Pin it squarely on the Administration

[Neutral 0bserver]

According to ESPN, "Upset in Cocoa".

Score at end of regulation: 20-20. Final in OT: Cocoa 26, Trinity Christian (Jax) 23

A battle of 2 traditionally powerful FL programs - 1 private, 1 public. Both loaded with transfers. Athletes all over the field who are being coveted by college recruiters across the Nation.

According to ESPN, TC's defense featured 7 starters who were among ESPN's Top 300. Think about that one, folks. 7 of the top 300 players ... not just on one roster, but one unit.

BUT - it wasn't enough. TC's defense got beaten in OT.

There's an important lesson to be learned. If you are running a HS program that is totally hell-bent to vie for airtime on ESPN and compete for mythical national championships, you cannot allow yourself to back-off. You cannot take your foot off the the gas until you have secured every last player that will be needed to achieve your goal.

Is Nu'Trelle accusing TC of being lax? Of course not. It's just that they could have done better. There are bound to be other schools in (or near) Jacksonville that have athletes that could have put TC over the top. Allowing talented players to stay with their current program is undoubtedly what cost TC today.

Once you push all of your chips into the center of the table in a game that involves only cut-throat competitors, you can't stop taking prisoners simply because you've managed to start 7 bona fide college prospects on defense.

If you really want to win, you MUST keep slitting throats.

 

[Cat_Scratch]

Neutral is easily on point in his attack on open transfers and offers of free admissions to highly rated private Football schools. It's out of hand. Maybe it will slow down once the high schools go entirely to flag football.

Cocoa isn't all that innocent this year. They had, I believe, 11 transfers from area schools. What amazed me was #85, Dada White, age 13, who was double teamed more than once at nose tackle on defense. I will say I coached him 2 years ago, and will say the young man is not the normal athlete. His maturity level at 13 was almost that of a 17 year old. by looking at his physique, he looks like a college student. The kid is gifted. I'm looking forward to seeing him play.

I would trade all this winning hype and travel hype in for all schools in America to play by the same rules and no transfers unless reviewed by an administration panel that is not for football, and that would include no transfers for private schools also.

 

[Fan 74]

I don't believe the transfer thing is just a private school thing. It open borders these days.

 

[blackpopsicle]

Is Nu'Trelle accusing TC of being lax? Of course not. It's just that they could have done better. There are bound to be other schools in (or near) Jacksonville that have athletes that could have put TC over the top.

If you really want to win, you MUST keep slitting throats.

No, Sandalwood got to them first, told them they could cuss whenever they wanted.

 

[Neutral 0bserver]

Neutral is easily on point in his attack on open transfers and offers of free admissions to highly rated private Football schools.

I don't believe the transfer thing is just a private school thing. It's open borders these days.

If you re-read Nu'Trelle's comments, he said the TC-Cocoa game was, "A battle of 2 traditionally powerful FL programs - 1 private, 1 public. Both loaded with transfers."

Making sure the record is straight: Public/Private - it now makes no difference. Free-agency is "in". The schools that will win with this system in place will be those who can best figure out how to hustle the most athletes away from competing schools. Promises will be made. Promises will be broken. High school kids will be used in the same manner as chattel in order to serve the selfish interests of people who are so ruthless they would be willing to do anything to cut the next guy's throat.

If you think you've seen ruthless activity in HS sports, find a pencil and write this down:

YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN YET!​

 

[Silver King]