kaiser sose Wrote:
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> As long as Fairfax County doesn't allow open
> enrollment, the Northern Virginia teams are going
> to struggle to win a State Championship. Freedom
> is a great team and are well coached, but lets not
> pretend they aren't an all star team from
> Woodbridge. Ask Potomac, Hylton, Woodbridge,
> Garfield, and Colgan how their football teams did
> this year. By accumulating a significant amount of
> the talent in an area at one school you can build
> a super team at the expense of the other teams in
> the area and the overall quality of the football.
> You get scores like 85-10. I'm not saying they
> have done anything illegal. Lord knows their
> coach has been investigated and everything they
> have done is above board or at least been cleared
> by the County. I'm just saying it is just a
> different set of rules than the Fairfax teams are
> working with. It's not just Freedom either.
> Loudoun County allows open enrollment if the
> school is under populated and that has benefited
> Stone Bridge over the years as well.

This is 1000% true. As far as enrollment rules go the lack of standardization across the state's school systems is the leading (but not only) reason why the disparity in talent is so huge now between a handful of programs at the very top and everyone else.

The VHSL Wrote:
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> What in the world was VHSL thinking making the
> Freedom/Highland Springs game at 11:30 AM?
> That’s absurd


This was done to allow the teams from the first of the two games at each site to have more time to revel in their accomplishment and receive their awards without being rushed off the field. And rather than push the second game back and have people/teams traveling home later, they pushed the first game up instead of moving the second game back.

some people are just agents of discord. shields is highly respected at westfield and only 6 or 7 years ago we were informed by a similar band of know-nothings that sheilds was the real reason westfield was winning. its centreville the parents and boosters. they complained endlessly about pannoni and haddock both of who have won state titles. no coach will ever be good enough there

I think it makes the most sense for Westfield to stay in-house and hire one of Simmons long time assistants. Would make for an easier transition with the kids

HEHXZ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think it makes the most sense for Westfield to
> stay in-house and hire one of Simmons long time
> assistants. Would make for an easier transition
> with the kids.

In theory, yes. But most of the long time assistants are either officially retired from the school system (so they would not be in the building, which is highly preferable for a head coach) or they work at other jobs that would not allow them to invest the time necessary as a head coach.

Starting with the long time assistants:
Verbanic-I personally don't think he wants to be a head coach again, but he is certainly a dedicated coach and would be welcome to apply.
Lalli-works in the building but does he want the job?
Bendorf-retired from FCPS but still working for the county. Again, does he want the job?
Price-runs a medical practice.
Keating-works for the USG and I don't think he gives up that job.
Day-probably the most likely of the "former head coach"/long time assistant options because he knows the program and has been a HC.
McKinney-As good as his pedigree is coming from the NFL and being with the program for so long, I don't think he wants a HC job either.
Thompson-came to the program with Verbanic, but does he depart if Verbanic moves on? He also works training young up and coming athletes and does he want to stop that?
Callas-he has decades of experience but is special teams centric and I think is deciding to retire from HS football as well. He has contributed a lot to HS football and deserves to move on if he chooses.


Then you get into some of the younger assistants, but none (that I know of) have been OCs/DCs so maybe they are not ready for the jump to HC? I have the opinion that maybe two from the current staff would probably do well at the job but I am not naming them.

Then there are outside candidates. Of the current coaches in this area who may be looking for a new job the only one I would prefer is Shields. Most of the others are the kinds who move from job to job and never reach the level of a Westfield or Madison. I don't know enough about how Shields ran Centreville, but the parent/boosters idiots there expect a state championship team every year. And last year, although they were decent, they were not state championship material. So they all complain about Shields-I just don't know if it is justified or not.

Maybe one of the previous coaches who moved to the college ranks? Some possible candidates there but do they want to come back to HS and give up what is currently a full time salary?

Lastly, there is the unknown candidate. Westfield is a top tier program in Virginia and maybe a coach from other areas in Virginia, or even out of state, wants the job.

Good Lord. How many assistants do they have? It sounds like too many cooks in the kitchen…with a few retirees on staff just to stay around the game and get to say they “coach” at a prestigious program. Maybe Simmons had enough of all the egos in the room.

Seeing Westfield play this year I wasn’t impressed at any of their offensive or defensive play-calling. They just had some solid athletes and were tough kids - tough enough to beat most of the teams on their schedule.

Shields isn’t likely because his son is the QB at C’ville (which I assume means they live in the C’ville attendance zone) and he will only be a junior next year (and was nowhere near as good as any other QBs in their district). I think he coaches his son out and then retires.

I don’t think Bendorf could or would do it…he retired once and my understanding was he was volunteering since he couldn’t receive pay as a coach in his current administrative position.

The AD is very nice and maybe she knows what she’s doing, but I don’t know how well she knows football. She has never had to hire a varsity football head coach before. She will likely just promote from within but if it were me I would look for an experienced candidate with a playoff pedigree who wants to move north for the pay bump.

The Westfield job has Vossler written all over it.

Shields at Cville would be a mess, Vossler would be the better choice between those 2… Now to the other assistants, I guess someone has to ask them 1 on 1 would they want the job (ideally the DSA) and then go from there

Verbanic, Callas, McKinney, Price are really too old to be taking a HC position at this point in their life. Keating, Lalli and Bendorf are not that far behind. I highly doubt any of them would want to be a HC. Day is really the only possible candidate from the current staff. Wouldn't surprise me if he was brought in with becoming HC in mind. Verbanic was the OC the last couple of seasons and Bendorf the DC. If it were up to me I would take a look outside. That being said I think Shields would be an excellent choice.

Trying to keep score, so the open jobs are Oakton, Falls Church, Hayfield, and Westfield?

Jvthb Wrote:
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> Trying to keep score, so the open jobs are Oakton,
> Falls Church, Hayfield, and Westfield?

I believe that’s correct

Freedom 7, Highland Springs 0. 9:31 1st quarter

That was effortless

Freedom up 20-0 after the 1st lol

Just so he can run another program into the ground? Vossler was 51-40 in his career at Robinson. That is a massive failure at a program as successful as Robinson was prior to him. They let him stick around so long that it is now the standard. I would hope Westfield would have higher standards.

He was 58-40 over 9 years and the head coaches before and after him had losing records. Shields, Lalli, and Vossler are all about the same. Vossler is much younger.

I’m really glad VHSH crossed the class 6 bracket, Freedom won a slugfest 42-34. Hell of a game

That staff situation sounds awful. What Coach wants that job with all those former HCs looking over their shoulders. This is why they’ve underachieved recently. Get those guys outta there. Let Verbanic go and take Thompson with him. Thompson has been fired as QB Coach from every school he’s been at.

Trey Taylor would take this team to a state title. We love him at Fairfax and would hate to see him go but He’s won at all the shitty schools he’s been at so imagine what he’d do at Westfield.

FairfaxHSLionsParent Wrote:
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> That staff situation sounds awful. What Coach
> wants that job with all those former HCs looking
> over their shoulders. This is why they’ve
> underachieved recently. Get those guys outta
> there. Let Verbanic go and take Thompson with him.
> Thompson has been fired as QB Coach from every
> school he’s been at.

Since Coach Simmons has run the program they have always had multiple former head coaches on staff. If he didn't want them there they wouldn't have been there.

Maury over Stone Bridge, & with that the 2023 season is over

BETNV Wrote:
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> The Westfield job has Vossler written all over it.


Don’t see him being given another top program to run subpar. I’ve heard Lalli wants to be a HC again, so would seem logical based on resume and being in the school/program already.

Rams2018 Wrote:
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> He was 58-40 over 9 years and the head coaches
> before and after him had losing records. Shields,
> Lalli, and Vossler are all about the same.
> Vossler is much younger.


Lalli has state runner up finish while Vossler struggled for playoffs and Shields at least made a region final. I don’t think they are at all the same.

Here’s the info. Decide for yourself

Lalli @ Chantilly
13 seasons
81-59
Playoffs 10/12 years
Final 4 once
Final 8 twice
6 winning seasons

Shields @ Centreville
5 Seasons
29-24
Playoffs 3/5 years
Final 4 none
Final 8 twice
2 winning seasons

Vossler @ Robinson
9 seasons
58-40
Playoffs 8/9 years
Final 4 none
Final 8 twice
7 winning seasons

Records Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here’s the info. Decide for yourself
>
> Lalli @ Chantilly
> 13 seasons
> 81-59
> Playoffs 10/12 years
> Final 4 once
> Final 8 twice
> 6 winning seasons
>
> Shields @ Centreville
> 5 Seasons
> 29-24
> Playoffs 3/5 years
> Final 4 none
> Final 8 twice
> 2 winning seasons
>
> Vossler @ Robinson
> 9 seasons
> 58-40
> Playoffs 8/9 years
> Final 4 none
> Final 8 twice
> 7 winning seasons


I’m going with the Chantilly guy if I had to pick

Arlington Guy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Records Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Here’s the info. Decide for yourself
> >
> > Lalli @ Chantilly
> > 13 seasons
> > 81-59
> > Playoffs 10/12 years
> > Final 4 once
> > Final 8 twice
> > 6 winning seasons
> >
> > Shields @ Centreville
> > 5 Seasons
> > 29-24
> > Playoffs 3/5 years
> > Final 4 none
> > Final 8 twice
> > 2 winning seasons
> >
> > Vossler @ Robinson
> > 9 seasons
> > 58-40
> > Playoffs 8/9 years
> > Final 4 none
> > Final 8 twice
> > 7 winning seasons
>
>
> I’m going with the Chantilly guy if I had to
> pick

According to four season

Chantilly was 0-10 the year before Lalli

Centreville was 9-3 the year before Shields

Robinson was 8-4 the year before Vossler



Any LCPS sitting HC gonna put in?

I totally missed regarding some of these spreads, but let me be the first to tell you, if you didn't catch any of the action yesterday, you missed out!


Class 1: Essex (-14) v. Galax
- Galax won 7-6 on a last second FG off the cross bar to win, was one hell of a finish. They also got 2 safeties on the night. Just a wild game in Salem.

Class 2: Riverheads (-6) v. Radford
- Riverheads streak comes to an end as Radford won handily, 39-21. I overlooked Radford, who has a very good team. Congrats to them on a 15-0 finish.

Class 3: Lafayette v. Liberty Christian (-14)
- Liberty Christian nailed it, winning 28-14 over Lafayette.

Class 4: Salem v. Phoebus (-35)
- This was another just insane finish, Phoebus won 21-14 on a 86 yard TD pass from a freshman(!!!) QB. Just utter chaos in Lynchburg yesterday. The Phantoms win their 3rd consecutive State Championship, their first in Class 4.

Class 5: Stone Bridge v. Maury (-22)
- Maury won 45-34, it's worth noting they were up 45-17 after the 3rd but Stone Bridge refused to quit, despite losing multiple key players due to injury. This one had a little of everything, a fumble recover for a TD, blocked FGs, punts, a safety, whatever you can think of, it happened. Maury's QB was responsible for 6 total TDs and finished the season with 57 total TDs, and he is only a junior. Hats off to Stone Bridge for refusing to quit, though. Mickey Thompson is now 3-10 in the big game, which is not good, but his team always makes it to the big stage. The question going forward is, does Stone Bridge tweak their schedule next year or play the big boys again?

Class 6: Highland Springs v. Freedom-Woodbridge (-24)
- Freedom won an absolute thriller, 42-34. Similar to the Maury game, Highland Springs found themselves down 27-0 and I was thinking to myself this game is over. Wrong. Freedom had 289 yards of total offense (finished with 544 total yards) compared to 78 total yards from Highland Springs (who finished with 258 total yards), I don't think a lot of people in Fairfax understand how crazy that is, as HSHS prides itself on it's defense. Freedom shot itself in the foot again and again with penalties and poor special teams play. I will say this, Jeff Overton is the best RB I have seen in Virginia probably since Idreis Augustus (Lee Class of 2010). That kid is Special, stiffing arming defenders, hurdling defenders, whatever Freedom needed, he delivered.I think his ranking on 247 should be higher but it isn't just him, JuJu Preston had a 1 handed TD catch, I can go on and on. The Freedom 2025 class is special, I think they are deserving of a ESPN game next fall, just an incredible team. I have to put them up there with the Hampton teams of the 1990's and the Phoebus teams of the 2000's, just a different team. Hats off to both teams for a very entertaining game.

http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/4096228.html

Here is the 2024 thread that I just started. Be sure to save the link with all of the spam that goes on and also spread the link. I enjoyed reading everyone's opinion all season long and am looking forward to August already! Merry Christmas everyone and stay safe, I will see you all in August.

I saw Mickey walked his Stone Bridge team off the field without accepting their not first place trophy. Did they have a reservation at Sizzlers or are they such poor losers? Neither team even attempted to line up for the handshake line.

Not True. Stone Bridge waited at the 50 to shake hands with Maury. When it became clear that Muary was not going to shake hands, they went to the locker-room. Maury also did not shake hands before the game at the coin toss or before the game last time they played at states.

Don’t know what’s more embarrassing for you, the fact that you were so profoundly wrong about both LB and how the state semi pairings worked, or how sure you were of yourself.

I have just gotten fired from Freedom, I've decided to take on a new coaching gig at Lake Braddock. It's a fresh start and I'm excited about the opportunity. Can't wait to see what we can accomplish together at Lake Braddock.

Coach Darryl Overton Wrote:
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> I have just gotten fired from Freedom, I've
> decided to take on a new coaching gig at Lake
> Braddock. It's a fresh start and I'm excited about
> the opportunity. Can't wait to see what we can
> accomplish together at Lake Braddock.


My son will be coming with me.

Coach Darryl Overton Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Coach Darryl Overton Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I have just gotten fired from Freedom, I've
> > decided to take on a new coaching gig at Lake
> > Braddock. It's a fresh start and I'm excited
> about
> > the opportunity. Can't wait to see what we can
> > accomplish together at Lake Braddock.
>
>
> My son will be coming with me.

You mean your nephew?