NITRO SEEKS TO SHAKE OFF DOLDRUMS
Publication: THE
Published: 08/03/2002
Page: 1B
Headline: NITRO SEEKS TO SHAKE OFF DOLDRUMS
Byline: RICK RYAN
NITRO HASN'T made the playoffs in football since winning it all in that magical
1998 season.
The Wildcats have their sights set on getting back in the postseason
this year with returning talent such as quarterback Derek Midkiff,
tailback Chris McGhee, receiver Marshall Casto and
fullback-lineman Greg Eads.
One person Nitro won't have at its disposal, however, when practice begins on
Monday is a head coach. Robert "Little" Burdette left last month for
a coaching position in
Nitro Principal Paul McClanahan doesn't think the school will hire a coach
until mid- or late August. But there's no panic in the Wildcats program.
"I don't think it will affect us that much," said Scott Tinsley, the offensive
coordinator who is serving as acting head coach until the position is filled.
"There's not much of a changeover among the staff."
Tinsley pointed to assistants such as Mike Scott, who coached Tinsley at
McClanahan has said that the hire will come in-house, so continuity won't be a
problem, Tinsley said, if one of the current
assistants is elevated.
"There's not going to be that big of a turnover," Tinsley said,
"so the kids will be used to all of us. It will make a smooth
transition."
There is, of course, the chance that Tinsley himself will be named head coach.
But he said it would likely just be a one-year agreement between him and
McClanahan because the season is looming.
"I'm not at all excited about being a head coach again," Tinsley
said. "In my opinion, that position is overrated. There's a lot of
paperwork and public relations. It takes away from the time that you actually
coach the kids. I'm more of an X's and O's coach."
One thing Tinsley is excited about is the team's midnight practice to begin
preseason drills. At 12:01 a.m. Monday, Nitro will be among the first teams in
the state to start workouts.
"The kids have been wanting to do it for a couple
years," Tinsley said. "The main reason [to do it this year] is that
normally by this time, we'd already have the stuff handed out. But because of
the [coaching] change, we haven't had a chance to do that.
"If we'd have had a normal Monday morning practice, we'd probably have to
ask them to be there at 5 or 6 [a.m.] to start that stuff. So we'll bring them
in Sunday evening, hand out equipment and then have practice."
Tinsley expects the midnight drills to last about 90 minutes. There was no word
on what residents in the Underwood Field neighborhood felt about noise from the
late-night workout.
"Well, there might be a little bit of yelling," Tinsley said,
laughing.
nnn
It's only been five years since
But Jamison, now 72, wonders if he could coach in today's climate, with new
topics such as the 11-day transfer window at the start of the school year and
the advent of the approved three-week summer practice sessions that start in
June of 2003.
Jamison could only shake his head when he read recently that quarterback Casey
O'Brien, a two-year starter at Notre Dame, was transferring across town to play
for new coach Bryan Fisher at Robert C. Byrd.
"It's amazing what they let them do now," Jamison said.
Jamison led the Indians to more than 200 wins in his 27-year coaching career,
which included four state titles. But even though it would have helped the
development of his teams, he stands against the new June practice rule.
"I'd have had an awful time with that," he said. "I'd have
raised Cain with that. I know I'd have lost several good players. If I said:
'You have to be in practice in June,' they'd say: 'We'll see you, coach; we're
playing baseball.'
"I wouldn't want my kids doing it. Even to my sons, I'd say: 'It's
summertime. You do what you want to do.' When school starts, then the season
starts and you start [practicing]. They need to have some time for themselves.
Plus, there's the heat [in June]. If somebody keels over in that heat, you'd
have a mess from that, too."
Jamison also wonders aloud if the football ratings system to determine playoff
pairing has broken up some of the rivalries his teams and others used to enjoy
with schools in their region.
"I really think the rating system has changed that," he said.
"It's taken the place of actual rivalries. If one of the schools in your
county was rated, that made it a big game. If not, then another game would be a
big game.
"It used to be that it didn't make a difference how many wins or losses [a
rival] had. You played that one game and it was your season. Once the rating
system came in, people kind of forgot about [rivalries] and wanted to play
teams with the higher rating, whether it was someone like Winfield or Musselman."