Andrew Palko named new Lee football coach

[yogibear]

I agree 100,000 percent with about all of what you have said. I just feel like an internet message board is not a place to discuss a job or the hiring process of that job if you are involved in it. That is all I am saying. I really do feel like the guy was eating up all the attention and love he was getting over there and there was just a funny feel about all that to me.

[beamer_ball]

And Vaughn's record was?? And same for the others??? As mentioned on the CMD forum, don't know much about the football up there, the conference they are in, or much about Chopticon's teams over those years. I didn't see any candidate that was listed having an "impressive" record, unless I missed it. May not be impressive but not terrible and doesn't say much about what type of coach he could be for Lee. Sanders came in and had things going in the right direction, his wasn't either. After really thinking it over, I think was a good choice, Lee doesn't need another startup coach...they keep going back to that path and its burnt them every time. There were plenty of things that appeared good, but still yet unproven. What exactly said the others would mean Lee wouldn't have to make another hire next year? Didn't think that would be the case last year, did they not get a young coach then? Sure did...and the result was another early exit.

[hoocus]

Beamerball, I'm not saying that Palko is a bad choice for Lee, nor am I saying he is a bad coach. All I'm saying is that too many people see "experience" as being a panacea for all things bad, when the reality of it is that "experience" is sometimes used to describe a situation where "longevity" would have been the better word.

Correct me if I am wrong because this is based SOLELY on what I have read on this and other boards, but last year's coach didn't leave willingly. He aparently failed to complete some type of educational requirement and was let go. If that IS the case, then the decision to hire him in the first place was a poor one. Why take that kind of chance when you have qualified applicants?

Palko may come to Lee, and in a couple of years be cleaning the clocks of everyone in the CMD. Or, if he lives up to the history of his past twenty years, he will be a mediocre coach who lives right on the line of the .500 season.

I think EVERYONE would agree that the schools all across the CMD have relatively equal talent for the most part. The differences in winning and losing at sports may, during some years, be an issue of talent alone, but for the most part, over the long haul, it is coaching ability. Look at GC with football and volleyball. Does GC just happen to be the only school in the CMD that can produce good volleyball athletes?

As someone just said on another board, "Good coaches win ballgames regardless of talent." School systems and state leagues do their best to insure equality of play by classifying schools according to enrollments.

In looking at any coach's record I realize you have to take things other than won-loss records into account. Here we aren't talking about three or four years, where "builidng" a program might be an excuse, or even ten years where there were some lean years at first and then the program began winning. Instead, we are talking about TWENTY years of .500 seasons. So, there is a possibility that Lee has hired a coach with a winning heart, mind and program that just didn't have resources at his previous school. There is also the probability that they have hired a coach that wasn't very successful at his last school, and probably won't be at this one either.

Ultimately it matters not to me. I was just throwing some things out there for discussion. I wish Coach Palko and the Generals the best of luck. I like seeing close football games, and want all the CMD schools to develop topnotch programs. It is fun to win, but it is even more fun to show up on a Friday night not knowing who is going to win, and when you do win come away with a sense of accomplishment.

[beamer_ball]

I don't think it should be just about experience alone either. I think many wanted to see more than just that, I guess I was one of the first ones to bring that up but I didn't just mean that alone when I said it. Who's better qualified from the list? Who's the better choice? Vaughn has a lot of plans it seems and played in Europe and the Arena football league, seems to have good faith and apparently an aggressive nature, and that just from only what he's thrown out there, but even so how would that translate into coaching at Lee High, that's a big unknown. The others are pretty much in the same boat as Coomer and others were, all past Lee football players with some college playing experience, some assistant coaching, and no head coaching experience (except for Coomer's one year). I know I said Lee could use one who's got the "experience", if this is just all its about, but again that didn't mean just a long tenure, I just kind of grouped it into that one word (I'm lazy, okay, lol). We'd certainly like to see some big name, state ring bearing, well proven, legendary coach, waltz right on in...but they've got to apply first, haha. Ah, who knows, that .500 ball in Maryland could be much better here, we'll see I guess.

[hoocus]

As the old saying goes, if you never risk anything, you never gain anything. I think Lee may be a little gunshy now because of what happened with the last coach. That hurts.

I personally like the enthusiasm Vaughn showed. Some people are put off by it and consider it arrogance. To me you are only arrogant if you can't back it up. His resume to me seems to be much more impressive than Palko's, whose only claim to fame seems to be 20 years as a HC. Vaughn has experience in MULTIPLE facets of the sport.

Again, I'm not saying Lee made a bad decision, I'm just saying that I think somebody overlooked Vaughn, and I hope that we get him.