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Essary leaving Athens


Sandman

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https://www.athensreview.com/hornets-essary-resigns-as-athletic-director-head-football-coach/article_dde286a0-f1b4-11e8-9bb0-cbdc7342f8f8.html

I worked for him for 7 of those 10 years.  We didn't always agree on everything, but he was a great guy to work for. Turned Athens around when everyone said it couldn't be done. Wish him and Mrs. Essary the best on whatever they decide to do next.

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Guest Tiger03lb

I got a couple of friends that are on the staff. They told me that they got some young talent coming up. They had a few good lineman this year that they'll have to fill in next year. Have no clue what direction they are going yet.

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47 minutes ago, Tiger03lb said:

I got a couple of friends that are on the staff. They told me that they got some young talent coming up. They had a few good lineman this year that they'll have to fill in next year. Have no clue what direction they are going yet.

Well, if they are on staff and they don't know which direction they are going then it is probably not a slam dunk inside hire. An inside guy may interview, but it sounds like it is an open competition.

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This would be a great job!  Brand new facilities and you are in an easy district.  I think with some new blood and a new voice Athens will take off.  Essary has underachieved and that is the reason they are wanting to move in another direction.  Should have been done a few years ago. It will be very interesting who they applies and who they hire. Wing T is gone

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3 hours ago, betweentheposts said:

This would be a great job!  Brand new facilities and you are in an easy district.  I think with some new blood and a new voice Athens will take off.  Essary has underachieved and that is the reason they are wanting to move in another direction.  Should have been done a few years ago. It will be very interesting who they applies and who they hire. Wing T is gone

How did Essary underachieve? He’s the winningest coach in Athens’ history with 75 and the most playoff wins with 4 which to me says as much about the job he did as it does about the mountain he had to try and climb. 

Athens has never been consistently successful in football and there are a lot of reasons for that. Coach Essary is a wing guy for sure but he took what he knew and got as much out of those kids as anyone before him. I saw many games where they were outmanned but rarely a game where they didn’t look like they knew what they were doing. That’s not just coaching. That’s genetics. That’s a lack of industry to bring people into town. That’s decades of accepted mediocrity. 

Athens does not have the athletes currently to run the spread. And anyone that thinks they do are delusional. No matter what incarnation of the spread you run, you have to have speed, an offensive line, and a QB that can at least keep defenses honest with his arm. Keep in mind that not every offense that operates out of the shotgun is the spread. 

No matter what systems you run on offense or defense, it takes more than ink on a page to make it work. That ink doesn’t run. It doesn’t tackle. Do I think Essary underachieved? Coaches always have games that they wish they could have back. But in most years I feel like he took the teams as far as the talent could go. 

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32 minutes ago, Destry said:

Funny how some school know it alls think you have to run the spread when other offenses are much better suited for the talent available

More than one way to skin a cat, but I understand what you are saying. I really don't think a formation has anything to do with what you are offensively though. I think you can be a 90% run team just as easily from the spread as you can from under center in the wing-t.  And you can be a 90% pass team just as easily from under center as you can in the gun and spread. I just don't hang my hat on the "formation." 

And to answer your question,  somebody has to be the decision maker. Somebody has to be the boss. They get to decide who is hired and what they are looking for as far as philosophy is concerned. Is it the right choice in this case, only time will tell.

And to tell you the truth, one of the best offense's I have ever seen used the Wing-T about 30% of the time and pistol spread about 70% of the time. 

 

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59 minutes ago, YourKillinMePetey said:

How did Essary underachieve? He’s the winningest coach in Athens’ history with 75 and the most playoff wins with 4 which to me says as much about the job he did as it does about the mountain he had to try and climb. 

I have no idea if he underachieved or not but his record at Athens was 60-51. The newspaper article about his resignation was not accurate. 

Great facilities. Maybe as nice as any in the state for a school their size.

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Were they ever in the District of Doom? You play in the district of doom and have a record of 60-51 now you are doing something. I guess mediocrity is what they are going for in the town of Athens? They build you real nice facilities they expect more than average I would think. 

 

Sounds good to me.  I have no dog in this fight.

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18 hours ago, playactionpass39 said:

 

More than one way to skin a cat, but I understand what you are saying. I really don't think a formation has anything to do with what you are offensively though. I think you can be a 90% run team just as easily from the spread as you can from under center in the wing-t.  And you can be a 90% pass team just as easily from under center as you can in the gun and spread. I just don't hang my hat on the "formation." 

And to answer your question,  somebody has to be the decision maker. Somebody has to be the boss. They get to decide who is hired and what they are looking for as far as philosophy is concerned. Is it the right choice in this case, only time will tell.

And to tell you the truth, one of the best offense's I have ever seen used the Wing-T about 30% of the time and pistol spread about 70% of the time. 

 

Good thoughts ...

The list of Old Days thinking:

Unless you can recruit, choose your scheme to match your players.

Never run anything you can't teach or your kids can't learn.

No scheme is more important than the fundamentals.

Don't run anything you cannot fix or adjust at halftime or from week-to-week.

The quickest way to turn a program around is on the defensive side of the ball.

Combine simplicity with flexibility – confuse their kids not yours.

Develop a system – not just a collection of plays.

Pay attention to detail – it's always all about the details.

Demand that your best players also be your best people.

Gosh ... I could write a book to justify each of these.  Techniques change - fundamentals never do.

 

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36 minutes ago, DOB said:

Good thoughts ...

The list of Old Days thinking:

Unless you can recruit, choose your scheme to match your players.

Never run anything you can't teach or your kids can't learn.

No scheme is more important than the fundamentals.

Don't run anything you cannot fix or adjust at halftime or from week-to-week.

The quickest way to turn a program around is on the defensive side of the ball.

Combine simplicity with flexibility – confuse their kids not yours.

Develop a system – not just a collection of plays.

Pay attention to detail – it's always all about the details.

Demand that your best players also be your best people.

Gosh ... I could write a book to justify each of these.  Techniques change - fundamentals never do.

 

@DOB, these are TIMELESS!!! Lot's of "old time" thinking that has gone by the wayside and a lot of "new school" thinking that does not hold water. But these, IMO, will always be accurate. Only change I would make to fit our society today is the word DEMAND. That word can get you a wee bit of trouble. Encourage, cajole, or inspire might be a better choice of verbiage here.

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2 hours ago, playactionpass39 said:

@DOB, these are TIMELESS!!! Lot's of "old time" thinking that has gone by the wayside and a lot of "new school" thinking that does not hold water. But these, IMO, will always be accurate. Only change I would make to fit our society today is the word DEMAND. That word can get you a wee bit of trouble. Encourage, cajole, or inspire might be a better choice of verbiage here.

Tis all about EXPECTATIONS ... without 'em, you are captain of a boat without a rudder .... if they can't accept the role, then don't expect much success during the season.

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55 minutes ago, DOB said:

Tis all about EXPECTATIONS ... without 'em, you are captain of a boat without a rudder .... if they can't accept the role, then don't expect much success during the season.

Expectations with a plan to achieve them.

There has to be a fundamental plan in place  on how you are going to get where you want to go. And the "leaders" job is to draw up the plan, sell his plan to everybody involved, be detailed and committed in his approach to achieving those goals and holding everybody accountable.

And most importantly, IMO, do all of it with positivity, passion and enthusiasm.  Way too much negativity in coaching today. Kids don't respond to being beat down. I know you have to "coach" them, but you don't have to tear them down. 

Also, I think you have to be prepared to answer the question WHY? Administrators, community members, parents, and players want to know WHY? If you are going to be a successful head coach in today's society you have to have an answer when somebody ask you WHY?

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Funny thing about expectations ... I came to learn that raising them has a price.

You see, I believe that you can't raise expectations on others until you first raise them on yourself.

If I raise expectations on you ... and then I teach the the same stuff the same way ... what are the chances that you will achieve that higher plateau.

It's like Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."

That's why it's much easier to enter with high expectations than it is to raise them once you've been there a while.hand.jpg

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On 12/6/2018 at 8:20 AM, betweentheposts said:

Essary has underachieved and that is the reason they are wanting to move in another direction.  Should have been done a few years ago. 

To each his own ... but I see nothing in the data to indicate that he underachieved.  If anything, they owe him a great deal of gratitude for changing the culture in a program that was far from storied.

When he arrived ….

Athens hadn't had a winning season in the previous 13 seasons.

Athens football history showed a winning percentage of .472

1959 was the only season that the Hornets had won 10 games in a season

Over the last ten seasons, Athens had a winning percentage of only .218 !

During his ten years as Head Coach ….

Athens had 4 winning seasons and 2 more at 5-5

Athens had a winning percentage of .541

Athens had 2 seasons of 10 or more wins

Now you  can say what you want, but one thing I'm sure of … he leaves the program in very much better shape than it was when he arrived.

And I assure you that there will be more quality applicants for this job now than there were when he applied a decade ago.

succ.jpg

 

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Yes, he got the program going in the right direction but then stalled out several years ago. Its just the way life is in today's world, everyone expects more out of you. What is the reason they are releasing him? That is the question you have to ask. Why? Making the playoffs in a 6 team district, 4 teams go, isn't enough to make the powers of above always happy. Of course there is places in ET that not winning is good enough, like Palestine and Robert E. Lee, but its obvious Athens wants more.

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13 minutes ago, betweentheposts said:

Yes, he got the program going in the right direction but then stalled out several years ago. Its just the way life is in today's world, everyone expects more out of you. What is the reason they are releasing him? That is the question you have to ask. Why? Making the playoffs in a 6 team district, 4 teams go, isn't enough to make the powers of above always happy. Of course there is places in ET that not winning is good enough, like Palestine and Robert E. Lee, but its obvious Athens wants more.

Not all that glitters is gold ... winning is a goal, an objective, an outcome, or a result ... nothing wrong with that ... but someone wiser that me once said that - the problem with winning is that once you start you better not stop ... because people come to take it for granted and expect it  ... if the expectations are more - then make sure that more is obtainable ... I wish him luck on his future journey ... I wish Athens luck on their future journey - as long as they don't forget, that it's ALWAYS ALL about the kids.

success.jpg

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