PEOPLES CHILDREN! If admin, parents, government, and society does not wake up and recognize the importance of this profession...you will see "WE'RE HIRING" signs on your local schools.

I’m willing to bet if your school wins a state title you won’t feel this way.

I’m no expert, but John Perry & Prep seem like oil & water to me.

Most likely coincidence. Calpreps runs a computer based algorithm to make these projections. Pretty sure the page isn’t populated by a person but by that algorithm

I am the smartest poster on here I know which teams are Dark Horses.

I have never had an interview in which players were part of the hiring process, and I would withdraw from consideration were it ever to occur.

WCBI and Jon Sokolof were the first to break that story I bet.

7th grade equipment day. Don't give me nightmares. Lol.

I didn’t analyze any of these teams at this point it is what it is. It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t take my hat off to Gautier. I was critical of them all season and their defense is still a wart on their. However if their is any player you can fill in the holes they might cause it is that QB. They have good receivers that get open but most high schoolers don’t see that many players running routes much less a QB that can stick it in their chest . I was texting with someone from here the other day and both of us agreed that he was the best we had seen at the high school level. There have been better I’m sure but I’ve never seen them. I’ve seen Fant , Matthews, that hot shot from West Monroe years ago. This kid is better. Quick release ,on target with superior velocity. He reminds me of Chris Leak I left the ten spot open for the 11-16 teams that may pull the upset. I would like to do something for the playoffs with info on logistics of host schools for visiting teams. Maybe by Wednesday or Thursday. Busted my foot today so I am hopping around like a wounded four point. 1. Picayune 2. Gautier 3. West Point 4. Vicksburg 5. Hattiesburg 6. West Jones 7. East Central 8. Neshoba Central 9. Lafayette

Not as many marquee matchups as Week 1 produced, but have a couple big out of state matchups, a few games where teams have a shot to bounce back after week one losses and a couple where teams can show they’re for real. Oxford @ South Panola Grenada @ Winona Taylorsville @ Bay Springs Oak Grove @ Hoover Catholic Baton Rouge @ Picayune Starkville @ West Point Brandon @ Madison Central MRA @ Pulaski Academy Southaven @ Tupelo Neshoba Central @ Louisville Five Honorable Mention Games: Lamar Academy @ Winston Academy Warren Central @ Pearl Velma Jackson @ Yazoo County GCS @ Holmes County Central Kossuth @ Ripley

I will say this about 1A and 2A: In 1A, I said Velma Jackson was a lock to win it all. I still think they win it all for right now, but I no longer think they are a lock. I had suspected that Taylorsville would struggle some early on with losing TK Keyes and most of their line from last season. But that’s not gonna be the case. They are absolutely loaded offensively. Now, defensively they have some improving they will have to do. We moved the ball against them fairly easily, but then again we probably will have a strong offense. But we were expected to be pretty strong defensively and we had no answer for their offense at all last night. They were big, long, fast, and athletic on offense. When Tville and Velma Jackson play, that should be a really really good game to see. In 2A, I think it’s so wide open that I don’t think there’s any way to have a clear cut favorite. I know Raleigh beat Bay Springs, and I have a feeling Taylorsville is also going to beat Bay Springs too, but by the end of the season Bay Springs will be right in the mix. Scott Central is going to be better than I thought they were going to be, and if I had to call it right now today I would say they win their region and Bay Springs finishes 2nd. Raleigh and Mize play in 3 weeks and I think that’s going to be a very good game. I think both of those teams win their regions. One of those 4 teams (Raleigh, Mize, Scott Central, and Bay Springs) will come out of the south.

I hate to pat myself on the back but maybe I will. This game was over before halftime with as much the Brandon defense stayed on the field. Brandon scores beyond the first one were the result of prevent defense and Picayune letting them burn clock. Not as close as score indicates. Picayune is the best team in the state at managing clock.

IMO, digital tickets was the dumbest thing ever invented. Paying cash at a ticket booth is the easiest and most convenient way.

They are like Texas A&M to me. Every year, tons of talent, expectations through the roof and they largely underperform given that hype. I will say adding the quarterback from Ridgeland was a huge get and should help them a lot, but until they go out and prove it, I am not buying them as serious contenders.

Meridian football has bigger issues then what happens on the field. JD was a huge stabilizing force. The city of Meridian has major issues that has unfortunately bled into the school. Those factors mixed with the level of competition and crumbling facilities compared to who you play. All of those factors make it a definitely unique job. They hired a all time great in Coach Boyels hopefully the wins start coming and it can spearhead a comeback for the whole city. Meridian has great history and great people.

Douglass did a good job at Meridian. He walked into a complete dumpster fire and definitely righted the ship. Unfortunately the last two years, we lost a couple a very close division games that cost us an opportunity to be in the playoffs. His first year, we were playing with 8th and 9th graders because most of the actual high school players quit the team. So in his case, you have to look at situation with some context. I think he is a good coach. Unfortunately, the LCSD has a terrible track record with regard to football. If they will leave him alone (doubtful) he can build NEL into a good football program. But it will not happen overnight.

If you think you need a bunch of SEC guys to win a 5a title in Mississippi then you have no clue what you’re talking about.

Neither school plays in the highest classification where coast schools have minimal playoff success. Ocean Springs shoulda threw a parade for making it to south state for the first time in God knows how long.

This is interesting coming from a Gulfport "fan" (I suspect coach). From conversations with my son and other coaches, they want Coach Bramlett and says he deserves the head job because of the all the work he did within the program. This statement is even more entertaining due to the fact that he has been offered the OC position at Gulfport. If he is not worth anything, then why is Coach Pennock desperate to keep him as his OC. Pennock was only a head coach for one year at Pass before went to OS. Coach Bramlett has worked for some prominent coaches in this state and has been calling the offensive for the last 4 years under Coach Pennock. Bottom line he has the backing of all the assistant coaches, the players (including my son), and parents.

Well we can agree to disagree on that. imho Picayune had the much better defense and it was obvious. Laurel gave up 298 pts in 12 games (24.8 points/g) HHS gave up 239 pts in 12 games (19.9 points / g) Picayune gave up 175 in 15 games (11.6 points/g) Not a lot of common opponents, but HHS gave up 41 to Vancleave who Picayune allowed 7, and Laurel gave up 42 to D'Iberville who Picayune also allowed 7 to. seems fairly obvious. You are entitled to your opinion, but to me it's like everyone else we beat. It was never our defense but their coach or their "offensive issues". To me WJ offensive issue = Picayune's defense. Exactly the same offensive issue West Point had.

I give the Picayune staff major props defensively. You think the were dropping 8, but they were in 2-Man with a spy in the middle. This to me caught the Gautier coaches off guard. Yes, most teams tried a drop 8 to no avail against Gautier. Irving caught them in what looked like Man Free and hit long TD pass in the 1st Qt. Again hats off to the Picayune coaches for the gameplan. Also, what Stogner has continued with the program is a thing of beauty. Think about how stubborn coaches can be and want to put their imprint on a program. We see it all the time with mixed results. Good luck Tide tomorrow night.

West Point offense is the key to this game. Namely their offensive line. If they can hold their own and stay ahead of the chains on third down they have a chance. I think 28- 31 points by either team will win this game . Everyone thinks the maroon tide will win including me. As I sit around thinking about this game though 05 keeps popping in my mind. We were undefeated and just overwhelming people with our passing game . I was flying into Jackson from way down south man the party was on. “ Who were we playing again ? West joint? Yea I’ll have one. Ooohhh West Port , never heard of em. I think they are close to Tupelo. It’s just academic though right “. Arrogance from all of us. That tune changed pretty dam quick. They made it a point on every play to have somebody in Drex’s face or chase Lampley to the edge where they could run him down. It was a defensive masterpiece for sure but the thing that still sticks with me today is the WP QB scrambling for seven or eight yards on third down over and over again and again. He kept our offense off the field as much the WP defense did. That was the only loss we had for two seasons. Okay that’s far enough down memory lane. I will just say this nobody plays up being the underdog like they do in West Point. We will see what they look like facing the wing t for the second time. Not to mean this in the wrong way but I think they didn’t take Picayune as seriously as they should have last season.and by the time they did they were dealing with a run away train.

This is not the biggest or most athletic that the tide has ever had. From my watching they have something you can’t coach.. They feed on and welcome adversity. I think they are on an incredible run and as good as Gautier offense is , they are not the one to break it. Gautier has a period in their games where they explode for two or three TDs then go into a long lull. Last time they played Picayune just went into the lull with them. . I can guarantee that Picayune Coach has seen this too will exploit it. They also were sending everybody to stop the run and got burnt on some swing passes. They will get burnt worse this time if they have to do that again. They did the same thing against us for the run but our passing game resembles Nebraskas trying to play from behind during the Tommy Frost days.I think this game will be already decided for most of the fourth quarter. I want to see more of #4 for Picayune taking the snap

If what I’m hearing rumblings of is true it is one of the dirtiest, crooked, most underhanded moves in high school football I’ve ever heard of. I mean we joke about things like that all the time on here but to see it played out in real life, I have lost a lot of respect for Scott Pierson.

Quite a feat if Morton beats Morton by 12 or more.

Expectations even at doormat programs are through the roof these days. Society has become "win now". We live in an instant gratification society and many coaches are no longer allowed 3-4 years to build a program. Couple this with how terrible parents/community members have become along with player attitudes becoming horrible, it will only become more and more common to see coaches leaving the profession. It is not worth the stress and complications that come from it. Look at Eric Collins at East Central. Back to back playoff berths and was competitive in a good region. He was essentially ran off because parents in the community did not like how he ran his program.

Well, I can promise you we will hear about how amazing Hattiesburg and Enterprise-Clarke will be in the 2022 season lol In all seriousness, coaching carousel will be booming shortly I am sure. Spring will be here before we know it. Recruiting is about to really get rolling. There will be things to discuss.

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 Louisville takes care of business Louisville defense has the speed to blow up plays before they get started Looking forward to a great game vs the WL Knights n hopefully the refs will let them play !!!