Senior Classes

[MHSfootball]

Why do people put so much emphasis on Senior classes? Don't get me wrong some teams have AMAZING talent in their Senior class. But if the program truley relied soley on a Senior class every year wouldn't everyone be bad?

[SLC]

Well I see it less as talent, as you say...and more as experience. The old saying is "there is no substitute for experience". That says it all. Sure the kids need some talent in them, but if they've recieved good coaching and are seasoned, they will beat sheer talent almost every time.

And what you're asking about teams relying on a senior class..the answer is in large part simply stated "feeders" and jv teams and freshmen teams. These kids are getting the experience of the real thing (especially at the jv and freashmen level) because they are running the same offense and defense as the varsity team is. In most cases the very same plays in the playbooks as well.By the time they reach their senior season, they are ready to start and never miss a beat, having played in the prior seasons in the very same spot running the very same plays with the very same defense and offense. The ideal situation is to have seniors playing at every position and when one class moves out, another moves in. Further aid for the underclassmen is when teams get up by a comfortable margin, they can be aforded the chance to play in the games..That only serves to make them that much better, so that when they are called upon they can come right in and never skip a beat.


They stone cold truth is that injuries can kill a team and that also serves well for underclassmen...It can obviously hurt the team, but it definately usually serves well for the Jr. or Soph that fills those shoes.

[mcneilmav]

Why do people put so much emphasis on Senior classes? Don't get me wrong some teams have AMAZING talent in their Senior class. But if the program truley relied soley on a Senior class every year wouldn't everyone be bad?

In most cases a high school senior is going to be bigger, stronger, faster AND more experienced. There are exceptions, of course and those are the juniors and to a lesser extent the sophomores that do manage to earn substantnial varsity playing time. Probably not many sophomores getting alot of snaps at the varsitry level for the bigger schools. Probably maginified for the larger classification schools.