G. Michael Graham
Shortly
after Clay Clevenger took over as the new head football coach of the Danville
Admirals, he put a picture on Twitter of the title years on the school’s
stadium and raised the question, “What are you doing that will help hang
another banner?”
The
Admirals rank fifth in Kentucky for the most football state championships with
10 only behind Highlands (22), Louisville Trinity (22), Louisville St. Xavier
(12) and Beechwood (11). But they’ve not won once since 2003.
I remember
those dominant Danville teams led by Kelvin Turner and Andrew Hopewell. I was
Sports Editor of the Commonwealth Journal
in Somerset during that time when the Admirals won three titles in four years.
In fact,
Danville has not played for a state championship since 2006 when Newport
Central Catholic edged the Admirals, 37-34 for the title when there were still
four classes. Since going to six classes, the furthest Danville has advanced in
the playoffs came in 2010 when it made it to the state semifinals before losing
to eventual state runner-up Owensboro Catholic. They’ve not been able to beat
arch-rival Somerset in the playoffs the past two years.
Why am I
talking about Danville? It’s simple. The Highlands and Newport Central Catholic
football teams have to be on the lookout against what some Danville fans
on http://www.bluegrasspreps.com say has occurred there and could be a reason why
longtime head coach Sam Harp left to take the position at struggling
Lebanon (Tenn.) High outside Nashville other than to be closer to his daughter and her family.
That’s a sense
of entitlement.
That’s the
thought process where you feel like you’ve earned the right to win state
championships based on your past and do not put in the work that it takes to
earn them. It is a reason why Highlands Co-Head Coach Dale Mueller does not like
to talk much about the school’s great history of an overall record of 842-225-26
good for the second-most wins in school history in the country behind Valdosta, Georgia’s 876
victories and Kentucky state-record six straight state championships. (I tried
to sneak in a question about it during the playoffs last year and he did a
great job deflecting it. Thus, I won’t even try again.)
When I
covered a school in Tennessee years ago that won in a nearby opposing stadium
for the first time in school history, the head coach said, “History can hurt
you if you dwell too much on the negatives.” The opposite holds true for
Highlands and NewCath.
Highlands
finds itself at that perch in Class 4A and Newport Central Catholic at the same
throne in Class 2A after winning the respective titles last fall. But based on
what I’ve seen in the offseason, both teams are putting in that same work that
has made previous teams successful. The current players want to add to the
legacies of their predecessors.
“We have such a determined group of guys,” Mueller said. “They
just want to do well.”
Mueller and
staff emphasize improvement each and every day. He said that after Highlands
handled Scott County, 60-37 this past year. There is a reason that’s
important.
I remember
covering the game at Louisville Western in Week 3. The Bluebirds won 51-23. But
you just felt like something was not right.
Surely
enough, the Bluebirds quickly took care of that sub-par performance respondeding with a 61-3 thrashing of Mason County the
following week. The Royals may not be to the level of the Bluebirds. But they’re
still a good team having made the third round of the 3A playoffs before losing
to undefeated Bourbon County last year.
The coaches
and players at Highlands know the moment you stop working your tail off to
improve is the moment someone will knock you off. The only thing the coaching
staff needs to remind the current players of in those terms is that rival
Covington Catholic is constantly improving like recently graduated center Mitch
Dee mentioned last year.
Covington
Catholic may be the main threat to the Bluebird dominance. But you never know
when a Lexington Catholic, Boyle County, Johnson Central, Ashland Blazer or
even a Warren East or Collins could rise up and knock them off. Thus, the
Bluebirds continue to stay on their guard and do the extra push-ups and
repetitions.
One big way
Highlands has improved in recent years is putting players on just offense or defense.
That has especially helped with the depth growing each year that is expected to
rise above 100 players this fall. Highlands gets twice as much practice time at
its position as opposed to half the time on offense and half on defense.
I remember
walking into the Highlands locker room this past spring. There was no room to walk on while Co-Head Coach Brian Weinrich led the offseason conditioning
drills. So many head coaches in the country wish that as many players would be
as dedicated as the Bluebirds have been. Instead, they have to deal with a
mentality like, “Why should we put in that time if we’re not going to win a
state championship anyway?”
Over at
NewCath, newly-promoted head coach Dan Wagner and staff do not need to remind the
Thoroughbreds what happened two years ago. They came into 2011 as state
champions and district rival Covington Holy Cross upset them in the regional
title game before winning the state championship.
The
Thoroughbreds rebounded to bring the gold back across the Licking River last
year. But while they may be head and shoulders above the rest of the region,
teams like Lloyd Memorial, Holy Cross and Walton-Verona could beat them if they
are not careful.
On the
statewide level, Somerset and Caldwell County will definitely enter the season
hungry to challenge the Thoroughbreds. Both teams had young quarterbacks last
year.
We’ll find
out more about these teams in just more than two months when the season begins
on Aug. 23. It should be another exciting ride.
G. Michael Graham is preparing to enter his 16th
season covering high school sports. He has previously covered high school
sports in Ohio, Texas, Tennessee and Alabama in addition to Kentucky.