BleacherCoaches.com

nLions1 wrote:Honestly, its not hard to explain. They yell 10x more, the play calls are more advanced, they call out fake plays as well as real plays at the same time on defense (Im guessing since the competition is so much more difficult they dont want the other teams to be able to read what they are calling at all)

They didnt run just a simple offense, such as you'll see the power I, or shotgun from what teams rely on in the LHAC. You see different formations depending on the down and yardage, and they spread the ball around so much more. Its basically unpredictable what the coaches are going to call. Most times in the LHAC you know Richland is going to pass 90% of the game, or FH is going to run 75%. WPIAL teams are mostly 50/50, or from what i saw at least.

LHAC coaches are traditional, WPIAL coaches actually bring new things to the table every game.

If a player would drop a pass, you knew he regretted it. As soon as he stepped on the sideline the coaches were chewing him out, even if he dropped a pass in double coverage. Now what happens if a player drops a pass in the LHAC? Coaches most often shrug it off. The coaches just know how to coach better than the LHAC. Ive played in the LHAC, and the WPIAL is just a different atmosphere, trust me. Go to a WPIAL game if you ever get the chance, you'll see the difference instantly.

Hahaha, so the more you yell, the better coach you are?? I guess that guy on "The Waterboy" that yelled gibberish all game would be the best coach around!

No, what makes the WPIAL so much "better" is the athletes (not talent). Give BC, BM, FH those athletes and they'd be competing with WPIAL no doubt in my mind. Actually, vice versa, give TJ, Jeanette etc teams from the LHAC and see how good they do! The coaches in the LHAC do a great job at getting the most out of what they got. Another thing, its not just head coaches out there. Assistant coaches are just as valuable. I'd take FH and BM coaching staffs over anyones in the state.

PS...anyone remember that line in Remember the Titans "I run 6 plays, just like novicaine, give it time, it always works" If what you run gets the job done, they why feel the need to get all fancy? Does that mean you dont change your scheme to match what other teams are thowing at you, no, it just means you dont have to go out of ur way to put in this package or that if you dont have to...

pats39 wrote: Just a lot of the schemes and strategies are far behind compared to the quality WPIAL games.

First off, didn't someone take over as the English Nazi but I digress! Tell me patty, now many WPIAL games do you see a year? How many have u seen this yr.?

I coached baseball & football for a private school & competed against the WPIAL for years...Are there not something like 5 times as many WPIAL schools as there are D6 schools? I hope they have some good coaches!

And, as a known BM fan, I will leave them out of this discussion....Look @ the offenses Donbo comes up w/ @ fh...pretty dang diversified & u have to defend whole field when playing him; not many hs coaches mix run & throw as well & gets ball in space to playmakers! Even Don jr @ Richland has in last 2/3 yrs put together a Wildcat/Spread throwing attack that is pretty darn impressive along w/ utilizing the strengths of certain individual athletes (qb, wr's) and not relying on an an area of weakness (OL/run blocking). And Sponsky @ BC winning several D6 titles & taking a squad to the State title game...he certainly tailors/tweaks his offense yearly to fit the athletes he has: Power I, Wishbone like, more recently shot gun/Widcat like, heckuva coach! Ernie F. @ PC knows more than a little bit about offense (his team in '98 I believe w/ Peterman & Facianni was incredible offensively). Franco @ Tyrone is outstanding and i witnessed his squad a few yrs ago spank Seton Lasalle in Western Semi-Finals (still have never seen a better hs lineman than T. Tate) Juice runs an absolutely incredible offense @ Portage (I don't care what conf., or who they play....they are @ level & produce every yr.) How about Meyersdale offense 2 yrs ago (saw them once live & once on film) they were fantastic...and the job they did @ N Star just recently kudos to SS & staff..... & there are more; don't even know the coaches name @ BG (saw them twice this yr) but their OL prob. avgs 5' 10" 190 lbs but that guy takes advantage of their quickness/feet & let's his qb make plays all day long.....utilizes/hides his stud receiver well...split out, slotted, @ te, @ wing back.....nah patty no good/sophisticated coaches 'round here...i think you'd be surprised how much film is watched & how very, very well prepared a lot of area teams are.

A- It is going to come down to Bishop McCort and Portage, and at this moment I dont see Portage running on the McCort defense with the success they saw in the West PAC. It is simple, whom ever controls the line of scrimmage, tackles better, and executes is the team that will come out on top. I'm not making a prediction on the score, but in the end I just see the Crushers will prove to be too much for the 'Stangs.

AA- This is an intersesting playoff year where all the teams have a shot to go to the championship game and there is no clear favorite. Tyrone is avery good team but i think a tad overrated, because of how they have performed the previous two years in the playoffs; Central is a team on the rise, and who knows, they might be the team that will turn some heads this playoff year; Richland will be no walk in the park because they put points on the board, and in a hurry!!; Cental Cambria is a solid team, but has alot to prove this year after last year's heart wrenching loss to McCort!; and Forest Hills will be looking for payback with a possible rematch with the Red Devils if it gets to that point. In the end I just think Central Cambria finds a way to prove to the area they are for real this year and get it done. They do so with another impressive win over the Rangers.

AAA- Hollidaysburg has pretty much owned this classification for the last couple of years and things won't change much this year. The Golden Tigers roar again, this time over Greater Johnstown in a close fought battle.

AAAA- Don't know to much about the teams other than what I have read in the paper and on the internet but I'll still render my verdict. State College beats whomever shows up to play!!

There are some good coaches in District 5/6--Franco, Bailey, and Gawen Stoker are the ones who stick out, in my opinion...But look at the WPIAL AAAA:

Jack McCurry, North Hills
Jim Render, Upper Saint Clair
Art Walker, North Allegheny (formerly at Pitts CC)
Neil Gordon, Shaler Area (formerly at Penn Hills)
Bill Cherpak, Thomas Jefferson

I don't include the guy from Gateway in this list because he wins with the talent he flat out recruits. That's just a sample...All are proven winners against the best competition that PA HS football has to offer.

The WPIAL has many more teams, thus a better chance of churning out good teams as a district than 5/6. DON'T FORGET THIS EITHER: because it's so large, the WPIAL has its share of bad football teams, too. I have seen AAAA Connellsville play, and they'd be about 7-3 in the ELHACK. The WPIAL has a few teams at A and AA and even AAA that are just plain awful. It's just that the better teams here are so much better than the better teams in D 5/6 year in and year out. If Thomas Jefferson was in District 5/6 they could play that famous game show "NAME THAT SCORE" everrry week...

I have said this before, though, and I will say it again:

In terms of speed and sophistication of the game, watching a WeakPac game is like watching a freshman game between two good AAAA frosh teams. Watching an ELHACK game is like watching a JV game between two AAAA teams or a game between the backups from North Hills and North Allegheny. That's why LaRod Stephens-Howling racked up like 5,000 yards rushing his senior year. He was a once-in-a-lifetime player in the ELHACK.

Honest to God, all you District 5/6 fans ...Try to get on the sidelines and watch and ELHACK or WeakPac game, then go watch a WPIAL AAAA game from the sidelines and tell me if you think this is true. If you want, I'll get you a sideline pass some Friday night next season at a WPIAL AAAA game (too late this year.)

If you're honest with yourself, you will quickly determine the answer after a few series by each team.

Competition is relative. I am sure that TAE will chime in that the class 6A schools in Texas would make WPIAL AAAA teams look like the WPIAL wopuld make Disrict 5/6 look. There may be some merit in that statement, too, although I think that the 2-3 best WPIAL AAAA teams could compete with just about any state's best teams from their top classification.

NOW...I want to hear that story yet again about how that mighty, MiGhty, MIGHTY Ranger team of yesteryear beat the class AA New Brighton team that was ranked like 3rd in the Universe ahead of tOSU, gateway, and Penn State and had 23 D1 starters, yet only 22 positions (rolls eyes)...Every time you guys play a WPIAL team, you think this...It makes me laugh.

hey wpial toenail---- thanks for the newsflash---- why not compare 6A teams from texas that have 3000 kids to make up a team and compare them to our A and AA teams---- just got a call from surgery, they are waiting for you -- you brain surgeon

read my post more closely and I basically say what you do...

Thanks, bleacherfan...I will schedule you in for surgery about 4AM tomorrow morning...You'll be my first patient of the day for a frontal lobotomy.

WT

hey toenail-- your not allowed to go back to a post and add stuff after you figured out you cut your lip with your toenail--- to late -- you already stuck your foot in your mouth

Vman, you just told me that Richland offense is pretty darn impressive. Comon now man, have you seen how bland and basic it is, I dont care how many passing yards they have. You actually have an option/QB read game from the spread offense and a little more pass diversication then maybe Richland could be considered a impressive offense. And yes Vman I have seen both top LHAC coaches and top WPIAL coaches at work, it is night and day in terms of strategery- in terms of motivating players and putting hours in yea LHAC are great.

pats39 wrote:Vman, you just told me that Richland offense is pretty darn impressive. Comon now man, have you seen how bland and basic it is, I dont care how many passing yards they have. You actually have an option/QB read game from the spread offense and a little more pass diversication then maybe Richland could be considered a impressive offense. And yes Vman I have seen both top LHAC coaches and top WPIAL coaches at work, it is night and day in terms of strategery- in terms of motivating players and putting hours in yea LHAC are great.

Patty:

You sound like a bitter player or ex-player that didn't or doesn't get enough touches in the Richland offense. Or maybe a parent that is having their kids D1 dreams crushed because of the poor coaching (lol). I only see them once a year, but every week I read in the paper that 7 or 8 different kids are catching the ball and a handful of kids are running the ball successfully. They actually seem like they are running the ball better this year than the past several years. And in terms of pass diversification, I checked Maxpreps and they have something like 15 different kids having caught passes in varsity games this fall. You need to get out and watch some other high school offenses if you want to see pass diversification because I haven't seen many offenses in this area that are as diversified as Ramires and company. The fact that I do know about the richland offense is that BC has trouble every year as we are 0-3 the past three years.

No ,I very much agree Richland runs a productive offense and distrubtes the ball well. I just feel that there offense this year and last year with some more diversication and variation could have won them a lot more games. Take for example there lack of red zone scoring this year, resulting in a .500 year most likely this year. Can not you agree that they should have more wins than 5 this year? I am not blaming that all on offense though, there defensive schemes and philosophies are pretty weak