3 replies to this topic

[Kilgore4sho]

I know I have not been on here much this year.......My Bulldogs were ........well they were not good at all this year. Since the first game of the season I knew we were gonna be in for a bad year.To the point where I didn't even want to go see a game after about week 4,(although I did go see JT beat us). And not just our games , any games. Caught no Longview games(normally catch at least 3) , no Gilmer games, no Tatum games.....all places I usually go during the course of the season.Their play was so bad that it killed my interest in football for the season. I have to get this off my chest, so yall please bear with me.

Well ,if yall didn't know , we didn't even sniff the playoffs. The Bulldogs for the most part could not play defense. I thought with coach Wood taking over that the D would be a focal point , not so. Then he hired Rafe Mata to become our OC. Everyone my age from Kilgore was livid about this. You see Rafe was our QB in high school , and we lost a lot of games due to his play.We had two QBs better than him , but his momma was in charge of women's atheletics so ....well you see why Rafe started.That all changed when Val arrived . If you were not good you did not play . He didn't care who your parents were or who you knew.The first thing Coach Val did was bench Rafe and replace him with Brian Morcott in his first season here. Fast forward to this year. Rafe Mata is now calling the plays for our offense. Rafe changed our offense, and not in a good way. I know most teams are passing the ball more , but that is not us . We run first. That is what we do , that is what we are known for. Most of the time it works for us , every once in a while it dooms us ( like our game against Ennis in 08). We either lived by it or we died by it. But not this year. And we had a decent line and a few good backs. Still it seemed like Rafe didn't care .For example, in one game I remember he had them come out in the shotgun and pass on 3rd and inches. He is turning us into a pass first team , and if this continues , we are going to be a middle of the road team or worse every year. Teams use to be foreced to respect our running game, this year , they weren't worried about it at all. And yes we did have a good QB in Toler, but he is nowhere near as talented as Anthony is at running back. If we had pounded the ball with Anthony this season , we probably wuld have won 7 games and made the playoffs.

I guess what I am getting at is that coaching is the root of our problems this season. Coach Val's style wasn't flashy , but it was definately effective. Had he still been there this year I have no doubt that we would have made the playoffs.Most of the games we lost were games that we could not finish off our opponent in. A clear sign of poor coaching. Henderson, Corsicana, Jacksonville , Marshall. They were all close games that we were in a position to win.But for some reason we couldn't hold on, mostly beacuse of terrible play calling. Basic things, like when you have the lead you run the ball and bleed the clock, not pass go three and out and give your opponent the ball back. And on defense when you are trying to protect your lead you do not come out in tight man coverage with only one safety back. We gave up so many big plays this season , we could make a wonderful highlight video for our opponens. Seriously.

I guess what I am trying to say is Mike Woods and his staff need to go. I know they only put in one season , but after a season like Kilgore fans just put up with .........well we can't put up with another. ANd I know the perfect person , Roger Adams . He was our DC before coach Val came, coached Hallsville back when they had some very good teams in the early 2000s , and is currenly at New Diana. He knows Kilgore football from both sides. You would think Coach Woods would know as long as he has been coaching here , but apparently all the Bulldog football the coaching staff had in them left with Coach Val. Well alright ....my rant is over.

[cougartino]

I know I have not been on here much this year.......My Bulldogs were ........well they were not good at all this year. Since the first game of the season I knew we were gonna be in for a bad year.To the point where I didn't even want to go see a game after about week 4,(although I did go see JT beat us). And not just our games , any games. Caught no Longview games(normally catch at least 3) , no Gilmer games, no Tatum games.....all places I usually go during the course of the season.Their play was so bad that it killed my interest in football for the season. I have to get this off my chest, so yall please bear with me.

Well ,if yall didn't know , we didn't even sniff the playoffs. The Bulldogs for the most part could not play defense. I thought with coach Wood taking over that the D would be a focal point , not so. Then he hired Rafe Mata to become our OC. Everyone my age from Kilgore was livid about this. You see Rafe was our QB in high school , and we lost a lot of games due to his play.We had two QBs better than him , but his momma was in charge of women's atheletics so ....well you see why Rafe started.That all changed when Val arrived . If you were not good you did not play . He didn't care who your parents were or who you knew.The first thing Coach Val did was bench Rafe and replace him with Brian Morcott in his first season here. Fast forward to this year. Rafe Mata is now calling the plays for our offense. Rafe changed our offense, and not in a good way. I know most teams are passing the ball more , but that is not us . We run first. That is what we do , that is what we are known for. Most of the time it works for us , every once in a while it dooms us ( like our game against Ennis in 08). We either lived by it or we died by it. But not this year. And we had a decent line and a few good backs. Still it seemed like Rafe didn't care .For example, in one game I remember he had them come out in the shotgun and pass on 3rd and inches. He is turning us into a pass first team , and if this continues , we are going to be a middle of the road team or worse every year. Teams use to be foreced to respect our running game, this year , they weren't worried about it at all. And yes we did have a good QB in Toler, but he is nowhere near as talented as Anthony is at running back. If we had pounded the ball with Anthony this season , we probably wuld have won 7 games and made the playoffs.

I guess what I am getting at is that coaching is the root of our problems this season. Coach Val's style wasn't flashy , but it was definately effective. Had he still been there this year I have no doubt that we would have made the playoffs.Most of the games we lost were games that we could not finish off our opponent in. A clear sign of poor coaching. Henderson, Corsicana, Jacksonville , Marshall. They were all close games that we were in a position to win.But for some reason we couldn't hold on, mostly beacuse of terrible play calling. Basic things, like when you have the lead you run the ball and bleed the clock, not pass go three and out and give your opponent the ball back. And on defense when you are trying to protect your lead you do not come out in tight man coverage with only one safety back. We gave up so many big plays this season , we could make a wonderful highlight video for our opponens. Seriously.

I guess what I am trying to say is Mike Woods and his staff need to go. I know they only put in one season , but after a season like Kilgore fans just put up with .........well we can't put up with another. ANd I know the perfect person , Roger Adams . He was our DC before coach Val came, coached Hallsville back when they had some very good teams in the early 2000s , and is currenly at New Diana. He knows Kilgore football from both sides. You would think Coach Woods would know as long as he has been coaching here , but apparently all the Bulldog football the coaching staff had in them left with Coach Val. Well alright ....my rant is over.

Wow! Sounds like a carbon copy of La Marque the past 2 years. (Truth be known, we still question Jordan's coaching). Like La Marque. Kilgore will eventually break through. Good teams have a way of doing that.

[Jamfree]

Always blame the coach!

[cougartino]

Always blame the coach!

I gotta hang with 4sho on this one. I've been where he is and wouldn't wish that on anyone.