Printable View
St. Paul is losing their football coach after 8 years. Palmer is going to Patrick Henry. I see this as an excellent move on his part. Number one, he doesn't have to fool with whether he is going to have a teaching job in Wise county and #2 He knew he probably wouldn't get a coaching position in the county either. He did the smart thing in "jumping ship" so to speak.
Man, things are changing fast.
At least he doesn't have to worry about this fiasco in Wise County.
Expect to see another Wise Co FB coach going to Washington County too.
I had heard that if St. Paul was shut down, Palmer was coming to PV to help Travis. I dont know if that was true or not, but very possible. Mark is a guy I have respected since I played.
He's a hell of a coach. One of the top 5 around here. He's always been at small schools with no numbers and little to know football history.
It was in today's cornfield, along with Adams' new position as head baseball coach.
I agree and might even take it a step further. I consider Palmer one of the top 3 coaches in the county/area.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironlung
Rick is a great coach, Jimbo is a great coach, but the rest of the old guard has retired or moved on.
While Mullins and Adams have benefited from being at schools with great fb tradition and devotion (CW) or schools that have a good portion of elite athletes and a good tradition (not quite CW tradition but JIB has some football history), Palmer has had success at a school with almost no athletes, no tradition, etc...
Its weird, Turner passed on, Phil retired, Coloboro isnt at GC, etc... so the great coaches around here are limited to Rick, Jimbo, and Palmer at this point IMO.
Travis Turner might be a great coach but he hasnt had a chance to prove it yet, Roger Austin has struggled, Pound is a revolving door, GC experienced a coaching change, etc...
so I would put Palmer in the top 3 coaches in the area.
"so I would put Palmer in the top 3 coaches in the area."
Probably. It's hard to not think of Phil still coaching. The job Palmer did at Ervinton was great. He had the best team that school's seen in 30-40 years around 94-95.
Give Palmer 3 years and see where PH is. Fantastic hire,and he will be able to sell his plan to the kids. PH has the size to put some nice numbers on the field for him.
Didnt they make a pretty deep playoff run in 94-95? I was thinking they played for a Region title or something like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironlung
I think Mullins at CW does a great job and he is prob the best in the area, but Palmer is in that class with him, Jimbo, etc..
94 was my SR year and they were pretty good. They won the CD that year. I think they were 7-3 or 8-2. They might have won it the next year or two also. Stripes would know as he was running the show at RC back then.
well if you can call just being a handoff machine running the show I guess you are right! haha
You mean Johnny Gaby won the CD. haha. That dude was a beast. I think the won the district Gaby's sophomore year when I was in the 7th grade which would have been the fall of 93. I think they beat RC but lost to someone else and RC dropped a tough game at SP that year and cost themselves a chance to share the district title. I believe Ervinton had a pretty tough little QB along this time too, and had a few good athletes in the school who were at least freshman at this time.
In 94 they were tough again with Gaby but RC beat them at Ervinton 14-13 or something like that I believe. RC had lost their leading rusher and best OL in the opening drive at JIB in the first game of the season that year and just got them back that week. TS beat RC in OT to win the district that year I believe.
My freshman year we hosted them and he ran wild on us, which was his SR year. He was built like a tank. I dont think he had a ton of speed but he had enough, and would flatten you if you got in his way. TS went 10-0 that year with us and Chilhowie giving them their biggest scares if I am not mistaken until Burton beat them in the first round of the playoffs.
My sophomore year, Gaby was gone, but Ervinton had quite a bit of speed on their team. Mark utilized their skill set very well. We traveled to them around week 7 carrying only 1 win. We crushed them 46-6, and beat TS to end the season 3-7, and that upset of TS put Ervinton back in the playoffs where they lost 7-6 I think to Thomas Walker. Had we taken care of business we would have been there instead. We were only ran off the field twice, and lost to Hurley (Greg Tester and D2 runnersup) by 4, Northwood by 1, Holston by 2, Thomas Walker on a FG with 15 seconds left by 3, and St. Paul in OT. We had Hurley beat till the lights went out and had to go back and finish it 2 days later.
I wish I had some films of Gaby that people could see. He is very easily forgotten because he played at Ervinton as one of the best backs in the area in the 90s. He wasn't on TJs or Boos level, but he was still very tough.
Arsehole. hehe. Travis Turner was probably the only person who could carry out a fake better than me while making all those handoffs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Biggin
I've got the 94 CW/EHS game when Gaby was there. We beat the dog**** out of them but he was a good little back. He wasn't big but he was fast and quick. They were good then and a year or two after Gaby left they had a big linemen named Aubrey Herndon when they were as good or better.
I cant remember how big he was as a sophomore, but it seems like he was around 6'2" 215 or so by the time he graduated. I cant remember though. They only were only decent the first year after he graduated. After that is when they started only have 15 or so kids for a long time.
Didn't he pass away a few years ago? Either a vehicle accident or something in the military? I remember Shawn McMillian who was a good athlete at Ervinton that graduated the same year I did was killed in a 4 wheeler accident I think it was.
I think you're way off on his size. He wasn't anywhere near 200 lbs and I don't think he was even 6'. From what I remember he was about 5'10" 170 tops.
It seems like I heard something about the last part you mentioned but I don't know if it's right or I'm mistaken.
I remember my freshman year we had a coach dress out for practice to play the role of Gaby for practice. Boy that was fun.
Career rushing yards 4,528, John Gaby, Ervinton, ended 1995
I was talking to mark about this the other day. He said they did win 7 games a couple of times, but never won 7 and made the playoffs in the same year. The 2 years he made the playoffs at EHS the won 5 and 6 games.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironlung
I also agree it is a great hire. Mark has been a great friend and mentor to me. Phil has always distanced himself from the "new coaches" but Mark has always helped me when I needed it.
So in that aspect, the treatment of others with respect, he is far superior to Phil.