Just saw on TV that Bryan High School's head football coach was fired today. Maybe Bryan football will be what it used to be...

I find this really sad. Coach Criswell is a class act and deserves better.

I played for him at Bryan along with one Viking/Aggie/NFL o-lineman and I also played in college at a D-I program so I am familiar with the situation.

Unfortunately, I believe that the problem lies with the psyche of the town and the attitude of the kids and many parents.

It is hard to describe, but I feel like the town almost suffers from a lack of heart. There also seems to be a shortage of support from most of the kids and the parents to put in the work and make the sacrifices necessary to have a top-flight program.

I remember having to practically beg and threaten so many teammates into staying after school and off-season workouts to put in extra work on their own. The same went for summer workouts too. Our off-season program in school was from about 2-3pm during the last class period of the day- every single day I did another 2 hours worth of lifting and running. The same went for the summers when I put in about 3 hours of lifting and running every day.

There was only two other teammates who put in that kind of work- both played at A&M and one is now in the NFL.

But the other guys just couldn't be bothered- they would spend the summer "getting soft, lying around the pool- chasing the muff around."

Then there are the racial issues in Bryan...which I'll leave alone.

It seems so hard to explain, and I'm rambling, but those who grew up in Bryan can probably vouch or at least relate to what I'm saying.

Its not like the talent isn't there, and always will be- hell on the team my senior year in '94 we had the following guys go to play in college:
Offense:
TE- Texas A&M(played DL at A&M)
OT- SWOSU (head case and failed out after 1 year)
C- Rice
OT- Sam Houston State(he was a jr. in '94)
FB- Texas A&M/Kentucky(soph in '94- came to A&M as a QB)
Defense:
DE- Howard Payne(jr.)
DT- Navarro JC
DE- Howard Payne(jr.- was an NAIA AA at MLB)
DB- Howard Payne)jr.)
DB- Northwestern State, La.(jr.)

What makes me sad is that outside of my father Coach Criswell and his staff had the most profound male influence on my life- he is the kind of coach I want my future sons to play for.



God Bless John Wayne

Few things are more depressing than a stripper with no self-confidence.

"you have to play this game with fear and arrogance"

I agree with farmersfight. HS Football should be all about winning!

Law--

Just curious who you are, I graduated from A&M Consolidated in 94.

mts6175- we've been through this before.

I graduated from Bryan in 1995 I played at Rice with Mike Vietor before the doctors told me I couldn't play anymore because of my multiple knee surgeries- hint I also played center.

Then I transferred to A&M where I graduated. While at A&M I worked at Barracuda Bar with some of your fraternity brothers and you tried to get me to pledge SAE.

Don't get too weirded out because I know who you are- I just have a freakishly good memory about the most random stuff and it has really helped in law school.


God Bless John Wayne

Few things are more depressing than a stripper with no self-confidence.

"you have to play this game with fear and arrogance"

[This message has been edited by LawAggie99 (edited 1/8/2004 4:29p).]

Yea, I forgot we went through this before, long time ago. What are you up to these days?

By the way, I've heard a nasty rumor that AMC's former coach is interested in the Bryan High job.

STARRsky and Hutch!!!!!!!

quote:

---

I just have a freakishly good memory about the most random stuff and it has really helped in law school.

---

You are now ready for the practice of law, young grasshopper.

Having a freakish memory for seemingly mundane and irrelevant info is a cornerstone to the practice of a good attorney, that a good sense of humor and an ability to sit on your ass for long stretches of time.

Just got engaged, other than that I work full-time and go to school part-time...I'm quite the masochist.

And that would be really crazy if the Texas high school version of the "Ol' Ball Coach" brought "Ross-ball" back to B/CS.

I've always wondered, what kind of coach was ol' Ross? Personality-wise? I mean was he a complete hard-ass or what?

And SigEast02- who the hell are you?

God Bless John Wayne

Few things are more depressing than a stripper with no self-confidence.

"you have to play this game with fear and arrogance"

mts6175,

You an E at Texas Tau?

Fly on the wall!

Coolhand--FAY

Law--

He wasn't a hard ass, he's a really good guy, very personable, and he knows his **** as far as the chess game football is between coaches. But the reason his teams are so good is he is strict on discipline and technique. We were practicing the same way in 7th grade as we were my senior year. He's a good coach, and surrounds himself with great assistants. I learned more from my high school coaches than I did from my college coaches (Both schools, too!).

I don't know why Ross would leave Harker Heights, he's done a damn good job there. But I heard that from pretty reputable source. We'll see.

[This message has been edited by mts6175 (edited 1/8/2004 11:25p).]

Ross is most definitely is interested in the job.

There's one Aggie (and AMC Tiger) who is probably on the list for many HS job openings, maybe even this one: Lee Fedora. He's done an awesome job at Rogers. 2A to 5A is a pretty big jump, though.

Anger got bare knuckles, anger play the fool
http://www.rush.com

Fedora is now at 3A Waco Robinson. I don't think he is quite ready for A Bryan type job yet.

Whoa. Did not know that.

Big Cat--I've heard his name too, but not from the same source. He's a good guy as well, and has done a good job at Rogers and Robinson. I've also heard our former offensive coordinator's name brought up, Mike Mullins. He is an offensive mastemind. We averaged 500 yds. of offense under his tenure at AMC.

The job belongs to Ross Rogers. Unlike the Nebraska situation, BHS had their guy lined up before making the firing. Rogers WILL be the new head coach at BHS making for a new interesting rivalry with A&M Consol.

And, besides, BHS people should be happy cause high school football will once again matter in Bryan, and I too believe the talent is there, and Rogers I can guarantee you will have that team into the 3rd and 4th round of the playoffs within 3 years of taking over.

As far back as Dec 13, I heard that Ross Rogers was in line to be the next BHS football coach.

Mullins took over for Sapp at Cameron and had a horrible year. I agree he is a good OC, but with the year he had he will never be hired at Bryan. People would see that as a step back.

I just hope you guys are dead wrong about Ross. He can win, no doubt but we need a guy to with class.

I think Ross had the job before Criswell was fired, but I sure wish they'd make a hard run at Waddell.

Birddog--So how do you figure he won't do it with class? Ross is a well respected guy, especially on the football field, but publicly as well.

yummy & Lone*---Yea, I heard that from my source back in the first week of December. Just waiting for the official announcement.

[This message has been edited by mts6175 (edited 1/9/2004 2:30p).]

What did Coach Rogers do that was so 'classless'? I'm curious, and I know people that played for him, and nobody has any complaints.

I played for him, that's why I'm asking.

yeah, and my point is that people shouldnt just see an image of a guy and see that he's a winner wherever he goes and determine from that .........that someone probably doesnt have much class cause he may have done it through cheating or something. Anyone who says he doesnt have class is speaking out of their arse.

The thing that irritates me the most about this is that the community and administration did not give Marty the tools needed to keep the program up.

Also those who orchestrated his ousting are the "Old Bryan" folks who are too damn provinical to realize that their kid sucks-I'm sorry that you feel Coach Criswell shafted your boy, but I played for the man (and I played D-I college ball, my little brother played for him and played D-IAA ball)and he didn't play a person who didn't deserve to play. I know Coach Criswell to be a man of honor, respect and integrity, if your son didn't play its because he wasn't good enough or work hard enough. Don't go trying to blame Coach Criswell for your boy's lack of PT. These are the people who invested far too much into their son's football career, or rather lack thereof.

He kicked off star players for disciplinary reasons and managed to coax a lot out of certain players. I know for a fact that when I started on the varsity as a sophomore DL in 1992 that there were some "Old Bryan" boosters who were questioning my spot on the varsity squad over their boys, let alone the starting lineup. My play proved Coach Criswell didn't bow to those politics like Merrill Green had in the past.

Coach Criswell's greatest weakness lies in his ability to motivate players who don't already have a strong desire to succeed. The fact of the matter is that there is a "hidden cancer" in the Bryan community that limits the success of the football program. For the life of me, I just can't seem to describe it properly, but it seems to be a lack of heart that saps the spirit from the program.

Too many of the "Old Bryan" people have far too high an opinion of themselves and their abilities. They whine and moan and complain about how their kid was getting shafted and was far better player than the ones in front of their kids despite the fact that their kid wasn't good enough to play for Allen Academy.

Then there is the racial issue in Bryan where most of the black kids on the team felt that the "man" was keeping them down and had a major chip on their shoulder about the slightest perceived thing. These racial tensions are always on the minds of the coaches, no matter what they say. Those of you around when Marty had to fire basketball coach Barry Davis and the controversy surrounding that whole fiasco can attest to those facts.

Also there seems to be a severe gap in the level of academic responsibility in Bryan. Those who demand academic excellence from their kids do not seem to care one whit about athletics, and those who do care about athletics refuse to acknowledge academics. I can't tell you how many kids from "Old Bryan" families quit sports because they couldn't keep their grades in order. Education wasn't nearly as important to these families- they want their daughters to get married and their sons to stay home and take over the family business.

For some reason there seems to be a preponderance of "glory days" guys from Bryan High, even more so than in other cities I have been to. You know the guy I'm talking about- all he can do is moan and complain about how the coach shafted him and prevented him from reaching his rightful place among the loftiest perches of sports success. This guy frequently becomes the proverbial Jim Rome-ism; "softball guy".

Perhaps Coach Criswell isn't the best person for the job in Bryan. Perhaps the school needs more of a hard-ass for the HC who will drive the players like a rented car and not care one whit about their development as a man, but I'm not sure if HS football is worth that kind of sacrifice. Coach Criswell demands great things from his players but also expects them to be quality human beings. I still remember when he introduced himself to us in 1992 (I was a freshman) after he became the new head coach and he let us know in no uncertain terms that with him "God is #1, my family #2, and football #3." He has always said that he could care less about being remembered for his wins and championships, but would rather be remembered for the successes that his former players became later in life.


God Bless John Wayne

Few things are more depressing than a stripper with no self-confidence.

"you have to play this game with fear and arrogance"

Danny--you weren't that good dude. Just kidding.

By the way, it's not going to be Ross. I heard from my source last night and the top candidate right now is Mike Patterson, an old assistant under the former Bryan head coach of the 80's.

I never said that I was great- I was better than most on the team though. But lets face it, there are far too many people in Bryan who honestly think that their kid is the greatest player in the state at their position.

I mean lets face it, how many people do you know from Consol or Bryan who thought they were the greatest player on earth and never did squat, but still sit around B/CS and act like they got hosed by the coach. Two that come to mind are a class of '94 guy from Bryan with the initials S.S. and a class of '95 guy from Consol with the initials D.D.

And I really hope its not Patterson- he is a horrible coach.


God Bless John Wayne

Few things are more depressing than a stripper with no self-confidence.

"you have to play this game with fear and arrogance"

[This message has been edited by LawAggie99 (edited 1/10/2004 4:35p).]

Wasn't DD on the Aggie team before transferring to Sam?

No, DD signed with Sam then transferred to A&M. He got released off the A&M squad for NCAA violations (not going into details, has to do with accepting a trip). He's a good guy though, just made a mistake that he thought was not wrong.

Law--I think that's every big high school program (or maybe from my and your perspective Bryan and AMC). Parents donate to the booster club, try to influence the coach to play their son. Trust me, if anyone knows, I do. (Go back and look at my team, 3 guys sign D-I ball, but magically 28 off my senior squad (SO, JR, & SR)end up playing and most starting at DI schools). I mean, half of the kids who's parents thought their kids were star players ended up doing just what you said, dropping out of college and still living in BCS. That's why if I ever decide to go be a coach, which is what my long term goal is (I think), I'll be doing it at the college level, not high school.

And I don't understand Patterson either, you'd think they would bring in someone knew, not from an old regieme.

[This message has been edited by mts6175 (edited 1/10/2004 5:09p).]

[This message has been edited by mts6175 (edited 1/10/2004 5:10p).]

DD is a good guy. He moved me to PHX. I am very glad that he has done well.
Did not realize that he 1st went to Sam.

Yea, he's a good friend. He signed with Sam straight out of high school, then I think he realized he made a bad choice academically, so he left after 2-a-days.

28????

I don't remember that many, but I could be wrong. These are the D-1A that I remember:

Off of the '93 team I remember Jimmy Zuhn(Tulsa), you, Jeff Watson(Baylor), and Duane Price(Tech).

Off of the '94 team I remember Mike Vietor(Rice), Jimmy Jett(Tulsa), Troy Walters(Stanford), Truett Novasod(walked-on, then earned schollie @UH).

And I didn't really remember any of the guys who were seniors in on the '95 squad except for JP.

God Bless John Wayne

Few things are more depressing than a stripper with no self-confidence.

"you have to play this game with fear and arrogance"

Sorry, didn't mean all D-I. But the majority were. We had 28 total that played college ball. I have to look at a roster to remember off of these teams, it's been so long, but this is what I can remember off the top of my head:

Jon Chancellor OL,(Baylor)
Beau Brown(?, can't remember last name) OL,(A&M)
Rudi Majett RB,(Arizona State)
Austin Ryan RB,(Ranger JC)
Nick Eastwood FS,(A&M, then quit for baseball)
Johnny Swarb DL,(TJC, SFA)
Kyle Bryant K,(A&M)
myself OL,(Baylor, A&M)
Jeff Watson QB,(Baylor)
Remick Maxey RB,(Army)
Tom Jackson DE,(Ranger JC)
Justin Mouton DL,(West Texas A&M)
Kyle Farrar DS,(A&M)
Jimmy Zuhn LB,(Tulsa)
Duane Price DB,(TT)
Jimmy Jett OL,(Tulsa)
Dan Daniels LB,(Sam, A&M)
Truitt Novisad OL(Houston)
Mike Vietor OL(Rice)
Troy Walters WR,(Stanford)
Quinten Pink DB,(Texas Southern)
Eric Ozona K,(Texas)
Jason White(?) DB, (Kansas)
Bill Keeling, RB/WR (Sam Houston)
JP Russell LB,(Navy)

18 were DI, the rest I-AA & JUCO. I know there is more, but I'm forgetting out of the '93 class and the '95 class who they are.

[This message has been edited by mts6175 (edited 1/11/2004 1:38p).]