Rez

I don’t think the bottom has fallen out. The biggest danger for Nederland has been being mediocre and/or bad for so long that it becomes the standard. But, looking at this year, if Nederland goes from 2023 to being able to get past the first round (as compared to a 56-6 beat down), we’re talking a massive improvement. Not even close to this year, even if the on-paper record is similar.

I don’t think it will take 4-5 years. I’m thinking 2-3 or 3-4 at most, and it could be faster. I don’t think it will be as quick a turnaround as PNG (so, not a one-year transformation) for all the reasons I’ve said. It depends on who they hire. A great coach can defeat all our expectations. I won’t be surprised if Nederland finishes in 3rd in district next year and makes it to at least the second round.

Sounds like a lot of people got let go. I bet there’s a deeper story than football.

Right - this is something I think needs to be underlined. Joseph inherited a healthy program with kids who had won several key games and had had a deep-ish playoff run. He didn’t have to “rebuild” so much as “redirect.” It sounds like Nederland will need to do something closer to a true rebuild. That’s going to be key in how people evaluate the new guy. If the standard is “do exactly what png did and go straight to state,” that’s probably not going to work, because Faircloth left PNG in a state that is ahead of schedule relative to where Nederland is. But, I don’t think we’re talking a several year rebuild. I think Nederland just needs to get kids back , get more kids in, hit the weight room better and structure themselves to go toe-to-toe with the power and conditioning of elite programs. They aren’t far off - If Nederland had 1% improvements across every category of improvement, they become an entirely different team. A lot of Nedeand’s woes amount to just being left behind, not so much getting worse . The last two years, Barrow would probably have gone at least 1-1 against PNG if Faircloth had stayed the coach, because Faircloth built his teams the way Barrow does - Poor conditioning, low strength training, no attention to defense, and just hope you win by two points in a shootout. Joseph doesn’t do that, and he showed that there‘a a recipe for the mid county schools to compete at the highest level. Nederland can do it too, but given the current state of the program it might take a year or two to really see the results. But it could also be immediate, as we’ve seen.

With no data, my assumption is participation is down. This is based on anecdotes from Nederland people who at least claim to be aware of kids who might otherwise be playing who are walking the halls instead. And, it seems to follow that if a program isn’t doing well there’s at least a few who walk away. Participation goes up with success. PNG had at least one key player come back between Joseph’s first and second years. That might just be a coincidence (unrelated to the success in Year 1). Also, just given Nederland’s history of having good players, I assume those people still exist even if they aren’t on the team. The only other explanation would be that Nederland just doesn’t have good players right now, which I refuse to believe, and I strongly suspect a new coach will prove me right.

[Hidden Content] a good one just became available

Right. It certainly served to emphasize the difference in where the programs were. It’s one thing to have a down era; it’s another thing entirely to have your rival win state while you’re struggling. Like, if PNG and Nederland had both been 2-8 the last two seasons, they’re both probably eventually looking for new coaches, but it doesn’t become such a focus on one school’s success or failure. Regardless, I have trouble believing Nederland doesn’t right the ship sooner than anyone thinks.

I think PNg’s success was mostly symbolic in its effect on Nederland’s choices. The Nederland coaching staff failed on their own - If you changed nothing about PnG over the last two years and Nederland was posting strong 9 to 10 win seasons, they would still have their coach.

My guess (hope) is Barrow and the Super have been talking about this for a few weeks. Everyone sees the writing on the wall, most of all those two. If so, it could mean steps were quietly being taken in the background to identify solid candidates, beginning before the announcement.

Hands off!

I wish PNG would schedule like this. It’s not a golden bullet, and it only really helps you go deep in the playoffs if your team is already good enough to build from the butt-whoopings. But if we could schedule something like Summer Creek/PAM, North Shore, and Astascosita, we’d really help ourselves out. We’d likely start 0-3, or 1-2, but who cares? It’s about getting ready for the playoffs. And if we could make the travel work, I’d love a matchup with College Station or Aledo.

Coach suggestion, assuming he’d even be available, for Nederland: SOC’s defensive coordinator.

This outlines how incredibly stupid the grievance was. DISD didn’t file grievances about the Dallas-resident referees that reffed 4 of their 5 playoff games on the way to state. But suddenly they get a ref that isn’t from Dallas and it’s the end of the world. And, it makes clear what a lot of us already assumed, which was that South Oak Cliff had all the information needed provided to them in advance. This was just a pitiful attempt to gripe about losing.

PNG hasn’t lost to Jasper or Silsbee in years. DeSoto, Carthage, and Aledo are a different story. But I’m confident we would have beaten Carthage last year.

Three appearances and one victory in 48 years, after taking massive steps forward in training, condition, and coaching, and only following years of getting donkey stomped by better teams , and we finally become one of those better teams and now it’s “waltzing”?

Westerberg would be good, regardless, except we’ve already seen his ceiling at a school like Nederland. He improved BH, but that meant bringing them from first round exits to third round. Prieto would be much better, I think.

If we’re talking Westerberg, he only beat PNG twice (he was 2-2 all time against us). We beat BH in 2021 (Westerberg wasn’t there). BH won by 5 in 2019. The only decisive win was in 2020 (54-28).

I guarantee you wouldn’t see any more missed tackles

No - It‘s only a guess though, as to his mindset. But I agree with those who would prefer a defensive minded coach, regardless.

Faircloth could do great things at Nederland. My guess is he wants to put Mid County in his rear view mirror for good though

That seems late. Not for nothing, but there’s a certain former 2x state champion coach from West Orange who Nederland might consider.

Wait, so we lost an effective coach because of over-celebration? That sounds like something that should be more of a, “Hey, don’t do that anymore,” situation. Unless there’s more to it than is public.

Dang. That’s a loss for PnG

Is this confirmed?

So, this wasn’t “retirement.” It was “resignation.” I wonder if he’ll put his name in the hat for coaching jobs elsewhere?