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Who is the next Carthage?


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Just looking for some football discussion. Who is that 1 team who is the right hire away from becoming a perennial title contender but hasn’t ever really broken through?

 

Carthage was always talented.  Very rarely “bad”.  But just never consistently put it all together. Then Surratt gets hired and it’s been a level that is arguably near the top of the entire state since. 
 

So, in your opinion, which schools could be the “next” Carthage.

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It is tough to do what Carthage has done and sustain it at the 3A and 4A level.  The one thing they’ve been able to do that most can’t is hold on to their coach . Gilmer was as close as it comes and they eventually lost Traylor. They are still a good program but he made them elite. There may be several schools that are one hire away from serious success but it would be hard to say any program can duplicate the same success Carthage has over such a long period of time. 

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1 hour ago, GWBears01 said:

It is tough to do what Carthage has done and sustain it at the 3A and 4A level.  The one thing they’ve been able to do that most can’t is hold on to their coach . Gilmer was as close as it comes and they eventually lost Traylor. They are still a good program but he made them elite. There may be several schools that are one hire away from serious success but it would be hard to say any program can duplicate the same success Carthage has over such a long period of time. 

Agree

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2 hours ago, GWBears01 said:

It is tough to do what Carthage has done and sustain it at the 3A and 4A level.  The one thing they’ve been able to do that most can’t is hold on to their coach . Gilmer was as close as it comes and they eventually lost Traylor. They are still a good program but he made them elite. There may be several schools that are one hire away from serious success but it would be hard to say any program can duplicate the same success Carthage has over such a long period of time. 

Very well said.

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6 hours ago, BuckNut said:

Henderson and Kilgore have the potential that Carthage does they have the same type kids.

hard for either to be elite when both refuse to play teams like carthage when they don't have to.  

the community of henderson should be embarrassed by their coach and his NOT wanting to keep an awesome rivalry going.  

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7 hours ago, BuckNut said:

In 3a div 1 Atlanta, Commerce, and Gladewater come to mind in Div 2 Pewitt, Arp, EF, Daingerfield and Hughes Springs come to mind.  

In D2 I wouldn’t count out West Rusk. They have some serious talent coming. 

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45 minutes ago, Raiderfan7000 said:

Contenders definitely. I wouldn’t go as far as the next Carthage. That feat is extremely difficult to duplicate. Only a handful of teams that have a Surratt type in Charge. 

There probably isn’t a next Carthage. What they are doing is unprecedented in the lower classifications. 

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Kilgore has a ton of talent coming up, the incoming freshman beat Carthage. The upcoming Sophomore class is pretty salty as well. And the incoming 7th graders will be a handful, if the coaching is up to par like Carthage. 

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1 hour ago, HJR7 said:

Kilgore has a ton of talent coming up, the incoming freshman beat Carthage. The upcoming Sophomore class is pretty salty as well. And the incoming 7th graders will be a handful, if the coaching is up to par like Carthage. 

So Kilgore has a chance at being the next Carthage?

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Hopefully Surratt will groom his successor before he leaves, so Carthage can keep being Carthage (or a little lesser version) after he is gone. I think he has about 6 more years in Carthage. He has said many times he would like to give college football a chance after his son graduates. I would love to see what his offense could do at the college level. That would be fun to see. 

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1 hour ago, Sportsfanatic1 said:

So Kilgore has a chance at being the next Carthage?

They definitely have a chance, have the athletes.  But coaching makes the difference just my opinion though.

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It all depends on the coach. When it comes down to it there are a lot of programs in East Texas  that have the players to be dominant every year. Especially once you start winning and kids start to move in. So I would say whoever hires the next Scott Surratt, Jeff Traylor, or John King will be the next East Texas school to be dominant. A lot of times it’s pure luck in the coaching hires. You just never really know. Look at Scott Surratt. There are a lot of coaches who came from those THS Barry Norton teams. Only Surratt has been a dominant HC. Same with Traylor. There were a lot of guys hired from those Danny Long Jacksonville teams. But JT turned out to be the guy. So it takes a little bit of luck to hire the right guy at the right time.

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