Pascagoula Football

[swamppanther]

Where does it go from here?

 

The Junior class was exceptionally good in their younger years. But haven’t been developed as of late. 
 

A new AD, (Pascagoula Only) will he be another yes man or will he make moves to try and turn this program around. 

It should be time for a major change and whomever comes in should be allowed to pick assistants. 
 

Sims likely heads out to pasture at RCS, will he raid some talent like Sisson did?

[Archer]

Lot to unpack here.

 

First, much of what transpires will depend on the superintendent hire and his/her approach to athletics and the delegating or micro-managing the operation of the program.  I don't believe Rodo will make a move on the way out the door.

 

Secondly, Sims has another year reach twenty-five in the state system so it's something worth considering although he could continue teaching and not coach.  

 

Your fourth sentence is a major point and will be an indicator of how serious the commitment to winning is in Pascagoula going forward because NO good/great candidate is coming here with such strings attached. 

 

This season is over and they have been eliminated from the playoffs which is totally unacceptable given the expectations of the upperclassmen and from building off the nearly improbable run to Jackson.  Players aren't being developed, the defense -- maybe the worst in the modern era -- is soft, and the offense continually shoots itself in the foot with penalties, faulty shotgun snaps, and turnovers.

 

It's all been covered in other threads on this message board so there's no need to elaborate further but I'll end with this anyway: Pascagoula is an apathetic town in which the majority of the citizens don't care about winning football.  If the demand for accountability was present, then the current staff would no longer be coaching here.  We were fortunate in hiring Lewis Sims in 2010 because he was a different coach eleven years ago and assembled a good staff to coach a very talented generation of Panthers.  The other candidates were few and unimpressive.  The outgoing administration had a reputation (among other things as being athletic unfriendly) which certainly extended far and wide across the state so it should not have been a surprise the football program was unable to attract a deep and quality pool of candidates.  Soon it will be under new leadership so we shall see if the future holds a change in mentality.

[GoulaEagle05]

A change is coming I believe. I think Sims will return for his last year needed for state retirement and then move on to RCS like many folk in the town say. Pascagoula is a different program today, than it was when Sims was hired. Facilities are among the best around on the coast. There is talent here and coming up. The program as a whole has experienced more success in the past decade than it did prior to Sims' arrival. I think it will attract some quality candidates. The biggest question is what will the Admin be like. I have heard in the past that red tape/restrictions that Rodo and Co. had in place turned away a lot of quality candidates for coaching jobs in all sports in both Pascagoula and Gautier. There needs to be some house cleaning, but I believe there are some good assistant coaches that will help the program grow. The reality in HS football is that no staff is going to be completely wiped out. Most schools have gone away from tying teaching/coaching jobs together which makes it harder for coaches to bring in their own guys. I think when Sims came in, he was only able to bring Fant and one other assistant from MP. The other staff members were already on staff. I think if they allow a new HC to bring in 3-4 of his own guys, that would be fine. I agree the district as a whole is not committed to building a successful program in Pascagoula. Game day atmospheres suck in all sports for the most part. The district as a whole needs to reset. Hopefully a new Superintendent can shock things in a positive way! I'm a glass half full guy and will try to always find the positive in situations LOL. Definitely a disappointing season given the expectations coming in, should've beaten both Harrison Central and D'Iberville. If the offense executes better against Gulfport, I think that is winnable too. I'll be honest felt OS was better than us and even playing our best game, I didn't think it would be enough. However, I surprised to only muster 3 points. Again, we had opportunities, but ultimately made nothing out of them. I hope we can rally the troops and finish the season strong. 

[Archer]

Fant and Cochran came with him at the least.  However, they were CRUCIAL in the success from ‘11-‘15.

 

Pennock hired a staff of his choosing.  I can’t confirm he retained any holdovers from the Ross staff but I’ve been told he didn’t.

 

You can’t hamstring a potential quality candidate with the stipulation of him having to make it work with a given number of assistants already in place — nobody worth a damn is coming here with that caveat (unless they luck up with some wunderkind assistant looking for a head gig).

 

I’d like to hear from the Wayne County contingent on this — was Hankins able to assemble the staff of his choosing?
 

 

Edited October 19, 2021 by Archer

[GoulaEagle05]

I know there are at least 3-4 assistants on the staff now that were there when Ross was there. There were more last year, but a few left I believe which opened the door for guys like USM Alums Tracey Lampley and Allen Howze to join the staff. I have a buddy who is on the staff now that was with Pennock at Pass and he was able to join the staff this year after a few coaching spots opened up. 

 

For the record, I agree, the coach needs to have some say in who he wants as assistants. New coach should have the chance to interview all on current staff to determine who he wants or think is a good fit. However, the way the vast majority of HS systems are set up, you don't see a huge staff turnover like you do at the collegiate/pro level. 

[slicklizard]

1 hour ago, Archer said:

 

 

The main thing that happened with Coach Hankins was that the new Supt took it serious and did the hire himself. He did the right thing and asked Coach Mangum who was the man for the job. Coach Mangum told him to call Coach Hankins and see if he would be interested so apparently they knew each other. As far as the assistants , Wareglefan and Wabo1 probably know better than me, but we only had three or four last year. I know the defensive coordinator was coach Chapman who is a beat supervisor now and offense was interm Coach Kat who left before school started. Our new defensive coordinator was under Coach Mangum so I think Coach Hankins knew him from that time and the offensive coordinator is a young guy Coach brought in from somewhere in Georgia..

A program can be turned around quick if the man at the top wants it to work and puts any political allegiances and old friendships aside.

From the outside look in Pascagoula  could be back amongst the best in no time because they have the athletes already in place they just need a fresh approach 

Edited October 19, 2021 by slicklizard

[Archer]

50 minutes ago, GoulaEagle05 said:

I know there are at least 3-4 assistants on the staff now that were there when Ross was there. There were more last year, but a few left I believe which opened the door for guys like USM Alums Tracey Lampley and Allen Howze to join the staff. I have a buddy who is on the staff now that was with Pennock at Pass and he was able to join the staff this year after a few coaching spots opened up. 

 

For the record, I agree, the coach needs to have some say in who he wants as assistants. New coach should have the chance to interview all on current staff to determine who he wants or think is a good fit. However, the way the vast majority of HS systems are set up, you don't see a huge staff turnover like you do at the collegiate/pro level. 

 

I'll take your word on that then.  

[Wcchaingang]

22 minutes ago, slicklizard said:

The main thing that happened with Coach Hankins was that the new Supt took it serious and did the hire himself. He did the right thing and asked Coach Mangum who was the man for the job. Coach Mangum told him to call Coach Hankins and see if he would be interested so apparently they knew each other. As far as the assistants , Wareglefan and Wabo1 probably know better than me, but we only had three or four last year. I know the defensive coordinator was coach Chapman who is a beat supervisor now and offense was interm Coach Kat who left before school started. Our new defensive coordinator was under Coach Mangum so I think Coach Hankins knew him from that time and the offensive coordinator is a young guy Coach brought in from somewhere in Georgia..

A program can be turned around quick if the man at the top wants it to work and puts any political allegiances and old friendships aside.

From the outside look in Pascagoula  could be back amongst the best in no time because they have the athletes already in place they just need a fresh approach 

Hankins was able to hire I believe 2 guys. And Cooley was allowed to come back to coaching along with administration duties. Hankins got to know Mangum some from a couple years ago we played a home and home in the spring with Thomasville.

[VancleaveDogs]

Hey Archer, I don't know alot about Goula except they beat us pretty bad this year and had a heck of an athlete at QB, you think Fant would be a possible candidate at Goula ???

[Archer]

9 minutes ago, VancleaveDogs said:

Hey Archer, I don't know alot about Goula except they beat us pretty bad this year and had a heck of an athlete at QB, you think Fant would be a possible candidate at Goula ???

 

Doubtful.  He left Pascagoula because of the commute to his home in northern Jackson County.  Honestly, though, I don't foresee interest from either party and he hasn't auditioned well in his first head gig.  It's true Pascagoula's offense has never recovered from his departure -- he developed QBs so well and game-planned at a higher level than his successors.  But I'm not so sure he's got what it takes to be a good to great head coach.  Personality-wise, he may be at odds with some of the intangibles necessary for that to work really well.

 

 

[GoulaEagle05]

1 hour ago, Archer said:

 

Doubtful.  He left Pascagoula because of the commute to his home in northern Jackson County.  Honestly, though, I don't foresee interest from either party and he hasn't auditioned well in his first head gig.  It's true Pascagoula's offense has never recovered from his departure -- he developed QBs so well and game-planned at a higher level than his successors.  But I'm not so sure he's got what it takes to be a good to great head coach.  Personality-wise, he may be at odds with some of the intangibles necessary for that to work really well.

 

 

Yeah, I don't think it would be a good fit for him or Goula. Honestly would like to see them try and get someone out of the area. 

[Archer]

43 minutes ago, GoulaEagle05 said:

Yeah, I don't think it would be a good fit for him or Goula. Honestly would like to see them try and get someone out of the area. 

Yessir.  Preferably Alabama.