Quick recap of Round 1.

Great post!I am trying to remember the last time Ringling went into the playoffs with a spotless record, and were subsequently eliminated in 1st rnd play. I think it might have been in 1976, but I was away and more or less "out of the loop" for a long time too, so I might be mistaken about that.

I listened to the coaches show this morning on KICM, and I have to say that Phil Koons is the kind of coach that, in Ringling, it is really hard to dislike, ... as opposed to Steve Justus. He said at one point that he is "tailor made" to coach at a place like Ringling, and I agree to a large extent.

I also have to say that I think he might suffer from a lack of imagination, which can be a problem with older guys like Koons and myself.

He is right that we didn't play fundamentally sound football on defense in the second half last night (namely, and as Koons pointed out, we had the Crusaders stopped for big losses on numerous plays, but simply didn't wrap up), but he is wrong, in my estimation, to blame it wholly on the kids and their alleged "lack of fundamentals." There are players, year-in and year-out - and CHA has a couple of them - who are just "wirey," and have the capability of making defenders look, well, stupid. Coach Koons never took any responsibility for the loss on the coaches show, and he should have. Lining up in tight formations on 4th & 1 and *invariably* counting on the "surge" at the line of scrimmage to get you the 1st dn on the call to the qb, is just dumb in today's world. You *have to know* they are going to come crashing in on those plays; pop one outside on them and put a stop to that, for goodness sakes! Also, our 1st qb is not very fast; why in the world Koons was calling plays *to him* outside the corners is just beyond me. If you are going to go outside, you have to have a kid with some speed, and VanBuskirk doesn't have any to speak of. Why does Koons not know that?

In short, and as I said to Tracy Gandy at halftime, we have to (have to!) get back to the fundamentals of Ringling Football if we are to be successful. That is to say, we have to get our own guys back on the sidelines. Simple as that!

Very curious about what happened in Ringling last night so thanks for your insight. Usually a coach never ever blames his kids for the loss most coaches will take blame when it comes to losses. Seems to be a red flag there if you ask me and sorry to hear that I can only imagine the frustrations of the Blue Devil faithful. Quick question when did Gandy stop coaching? Good luck to your boys next year.

You have "hit" on something that has concerned me throughout this season. Namely that Koons might, at some point, blame the Ringling issues on the players. Koons knows he "fell into a gold mine" with this group, and has said so on numerous occasions throughout the season. Meanwhile, we were short a couple of players last night as well, but that is no excuse for a team as "loaded" as Ringling was this year. And please believe me when I say they were "loaded." We *have to* get our guys back on the sidelines, pure and simple. If that means eliminating Koons & Co, well, that is what it means, in my view. "Tailor made" and all that, notwithstanding. My sage advice to coach Koons is this: Invite our guys onto the sidelines next season, and don't think twice about it. They know how to win championships; never discount them!

Ringling wasn't mentally ready to play. To me it's up to the coaches to get these kids ready to preform. Before half 0 points after half scored 22 points they made some adjustments but it was to late. You have to play all 4 qrts in the playoffs. Not to take anything away from CHS their a really good team well coached and I wish them all the luck throughout the playoffs

Stroud started off very sluggish last night against Talihina. Some of that was their 270lb QB (what he was listed at) made some tough runs early. I believe another reason was that, other than the seniors (which are few), none of the other players from Stroud had ever played in a playoff game. I think there were some nerves early. After that, they settled in and held Talihina scoreless and they never threatened again.

I also believe at times we got away from what we had been doing all year. Stroud made some adjustments after that first quarter and got back to the football that has brought them success this year.

I know they will have to start out much better this week against Morrison in order to win. That includes stopping the run from the get go. If Stroud can get out in front of Morrison, it will help tremendously as a track meet would certainly help the Tigers. It will be a tough game and I’m hoping it will turn out differently than the last time Stroud played Morrison at home in the second round 10 years ago.