Scrimmages

Years ago Milan had some Ypsi kids on that team. I remember people talking about it on the blog. I want to say it was the 2nd year of the current coach. I could be wrong.

Remember I said all things being equal, that the numbers would shake out like that.

SMCC and Trenton both lacked energy (except the coaches on both sides who had lots of energy). It was hot and muggy and the teams looked flat. Concessions weren't fully supplied and the fans were quiet on both sides. I think it will all be fine by the first game.

Perfect. Example of comparing leagues is Clinton, they were terrible in the lcaa so they left for the tri county and found success. Finding that early success gave the program hope and kids began to come back out for football… mason should consider that drop, because they will get a few wins without improving and then kids in the hall ways will
Play and the team will improve and then they can come back to lcaa

My experience tells me, bigger schools have a tendency to have more athletes. It's purely a numbers game with all things being equal. With all things being equal, a Class A football team might have 4-6 great athletes, 8-10 good athletes and say 12-16 average athletes. A Class B team might have 3-5 great athletes, 6-8 good athletes and 10-14 average athletes. A Class C team might 2-4 great athletes, 4-6 good athletes and 8-12 average athletes. A Class D might have 1-2 great athletes, 3-5 good athletes and 6-10 average athletes. I'm not saying that these are the numbers, I'm just providing an example of what happens because of enrollment numbers when all things are equal.

Now programs can skew those numbers. How good is the weight training program? Do kids want to come to your school because of better academic programs or more money? Things like that. Stability of the program is huge. Schools that keep their coaching staffs in place generally have advantages, mostly because they have created that. Sometimes quality parents who work with their kids and others kids help create an environment conducive to producing skilled athletes.

In other cases, you have a school like a Cass Tech that every junior football player in the city wants to play for. This is for multiple reasons, but it has to do with success in athletics and academics. They attract the from the Police Athletic League, Pop Warner and American Youth Football players that reside in the city of Detroit and sometimes the suburbs. Cass Tech has an entrance exam to get in. This weeds out some kids, but Cass usually has twice as many 9th and 10th grade football players as other schools in the city. What happens then, is some kids don't make it academically or they aren't good enough to crack the line up for the Technicians, so they transfer elsewhere.

This would go for programs such as Muskegon Catholic Central in D8. Muskegon is a historical talent rich football area. MCC attracts players to their program and then they do a great job of developing those players.

Now getting to a Whiteford, they obviously have a good program and thing going down there. They would struggle on a weekly basis against teams from the Huron League because there would never be an easy game in the league for them. This is not to say they couldn't beat any of the Huron League teams. It just means they couldn't handle the rigor of the league on a weekly basis. It can be argued that Western Michigan last year could have competed with anyone in the B1G last season on a one time Saturday, but if they had to play a regular schedule say in the East division, they most likely would have finished 3rd or 4th. The same could be said of Milan playing against the SEC Red, one time against a Saline, maybe they win, but having to play that entire schedule that includes the Ann Arbor Schools, Monroe, Bedford and then a Chelsea. They simply wouldn't have enough athletes to compete.

Obviously just my opinion, but look what schools produce the most college talent. In general Class A process the most, the B, then C, then D.

Whiteford could compete in the Huron League. Milan could compete in the SEC. Teams that finish in the top of there respective leagues year in and year out could compete in tougher leagues.

You obviously know nothing about Whiteford. Wear down?? Are you saying Milan will wear down this year because they have 20 kids??

Updated Tier

Tier 1
Milan
Bedford
Huron
Whiteford

My Tier rankings are spot on!!!! Airport and Carlson could switch either way.

Sorry Tier Airport is not in the same category of Riverview not close to Monroe and have them in front of Carlson and GI? We're getting closer to the AP people chirping again cuz they compare scrimmage with Ida/grass lake and white ford who absolutely handed to you up front I would put Rock in front of you as well let's hear it chirpers (AP)

I wanna know who if any of the coaches are on the hot seat?? With so many new coaches it's prolly notto many, but kind stand out. He filled jacks shoes fresh off a state title, going 8-2 then 4-5 so an early exit and a post season no show can't be good for the falcon faithful… also how much pressure will potter face because he finds himself replacing a legacy like
Kipf did. Is there any pressure on the island or in pirate country? And what about jack? His legacy speaks volumes but will Carlson allow the growing / transition pains or will they want wins now bc it's jack G?

What are your rankings after what you saw and heard yesterday?

Wow, we *are* just a week away. I'm looking forward to seeing all the Milan fans and parents in the stands next Friday night!

I know Whiteford isn't a part of this blog but they have a solid team for Division 20. I was impressed with there D line, O line, and they were damn big for a small school. They'll go far again this year.

After watching some film, I would say Carlson will struggle a lot this year, probably 2-4 wins. Riverview looks like a team that could possibly win the league. Huron was what should be expected against the competition, very good but Salem and the entire Huron league will be a huge step up. Flat Rock should be disappointed if they don't win 6 games judging from their scrimmage and returning players. Looking at some other comments, I would think it might be a tough season for CC if they are struggling with a down Trenton team. Same goes for Airport and Jefferson when looking at the Ida and Dundee teams. I am sure Dundee especially will be a solid team but the Huron League is a step up from the LCAA.

Airport started a little slow against Whiteford but really started to look good after Whiteford. Airport and Whiteford were pretty close. Airport had its will against Ida I think. All 3 backs are fast and can go the distance at anytime. Defense seems fast and aggressive. Not sure if I would say they're big. Bigger than last year I guess.

Okay people. I was pretty much everywhere today. Just some idle thoughts.

Dundee looked solid. Not a lot of team speed, but they are physical and will hit you. Salenbien did a great job running their offense and scored 3 times on the keeper against Jefferson. The defense looked very good.

Jefferson struggled to move the ball a bit. They played hard and their young QB is very fast. Defensively they did a decent job against Dundee between the tackles. I thought Dundee was the better team at this point.

Carlson running the T is a work in progress. They scored at will against Garden City, but then struggled a bit with a solid Riverview squad. I was impressed with the Marauder fullback, he had some really nice carries. Defensively, Carlson was okay. Nothing that really wowed me. You can tell it is early. Carlson will only get better. Most teams will be better off playing them early. They probably threw the ball against Garden City more than they will all season.

I was impressed with Riverview. They struggled early on the defensive side of the ball against Lincoln Park's solid run game. Their offense looks much improved. The line is solid and the RB's run every very hard. They played even with Carlson and may have evened a slight edge.

Not sure what to think of Huron. Kennedy and Detroit Southeastern weren't very good, but Huron did some good things. Offensively 5 or 6 different kids caught or ran for TD's. The defense was fast and was in the backfield quite often.

I got some feedback from a friend on Ida and Airport.

He said Airport looked very good. They ran the Wing T. The running backs ran hard and have one kid who can flat out fly. Also, said that Airport was very big.

Ida was solid with good line play. They played hard and should be decent.

Was at SMCC…3-6…4-5 if there lucky !!! I'm telling you !!! Nice size on o line …no physicality at all from them …if they get physical and get after it ..I could see a 6 win season…but today 3-6…4/5 at best !!!

How did Monroe look today with those monster lineman they have??

Riverview looked great vs Carlson and LP. Gave up 2 TDs against both and scored 4 against both.
View faithful

Unfortunately I can't make the Airport scrimmage at Ida. Any updates are appreciated. EM

Are there really any kids in the Huron League that can really burn this year?? Sounds like Flat Rock is built to compete. Huron League will be a lot of physical smash mouth football week in and week out. Wouldn't be surprised if the Huron League Champ has 2 losses this year.

Very impressed with FR at their scrimmage this morning. Its always thought to tell at scrimmages. Teams are vanilla, no special teams. So take this for what it is worth. They played even with Southgate Anderson. I think Anderson would win that game, but it would be a close hard fought game. The Rams looked very good against Edsel Ford. I think FR would win that game. FR then crushed N. Farmington. The Rams are extremely well coached, very physical at every position. Their QB runs and throws well and their RB is legit. Not overly impressed with the team speed, they don't seem to have any burners.

I think parents are the same anywhere. They are going to be critical about the team make up, playing time along with wins and losses. It kinda comes with the territory as a coach. One thing I know about the Huron League coaches; is that they are all pretty darn good guys and Kipf is certainly one of those. As an AD, coach and a parent of a high schooler I experience all ends of it personally. The tough part as a coach is when someone questions your integrity. Certainly uncalled for by anyone, especially parents whose only concern is their child.

Why all of a sudden does everyone need to be recognized when they want to leave a comment? Free the damn people Chris!!! You probably voted for Hillary too.

Not sure what comments weren't posted. However, Coaches don't get paid enough for parents to complain. They spend countless hours away from their families to produce a winning outcome on the field. You may not hunk you are making a deragatory comment towards players but if you are trashing their coach it has deragatory effects for the team. All too often kids read these things and start to believe what they read. As a coach, we are constantly telling our athletes to ignore what is written online or in social media. We can't control what is said, we have to focus on what we can control. A grown man bashing a coach, player, or program doesn't help a program get kids to believe. Numbers are down throughout the county, state, and Nation for tackle football. It's time to start being positive and encouraging more kids to play football.

You guys are too filter happy. None of my comments have been derogatory to kids. Coaches get paid, and parents should be held responsible. This is going to get boring if we can't have a little banter. It's like watching a bad Cable TV show and not being able to call in..

Thanks for the info.