Coach Craft at Parry McCluer

[mmqp]

Not to take anything away from Jack Turner, who has done an amazing job at Auburn. But it's time that Coach Craft gets some recognition on this board.

He took over a program that was in shambles and had also just had their brand new coach busted by the feds for sick crap..and he turned this program around. You could see the change immediately.

Had you come to Buena Vista 5 years ago and seen them play you would know what I mean by the turnaround.


Well done Coach. Well done.

 

[meatchop08]

Not to take anything away from Jack Turner, who has done an amazing job at Auburn. But it's time that Coach Craft gets some recognition on this board.

He took over a program that was in shambles and had also just had their brand new coach busted by the feds for sick crap..and he turned this program around. You could see the change immediately.

Had you come to Buena Vista 5 years ago and seen them play you would know what I mean by the turnaround.


Well done Coach. Well done.

Craft has done a great job with making PM relevant again without question. It certainly has not hurt his situation any that he has had some really really good running backs/athletes to work with and some over all good solid ball players that play with a lot of heart and enthusiasm. I only wish Auburn and Turner were fortunate to have some of those kinds of kids but you got what you got and you have to play the hand that your dealt. The difference between PM and Auburn is PM was at one time a power house program and a force to deal with and Auburn has never been any where close to being a power house program so the dynamics and mentality between the two programs are like night and day. The kids from Auburn are still learning what it takes to win and compete especially in A BIG GAME situation. At any rate it was a hard fought game by both teams for sure. I think for Auburn there will be a lot of what ifs with this loss which makes that pill a lot harder to swallow. On to the next one......

 

[THEGOATFROMJMU]

5 years ago the PM coach was a clown..... Was bad in every sense

 

[catchtds]

Who was the coach there 5 years ago? Why would he be considered a clown?

 

[THEGOATFROMJMU]

MMQP -- How has rockbridge fallen on such hard times the past 4-5 years.... I remember the marcus mayo teams being incredible

 

[mmqp]

MMQP -- How has rockbridge fallen on such hard times the past 4-5 years.... I remember the marcus mayo teams being incredible

It always seems like a "feast or famine" type situation at Rockbridge. They had some great teams with Prasnicki and Mayo at QB and had a great playoff run in '06. But they followed that up a couple years later with an 0-10 campaign. Porter Abell got them back to playing good ball again but it's been a plunge off a cliff since he graduated.

It seems like this year they have some decent ballplayers. But inexperience and injuries have hurt them. They lost their top running back in the first game of the season and he has yet to return. I look for them to improve next year if they can stay healthy of course.

 

[THEGOATFROMJMU]

It's hard to fathom out of 900 kids they can be so bad

 

[mmqp]

It's hard to fathom out of 900 kids they can be so bad

Yea, they're just getting obliterated at this point. Without looking at their schedule I'm guessing they'll finish up 1-9. They usually give at least one team an unexpected fight though so maybe 2 wins on the year. I would not bet on that though.

 

[mmqp]

Who was the coach there 5 years ago? Why would he be considered a clown?

Not sure I would call him a clown, but the guy who was coaching them at the time was not ready for a head coaching position. I recall that the criteria for finding a new coach at the time required that they be a history teacher. And thats how he got the gig. His second and final year they finished with 13 players on the varsity squad.

And make no mistake, they needed a coaching change for many years before that, but he was not the answer. There was a lot of talent wasted at Parry McCluer between 1995-2010. Not saying they would have been state contenders (well...maybe those late 90's teams possibly if they had played to their potential) but better than what the Blues ended up having for sure.

Buena Vista lucked out with getting Coach Craft. It amazes how much the mentality has changed in that town whenever I go back there.

 

[ShenandoaNewbie]

Not to take anything away from Jack Turner, who has done an amazing job at Auburn. But it's time that Coach Craft gets some recognition on this board.

He took over a program that was in shambles and had also just had their brand new coach busted by the feds for sick crap..and he turned this program around. You could see the change immediately.

Had you come to Buena Vista 5 years ago and seen them play you would know what I mean by the turnaround.


Well done Coach. Well done.[

Not to take anything away from Jack Turner, who has done an amazing job at Auburn. But it's time that Coach Craft gets some recognition on this board.

He took over a program that was in shambles and had also just had their brand new coach busted by the feds for sick crap..and he turned this program around. You could see the change immediately.

Had you come to Buena Vista 5 years ago and seen them play you would know what I mean by the turnaround.


Well done Coach. Well done.

I moved to the area last year and I must say that I have been highly impressed with Coach Craft since I got here. The Blues are as well coached as any high school team I've seen in the last 20 years, and that includes hs football hot beds like Georgia and Florida. He did a good job last year, and is doing even better this year when you take into consideration all the new starters out on the field.

 

[mmqp]

I moved to the area last year and I must say that I have been highly impressed with Coach Craft since I got here. The Blues are as well coached as any high school team I've seen in the last 20 years, and that includes hs football hot beds like Georgia and Florida. He did a good job last year, and is doing even better this year when you take into consideration all the new starters out on the field.

Exactly, had you been living in the area the last 15 years you would see just how big a difference he really has made. With the exception of 2004, the Blues averaged 2 wins per year from 2000-2010. Thats horrible.

And for the folks that say he got "lucky" and had "one great player" come through. I call BS. For one, one player does not make a team. And for two, Parry Mccluer has always had good ball players. On Ryheem's level? NO. On this years teams level?? Absolutely. The problem was, they either didnt play or they did not get the coaching they needed to succeed. Not until Coach Craft moved up from JV did all of that change. Oh, and look back at the records of the JV teams that he coached, ALWAYS had good/respectable records during those 10 dark years. But once those players got up to Varsity? Bottom would always fall out.

 

[intrinsicreward]

Not sure I would call him a clown, but the guy who was coaching them at the time was not ready for a head coaching position. I recall that the criteria for finding a new coach at the time required that they be a history teacher. And thats how he got the gig. His second and final year they finished with 13 players on the varsity squad.

And make no mistake, they needed a coaching change for many years before that, but he was not the answer. There was a lot of talent wasted at Parry McCluer between 1995-2010. Not saying they would have been state contenders (well...maybe those late 90's teams possibly if they had played to their potential) but better than what the Blues ended up having for sure.

Buena Vista lucked out with getting Coach Craft. It amazes how much the mentality has changed in that town whenever I go back there.

Coach Craft is a great coach but their is possibly another factor related to PM's resurgence since 2010. I am wondering whether or not having SVU in town has helped football at PM??? How many PM starters are directly due to the college being there? Based on the high standards that school has I am guessing the employees of that college have sons who are very hard workers both in the classroom and the field. That is the most important ingredient to success outside of a good coach.

 

[mmqp]

Coach Craft is a great coach but their is possibly another factor related to PM's resurgence since 2010. I am wondering whether or not having SVU in town has helped football at PM??? How many PM starters are directly due to the college being there? Based on the high standards that school has I am guessing the employees of that college have sons who are very hard workers both in the classroom and the field. That is the most important ingredient to success outside of a good coach.

Very few honestly. Most of the Mormons end up homeschooling.

The big names you've heard about the last few years are from families that have lived in BV for a very long time. And we have a lot of Wheelers on the teams these days..that last name is synonymous with Blues football excellence since at least the late 1950's.

 

[ShenandoaNewbie]

Exactly, had you been living in the area the last 15 years you would see just how big a difference he really has made. With the exception of 2004, the Blues averaged 2 wins per year from 2000-2010. Thats horrible.

And for the folks that say he got "lucky" and had "one great player" come through. I call BS. For one, one player does not make a team. And for two, Parry Mccluer has always had good ball players. On Ryheem's level? NO. On this years teams level?? Absolutely. The problem was, they either didnt play or they did not get the coaching they needed to succeed. Not until Coach Craft moved up from JV did all of that change. Oh, and look back at the records of the JV teams that he coached, ALWAYS had good/respectable records during those 10 dark years. But once those players got up to Varsity? Bottom would always fall out.

Is Ryheem playing college ball anywhere this year?

 

[ShenandoaNewbie]

It always seems like a "feast or famine" type situation at Rockbridge. They had some great teams with Prasnicki and Mayo at QB and had a great playoff run in '06. But they followed that up a couple years later with an 0-10 campaign. Porter Abell got them back to playing good ball again but it's been a plunge off a cliff since he graduated.

It seems like this year they have some decent ballplayers. But inexperience and injuries have hurt them. They lost their top running back in the first game of the season and he has yet to return. I look for them to improve next year if they can stay healthy of course.

When I moved here from Georgia last year I automatically assumed that Rockbridge County would be the high school team I would follow on a regular basis. My first game here was the opener last year between them and PM. RC had a lot of talent on the field, and PM wiped the floor with 'em. PM became my team here in the Valley that night. I went over the mountain a couple if times to see Jefferson Forest play because I had seen their coach's team play when he coached in Georgia, but make no mistake, Parry McClure has all my loyalty here in Virginia.

 

[mmqp]

Is Ryheem playing college ball anywhere this year?

He's playing at Camden Military in South Carolina

 

[Cougar Ed]

He's playing at Camden Military in South Carolina

I am happy for him, saw him play last year at Auburn, what a great football player.

 

[ShenandoaNewbie]

Is that a military prep school similar to what Hargrave here in Va. used to be? I say "used to be" because I saw somewhere that the Hargrave football team didn't win a game last year. I know they used get kids sent to them by about every SEC and AAC school. Heck, just the kids they used to get sent to them by UGA and Bama would make them being winless an impossibility.

 

[mmqp]

Is that a military prep school similar to what Hargrave here in Va. used to be? I say "used to be" because I saw somewhere that the Hargrave football team didn't win a game last year. I know they used get kids sent to them by about every SEC and AAC school. Heck, just the kids they used to get sent to them by UGA and Bama would make them being winless an impossibility.

Hargrave used to have a Post-Graduate program, which functions I guess kind of like a JuCo or a College Prep atmosphere to prepare students for a traditional 4 year college/university. Fork Union has, or had, one. In fact, Eddie George played for FUMA's post-grad team. Some other schools that used to have these type of programs in that part of Virginia were Augusta Military, Staunton Military, and Greenbrier Military...long gone schools.

It seems once these schools lose their post-grad programs their athletics go down the drain.

 

[pawfan]

Hargrave used to have a Post-Graduate program, which functions I guess kind of like a JuCo or a College Prep atmosphere to prepare students for a traditional 4 year college/university. Fork Union has, or had, one. In fact, Eddie George played for FUMA's post-grad team. Some other schools that used to have these type of programs in that part of Virginia were Augusta Military, Staunton Military, and Greenbrier Military...long gone schools.

It seems once these schools lose their post-grad programs their athletics go down the drain.

Augusta and Staunton Military Academies no longer exist. FUMA still has pretty good athletics I think?

 

[mmqp]

Augusta and Staunton Military Academies no longer exist. FUMA still has pretty good athletics I think?

Yea, SMA closed in the mid-70's, AMA in the early 80's and Greenbrier in Lewisburg, WV closed in the early 70's.

FUMA does have good athletics. I'm not sure if they still have a post-grad team though. They used to play Virginia Tech's JV team among others.