Amherst Coach
- Thread starter High School Sportz2
- Start date
Over on another thread it was stated that the process is still ongoing. I believe someone said that they were targeting early Feb. to name a coach?
With Coach Woody's departure the local candidate pool just got a bit more interesting. A good candidate has options now. Seminole fans which job is better. Amherst or Glass?
Probably Amherst at this time but who knows. I think Amherst will get a veteran coach..if they had Christmas they have the money to spend because he is a “high demand” guy regarding compensation ( no disrespect meant )wherever he goes. I predict one of those vets that always had moved around following the next best deal…….
@High School Sportz2 I am clueless regarding Lynchburg area current/prior coaches. Could you offer up a few suspects/prospects? I really thought I had a good idea, but the long delay has stumped me.
I guess it depends on what a coach would be looking for. Both jobs have pros and cons but pros for one person may not be pros for another person and the same with the cons. It's all about the right fit for the coach and program.
I don't think either jobs are as desirable to a veteran established coach as some might think. If I'm an established veteran coach and I have my culture and infrastructure why would I leave that? More money maybe, a different challenge maybe, I could see both of those. Uprooting a family if the coach has one, sorta comes with the territory but at the same time, families grow tired of that. I don't think people are knocking down the door to get to either school. Glass will have a new principal next year, not sure if the current one will be in on the hiring process and both ADs are lackluster...imo.
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I think Glass will take the easy way out and pick a staffer within to keep continuity with Woody’s program. Not sure that will work without Woody but hope they are successful. Amherst on the other-hand spent a lot of money to get Christmas with mediocre success vs expectations( IMO). I think they have a lot of people in their community who want Amherst back to the Crouch and Abell days of winning. I think they will make a quality pick and it will be a veteran coach. They must have someone or numerous people in the Amherst community with enough clout to get resources if they got Christmas…ask JF. But who knows…..other than Amherst insiders, which Im not. Time will tell….
I think Amherst can get back to their winning ways but the days of Crouch and Abell are long gone. I think a lot of people see the history of the program and immediately think that state championships are going to be won and played for. Not saying they can't be but the talent that Crouch had, Abell had and even a few of the teams Phillips had don't come through a school system that often. Yes, they should have enough talent to contend for district and regional championships on a regular basis and even get to play for the big dance at some point. It isn't a wave your magic wand and immediately win though. I agree with your assessment on Christmas and he stabilized the program after the Porter debacle but he was never the "fit"..imo for Amherst. I know who I would want to take it and they would have success but they are already building success currently.
The talent is there for Amherst. There is always sufficient talent there and about every three or four years or so a group that comes through that is very special. The problem there is the administration. The principal is good, the AD is not and the head dog is the same one who set the program on a downward spiral by hiring Porter when there were several other good candidates. Until something changes with the "good ol' boy" and clique system in Amherst County, not a whole lot else will change.
The current super was there when the downward spiral started but he wasn’t the reason for it. There is a person or 2 to blame but in my opinion he isn’t it.
I think both programs have talent in the school to be competitive. Amherst has the added benefit of being a one high school county. I do agree though that neither are in the position to get to the levels the fans want and expect. Talent like that does not come along all that often and yes it is longer than every 3-4 years. I am not saying either school can not compete and contend for district and region titles but winning Class 4 or any state title for that matter is a whole other battle.
Would you say that Coach Christmas was a part of the "good ol boy" system? I would not say he was considering the fact that he didn't have any ties to Amherst before he got hired.
That can be said of 300+ other schools as well LOL. Only 12 teams get to compete for a state title every year.
Well said @VolNation85. Since 1965 Dinwiddie has appeared in five state championship games winning two. We have made the finals three times since realignment and won twice. Dinwiddie is consistently a 8-10 win, have played in numerous region finals, yet getting back to the "Ship" is a chore. Being an elite program raises expectations, but fans need to be grateful for consistency. Both programs have a rich history. Embrace it, work hard to get it back, but don't have crazy expectations.
To expand on that a little more, only 6 out of 300+ teams end their year with their dreams completely fulfilled. Sure, there are a lot of teams happy with their success, but only six each year get to say, “damn, we actually did it!”
It is so incredibly hard to win a championship, that it makes me really admire the teams that have won so many.
BN, wouldn’t you agree, that the secret ingredient that is so hard to latch on to is “team chemistry/team leadership?”
I would agree with you on team chemistry and leadership; however, having a few studs in the mix doesn't hurt. Honestly, I have learned in the past several years that coaches need to adjust their schemes to the personnel/skills available, but rarely do. Not every team can run the spread, but darn if coaches do anyway and will not bend. Same thing with Salem's offense. Most teams could not master it. It takes sound lineman who have intelligence, footwork, and can hold blocks. Most kids today do not have ALL of those skills. Salem has done well with a pro style offense and their kids learn it early, yet even they struggled with it this season. Sometimes you just have to be flexible. Good coaches adapt.
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LOL, like you said, a few studs don’t hurt. When you have all of the other intangibles like chemistry and leadership, plus that stud that is a freak of nature, it’s really something to behold.
Let me say this, I hope that Amherst finds that special Coach that can return the Lancers to the level that they were once at, if for no other reason than for the Lancers #1 fan, Wikki.
Thank you Dinwiddie for those kind words. I’m definitely a very loyal fan. I actually have a helmet bolted to a plaque saying the #1 fan on it. I know Amherst will make a great choice for a coach. The boosters will and always have supported the coach and team in so many ways. Thank you again for the beautiful flowers you gave me at the state game. Hopefully we will back next as the host. Thank you for introducing Bleeding Navy to me as well. I enjoyed our conversations.
Though you were talking to BN, I would kindly submit the analysis that you are correct regarding team chemistry / leadership needed for the state championship. Looking at programs that have won state titles.,.especially multiple times, they are all very similar ; great players, great coaches and great support. All teams have different levels of those three components. Some have greater talent than great coaches or support. Others have better coaching than talent. But the chemistry is really an evolutionary byproduct of these three components. You can look just in Central Va going back 30 years and see where just about every program had the right mix to win it all; Glass, Rustburg, JF, Liberty HS, Amherst,WC, Gretna, Heritage, Brookville, Altavista and Appomattox.
Thank you Wikki. It was all my pleasure. But I’ve never had anybody thank me for introducing them to Bleeding Navy before. Usually just never speak to me again!!! Just kidding, of course. He is a great guy and an even greater friend.
I was serious! Lol. Hope to see you both next year. Maybe one year Amherst will be there again
Well said.
Your statements reminded me of a point that often gets overlooked. I absolutely love it when a Coach takes a team that has less than top notch athletes, and goes out and beats better teams. This is usually more apparent in basketball, but you see it in football, too.
I saw a short in height, slow, Mills Godwin basketball team beat one of the top seeds in the Ft Lee Holiday Tournament one time. They were simply better coached. Lefty Drisell was one of the best at making lemonade from lemons. His games were not always very entertaining during the pre-shot clock era. But he sure won a lot of games that he shouldn’t have.
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He is the main person to blame. He is the one who made the hire of Porter which kind of started the problems...or accelerated the problems. It was already kind of starting with the last couple of years of Phillips.
A little actually. There are deep roots in Amherst now with Bedford and Campbell counties. And Christmas does a good job with the good ol' boy routine. Not a lot of high school programs, especially in Virginia, that will allow you to bring over a staff of about 5-6 people with you, get you a, for all intents and purposes, brand new weight room, new field and promise to completely remodel a field house. Granted, the staff part is made easier with the tremendous amount of turnover that school has just about every year.
I would blame Curd and/or Arnold but none of that matters now.
Only someone with little to no knowledge of how Amherst got the upgraded facilities they have now would say they were “given” to Christmas. I’ve been told by multiple coaches of other sports as well as a parent of a player that it was a tremendous amount of work Christmas did to convince the admin that facility upgrades were desperately needed. Even after getting the go ahead and yes most funds from the admin, they still had to fundraise and attract several private donations to bridge the gap and complete the projects, one of which being an incredible weight room that every single athlete in the school benefits from and will for years to come. There are fair criticisms of Christmas but this ain’t one of them. The entire staff and team busted their butts to help get those upgrades and they’ll be enjoyed by ACHS student athletes for years to come.
I know for a fact that Christmas raised lots of money for that facility. He was a great fundraiser
Does he still push all his fundraisers thru his daughters company which he got a hefty kickback off of?
I’m friends with the daughter you speak of. His daughter ran fundraisers for multiple Bedford county schools, not sure if she facilitated any in Amherst but I can tell you she kept 100% of the money for services rendered. This has come up before, old news.
There’s nothing to “go with”. What you said is a pretty big accusation and it is categorically false.
Christmas did a great job fundraising for and he continued to do so even after the weight room. I know how much and what it was used for, trust me it all went to the team
