Smith Named Head Coach at Laurens

[Onion Rings]

Valid point Spec. Why do you think the numbers fell off at every level almost immediately? I do agree that politics, admin and school boards can ruin a football program. Unfortunately, it happens in high schools around our state quite often.

the culture of communities can change too. Look at Berea from years ago to now

[spectator]

Valid point Spec. Why do you think the numbers fell off at every level almost immediately? I do agree that politics, admin and school boards can ruin a football program. Unfortunately, it happens in high schools around our state quite often.

Great question, you have obviously seen this situation before. Before i say anything let me say this; i am representing ONE PERSON, ME. Nobody else! To answer your question, here is what i saw with my eyes and heard with my ears.
Black parents in 96 began to be very unsettled when Coach Moore was fired, and the board and AD said openly that his firing was "for no reason, they didn't have to give him a reason", and they were legally right. Coach Moore was highly respected in the black community, his firing created some very bad vibes.
Then the whole Reco Abney situation came up and the black parents pretty much lost all trust in the entire athletic program and felt their child could never be good enough to get a fair shake if Reco couldn't. The white parents, for the most part, stayed faithful to the school and booster club but the black parents saw it clearer and lost trust.
Then there were lots of conversations among the black parents about whether the starting 11 were the best 11. They were very dissatisfied with the minutes some players were getting.
Then Neal becomes coach and he is told by the super who his qb must be, 2 kids were competing for it. Neal, BTW, never lost a game by more than 7, even under this situation, and his schedule was brutal; he played the best teams in 2-a that year.
The black community loved Neal and when he was shot in the back, just like Coach Moore had been, that was it. They stopped encouraging their kids to play sports at any level and the castle quickly crumbled from top to bottom.
This is what I saw.
Programs like 96 had do not fall to nothing just because of the up and down of talent. That was a very solid program, well built but not sustained. The school board is mostly to blame for this. One of their main jobs is to protect every asset the students have and they failed the students miserably here. I am sure you have seen it before.

[spectator]

Spec that was 20 years ago. Talent comes and goes. Lots can change in 20 years.

True, but the evidence says otherwise in Ninety Six. Firing Brian Neal was a death blow to Ninety Six football. Since that happened there have been very few years where 96 has been able to field a middle school, high school and JV team, something that hasn't ever happened there.Even the park and rec teams have had a difficult time fielding teams, and there used to be 2 teams for each age group. This has NOTHING to do with talent but everything to do with kids losing interest in the sport. Politics can assassinate a football program quicker than anything else and that is exactly what has happened at 96, along with the "off the cliff" drop in the overall quality of the school district. It's no secret.

I mean I'm happy as all get out that we have Brian Neal as an assistant at Emerald, but there's got to be more than a few reasons why he isn't a head coach anywhere.

Neal proved himself first at 96 and then at Mc Cormick. Had he not taken the Aiken job there is a very high likelihood that he would be the coach at B-L now.

[RoadWarrior98]

Thanks for the insight Spec. I have heard rumblings about 96 for years but did not know that. Yes I have seen that happen before. These instances are not always the same, but there are definitely similarities. The biggest common denominator is the school board becoming too involved. Get the wrong 7 people on a school board with a superintendent that want put them in their place and you are staring at a disaster.

[Icoachfootball2]

He forgot to mention that the other QB in Neal's QB controversy was his step-son. A difficult situation that was handled poorly by Neal and others, and it did split the community. It did a lot of damage and that's hard to overcome in a small community. It STILLS has scars from it now. As far as 96 having tons of athletes, feel free to go walk the halls anytime you want. You will not see any "great athletes" just walking the hall, nit playing sports. 96's demographics is VERY similar to Dixie's. The group of athletes that came through last year was a special group. The group of kids there now are average, at best, and many of them do not want to put in the hard work to be more than average. Just the way it is.

[spectator]

He forgot to mention that the other QB in Neal's QB controversy was his step-son. A difficult situation that was handled poorly by Neal and others, and it did split the community. It did a lot of damage and that's hard to overcome in a small community. It STILLS has scars from it now. As far as 96 having tons of athletes, feel free to go walk the halls anytime you want. You will not see any "great athletes" just walking the hall, nit playing sports. 96's demographics is VERY similar to Dixie's. The group of athletes that came through last year was a special group. The group of kids there now are average, at best, and many of them do not want to put in the hard work to be more than average. Just the way it is.

I covered the QB situation completely when i said that the SUPER called Neal in, at the beginning of the season, and told him who would play QB. THAT is what divided the community. 96 has ZERO in common with Dixie, that was a ridiculous statement. When the football program became a political sewer the kids migrated over to baseball and won state championships, but, according to you there are no athletes there ? The athletes have always been there.

[spectator]

Thanks for the insight Spec. I have heard rumblings about 96 for years but did not know that. Yes I have seen that happen before. These instances are not always the same, but there are definitely similarities. The biggest common denominator is the school board becoming too involved. Get the wrong 7 people on a school board with a superintendent that want put them in their place and you are staring at a disaster.

You are 100% correct. The school board that took over not only ruined the athletics at the school they bankrupted the district. When they came in there were millions in reserve and now they have laid off the experienced teachers because they don't have the money to pay them. The pay scale at 96 now is lower than Mc Cormick. These morons threw away money like crackheads.