Can Skyline be a contender??????

[Joboots]

Lincoln's ride to the 4A-D2 title game was as impressive as SLC's run to the
national title-now with that experience from that run in his pocket,anyone think
Reginald Samples can build a contender at Skyline,which has as much talent as
Kimball,Carter or Lincoln?

[GoOwls]

You got 5,000+ kids there. If you could just get them to play and get off the street corner, you would be a power to deal with each year.

[lonny23]

I say it will be another 50 years before a Dallas ISD school wins a state title. I think they blew their last, best chance in 1988. I was very surprised by LIncoln last year.

[StormingCowboy]

It's not a matter of can they, but will they. They can.

[bhs06]

I have one question about Skyline:

How the f*** did they lose last year to GRAND PRAIRIE??!?!?!?

[catman]

Skyline's problem has always been with keeping the players motivated. I plan on seeing them at North Mesquite on Thursday Aug. 25. One of the things that the coach will have to do is try to get all the great talent that is walking the hallways to come out for team. That in itself might take 2 or 3 years.

[NMHS fan]

Skyline's problem has always been with keeping the players motivated. I plan on seeing them at North Mesquite on Thursday Aug. 25. One of the things that the coach will have to do is try to get all the great talent that is walking the hallways to come out for team. That in itself might take 2 or 3 years.

I'll be there for that one as well. It will be interesting to see if this coach can get them turned around.

[catman]

NMHS fan,
I think that this coach has more potential to bring Skyline around than anyone else they have had in a long time. He does have a lot of work ahead for himself though.

[FbFan]

Que Brittian wasnt a slouch, Skyline still has to prove that they can beat not only teams outside of 635 & 20 but Dallas Carter

[NMHS fan]

Que Brittian wasnt a slouch, Skyline still has to prove that they can beat not only teams outside of 635 & 20 but Dallas Carter

Yeah I thought QB would have more luck getting them turned around, and I had heard him quoted that he thought he had more talent than his ('97?) State Championship Marcus squad on some of his Skyline teams.

If this new coach gets them turned around, I hope it's after the opener. :D I know there was a group of Skyline players present at the North Mesquite spring game.

[TexasRed6x]

Yes, they can ......... in Basketball.

[Joboots]

Lame execuse..................as usual!

[pooch]

Que Brittian wasnt a slouch, Skyline still has to prove that they can beat not only teams outside of 635 & 20 but Dallas Carter

Brittian was good, but not for Skyline. Samples should do better there.

I walked through their halls one day and they've got some stud looking kids....now if they can put it together on the field.

[Joboots]

DallasNews.com has a write up on how the Raiders have reacted to Samples
so far-check it out!

[catman]

Here it is---


Off-season has Skyline coach ready to go

After leaving Lincoln, Samples expects work to translate into success

01:30 AM CDT on Monday, August 8, 2005

By TIM MacMAHON / The Dallas Morning News

The challenge of competing for a Class 5A state championship was the main reason coach Reginald Samples left Lincoln for Skyline.

Samples shared his goals with Skyline's players after arriving at his new school in March. Then he challenged them, explaining that Skyline would continue being a one-and-done playoff team unless the players committed their summers to preparing for football season.

Players responded by showing up in droves for voluntary conditioning workouts. About 50 players ran and lifted weights four times a week with Samples barking encouragement in the background.

"Everybody just really believes in Coach Samples," said senior linebacker Michael Morgan, one of the state's top recruits. "Everybody wants to work hard for him."

Skyline officially opens practice today, along with the rest of the 5A and 4A programs that held spring practice. Samples knows the core of his team will show up in shape and focused.

"They're excited about the opportunity to win," said Samples, who went 122-48-1 in 15 seasons at Lincoln and led the program to its first UIL state-title game last year.

Several players said the lack of participation in summer workouts was a problem under previous coach Que Brittain, who had a 16-17 record in three seasons at Skyline.

As a result, players had to work their way into shape during preseason practices. They weren't as strong as they could have been. And Skyline never formed the chemistry that comes with sweating together over the summer.

"We didn't play together," junior free safety/wide receiver Christian Scott said, "because we never did bond."

Skyline has had limited success on the football field despite advancing to the playoffs the last 11 seasons. It has not won a playoff game since 1995. Skyline's 7-4 record last season marked the program's first winning season since 2000.

Samples was aware of those facts when he accepted the Skyline job. He chose to focus on the program's potential.

Skyline, a magnet school, has by far the largest enrollment in the Dallas school district. The football program routinely produces Division I-A recruits. And 15 starters return from last season.

Samples does not have to build a program, as he did when he inherited a Lincoln program that had won one game in its previous two seasons. He expects immediate success at Skyline.

"If we can win a playoff game," Samples said, "then we can really get things stirred up."

It'd be a significant step toward Skyline fulfilling its football potential. The first big one occurred this summer.

[StormingCowboy]

Any improvement is a step closer to success. It seems that Samples has gotten his players to believe in him. The committment to off-season training is a good sign.

Since Wilson has been at Carter, I always wondered how Carter and Sample's Lincoln team would match up. Now I will get to see a Wilson Carter-Sample's Skyline matchup.

[Eagle81]

I know when they played Berkner last year, when it got late in the game and they were behind, they became more interested in fighting than playing. I was disappointed because I didn't feel like they were out of the game by any stretch. With the talent they had, I felt the big play potential was there the whole game.

Once the kids get control of their emotions, I think they can play with anyone.