The Big News: Riverheads officially has Coach Casto back as Head Football Coach. Your Augusta County Sports Podcast.
Casto back at Riverheads
- Thread starter LMcCray
- Start date
Happy to see this news finally out there for all the world to see. I realize there will still be people questioning exactly what happened or didn't happen with Coach Wheeler, but I will simply say that we all wish him and his family the best. I see that the Leader website has a couple of memory lane type stories up that fans may enjoy. Some old photos and such.
Wow. He tries not to say it, but in doing so he says it. New system was not welcomed in Riverheads.
Welcome Back ! The Sussex Central Tigers looking forward to the challenge to end the run and get some pay back Region B let's Rock !
Noticed the Notoway River was going up ! Must be from tears of Tiger fans learning of the return of Casto . Region B best move to higher ground ! SWVA is the place you alta B , Load up the bus and move to Chilhowie ! They could use some help . LMAO
LMAO at your spelling of Notoway. We fear no one believe it. Casto return is a good thing we want them at their best.
Sad thing was it wasn't a new system at all. Podcast says it all, new guy was undermined from the outset. Casto is back at Riverheads, good for them. He'll hang around and then try to get a family member the job. I respect what he did at Riverheads but even you folks have to admit some of the things he said in the podcast was classless and beneath him. Coach Wheeler took the high road and didn't air anything.....
The word is The Red Team may not even make the playoffs . All the talent went out the door with graduation .
Are your Tigers seasoned enough to make a run this year ?
I'm not going to listen to it, but from my understanding, Wheeler came from the same system, so I would really be surprised if he was trying to change it. I think I read his father ran same, so that is probably more time in it than Casto. If that is true, then I can't see him going away from what he knows, especially when it was already in play. The furthest I could see in trying to change it would be terminology, and that could be an issue, but it could be remedied. Its just the matter of one side learning it new (revising).
As for whatever went on, I have no clue.
I have a couple of questions for the ones bemoaning this as a conspiracy? What was Wheelers Run/Pass ratio out of his version of the Wing T? What Defense did he have the coordinator run at Warhill?
If either of those are vastly different than what was in place then the coordinators had every right to bail. Did that put him in a precarious situation having no ties to the programs legacy and little time or open positions to fill with his guys? Absolutely but I am going to say this, he had to see that was going to be the case if he upset the whole apple cart. I do however think Coach Wheeler would have been successful, just not making coordinators that were entrenched in one philosophy for a few decades change to his style. He would have had to get “his” guys in there that know what he expected.
To me with little time and no real job openings within the school system, he had very few options. Was it the intent of the staff to force him out? I honestly don’t think so because they were already talking to another school about potentially coming on there. There was no malice in stepping down from a job you feel you can’t do. As an example, someone mentioned when Casto retired that the D coordinator should take a look because his defense was spot on the last few years. Would you ask him to completely revamp his system and run different set?
IF, notice it’s a big IF, all these theories about behind the scenes sabotage and conspiracy are true then I can’t help but think that it will all come out in the next little bit anyway.
As the old adage goes, believe none of what you read and only half of what you see.
All in all I am just ready for the young men to take the spotlight back over and enjoy Friday nights under the lights again. Back to being the most hated 2A team playing 1A football again........
And to be very clear, I am a fan with no inside information whatsoever.
If either of those are vastly different than what was in place then the coordinators had every right to bail. Did that put him in a precarious situation having no ties to the programs legacy and little time or open positions to fill with his guys? Absolutely but I am going to say this, he had to see that was going to be the case if he upset the whole apple cart. I do however think Coach Wheeler would have been successful, just not making coordinators that were entrenched in one philosophy for a few decades change to his style. He would have had to get “his” guys in there that know what he expected.
To me with little time and no real job openings within the school system, he had very few options. Was it the intent of the staff to force him out? I honestly don’t think so because they were already talking to another school about potentially coming on there. There was no malice in stepping down from a job you feel you can’t do. As an example, someone mentioned when Casto retired that the D coordinator should take a look because his defense was spot on the last few years. Would you ask him to completely revamp his system and run different set?
IF, notice it’s a big IF, all these theories about behind the scenes sabotage and conspiracy are true then I can’t help but think that it will all come out in the next little bit anyway.
As the old adage goes, believe none of what you read and only half of what you see.
All in all I am just ready for the young men to take the spotlight back over and enjoy Friday nights under the lights again. Back to being the most hated 2A team playing 1A football again........
And to be very clear, I am a fan with no inside information whatsoever.
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I'm not one who believes these conspiracies, as evident by the other thread, but I do see one thing wrong with your scenario. Maybe I just misread, but you can't expect someone to come in and change what they do well either. Its not as if he was coming in as an assistant, he was going to be the head guy. And I have no clue what went on behind the scenes, or if any of this was going on.
Again, maybe it is just how I read it, or how it was worded, but you may want to take a look at the part about another job. It reads to me like you are saying they wanted to leave before.
Gunz, I wouldn’t expect him to come in and change who he was or what he ran. My opinion is that there was a a big enough difference on the Offensive side and a huge difference on the Defensive side which prompted the exit. If however he had been onsite and in place since mid winter with discussions to those assistants, he would likely have had time to respond to their departure by infusing his guys to the program. Again, not saying that this is exactly how it went down, but I can see this more likely than just a flat out power play by the staff. Did they want to keep things pretty much they way they had it? I would guess so, but they also knew there would be some changes, how dramatic is the poi t in question and their level of tolerance for it. I won’t try to be politically correct about it because the system they had worked within was crafted over a few decades of tweaking. The head coach was brought in to replace Casto and I will tell you that I was excited about the possibilities for the future. The fact the staff decided to leave disturbed me but I thought just what I have stated in these two posts, that the new coach wanted something that they either couldn’t or wouldn’t commit to. It didn’t make me think less of them or worse of the new coach. Just the way it goes sometimes.
I didn't mean it as in you, you as in everyone. You can't just expect either side to want to change drastically. Riverheads with their history, and the new guy being in charge. And if anyone, either side of that, or yalls fans expected that then they were being naive.
Sure some of that stuff could be worked out, most could be. Even a change in philosophy is possible to adapt to. But I don't think anyone who hasn't been behind that whistle can possibly understand how even a small terminology change can make a difference. That being for both the coaches and the kids who are used to something.
I'll give 2 examples, and I have no clue if these would have effected Riverheads. Back when a lot of people who post on here (and probably still in a lot of systems) you had the hole numbers with the 2,4,6,8 on right and 1,3,5,7 on left. In at least some Wing systems its 1-9 from right to left, and it's not a hole but a point of attack. That is easy enough to get used to. But then take in where some use the Series to call the play, while others still number the back. So just think if there are differences in those for either side. You call a general play and in one system/terminology one gets ball, the other it could be different. And I won't even get started with how different blocking can be. Which all of that can be helped with repetition.
I honestly have no problem with believing that something just didn't click per say with all the coaches. It doesn't mean any should be demeaned or blamed. And it doesn't mean that there was something else going on behind the scenes. People seem to want to treat people with any kind of profile job as different. So for the ones who have issue with what happened, or feel negatively about the assistants or the new guy (not just dislike for the program for whatever reason), just ask yourself how you would feel if something like that happened at your job. You have had a good job for a long time, were successful, and someone new comes in and wants you to change how you did your job, even though you know how you have been doing it is successful. You would have questions. And if you are the new boss, you got to that place for a reason, so you think you have the right to do what you feel is best.
I know for a fact the defensive coordinator wanted to leave after his first meeting with coach Wheeler. They werent in the same zip code on the defensive scheme. Coach Wheeler wanted to run the defense and he wanted Coach Norcross to take the offense. Riverheads defense has shut down some pretty darn good offenses over the years not sure I would have made any changes there but Coach Wheeler wanted to run an entirely different defense but he was the head coach so thats his decision to make and its also the coordinators decision if they didnt buy into and support his decision they had the right to leave.
The fact they bailed without telling him is my issue. Podcast was not classy.
Coaches bailing at time when it would be difficult to find new ones.....
Right about one thing, best 2A team in 1A football. Initial numbers turned into VHSL during realignment were over 520. Official numbers later were just below the line - almost 50 kids in a year moved out..... Did a factory shut down that we aren't aware of?
Coaches bailing at time when it would be difficult to find new ones.....
Right about one thing, best 2A team in 1A football. Initial numbers turned into VHSL during realignment were over 520. Official numbers later were just below the line - almost 50 kids in a year moved out..... Did a factory shut down that we aren't aware of?
I'm not sure why this was directed at me, I never said anything close to anything to the contrary.
In fact, while I dislike the school as a whole, I have certainly been defending them when I see something unfair.
If you replied because of the question I asked in the 1st message, your answer seems different than the guy I asked it to. Saying the assistants didn't force him out because they were already talking about another job. Maybe it is just weirdly written, but I read that as before the meeting that sounds went badly
Not directed at you just shedding some light on some of the things that transpired on assistants leaving.
Just happened to hit the reply button on your post. Not really directed at anybody.
I was gonna look back and make sure nobody had hacked me and put something haha
Sounds like Casto wanted to be like Dixon. Threat to leave and then come back.
Since no one seems to know, I’m guessing he wanted to elevate another assistant but they had already been poisoned by the assistants who had “resigned”. Surely Casto didn’t contribute to this childish behavior...
NOT-O-WAY Your Tiger will ever compete with the RED TEAM ! We hope to see you this Fall !
You really should try to stick to one persona, or you only look like a troll. 1st you say you may not even make playoffs, no talent, etc and now no way someone can compete with you. Which is it?
On a side note, I smiled a little now that I can finally be back on this forum as the side against Riverheads lol
I'm confused, I thought it was said they all were going to resign, and thus they were babies or whatever the words were you used. Now are you saying that it was different?
It was said that all the assistants were leaving. When that happened you disparaged them.
Now you are guessing he wanted to elevate one of them. Is that some kind of information you have heard? Because that does kind of seem to be a little contradictory. It just didn't sound like from what has been said that there was any difference in opinion between the assistants. Unless you were meaning someone from outside the guys they had from last year
Thanks for clarifying your question. You tend to make some logical leaps when discussing this topic with me, so I want to keep the conversation very clear.
I hadn’t heard that ALL assistants resigned. I had heard that one or two resigned. Most programs have more than one or two assistants. I even quoted my original question to provide context for that, but you must have missed it.
I was asking, did Wheeler go to another existing RHS assistant to replace the babies who “resigned”? And did he have any luck or had the baby assistants poisoned the rest of the staff to Wheeler? And my final statement was referring to my hope that Casto wasn’t part of those counter-productive conversations, but having listened to him on the podcast...
No, I didn't see the original. And I thought I read that they all were going to, but I could be wrong, its happened once before.
Again I will make my position clear. I had no issue with you or anyone else having questions about what happened. But I believe that animus against Riverheads has caused people to say things that they wouldn't for another program. I have certainly made my point clear about the family thing, and I even admitted that it may not have been the intention, but to me questioning anything surrounding that part of it makes it look like someone is making light of that part. And the other thing I will disagree with, and that does only point to you from this forum, is disparaging the coaches and calling them babies and something else I don't remember. Without knowing the entire story, and I am sure that nobody on here does (I know I don't), then talking negatively about them is just jumping to conclusions, and the only thing I can see that would make that happen is some kind of personal discord towards the program.
Now please WP, get onto another subject because standing up for Riverheads is making my head hurt.
Considering some of the crap things Xcross has said about Stuars Draft over the years I have to wonder why you do take up for them. Especially considering I've never once seen him reeled in by the rest of the Riverheads crew on here. But hey, that's your choice and I respect that. Dont get me wrong, there are some good Gladiator fans on here but perhaps he needs to be reeled in the same way the Stuarts Draft wrestling coach called him out on here a year or so ago.
I buried my hatchet with Riverheads a long time ago but I do wonder about the comment someone made earlier in this thread about Casto wanting the position to go to a family member. I dont know if there is anything to that but I do recall Casto randomly calling a pass play on the game-deciding two point conversion one year vs. Wilson in the playoffs. Who was throwing the ball on that play? His son. It failed and they lost. (And Xcross threw a FIT on here).
As far as enrollment goes, until the VHSL grows a spine or is given the power to investigate the claims that pretty much 95% of D1 fans have put forth then we're stuck with it. Once again, dont know if the claims are true or not. Did seem fishy back 4 years ago, dont know about now. A few of the cool Riverheads posters have said they sit around 447 at this point and I'll take their word for it.
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Well you have been here a long time, you know its not just Riverheads I would speak up for. I have done it countless times over the years and for programs I both knew or didn't. I just think that people shouldn't be talked about like that.
I certainly could have and would have let go of calling them babies or whatever else it was. I don't think its right, but nothing egregious. But really personal things should be left out. I'll take that a step further, if someone had concrete evidence that the part about family was misrepresented I wouldn't want to know still. IMO, nobody needs to know that kind of information to have some kind of opinion. Certainly in that manner, they are no different than you or I, and I don't think I am entitled to that for anyone else.
It just appears that across all platforms that now a days people seem to think they should be privy to everything (and obviously I am not talking about anyone specifically).
What I am getting at with that is the feeling I get from this is that it stems from just being about Riverheads. And what I see in the larger picture is that a lot of the times now that people are 100% on one side. To me, what I see is I can agree with 90% of something someone is doing or saying. But that other 10% I can disagree with. But a lot of the time people actually dig in with that 10% they disagree with just because of who it is affiliated with.
To put the context back into this situation, everything that went on before and after the announcement can be true. But that doesn't mean that the family issue cant be true.
What we are dealing with, and probably always will be is speculation and assumptions. And without facts I don't think we have enough information to condemn anyone.
I'll put up this little bit to see how I look at it (the assistants part) to tie it into your post. At no time before all this went down was there negative things said about the assistants. So it's possible it was an isolated incident, and it is even possible that they weren't the culpable ones. There is no history or evidence. But someone can say that XCross is a troll because of history and mountains of evidence lol
Everyone have a great day. Thank you to all the men and women who fought for us all to be safe and free and to be able to have these conversations. And prayers to all who have lost someone. Today we memorialize yall. God Bless
