Phil Robbins is a good coach, however when he came to Big Stone Gap he more or less walked into an ideal situation as far as coaching high school football goes:

* Powell Valley had just won their first state championship the year before his arrival.
* A strong feeder (little league) program had already been put into place by those who came before him.
* Powell Valley was by far the largest school in Region D.
* Big Stone Gap was pretty much a hub for business/job opportunities, so the place to live in or near abouts was Big Stone. For the most part as far as Wise County goes, this still holds true to this day. Bottom line - more families in the area = more talent to choose from.

I personally would give the community more credit than they currently are given.

Robbins was a head coach for 12 years before becoming the head coach of Powell Valley:

1971 - 1976 John Battle (15-42-3), 25% winning percentage

1977 - 1982 Christiansburg (32-28-1), 52.4% winning percentage

1983 - 2005 Powell Valley (228-55), 80.5% winning percentage

Again, Phil Robbins is a good coach no doubt. But Big Stone Gap/Powell Valley made Phil Robbins a winner, not the other way around.