So Hermitage surprised many with the announcement of Coach Derrick Johnson as coach today. How do you feel about the hire? I'm hearing mixed reviews thus far.
Opinions On Hermitage Hire?
- Thread starter CRF4Dan
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Time will always tell, but you can't entirely base it on the performance at Matoaca. I state this because we do not know the dynamics and support of the MHS Administration. We do know that both the Principal and AD at Hermitage are committed to football while exhausting all resources to ensure success.
The old cliche is that "you never want to be the man that follows the man!" That's a hill to climb for a lot of reasons. Just one of which is football.
You have a community that expects to win EVERY game. How patient are they going to be if the Panthers drop two or three games this year, and bow out of the playoffs in round one?
His tenure with Matoaca was not marked with a lot of success. Which means his distractors will be even less patient when success is slow in coming.
He is getting a late start. Most teams are well into their conditioning routines. And have had enough team meetings that they are focused on what has to be done to play in December.
I wish Coach Johnson nothing but success. I just have my doubts.
You have a community that expects to win EVERY game. How patient are they going to be if the Panthers drop two or three games this year, and bow out of the playoffs in round one?
His tenure with Matoaca was not marked with a lot of success. Which means his distractors will be even less patient when success is slow in coming.
He is getting a late start. Most teams are well into their conditioning routines. And have had enough team meetings that they are focused on what has to be done to play in December.
I wish Coach Johnson nothing but success. I just have my doubts.
This is a very odd hire; however, he must have some ties to the school or administrator(s). The Matoaca community is extremely supportive of football and not very fond of losing. They have struggled in the past five years and to be honest Johnson didn't do squat in his two years there. There was surely talent to work with, so I am not sure what the problem was. I do know his game planning and approach against Dinwiddie was horrid to say the least. I guess he attempted to surprise the Generals, but putting in a totally new system for one game seemed odd. Especially when Matoaca consistently lost yardage on the run and refused to pass even down by three or four scores. I too wish him and the Hermitage program the best, but the skill set of the players at Hermitage surely doesn't match his offensive approach.
I was told the Johnson and Kaine have a connection from previous coaching jobs. In fact, I heard their relationship began when they were coaching together at Dinwiddie.
I agree Navy, he seemed to be ineffective at having his team's prepared at Matoaca. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. We will never know what he had to work with. Was he properly supported by the AD and the administration? Was his assistant coaching staff on board with his master plan. Did he have discipline problems that he was unable to control?
I just have to believe that Hermitage saw a valid reason why his teams performed so poorly at Matoaca, and had confidence that the situation at Hermitage was entirely different.
You just have to believe that a high profile coaching job like Hermitage attracted a large number of proven candidates. But they went with coach that has yet to prove himself? They must have seen a diamond in the rough.
One thing is for sure. We will have the answer within a couple of seasons.
Not sure exactly how to answer your question. There are many sound coaches in this state. My statements were solely based on Johnson's inability to improve a struggling program with sound athletes. I have no beef with Coach Johnson or Hermitages choice. It just appeared odd to me and to others who know Richmond football well. I wish them well.
Your question is tough to answer, but from the Richmond head coaches who were available or would have left their current schools for the job and be a good fit for the talent at Hermitage I would say the Hugeonot (Now Clover Hill) coach Brian Jennings.
He did a wonderful job rebuilding a once proud program and made them competative in most games. Its just my opinion, but Clover Hill got a good one. If Jennings gets the numbers expected and buy in from the players you will see improvement.
I was fortunate to meet many of the coaching staffs that played Dinwiddie and I was truly impressed with Jennings staff. They appeared to relate to the kids well and the team played with discipline. The staff was prepared, made sound calls/in game changes and fell short, because of talent not coaching.
Just my take. Nothing personal.
Your question is tough to answer, but from the Richmond head coaches who were available or would have left their current schools for the job and be a good fit for the talent at Hermitage I would say the Hugeonot (Now Clover Hill) coach Brian Jennings.
He did a wonderful job rebuilding a once proud program and made them competative in most games. Its just my opinion, but Clover Hill got a good one. If Jennings gets the numbers expected and buy in from the players you will see improvement.
I was fortunate to meet many of the coaching staffs that played Dinwiddie and I was truly impressed with Jennings staff. They appeared to relate to the kids well and the team played with discipline. The staff was prepared, made sound calls/in game changes and fell short, because of talent not coaching.
Just my take. Nothing personal.
