High School Football Question?

[BEAST]

How long will it be before we see another State Champion from a school west of Abilene? I am mainly talking about the ranks of 3A and up.




BEAST

[hollywood]

Good question BEAST. Probably a long time unless the stars align and a great class of athletes happen to come through. There are enough good athletes in West Texas and a few great coaches and programs that still remain and have rich tradition. To start, the programs are going to have to abandon the ball control run oriented type of offenses. It just doesn’t work anymore and especially against stronger faster spread oriented teams from Central, Southeastern and East Texas. In order to run a ball control offense you have to have superior athletes like there are more of in Central, Southeastern and East Texas. They aren't in West Texas anymore. Also, IMO, there's not a lot of attraction for coaches to be enticed to go West when there is a plethora of talent looming more in Central, Southeastern, and East Texas regions. The better coaches are attracted to Central, Southeastern, and East Texas. Compile that with the geographic location of the larger cities like the Metroplex, Austin, Houston and maybe even San Antonio, there's just not a lot of people moving out West. More have migrated East where the larger cities are.

That's my opinion.

[Ernest T Bass]

There just aren't very many large schools in west Texas period. Probably gonna take another Cedric Benson-type before a 4a or 5a school from out there wins another one.

[defense51]

Generally speaking, the more dense the population the better talent pool you have to build a championship team. Unless the West Texas region's population increases, it's not likely to happen for awhile. IMO

[BEAST]

I get what you guys are saying. What I am asking, are the Permian and Midland Lee dynastys done?




BEAST

[Ernest T Bass]

I get what you guys are saying. What I am asking, are the Permian and Midland Lee dynastys done?




BEAST

Dynasties? Yes, they're done. Keep in mind, the Midland Lee dynasty never happens if there's no Cedric Benson. Someone will undoubtebly catch the proverbial lightning in a bottle on occasion and win a state championship from that area, but I don't think you'll ever see another 4a or 5a dynasty from anywhere west of Abilene.

[BwdLion73]

I think the responses are pretty spot on with even politicians caring less if you are West of I-35. Things do shift, when I read all about the Beast from the East and other threads about the talent level of East Texas I am old enough to recall people in the know (Gordon Wood coffee groups late 60's & 70's) who would talk about the lack of talent in the South Texas teams that we always played in the State Games. You need good jobs to attract that age group with kids and most West Texas towns are stagnant or declining. I still think a good program in 3a and up can do it but not to the extent that we saw in the past. Time marches on...

[Lion70]

[QUOTE=BEAST;1731693]I get what you guys are saying. What I am asking, are the Permian and Midland Lee dynastys done?



Yes Coach Gaines step down yesterday at Odessa permian. Lee is not much better. They usually get Allen,Trinty,South Lake Carrol, Arlington in area.

[LionFan72]

Prepare for a shift in the economic work opportunities, in the next 2-3 years, new oil boom coming in Abiliene area, move-ins welcome!

[Matthew328]

Oil boom is ongoing in Midland-Odessa, problem is people aren't moving out there..they just go out there to work and then come home....

[LionFan72]

Think this one will be a game changer Matt, check out cline shale news.

[LionFan72]

Midland_Odessa area you are correct, because there is no available housing. Could be wrong, have been before, but this is good news for west-central Texas.

[Bassact]

Good question BEAST. Probably a long time unless the stars align and a great class of athletes happen to come through. There are enough good athletes in West Texas and a few great coaches and programs that still remain and have rich tradition. To start, the programs are going to have to abandon the ball control run oriented type of offenses. It just doesn’t work anymore and especially against stronger faster spread oriented teams from Central, Southeastern and East Texas. In order to run a ball control offense you have to have superior athletes like there are more of in Central, Southeastern and East Texas. They aren't in West Texas anymore. Also, IMO, there's not a lot of attraction for coaches to be enticed to go West when there is a plethora of talent looming more in Central, Southeastern, and East Texas regions. The better coaches are attracted to Central, Southeastern, and East Texas. Compile that with the geographic location of the larger cities like the Metroplex, Austin, Houston and maybe even San Antonio, there's just not a lot of people moving out West. More have migrated East where the larger cities are.

That's my opinion.

Agree with everything but abandoning the ball control offenses. WingT, Slot T, power I, pro-set, run&shoot or spread - doesn't really matter; win the line of scrimmage (both sides of the ball) and 9-10 times you win the game.

[Old Tiger]

West Texas 3a football is mediocre at best.

[Manso/V8]

West Texas is experiencing an economic boom with oil prices above $80 bbl and new technologies to access oil that they couldn't economically extract before. It is true that many people are not moving out there permanently, mainly because of lack of housing. If the good times sustain, there will be a migration west, local tax revenues will swell, and you will see a rise in the talent level, and support for the local football programs will grow.