longhorn75

MRA hires Harper Hudnall, to replace Richard Duease as boys basketball. How do we feel about this hiring? I felt that they would've wanted a coach with head coaching experience.

Are they pursuing Herbert Davis from MRA again? I know they tried to hire him last time.

Well, Missy is coming back to USM. If I am Lance Pogue, I am making a massive move for the Brandon job. and Columbia High re-hires Chip. It's a shame that PCS missed out on Chip. I heard some wacky rumors like Brandon was trying to make a move for Herbert Davis to leave MRA, and then Herbert said that he was going to stay at MRA.

Packer is a great hire. He’s a talented offensive mind. He coached under Forrest Williams a while at either MRA or Stanislaus and became the offensive coordinator at Velma and has been very good. He was head coach at Simmons and did a decent job. But went back to Velma for some reason.

Any news on who the coach is?

Philip Short John White Minshew

I'd agree with that. I will never understand why they cut Williams loose. LBHS was almost at a playoff berth, when they reassigned him to be an assistant principal and they hadn't had a winning season since. I believe Williams has a great gig in Texas though.

The one with the most, I am guessing you are referring to McCarty? He’s been successful coaching everywhere. Was OC at MRA for a while and won it all at Brookhaven and had Pillow running well. I think it’s a no brainer bc he has connections with Canton since he went there I believe?

Saw a social media post about Coach Posey stepping down. I think the first place they ought to look is a no-brainer bc they have a seasoned head coach on the coaching staff. but who are we hearing for the job?

Has anyone heard anything about who is the man at Pillow? Their headmaster is now the director of the MSAIS, so its a whole rebuild there.

Lee Academy and Pillow-> the Napkin Bowl.

MRA should have a pretty solid nucleus of kids coming back. Stockett looked very good, but the team was streaky. I'm sure MRA will be good. Curious to see how much is left in the cupboard at Prep, and Hartfield will find ways to get kids to come in. I still don't understand this new system of MAIS classes, I thought they had a good one with 1A-6A, but i guess we will get accustomed to this. MRA being in the same Division as Park Place in Pearl, is very crazy to fathom.

What about Philip Wasson, and David Blount?

I can think of so many David Blount Mac Barnes Herbert Davis David King

I think Prep. Nothing against bowman, but I think Hartfield’s got a bunch of athletes but the strategy isn’t completely there. At times it feels like they play Backyard Football which is not a bad thing. But compared to Prep, where they have a reputation for always being super disciplined and excellently organlzed even from the programs inception, and with Coach Goodwin and Brewer’s D, and Billy Puckett and the talent. I think Prep takes it

There is obviously something of an issue. It’s been six or seven years since Joey Hawkins retired to return to coaching this year at Columbia. Since Hawkins left, they’ve hired three coaches and looking for their fourth. Hawkins was the third football coach in the programs history since PCS only started playing football in 2001 or 02. That’s an insane stat. Aside from Hawkins the longest a coach has been there is four years. respectfully I think this notion that the MHSAA will take issue to the name Presbyterian Christian is laughable. There are several Christian oriented schools that are or have been in the MHSAA, aka SA, Sacred heart etc. and there also have been former schools that have been in that league, like Madison St Joe, and what about University Christian School which later became Hartfield and joined the MAIS? If they didn’t make UCS change their name, I think there’s no chance for them forcing PCS to change there.

MRA probably has one of the finest football coaches currently in the business. Herbert Davis has won everywhere he’s gone private and public. He upped the echelon at MRA when he got there and especially after 2018 with Short and then White. Don’t think anyone thought MRA back in 2011 would even come close to competing with MC and Germantown let alone Oak Grove. They also had that great game with the school Deion coached. It’s Hartfield’s to lose honestly, but MRA and Prep are there too. MRA definitely has picked up momentum though

THE MRA- MSJ game was also played in a fairly torrential downpour.

Probably the biggest shock was MRA Oak Grove. I’m sure even MRA fans were shocked how lopsided that victory was in MRA’s favor. Especially after losing White to graduation. Nobody would’ve thought MRA would have a running clock against OG in the beginning of the second half.

Pogue is a great hire. Been successful everywhere he's been. Honestly, did miracles at JA, first as defensive coordinator, and he made a very mediocre JA team to the big state championship game, actually the last JA coach to beat Prep. He got pushed out due to some administrative changes, and he was decent his one year at Heritage. With Pogue and Joey Hawkins, the talent pool has great coaching.

A big money yet big expectations job. I’m curious to see with Joey Hawkins at Columbia Academy, now and him bringing in a truly all star coaching staff, where Columbia goes. This has to be a slam dunk hire for them bc Hawkins is now in town.

I am curious if they move Tommy Ferrill back to offensive coordinator.

Wow. JA hires former Kent State DC Dave Duggan as their new head coach... He was their defensive coordinator in 2022. I have no doubt as his being an excellent defensive coach, however this hire is likely not suited well for the inherent issues at JA right now. I would've liked to see an MAIS vet, but wish him the best.

I had seen that there was a petition to keep Coach Plummer at Richland.

I respectfully disagree on the football and baseball culture shift. Football has always been a huge deal for Jackson Academy, especially with the coaches they had 20 or so years, ago. They were a perennial powerhouse when Hawkins and Sykes were there, and with Coach Blount and Shaw were very stinking good. Same with Coach Powell when he coached baseball there. Aside from the obvious migrations from the Jackson area especially the Ridgewood side, I think you can attribute the successes of other athletic programs to JA's success on the gridiron. Hawkins was able to develop his outstanding skill players because he had such a rock solid boy's track program, a strategy that contributed to his success at PCS as well. I do agree that they need a young coach who can compete and knows the tools of success that we have seen out of Davis and MRA, and even the resurgence of Jackson Prep with Goodwin. I cannot emphasize this enough though, the new coach HAS TO KNOW THE MAIS. This has been an issue with a lot of these MAIS teams that hire these out of association coaches who struggle with the program. There are exceptions like Black, Barnes, and Goodwin, but yeah.