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Geez. I'd like to say I am surprised by that outcome, but I am not.

This is true. No argument from me.

Athletes are still around the area, Liberty just needs to figure out how to get them to come out and play football. The same families of the athletes from years are still there and they're still having kids. Lackey needs to put in call to Anthony Chambers and to Reggie White and capitalize work they're already doing with the youth in the area. Having guys like that running Summer conditioning training and hanging around the program will do nothing but increase the profile and make more kids want to play football for Liberty. The avenues are there for Liberty to return to credibility.

Yup. Something easy. QC or consultant....something like that is my thought.

Or taking a job with TCU,

By all accounts, I've heard there is a ton of excitement around this hire. Everyone seems to have taken to him and is optimistic about the future with Lackey at the helm. We will see I guess, but I wouldn't bury Liberty yet. There are athletes in that area. If he can get them to come out, stay out of trouble, and buy into his program, he may be successful. I expect WOS to take a downturn, so maybe that helps also.

From one dumpster fire to another.

Is this the same Jason Smith that once was the owner of a Beaumont based semi pro football team? Circa 2003 or 2004?

Yes, the Morgan Family is from Hardin and the surrounding area and Anthony's dad was the AD/HC in Hardin for a couple of years. I believe Anthony was in JH during that time. He didn't get Hardin to the promised land soon enough to his dad was sent packing and took a job on staff in Carthage. The rest is history. I believe Anthony is actually living in Hardin now working in the oil and gas industry. He was very fun to watch and was a heck of a football player. How did the people in Hardin let this happen? Well, that question could be asked about many things over the years. I didn't see Anthony play in JH so I don't know if he looked like he was going to be as good as he ended up being or not.

Threading the needle will come as he continues to develop. The mechanics are off the charts for an 8th grader, he's a coaches kid so he has that working in his favor, and he absolutely loves the game so he works harder than anyone else in the room during the offseason. He has all the ingredients of a big time player. Will it all pan out? Who knows. But it will be fun to keep an eye on.

The biggest fish that ever got out of the pond at Hardin was Anthony Morgan, and he had to go because the dummies at Hardin ran his dad out of town on a rail. He ended up winning multiple state championships at Carthage and the rest was history. Barrier has a significantly higher ceiling than Morgan.

His name is Brady Barrier and he is Head Coach Ned Barrier's son. He is incredibly talented, already bigger and more skilled than any QB Hardin has seen in a while. I know this is probably going to generate some comments from the peanut gallery, but he is going to be a very special player and has a chance to be big time. Not asking you to believe me today, but I'll be available to discuss more in depth in 3 years or so when everyone else knows.

Taylor can get them right, and at least make them competitive, but the community is going to give him a couple of years. The ceiling at Tarkington is 5-5 and the occasional playoff appearance. That's it. Set those expectations and they can be somewhat respectable.

Talk about a guy who made a fool of himself on the daily. That is a blast from the past!!!!

One word in both situations, PROGRAM. Karen Slack has built quite the program at Liberty, and her success is aided by the Texas Dirt Diva's organization being right there in her back yard. Chandler has dome increcible things with that select softball program to develop players feeding into Slack's program. Randy and Regina Snell have done the same in Hardin with volleyball. It's expected to win and the girls coming up know that. In both situations, stability is present in leadership of the two programs........stability gives the ability to build. When you understand your job is safe even if you underachieve once in a while, you feel open to building there. When you think you are going to get run off the next time you are below .500, you're always looking for the off ramp.

Sure seems like it at this point. Best you could hope for right now, if you brought someone in from the outside, is an early June start.

HJ hires.......Tarkington poised to hire......Huffman, you're on the clock.

He might also be what is needed to pull some of that Beaumont talent out to HJ. This could be a turning point for the Hawks.

Zach Bass according to KFDM. Great get for HJ!

I said "some".

If Sizemore had talent coming up, support from admin and parents, and a winning culture in Tarkington, he would have definitely thought about staying rather than taking on the task of building a program from scratch. Me and you both know that, but alas, he is gone. In coaching, money is elusive. You may have it for a couple of years, then you will be fired based on the performance of 15-17 year olds. Stability and the chance to win are more valuable and ensure you can feed your family for the long haul. If coach was 3 years from retirement, I would understand your thinking, but he's actually on the other end of that equation. He's setting himself up to torpedo his overall HC record by taking over a new program, which affects his ability to get another job when the time comes.

I am hearing that the ball should start rolling on this one this week. It's a shame that it has taken so long to get started, but at least it seems it's moving forward....finally.

This dude was the top assistant for Scott Barrett in Huffman for a while. Barrett thinks very highly of him as a coach and a man, so I would assume he is on to bigger and better things. Sorry Tarkington, your disfunction will not allow anyone of any stature to remain on the prairie. Might want to consider this as you move forward.

Some of the WOS folks are hell bent on making sure this program is never successful again. It's a tragedy to watch.

Where did the coach from Tarkington go?