Rez

Apologies if this has been noted elsewhere: Is Nederland having a spring game. If so, when?

That will make a big difference by itself.

So help me, we can pull him out of retirement and really give people something to gripe about.

I don’t normally follow baseball, so forgive me if I’m missing this and it’s been posted somewhere else. Anyone have the start time and location for PNG vs BH on Friday, April 26, 2024? I think it’s in BH but I don’t know anything else.

Wait, is the PNG quarterback hurt too? I haven’t gotten any news on that.

Exactly. Of course changing realignment to make matchups more fair helps, but fairness always helps, and that shouldn’t be a knock against PNG. But, they created the fixed divisions in what, 2018? How did PnG do in that setup before Joseph showed up? Elite coaching mixed with good players and good luck, and a level playing field, yeah that helps a lot. But for anyone trying to say PNG had it easy, why don’t the other 120-ish teams in 5aD2 do just as well?

FBM made it to the 4th round in 22-23. If that’s “weak,” I don’t know what “strong” is.

I can’t see Nederland beating Huntsville.

Nederland has had more or as many as PNG for several years at a time prior to the current swing. I don’t know about every year. We were practically equal in the 2017 count, but I could be remembering it wrong. It’s only recently PNG has trended up enrollment-wise.

If I’m not mistaken, Silsbee has never been to state.

I wanted Nederland to take him.

With the addition of Prieto, this district has a new wrinkle. If we assume both Nederland and Dayton are improved with their HC additions, and if we assume they both show that improvement enough this season to at least challenge PNG/LC/Huntsville, the district race is fascinating. I don’t mean to overstate how good they could be - It’s more likely than not that a first year under a new coach is more “gradual progress” than “throwing a grenade on the whole schedule.” But, I also don’t want to overstate how good the favorites are. Last year was last year, this year is brand new. The season was already going to be interesting because you’re throwing PNG, LC, and Huntsville into the same test tube. If Dayton and Nederland improve even enough to make some noise, it becomes a murderer’s row. I personally hope that’s the case. I’d love our district to stomp into Region 2 and scatter everyone else’s marbles.

I look at it as a toss up between Dayton and Nederland for the fourth spot. Dayton has a more proven coach, but I (perhaps naively) refuse to not think Nederland is a good coach away from putting things together. But, I’d still give an edge to Dayton. They were a more complete team than Nederland last year and are returning some key pieces. Nederland won an “anybody’s game” matchup with them. Add Prieto and the coin weighs more toward Dayton (and not just against Nederland). And, just my two cents: I have trouble choosing between LC or PNG for first place. PNG was better last year, overall, but only slightly. LC brings back a stud QB and who knows who else. And, there’s hardly any margin for error. We could reasonably drop the first two of district and be fighting for third.

I’d love to see someone do an article explaining the rules on recruiting violations and how it all works. I’d be confident guessing that most fans, even dedicated year-round observers of the entire high school football process, don’t have a good grasp of it (i.e., Me and probably most of the state). As news like this breaks, it can very often be a mystery as to what exactly constitutes wrongdoing, what rules govern, and when player transfers DON’T amount to “recruiting.” It’s one of those things where in some contexts it seems like it’s open season and in others they lay down the hammer. The impression, even if not intended, is one of chaos and unpredictability.

This is huge. The difference in Crosby when he was there was immediate and obvious. Dayton is going to take a massive step forward and make that district a lot more interesting. One question: Lake Worth was 10-3 the season before he showed up, with a 6-5 (first round playoff exit) in his one season there. Obviously, a season is just one season, but that’s a significant step back from the year earlier. Any thought or inside info on that year? Graduated a lot of talent? Totally new system?

It was on Facebook. I didn’t see it until after the fact, but I’m not on any direct Nederland pages.

That’s going to be tough

August 30 - @Klein Oak September 6- @BU September 13 - La Porte BYE September 27 - Montgomery Lake Creek October 4 - @Huntsville October 11 - Splendora October 18 - @West Fork October 25 - Nederland November 1 - Montgomery November 8 - @Dayton This is about as good a district travel schedule I could have hoped for. I would have preferred Nederland be one of the away games, to get either Huntsville, Dayton, or West Fork at home. As it is, we get both Montgomery schools at home. Regardless of travel, this is a tough schedule. Preseason, I could see us going 1-2. La Porte, MLC, and Huntsville all in a row is going to be like a playoff run. And, Klein Oak looks like they’ll have some serious size and strength. First five weeks will be a murderers’ row, not counting BU - Who knows what they‘ll be next year, but if I had to guess I’d say “not good” until they have a new coach. West Fork, Nederland, and Montgomery are wild cards. I think Dayton and Splendora won’t make much noise. West Fork: New schools are always intriguing. Sometimes they go straight to being good. Nederland: New coach, determined to get back into the mix. Montgomery: I don’t know much about them, other than we played them in the playoffs in ‘21 and ‘22. They strike me as always being at least pretty good. Hunstville and MLC are both returning talent from last year, and we saw how good they were. If Lake Creek had beaten us, I think they could have come away with a state championship. We’ll be good too, I think. But, this is going to be an exciting district.

He probably did

Offense should be Nguyen.

Sounds like it

I don’t see it as about stature so much as a way to judge where things are likely going. If, seven years from winning a state championship, a team hasn’t been back to state, it’s roughly safe to say they aren’t likely to be back to state any time soon. But, I take a more broad approach - Getting to state is nearly as useful an indicator as winning state, and getting at least to the semifinals means you had a team that was capable of getting to state. So if I had a coach getting to semifinals or to state seven years in a row, never winning state, I’d think long and hard before firing him on the hope that a new guy can replicate that success. A coach that can get you that far is one of the best coaches in the state. But, I like the seven year rule because in seven years you have an idea of what is a coach’s “normal” (statistically) outcome.

Agreed 100%. He needs to plant his flag as soon as possible to send out the message that things are full-circle different now. Best way to do that is actually play football. There needs to be a Nederland spring game.

Any thoughts on how soon he’ll select DC and OC?

Seven year clock starts right now !