A PERFECT STORM, HIRING A ROOKIE ASSISTANT AS HEAD COACH

[CITYSLICKER]

BUFART AS MUCH AS I HATE THEM, HAD A PRETTY GOOD TEAM MOST THE TIME WITH A CRAZY ASS COACH, I CALLED HIM, THE MAD HATTER. HE WAS CONSISTENT AT THE RUN, HE LEAVES AND GOES TO THE PRIVATE SCHOOL. SO WHAT DOES THE WHEELS IN CHARGE DO HIRE A ROOKIE ASSISTANT ON THE TEAM TO BE THE HEAD COACH TO SAVE MONEY. GREAT MOVE BUFART BYRDS, ITS WORKING GOOD. :lo

[Penguin]

While deer scat the clown has a valid point about the lack of success at Beaufort this season, he is dead wrong on many points. Hiring a former All American who played in the NFL, was a monumental shift in the right direction for my Beaufort Eagles. Mark Clifford had some early success at Beaufort, but it can be argued that much of that success was the result of his defensive coordinator, Jerry Hatcher. Jerry is the current head coach at Whale Branch Early College High School, also in Beaufort County. The fall of the football program at Beaufort started with Coach Hatcher's departure to take over the Warrior's fledgling program. He has done far more with a quarter of as many students as Beaufort High has over that past 5 or 6 seasons. I attribute much of this to Coach Hatcher's motivational skills. Beaufort High also underwent an academic scandal that saw long time Principal Dan Durbin fired. Doctor Durbin is one of the finest men that I know, and he was fully on board with the football program. This combination of losses accelerated the downfall at Beaufort.

If all of that wasn't enough to ruin the once highly successful program, the Board of education stepped in and had Whale Branch High School built when it was (And to this very day) not needed and completely unnecessary. This created a gigantic shift in High School attendance zones, and brought a once 1800 plus student body, down to just over 1300 at Beaufort High. Then, the Board of Education stepped up it's battle against athletics at the High School level by implementing a new minimum grade point average for eligibility. Taking the statewide norm of 2.0, and increasing it to 2.5. A huge amount of talent instantly became ineligible. Then, due to economic restraints, the Board of Education once more took steps to minimize the importance of High School athletics by requiring all 6 of the counties Senior High Schools, to schedule each of the other 5 every season. That stuck AAAA Beaufort having to play A Whale Branch, and AA May River and Possum Hill, every year. I am talking about the old AAAA system where points determined playoff seeds.

All of these things combined have created the perfect storm that has allowed the once mighty Eagle football program to be what we have today. While I will admit that I am sad to see what the Eagles have become, I now see under coach Holloman, steps being taken to rebuild the program that Mark Clifford would not take. Adapting a coaching style to the players on the team rather than forcing the players to adapt to a coaching style that much like Danny Ford, has allowed time to pass it by. I truly believe that Beaufort High football has reached bottom and is now starting the climb back towards the top. It may take a few years to get the best athletes at Beaufort High back on the football field, but Coach Holloman has the temperament to do just that. He appears to be a coach that will allow his players to have the absolute best chance for success. Great athletes are never in short supply at Beaufort High, just the last several years, they have not been on the football field.

[mikey]

While deer scat the clown has a valid point about the lack of success at Beaufort this season, he is dead wrong on many points. Hiring a former All American who played in the NFL, was a monumental shift in the right direction for my Beaufort Eagles. Mark Clifford had some early success at Beaufort, but it can be argued that much of that success was the result of his defensive coordinator, Jerry Hatcher. Jerry is the current head coach at Whale Branch Early College High School, also in Beaufort County. The fall of the football program at Beaufort started with Coach Hatcher's departure to take over the Warrior's fledgling program. He has done far more with a quarter of as many students as Beaufort High has over that past 5 or 6 seasons. I attribute much of this to Coach Hatcher's motivational skills. Beaufort High also underwent an academic scandal that saw long time Principal Dan Durbin fired. Doctor Durbin is one of the finest men that I know, and he was fully on board with the football program. This combination of losses accelerated the downfall at Beaufort.

If all of that wasn't enough to ruin the once highly successful program, the Board of education stepped in and had Whale Branch High School built when it was (And to this very day) not needed and completely unnecessary. This created a gigantic shift in High School attendance zones, and brought a once 1800 plus student body, down to just over 1300 at Beaufort High. Then, the Board of Education stepped up it's battle against athletics at the High School level by implementing a new minimum grade point average for eligibility. Taking the statewide norm of 2.0, and increasing it to 2.5. A huge amount of talent instantly became ineligible. Then, due to economic restraints, the Board of Education once more took steps to minimize the importance of High School athletics by requiring all 6 of the counties Senior High Schools, to schedule each of the other 5 every season. That stuck AAAA Beaufort having to play A Whale Branch, and AA May River and Possum Hill, every year. I am talking about the old AAAA system where points determined playoff seeds.

All of these things combined have created the perfect storm that has allowed the once mighty Eagle football program to be what we have today. While I will admit that I am sad to see what the Eagles have become, I now see under coach Holloman, steps being taken to rebuild the program that Mark Clifford would not take. Adapting a coaching style to the players on the team rather than forcing the players to adapt to a coaching style that much like Danny Ford, has allowed time to pass it by. I truly believe that Beaufort High football has reached bottom and is now starting the climb back towards the top. It may take a few years to get the best athletes at Beaufort High back on the football field, but Coach Holloman has the temperament to do just that. He appears to be a coach that will allow his players to have the absolute best chance for success. Great athletes are never in short supply at Beaufort High, just the last several years, they have not been on the football field.

Insightful post there Penguin.....TARRR ---

[BEAUFORTEAGLESFAN]

BUFART AS MUCH AS I HATE THEM, HAD A PRETTY GOOD TEAM MOST THE TIME WITH A CRAZY ASS COACH, I CALLED HIM, THE MAD HATTER. HE WAS CONSISTENT AT THE RUN, HE LEAVES AND GOES TO THE PRIVATE SCHOOL. SO WHAT DOES THE WHEELS IN CHARGE DO HIRE A ROOKIE ASSISTANT ON THE TEAM TO BE THE HEAD COACH TO SAVE MONEY. GREAT MOVE BUFART BYRDS, ITS WORKING GOOD. :lo

Hey Slicker. Like I said earlier most coaches were assistants before they became head coaches. Heck even Berkeley Head Coach Randy Robinson was an assistant coach before he became a head coach. This is Coach Holloman's 1st year as a head coach. Give him time to build his team. I think that he will become a really good head coach. He is still young only 27 years old. You have to give a new coach at least 3-4 years to see what they do.

I do agree with you about Coach Clifford. Clifford was the best Head Football Coach in the History of Beaufort High School. Coach Clifford had a record of 109-59 at Beaufort in 14 years and only had 3 losing seasons. I do miss Coach Clifford but I think Coach Holloman will do a fantastic job at Beaufort as well. Just give him time.

GO BEAUFORT EAGLES!!!!

[CITYSLICKER]

YALL SUCK