How can Austin ISD 5A ball be improved?

[rkhufu7]

What can be done beyond what AD Cox and crew are doing to aid Bowie and Austin at becoming as good as they can get w/o being called Reagan or LBJ? How can they start winning playoff games and making semis and state title games in the top sport of FOOTBALL!

[bowiedawgs01]

Cox has had to start from the bottom. Austin does not spend big on high school sports. It's always been that way. He's now in the middle of upgrading the facilities around town. But until they give the money to entice coaches that want more than $50k a year, they'll continue to be good but not great.

[WoodzDad]

I've got an idea for you having grown up in Austin. Get the whole high school community to participate -- that means parents from the band, cheerleaders, drill team and the student body all participating in the football expeirience.

I was quite surprised when I went to my first The Woodlands vs Conroe game to watch a Conroe Golden Girl (my wifes cousin). Buddy Moorehaed Stadium was full and there was excitement in the air that Friday night. More adults than I had ever seen at an Austin game, save Westlake, in my life.

But turning football around in the city of Austin might be a lost cause. Getting Austinites to turn out in the numbers that will fill Burger, Nelson field or even House Park you would need to have free Starbucks latte night. Too many Austinites are chained to bulldozers trying to save a snail darter to be bothered by football.

[rkhufu7]

I've got an idea for you having grown up in Austin. Get the whole high school community to participate -- that means parents from the band, cheerleaders, drill team and the student body all participating in the football expeirience.

I was quite surprised when I went to my first The Woodlands vs Conroe game to watch a Conroe Golden Girl (my wifes cousin). Buddy Moorehaed Stadium was full and there was excitement in the air that Friday night. More adults than I had ever seen at an Austin game, save Westlake, in my life.

But turning football around in the city of Austin might be a lost cause. Getting Austinites to turn out in the numbers that will fill Burger, Nelson field or even House Park you would need to have free Starbucks latte night. Too many Austinites are chained to bulldozers trying to save a snail darter to be bothered by football.

The teams from SA in the NE ISD have enrollments in the 3Ks, why does Austin build small schools and campuses, yet have less turnout? Dallas Skyline has over 5K kids there. Austin has numbers, just not the athletes, their feeders don't have great football/track teams, but they do send in 9th grade teams of over 100 players. Austin has more than enough to two platoon like San Marcos, Judson and 3A, Liberty Hill do.

[bowiedawgs01]

I've got an idea for you having grown up in Austin. Get the whole high school community to participate -- that means parents from the band, cheerleaders, drill team and the student body all participating in the football expeirience.

I was quite surprised when I went to my first The Woodlands vs Conroe game to watch a Conroe Golden Girl (my wifes cousin). Buddy Moorehaed Stadium was full and there was excitement in the air that Friday night. More adults than I had ever seen at an Austin game, save Westlake, in my life.

But turning football around in the city of Austin might be a lost cause. Getting Austinites to turn out in the numbers that will fill Burger, Nelson field or even House Park you would need to have free Starbucks latte night. Too many Austinites are chained to bulldozers trying to save a snail darter to be bothered by football.

Bowie has great turnout and great parent involvement in everything, not just sports. We filled the visitor's side of Westlake last year before there were 20 ppl on the home side. I was in line more than 2 hours before the game. We filled up our side of Burger for the Austin High game, as well as most of our side for the Judson game. The support is there.

And your comment about Austinites being chained to bulldozers is only partly true. There are a lot of us that are not that way. I make sure to say I'm a South Austinite. I'm not a yuppie from North Austin or a hippie from Central Austin. South Austin where Bowie is located is a pretty conservative place. But you're right that the other faction hurts us when it comes to spending on sports.

[LoneRocket]

--

[bowiedawgs01]

The feeders are a pain. I transferred to Porter MS instead of going to Bowie's feeder. They had a better football program and is where my mom, aunt, sister and cousins went. That school fed Crockett and Travis mostly. With some going to Austin. A few of us went to Bowie. Now, Porter got shut down and turned into some leadership school for girls.

I would say most of the feeders get split up, but I haven't seen districting zones lately.

[LoneRocket]

--

[bowiedawgs01]

I'm not sure how it is now since I've been out of school a little while. I'll have to look into it. But I remember I was able to transfer to a different Elem. and MS because they weren't at capacity or something. But you couldn't transfer into Bowie because it was already too big. No idea if that applies to any other schools.

Bowie is pretty well isolated for now. They get Bailey MS, I think entirely. I think they get part of another MS as well. It's the inner city schools that get screwed on the feeders.

[The Great Evaluator]

In a word coaching. I've always felt it made a bigger difference at the high school level more than anywhere else. If you look at the teams who win consistently the common thread is an experienced well paid coach. There are almost no exceptions to this.

Look at Bowie before Kenny Perry got there. Or Marcus before Bryan Erwin. Trinity before Steve Lineweaver. Ennis before Sam Harrell or Denton Ryan before Joey Florence.

Ft Worth ISD faces the same problem that Austin does. The coaches don't get paid squat and the teams in that district never get any better.

Get yourself a good coach, the team starts winning and all of a sudden the community buys in to what's going on.

[rkhufu7]

In a word coaching. I've always felt it made a bigger difference at the high school level more than anywhere else. If you look at the teams who win consistently the common thread is an experienced well paid coach. There are almost no exceptions to this.

Look at Bowie before Kenny Perry got there. Or Marcus before Bryan Erwin. Trinity before Steve Lineweaver. Ennis before Sam Harrell or Denton Ryan before Joey Florence.

Ft Worth ISD faces the same problem that Austin does. The coaches don't get paid squat and the teams in that district never get any better.

Get yourself a good coach, the team starts winning and all of a sudden the community buys in to what's going on.

Reagan used to get half of Pearce, Dobie and Lamar. Those schools, especially Pearce were loaded with talent! Add in the AISD easy transfer policies back in the days, and Reagan and the "J" got all the talent. AISD says Bowie is filled, but they have about 2500 kids or so, while in the playoffs they have faced Judson with 3500-5000 kids, Madison with 3000 plus and Reagan with nearly 3500. It is easier for the 4A schools to win, like McCallum and LBJ, but match them up vs Bowie or Austin and they get SLAUGHTERED because they don't have athletics periods and the kids just practice after school and can't grow and develop as a team in a good strength and conditioning program. Gideon, Hill (SV) and the Round Rock coaches are pretty good! Lake Travis just hired great coach, who is maybe better than what they lost.

[WoodzDad]

And your comment about Austinites being chained to bulldozers is only partly true. There are a lot of us that are not that way. I make sure to say I'm a South Austinite. I'm not a yuppie from North Austin or a hippie from Central Austin. South Austin where Bowie is located is a pretty conservative place. But you're right that the other faction hurts us when it comes to spending on sports.

Truthfully, I was quite shocked that Austin High was good last year. The last time Austin High had a competitive team had to of been the mid fifites. Bowie wasn't built when I was in Austin, but true South Austin is more conservative and more football friendly -- Much like Reagan and Lanier in the late sixties and early seventies before LJB.

The inconvenient truth is Central Austin bureaucrats and media set the agengas. Just look at Kirk Bohls and his pride in not being a homer for the Horns. The Dallas Morning news has better coverage of the the Horns in season than the Statesman. Everything sports in Austin gets distorted through a critical and confrontational lens.

The mentality is it's just a game not a multi-billion dollar industry -- Oh and industry is bad too! Good luck -- the deck is stacked against you in Austin.

[caesarscott]

part of AISD's problem is they have too many schools. what talent there is has been spread out. the other problem is the same as every other inner city ISD, they just don't compete well in athletics. it's all about the suburbs

i've also heard that coaches salaries are tied to how long they've been there rather than just hiring in a winning coach

an AISD team hasn't won a State Title since 1970. i don't expect to see that change any time soon

[The Great Evaluator]

Reagan used to get half of Pearce, Dobie and Lamar. Those schools, especially Pearce were loaded with talent! Add in the AISD easy transfer policies back in the days, and Reagan and the "J" got all the talent. AISD says Bowie is filled, but they have about 2500 kids or so, while in the playoffs they have faced Judson with 3500-5000 kids, Madison with 3000 plus and Reagan with nearly 3500. It is easier for the 4A schools to win, like McCallum and LBJ, but match them up vs Bowie or Austin and they get SLAUGHTERED because they don't have athletics periods and the kids just practice after school and can't grow and develop as a team in a good strength and conditioning program. Gideon, Hill (SV) and the Round Rock coaches are pretty good! Lake Travis just hired great coach, who is maybe better than what they lost.

Agreed, you're making my point. Those programs have all done well over the last few years. SV came within a whisker of winning state in 04 and are always a contender. Round Rock pulled the upset of the 06 playoffs taking down Lufkin and Leander had a nice run last year. LT won state. The common thread being great coaching. You can have all the talent in the world but without great coaching it doesn't go far - ask Aldine Eisenhower.

[the_great_state_of_TExas]

Truthfully, I was quite shocked that Austin High was good last year. The last time Austin High had a competitive team had to of been the mid fifites.

You can give the Austin High OC credit for their success.

[picperp]

Cox has had to start from the bottom. Austin does not spend big on high school sports. It's always been that way. He's now in the middle of upgrading the facilities around town. But until they give the money to entice coaches that want more than $50k a year, they'll continue to be good but not great.

Dawg's right: the bottom line is AISD can't be compared to any suburban district. It has to be compared to AISD, HISD, FWISD, etc. Middle schools don't act as feeders b/c there's a lot more issues that require more $$ and attention than sports.

Coaching hasn't helped. Tommy is a better administrator than a coach. Think of some of the athletes Bowie has produced in its 20+ years and not a playoff win that I can recall. Victor Ike, the Griffin twins, loaded track teams and weighlifting teams every year. ...

BTW As I'm sure most of you know but maybe not everyone: Westlake is in its own district w/ two feeder middle schools.

Also, 5A football in AISD is better than its ever been since LBJ and Reagan dropped to 4A in the late '80s, sad to say.

[WoodzDad]

Cox has had to start from the bottom. Austin does not spend big on high school sports. It's always been that way. He's now in the middle of upgrading the facilities around town. But until they give the money to entice coaches that want more than $50k a year, they'll continue to be good but not great.

The Statesman will be sure to point out how much any good coach makes:
http://www.statesman.com/sports/cont..._salaries.html

Top Salaries:
http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/...g_salaries.pdf

[trojanbacker]

That was actually a pretty positive article considering it was the AAS. One thing that I'm puzzled by after looking at the list of coaching salaries is that Lineweaver (Trinity) is actually making LESS than the position payed in 1995. How does that happen after winning two state championships? It also bothers me that he is paid exactly the same as our cross-town rivals (Bell) even though the program there is a far cry from Trinity's in terms of success, numbers, community support, etc.

[picperp]

That was actually a pretty positive article considering it was the AAS. One thing that I'm puzzled by after looking at the list of coaching salaries is that Lineweaver (Trinity) is actually making LESS than the position payed in 1995. How does that happen after winning two state championships? It also bothers me that he is paid exactly the same as our cross-town rivals (Bell) even though the program there is a far cry from Trinity's in terms of success, numbers, community support, etc.

How is he getting less? Not to get political, but we're talking $$ for schools, so the answer to 'how' is three letters: G-O-P.

[WoodzDad]

The feeders are a pain. I transferred to Porter MS instead of going to Bowie's feeder. They had a better football program and is where my mom, aunt, sister and cousins went. That school fed Crockett and Travis mostly. With some going to Austin. A few of us went to Bowie. Now, Porter got shut down and turned into some leadership school for girls.

I would say most of the feeders get split up, but I haven't seen districting zones lately.

Feeder schools... This is a good point...

Every 7th and 8th grader that goes to The Woodlands HS attends McCullough Jr. High. 7th and 8th graders learn the system used at the high school and the Jr. High coaches are at every high school game on the sidelines. Because McCullough was the old high school the mascot and colors are even the same.

Once, in little league football a Kingwood coach told me they had to use the Kingwood high school system before the HS coach would let them use his field for practice.

Feeder schools... What does Katy do?