Sugar Coating Part Deux

[90NDN]

I agree...we have the talent, but at the same time, Rome wasn't built in one day either. To have successful runs deep into the playoff's year in and year out takes time..you have to build up your system...let's not forget that these kids just started running the new offense 2 years ago and look out how that has turned out in such a short time!....I hate to think what they might have done if they would have had this system in place when they were in middle school etc. I for one and not going to jump ship. We have a great coach, thing's just haven't went our way this year. We have one of the best offenses we have ever had...unfortunately the defense is young and hasn't always made some plays like they did last year. I honestly can't believe we are even having this discussion.

 

[png tribe]

I call it like I see it. This Jr. and Sr. group has been the talk for several year's. If we don't turn it around pretty quick we may be in for a few more losing season's. We have a talented group of junior's but let's not forget the sophomore group is very low on talent and number's. Along with that, the freshman group is average. So what I am saying if we don't get it done this season and next it could be a few year's before we get back to our winning way's. I don't care who the coach is, you still have to have player's. When you have a offensive minded coach, your offense is alway's going to have the best athlete's on that side of the ball and the offense should be good. If you have a defensive minded coach, the best will be on defense. Sometime's your lucky and you have enough talent to split down the middle. I just think that a few of these offensive guy's should be playing defense as well. I don't care if you think it is negative or not, I call it the truth. Sometime's the truth bother's some people. I'm not trying to win a popularity contest, I'm calling it like I see it.

 

[ndnsrock44]

Well you won't get my vote. It seems like you got all defensive when people called you out for blaming all the ills of the freshman class on these coaches. Then in that thread you claim to be buddies with the new coaches...now you don't care who the coaches are? You are pathetic. As far as all the talent we have..watch how many of these kids get D1 scholarships...it won't be many. We are not a football factory. We have 1400 students in the high school and are drawing from what talent we have. These coaches have made adjustments every week and in-game adjustments every week. All they can do is put kids in position to make plays, and unfortunately, our defense has come up short on some key plays. We will have years like that, we will not always be blessed with kids as talented as they were last year, and even at that, NOT ONE senior defensive player got a D1 scholarship...Dunbar is playing D2 at A&M Commerce. Let's also remember that those kids were leftovers from the team that had" no talent"....that's why MB couldn' win his last season...remember? If you can't see the difference in our program after two years of Coach Faircloth, then you either know nothing about football or you have an agenda. I am guessing the latter.

 

[61ndn-row46-50ydln]

Well you won't get my vote. It seems like you got all defensive when people called you out for blaming all the ills of the freshman class on these coaches. Then in that thread you claim to be buddies with the new coaches...now you don't care who the coaches are? You are pathetic. As far as all the talent we have..watch how many of these kids get D1 scholarships...it won't be many. We are not a football factory. We have 1400 students in the high school and are drawing from what talent we have. These coaches have made adjustments every week and in-game adjustments every week. All they can do is put kids in position to make plays, and unfortunately, our defense has come up short on some key plays. We will have years like that, we will not always be blessed with kids as talented as they were last year, and even at that, NOT ONE senior defensive player got a D1 scholarship...Dunbar is playing D2 at A&M Commerce. Let's also remember that those kids were leftovers from the team that had" no talent"....that's why MB couldn' win his last season...remember? If you can't see the difference in our program after two years of Coach Faircloth, then you either know nothing about football or you have an agenda. I am guessing the latter.

But we will always be INDIANS and wear the purple proudly for we are a part of the HONOR, PRIDE, AND TRADITION that will live on whether we are winning or not. That is what other schools want a part of and can't have. It just won't happen.

 

[ndnsrock44]

Hey pngtribe...since your such good buddies with some of the new coaches, why don't you go share some of your football "expertise" with them? I am sure they could all use a good laugh.

 

[ndnsrock44]

You are right 61ndn.....I have been there win or lose no matter the record and I can't imagine being anything other than a PNG Indian. I wouldn't trade our honor, pride and tradition for any other program, no matter how many state championships they have.

 

[pngfan66]

No talent, an average sub varsity teams. Your killing me. The JV this year is doing great. WE lost 2 games thus far. When these 2 losses occurred you had 3-4 of the JV's defensive players up on varsity. Let me tell you that your obviously agenda driven in this whole thing somewhere. THere is alot of talent on both the current JV and Freshmen teams. Heck, look at how many kids are playing on the teams. You tell me that with that many kids alot of them are not going to step up their play and become some of the next great athletes at PNG. Get real, either support the JV and Freshmen teams and the Varsity or go somewhere else to spread your negative comments. To get on here this morning and read this crap just pisses me off. These kids at sub varsity levels are still not even fully grown. Hell my son is a sophmore and is 5'10" and weights in at 225. Mangini on JV is 6' about 190 lbs and is a beast, Reasons is 6'2" and about 230lbs, plays offense, Thompson on the JV D line plays non stop and has accounted for alot of the sacks for the D, just to name a few.There are alot more like this on the JV. These kids are Sophmores, not Seniors. Think if they are this big and strong now how much more will they be over the next 2 years ? Remember the years the teams were not big but they had what these kids have now, drive, determination and HEART ! Even the Freshmen team has some great size and talent and speed. There are alot of kids coming up who are very talented. Have you actually gone and watched the JV play ? They are a very exciting group of boys to watch. The Defense is lights out ! The offense is very explosive. The JV must have 3 running backs who are just jaw dropping to watch run. I think for anyone to say that we are average at best has blinders on and really don't care or much less knows anything about football and potential of athletes. The coaches work hard with all the boys and are developing them into solid players. I think you and alot more folks will be surprised in the NDN's as to how well they are going to do over the next lets say 10 years !

 

[bark]

Wow. We go undefeated for eleven straight games and lose by six points to an eventual state finalist and then lose four games by 17 points (three on scores made in the last minute of the game) the following season and people are already jumping ship.

I seem to remember the announcer saying at the game where we honored our past coaches that Coach Ethridge (sp?) started at PN-G in 1970 (or somewhere in that area - maybe '71 or '72; please correct me if I'm wrong). The 2009 playoffs shirts have all of the years in which the Indians went to the playoffs listed on them. They have the first year in which the Indians went to the playoffs in the 1970s listed as 1974.

All of my life, I've listened to people talk about the "glory years" that were the 1970s and I have read many, many posts on this board glorifying Coach Ethridge (rightly so, it appears). So, with a little deductive reasoning, I've discerned that he was a great coach that did a lot of amazing, unexpected things with the Indians... and that he was a coach who took a few years to build a program.

We've got talent. There's no doubt about that. But then again, Ozen has probably had a comparable amount of talent in previous years, too (and way more speed). How many times have the Panthers gone to the playoffs since Ozen was put in this district? Not too many. Why? Because it takes two things that Ozen doesn't have: coaching and a program.

We've got the coaching. There's no doubt about that, either. Does that mean we have the program? Not necessarily. I think it's obvious that Coach Faircloth and his staff are in the process of building a program that, if allowed to be fully implemented, will bring PN-G consistent pre-season, district, and post-season success for years to come. However, that doesn't mean we're quite to that point yet.

If it took a coach that is well known for success like Doug Ethridge time to implement a program, don't you think it is going to take Brandon Faircloth some time, too?

But then again, what do I know? I'm just a member of the band. ;D

 

[bark]

Ethridge started in fall 73 with Leslie Hanna and that group then started the playoff run the next year.

Doug is in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and has received many honors. Look at the coaches he tutored - Davis, Nunez, Bush etc... If you noticed he was the only coach there (to be introduced) that left on his terms. And he DID have a few bad seasons toward the end.

Took 1 year to go to the playoffs. 6 years in a row. teams of 1974 -79 , maybe 80.

 

[purplewarrior]

Just a thought there must be something to be said for luck playing a part in winning because I remember vividly how the coaches of the 70's would scour the different stadiums for little tokens maybe a feather in a domed stadium something unusual.Nothing makes me prouder than to be a part of this Indian nation and to see the excitment that these players and coaches bring to this community! What a shame some don't recognize how LUCKY we are!Give this Indian team and coaches a sign of good luck.So what were these coaches looking for?

 

[Justafan]

I am amazed at how many kids are back playing football at PNG. From what I read it was around 250 from Fresh-Vars??? Up until last year kids just stopped playing football because of the favoritism that was shown at the varsity level. We did have some talent that started, but we had alot of talent that rode the bench because of there name or the person in front of them's name. I am happy that we got back to the best 11 players playing and not he's starting because so and so played with there daddy in the 70's and this person parents is a figure in the community so they should be starting in front of someone with more talent.
It got to the point of me not even wanting to go to a game up until last year. Now I can't wait for Friday night and I don't even have kids in school anymore. My son was a 2 year starter in the mid 2000's and he has told me some stories about favoritism that went one. I just wished he could've played under the current coaches.

 

[png tribe]

ndns44,

I said it don't matter who the coaches are, it is gonna be tough. So quit turning thing's around like I am blaming the coaches. I said it was embarrassing to watch at the freshman game. I didn't blame the coaches for our guy's playing that way. As for as talent on the JV, I didn't say anything about the JV team not having any talent. I said that the Sophomore group is low on talent and number's. BF even said by number's they are smallest class to play here. PNG66, how many game's did your son's team (this year's sophomore group) win from 7th-9th? 0 is the Answer. Everyone blamed the coaches in JR. High and thought everything was going to change with the new coaches in high school and then they went 0-10. This year they are combined with a lot of good Junior's that is helping them achieve some success. They have some talented sophomore's, there is just not enough of them to be real competitve. We have 2 sophomore's on varsity and one is a kicker and the other just moved here. What I have said is if we don't take advantage of the talent we have this year and next, it may be a few year's before the talent swing's back in our favor. Again these coaches are really good but they still have to have talent to be successful. People can get mad but it's reality, talent comes in cycle's. I do believe that these coaches have done wonder's for this Sophomore group. The coaches will tell you there is just not many of them.

 

[png tribe]

I love what these coaches have brought to the team. The offense is very exciting. BF is a mastermind on the offensive side of the ball. These men are good coaches. BF has some good assistant's that came with him and some from the previous staff that do really well. When you are winning the coaches are the greatest and when you are losing it is alway's the coaches fault. That's a lot of people's thinking which is not alway's correct. Everyone is not going to agree on every coaching move that any coach make's. I don't agree with the pooch kick that we do that let's team's have good field position. But evidently they like it. But everytime someone does not say what some of you want to hear than ya'll turn it into that person is against the coaches. It's kind of like when your kid don't have a good game and you lie and tell them they did an awesome job instead of telling them what they could have done better. You keep lying to them and then all of a sudden it's the coaches fault their sitting the bench. Some of you have been lied to all of your lives.

 

[bark]

Justafan your son was a 2 year starter on Matt Burnets team - I am sure you have some insight - I had no idea that kids were quitting the PNG Indian team if it meant playing for Burnet-

 

[badndn]

The good thing about Varsity and JV football is that unlike the other levels were you play with your class, these Sophomores (2013) who have struggled in the past with the talent they have, will be subsidized with the talent of the Jr (2012) and Freshman (2014) classes!

 

[png tribe]

That's true. Again I still stick to what I said. After next season we may go through a rough stretch. I believe you will see more sophomore's than usual on varsity. A lot of these freshman have already been told to to ready to play varsity football next season. I will say one thing about the sophomore group they are a very good group of kid's that get along real well together. They may not be the most athletic group but they will be very successful in the game of life. Which I believe is lot more important than athletic's. Half of this group has quit playing football and has concentrated on other thing's.

 

[purplewarrior]

You really never know how things will turn out kids maturing, growing, attitudes all play a part.It will be interesting to look back on this group.

 

[Justafan]

Justafan your son was a 2 year starter on Matt Burnets team - I am sure you have some insight - I had no idea that kids were quitting the PNG Indian team if it meant playing for Burnet-

Most went to playing other sports because they knew the would not play.

 

[bark]

I never realized it was that bad with Matt. Makes you wonder how he lasted 16 years with that many kids/parents unhappy.

 

[1989NDN]

I never realized it was that bad with Matt. Makes you wonder how he lasted 16 years with that many kids/parents unhappy.

MB lasted that long because he rode the success of the D.Long era. A 14-2 run to the state championship buys you some time. And, rightfully so I might add. Without D.Long his record was a tad above .500. Without Mike Long as OC, the Burnett offensive teams were not very good. Predictable and stale. MB was a terrific defensive coach and I know some kids that played for him that say he was a strong motivator. His time was good while it lasted. Things change. If he was in such demand, why has he not been tabbed for another program? I thought we all turned the page on that chapter. Let's thank MB for the great things he did for PN-G, remember the good things about his 15 or 16 years as HC, and move forward with the new staff. Coach Faircloth has already accomplished some good things and he is building a good program. Stop looking backwards and look forward. Good things are on the horizon for the Indians. Keep the faith ... believe.

Go Indians. Peace.