Let's talk some football.
Tri-Valley Turnover. At the present moment, it looks as though the Tri-Valley East conference will have a total of four new head coaches come this fall.
In Vassar, 10-year head coach Vince Leveille has moved on (check story on previous blog) and his replacement at the top spot is his defensive co-ordinator from a year ago, Jason Kiss.
Kiss is a Nouvel graduate who played collegiately at SVSU.
He previously held the same defensive co-ordinator position for five years at Nouvel before being hired for the same position and as boy's track coach before the 2006-07 school year at Vassar.
Kiss seems like a good coach, although he has no previous head coaching experience at the varsity level.
Vassar administration is reportedly banking a lot on Kiss due to his background as both a player and a coach at Nouvel.
I hope he's successful, but I also hope he realizes that he's in for a lot of work.
Vassar has not had a competitive program for a lot of years; there were times in the early 90's when it was not uncommon for the Vulcans to have 0-9 seasons.
In fact, at one point, from 1989-91, the Vulcans lost a whopping 22 games in a row!
In order to change a loser to a winner, a change in attitude has to happen, so I wish coach Kiss the best.
Caro has reached to the past to find their new coach.
Todd Laventure is out after a couple of forgettable seasons and the Tigers have brought back coach Al Boydston in the hopes of restoring respect to a downtrodden program.
Boydston has had success in the past at the helm for Caro; a few TVE titles in the 90's, annual trips to the playoffs and I think at least one Regional title.
And Boydston hasn't exactly been away....last year he served as an assistant coach to Laventure, so coach Al still maintained his presence around Caro.
It might take him a year or two, but chances are, he'll do the job.
Bridgeport has hired 72-year Mel Skillman as the new coach of the Bearcats.
Skillman last coached at Merrill around four years ago I think. During his tenure for the Vandals, he made his team into a scoring machine, routinely posting scores in the 30's and 40's due to the fact that they threw the ball 40-50 times a night.
Skillman may have more work to do than anyone...Bridgeport has never been a very good football school.
But the school is loaded with good athletes...you just need to watch the basketball and baseball and track teams to see that.
So, if coach Skillman can tap into that resource, than expect Bridgeport to become a league contender.
If he can't, then Skillman will just go the way of so many predecessors.
No word out of North Branch yet about the position of head coach there, but it's doubtful they will bring back their leader after the embarrassing arrest of coach Eric Hyde this past winter.
I'd expect the Broncos to have a new coach pretty soon.
As for the Millington rumors....I have spoken to coach Tim Furno (I played for him, and I actually have a repoire with him) and he is not retiring from coaching.
It is true that he has bought a house in Florida, but it is a retirement home for he and his wife.
Furno has no plans on quitting just yet....he's real close to 200-wins for his career and he feels like he still has a few good years left in him.
Millington will have a new offensive coordinator this fall, but I'll have more on that later.
Any speculation as to what the league plans on doing when Vassar jumps to the Greater Thumb West for the 2008 season is just that at this point...speculation.
In Vassar, 10-year head coach Vince Leveille has moved on (check story on previous blog) and his replacement at the top spot is his defensive co-ordinator from a year ago, Jason Kiss.
Kiss is a Nouvel graduate who played collegiately at SVSU.
He previously held the same defensive co-ordinator position for five years at Nouvel before being hired for the same position and as boy's track coach before the 2006-07 school year at Vassar.
Kiss seems like a good coach, although he has no previous head coaching experience at the varsity level.
Vassar administration is reportedly banking a lot on Kiss due to his background as both a player and a coach at Nouvel.
I hope he's successful, but I also hope he realizes that he's in for a lot of work.
Vassar has not had a competitive program for a lot of years; there were times in the early 90's when it was not uncommon for the Vulcans to have 0-9 seasons.
In fact, at one point, from 1989-91, the Vulcans lost a whopping 22 games in a row!
In order to change a loser to a winner, a change in attitude has to happen, so I wish coach Kiss the best.
Caro has reached to the past to find their new coach.
Todd Laventure is out after a couple of forgettable seasons and the Tigers have brought back coach Al Boydston in the hopes of restoring respect to a downtrodden program.
Boydston has had success in the past at the helm for Caro; a few TVE titles in the 90's, annual trips to the playoffs and I think at least one Regional title.
And Boydston hasn't exactly been away....last year he served as an assistant coach to Laventure, so coach Al still maintained his presence around Caro.
It might take him a year or two, but chances are, he'll do the job.
Bridgeport has hired 72-year Mel Skillman as the new coach of the Bearcats.
Skillman last coached at Merrill around four years ago I think. During his tenure for the Vandals, he made his team into a scoring machine, routinely posting scores in the 30's and 40's due to the fact that they threw the ball 40-50 times a night.
Skillman may have more work to do than anyone...Bridgeport has never been a very good football school.
But the school is loaded with good athletes...you just need to watch the basketball and baseball and track teams to see that.
So, if coach Skillman can tap into that resource, than expect Bridgeport to become a league contender.
If he can't, then Skillman will just go the way of so many predecessors.
No word out of North Branch yet about the position of head coach there, but it's doubtful they will bring back their leader after the embarrassing arrest of coach Eric Hyde this past winter.
I'd expect the Broncos to have a new coach pretty soon.
As for the Millington rumors....I have spoken to coach Tim Furno (I played for him, and I actually have a repoire with him) and he is not retiring from coaching.
It is true that he has bought a house in Florida, but it is a retirement home for he and his wife.
Furno has no plans on quitting just yet....he's real close to 200-wins for his career and he feels like he still has a few good years left in him.
Millington will have a new offensive coordinator this fall, but I'll have more on that later.
Any speculation as to what the league plans on doing when Vassar jumps to the Greater Thumb West for the 2008 season is just that at this point...speculation.
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