Football In MS

Name call if you want. That says more about you than me. Football kids only transfer out of championship programs when they’re not getting to play. This is a football thread so talking basketball isn’t even relevant to the conversation. If it was as simple as you claim to “buy out” a coach from a school you’re putting down (with ugly nicknames) then HHS would have done it by now. Money talks. So does reputation. Petal is such a respected job that they got a retired coach to come back this year. People want to be in that district. As far as academics go, the Mississippi Dept of Education is not “the media.” The MDE website states facts about academics at all schools. So I don’t need to even get into that. It’s easy to look up yourself. Just over 50% of Hattiesburg Public seniors are college bound. Compare that to high 90s at Petal and OG. Petal and OG are (and have been) “A” rated schools for decades. Meanwhile HHS is rejoicing at finally being a “B.” That’s just facts. And with regard to kids going out of district, follow some schools buses sometime. It’s eye opening. Watch entire bus loads of kids empty out at the district line and get into cars that drive home over the bridge and past the line. See it for yourself.

Historically speaking, it’s the worst district in the area academically. Even now when it’s better than it’s been in decades, test scores are still really low comparatively. https://msrc.mdek12.org/entity?EntityID=1820-000&SchoolYear=2023 While it has improved since being a “D” rated district in 2016, the fact remains that newcomers to the area will do whatever it takes to not send kids there. Not throwing shade. Just being real. Realtors will tell you.

agree. the hattiesburg public school system is one of the worst in the state. it's better now than it was a few years back - but the state almost took over several years ago and they went through a steady stream of superintendents trying to clean up that mess. you can be as fast as you want on the field. but if your district can't get it done in the classroom, coaches aren't going to want the job. especially in a location where you've got other really competitive schools at your back door. the number of kids whose parents live in the city of hattiesburg but sign affidavits claiming "homelessness" so their kids can go to petal or oak grove is astounding. if districts had the manpower to hunt down and kick out all the kids knowingly going out of district, many places would look really different. but it's super hard to prove once a parent claims they don't have a home address and signs an affidavit. and schools with those kids are getting extra title 1 money. so they're in no rush to kick those kids out - especially if they're good athletes. it's a vicious cycle.

Absolutely not. Hattiesburg is NOT a better job than Starkville. Starkville School District is FAR ahead of Hattiesburg SD. Not even a question.

Huh?? Barr single-handedly turned OG around. They were never even a football school before him. He definitely did not coast to retirement.

I'd have Madison Central, Oxford and Starkville all in over Petal. Petal is on the way back up. No doubt. But Top 5 in the entire 7A is a bit much for 2025. And I'd have OS at #5 with OG and one of the 3 I just named above them.

More large schools need to do the stand alone AD. Too many are also the head coach of a major sport- and that creates issues all the way around.

They won’t be a force in MHSAA football. They may have better luck in baseball.

Does the 6A Mr Football selection still seem like a good choice after seeing how he matched with Grenada?

3 Picayune TDs called back for “penalties” last weekend

Had a laparoscopic appendectomy 2 weeks ago and somehow got cleared to play. Idk how. But he’s in there

Oh. Sorry. yeah - you right about Taylor

Kickers/punters get very little respect overall. USM has Tannehill (Oxford) & Stewart (oak grove), but for as good as some of these MS k/p are, it’s surprising they don’t get more attention. Brandon & Clinton have had great kickers recently too & they just don’t get the D1 offers you’d expect.

No, more like 1/2 that. Good Hburg crowd - as it should be, given it’s in their backyard (along with the refs who appear to be in their back pocket…). But nowhere near 20k. The bottom deck of Hburg side is pretty full, minus the large section blocked out for the dancers. Idk why they need lile 20 rows for what appears to be 10-12 girls. But other than that and the band, the lower deck of the away side appears comfortably full. If Grenada comes out and scores on their first possession as expected & Hburg can’t get out of their feels, the 2nd half could get lopsided.

When Oxford played oak grove at USM several years back, looking across the field toward the OG side, it was pretty full on the bottom deck. Oxford brought a respectable number of fans from home too. Especially students. They are both really big schools. Very much “football schools.” But even that matchup in the largest classification of the MHSAA didn’t produce 20k fans.

Agree. Filling the lower deck of their own side would be majorly impressive. But to reach 20k would mean both decks of their side… plus some. The stadium only holds 36k when completely sold out.

I hope they do have a great crowd. I just know their regular season games don’t pack out their own stadium - which is significantly smaller than “the rock” and the number of fans they have who travel to away games is typically pitiful. They don’t even fill a small visitor’s side when the game is less than an hour away. So hearing that they were touting 20k fans was odd. I mean - good luck to them & all. They SHOULD have a large crowd when they’re playing less than 5 miles from their own home field. edit to add: I’ve had family members recently who were on the field playing for opposing schools when playing HHS. Both home and away. So this is from my own personal experience. I’ve been to their stadium and I’ve seen how they travel with my own eyes

One of the guys in the livestream just said that for the 6A game on Saturday Hattiesburg HS could have 20k fans there & that people are flying in to attend. Is that for real? I cannot imagine that kind of turnout when that team has not attended at home or traveled that well all year long.

Brandon just struggles to get it done in the end. In almost all sports. That 2024 baseball state championship was their first in a major sport. Ever. They can get to the ‘ship, they just can’t seal the deal. And this football team is a very emotional one. Emotion harnessed is passion. Emotion unchecked is immature recklessness. Brandon trends toward the latter.

Tupelo/Brandon is on Thursday, not Friday

In the scenario, who gets pushed out to make room for the team who doesn’t belong there? Let’s say a 6A team wants to play 7A. Does that mean the #24 team in 7A moves down to 6A? If not, does that force a 5A to bump up into 6A in order to have the right number of teams in each class? Don’t see how this works without causing heartburn for multiple regions

No bias here. Just facts. Grenada was in the title game last year. Literally. They’ve got the recent championship level experience. 2024 is not a 1-off year for them. If Grenada can get HHS on their heels and make them emotional, they’ll get in their feels and get all chippy and bowed up. Coaches included. That scenario does not end well for HHS.

HHS hasn't won a state championship in 100 years. Literally. Having 1 banner year really isn't being battle tested. Have they had an outstanding year? Yes, of course. Nobody argues that. Vance and his kid have done a great job. And that can happen for any team once in a blue moon. The stars align, people stay healthy, you've got a great run in the regular season and good matchups in a playoff bracket and everything goes right. That's what is happening for them this year. And props to them. But if you want to talk about year in & year out battle tested, that title will absolutely go to Grenada. Not saying Grenada will pound Hattiesburg in Hattiesburg. But, saying Hattiesburg is "without a doubt" ready to beat Grenada would a stretch for me.

Agree 100%. 5, 4, 2, & 1 seem like locks to me. 6A - Hattiesburg will make it a good game and being in Hattiesburg will help them have a good crowd in 6A. BUT in the end Grenada has the champ experience to push them over the top. Wondering if Vance would be a candidate for any of the open coaching jobs in other places. 3A - Would like to see Noxubee take the 3A title but wouldn't be surprised either way. Can't wait to watch that Mr. Football QB of theirs who is a State commit. 7 - Tupelo is absolutely rolling this year & should be your champ. They beat Clinton 49-0 after Clinton handed Brandon it's only loss of the season. And Brandon always seems to choke in playoffs. They'll need all the luck if they wear black. Their "black out" themes have never worked. But if they can come out fast and get up quickly, they may be able to make it a game.