Ridge View 35, Daniel 28 - Final

[bbrown1240]

I’ve said it before...Perry Parks is a very good coach and I honestly see him being the next head coach at Dutch Fork when Knotts decides to hang it up.

I also believe Greenwood would be crazy not to reach out to him to at least gauge his interest in the job. I don’t think he would go, but if I were the AD, I would at least reach out. What he has done at Lakewood and at Ridge View is nothing short of remarkable.

[Onion Rings]

he's done good this year for sure but Ridge View is loaded with talent. Really they have under achieved historically. 1 career win vs. York (this year) confirms that despite York being very average over some of those years

His antics and the way his teams have played against South Pointe in the past leave much to be desired. If you are unfamiliar, I'm not going to go into it

[Penguin]

Ridge View has been an enigma for me all season long. Every single time that I have picked them, they have lost, (until last night) and every single time that I picked against them, they won. I don't see them beating either Greenville or Wren next week, but one never knows.

[Onion Rings]

they have players for sure

[bbrown1240]

I judge a coach by the entire body of work, not against one or two teams. The fact is that he has a track record for turning programs around. There are two main reasons Ridge View has underachieved in the past 15 years...Blythewood and Westwood. Ridge View was an average program before Parks got there.

[Onion Rings]

I judge a coach by the entire body of work, not against one or two teams. The fact is that he has a track record for turning programs around. There are two main reasons Ridge View has underachieved in the past 15 years...Blythewood and Westwood. Ridge View was an average program before Parks got there.

I agree and would even concede that Ridge View was worse than average before he got there, so credit where credit is due. Just saying with those players they should have won more. Have never beaten SP which yeah is understandable

and if you're judging the entire body of work, then include those games against SP where they were basically trying to incite a riot on the field both before, during and after the games a few times, so theres that. Besides that I'm guessing RV pays more than GW

[bbrown1240]

I wouldn’t disagree. All I know about RV/SP is what I read, and it hasn’t been good.

I would like to see what Coach Parks would do if he had access to an even deeper pool of athletes. No shortage of athletes at RV, but they are essentially sharing athletes with Blythewood, Westwood, and Spring Valley.

[Deputy]

Is there a big difference in pay between Dutch Fork and Ridge view? If Parks would get a huge pay bump I could see him being interested in going there when Knotts hangs it up. But if not, what is the upside? Parks does a good job, but there arent many Tom Knotts on the high school world. That has been proven at two separate schools that only had marginal success before his arrival. Taking over at Dutch Fork would be a thankless task. Currently, DF doesnt just win, they dominate people. There is zero upside. You cant really improve over what they are doing. A new coach could win every game, but if most weren't won in dominating fashion, the supporters would start talking about the program slipping. Lord knows what would happen if they actually lost a region game. I guess getting offered that job would be good for the ego. But that might be about it.

[bbrown1240]

Right now...there is a huge difference between pay, and there will continue to be as long as its coupled with the athletic director position. Knotts is close to $110,000. Reggie Kennedy was making the same as Knotts when he was at Irmo. Kennedy left Sumter High after 1 year making about $85,000 coming off of a state championship appearance....walked into a worse situation at Irmo but he wasn’t going to turn down the pay. I feel Ridge View/Richland Dist. 2 will have to bump his salary to keep him. If he continues to have success at Ridge View, bigger programs will want him. I wouldn’t mind Parks coming to Sumter when Mark Barnes leaves in another 3-5 years. He is a Sumter native. Sumter pays Barnes over $90,000 to coach football and ‘teach’ the football class.

Interesting note...Irmo split the two positions when Kennedy left. If the same is going to happen at Dutch Fork when Knotts leaves, does the job still attract a coach of Knotts’ caliber? Probably not of his caliber. It would attract a coach that was in the same position Knotts was in (successful coach retired from another state with an opportunity to make two incomes), or a young, successful, up and coming coach like Perry Parks (who also just happens to live in the Irmo area). It will be hard for anyone to follow up Knotts’ success, but the resources will still be in place for DF to be successful.

That being said, if I was the Greenwood AD, Perry Parks would be on my short list of in state coaches that I would reach out to. It’s a long shot, but worth a chance.