Bill Blankenship just pounded Lil Rock to win Arky 7A football title
- Thread starter libertychamp
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Good for Coach B!
Ya know, after Kevin Wilson resigned for a fraction of his salary this week, I was reminded that I was so glad to have decent men heading up this Tulsa team lately, win or lose.
Ya know, after Kevin Wilson resigned for a fraction of his salary this week, I was reminded that I was so glad to have decent men heading up this Tulsa team lately, win or lose.
Same story on BB. Went to a high school that just has more talent than anyone else. Anyone could have won at Union and anyone can win at Fayettville.
That's how I always looked at Scotty Bowman in hockey. Guy coached the most talented teams his entire career, never took on a real challenge.
IIRC, Union had only won one state title before Bill Blankenship got there. Now the Redskins have nine. Beating the likes of Jenks, Broken Arrow, Owasso, Norman North, Southmoore, etc. is far from an easy task.
Seems like if it was that much of an easy task, the last guy might have done better than only 4 titles in 13 seasons.
Also not an easy task? Taking the high road.
Also not an easy task? Taking the high road.
That's correct. And the title was in like Class C in the 60s when Union was still out in the country.
However he only won three titles himself and left soon afterwards. Moreover, It did take him 10 years to win the first title, despite what was then the best funding, best infrastructure, best youth program and arguably best talent pool in the state.
In hindsight BB strikes me as a lot like Houston Nutt. A nice guy in person who was too egotistical and too conservative to win football games in a changing environment. As we have seen, he had plenty of talent. He had the expertise to identify talent and get it on campus. Rather than change his philosophy so the program could evolve, he remained cemented to his dated and flawed concepts. In this way, he placed himself before the program. Because of that, it will be awhile, if ever, before I am able to say more than I am grateful for his contributions to the school as an alumnus and that he and his sons rank amongst the greatest players to ever snap a chin strap at TU.
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This is true. BB had to develop Union's mentality for the most part and helped put in place the philosophy for the youth program as well. A lot of what happened on the east side can be attributed to Ron Lancaster and his success with Jenks and then Muskogee and then Broken Arrow. Chadwick knows the reason and spouts off why the east wins in the larger divisions more than the west.
Granted, BB was handed a full cupboard in Fayetteville this year so there's probably little influence on the talent, but he still had the system they were able to thrive in.
That is the downfall of many a coach. Look how quickly Graham adapted and hired an OC after 2009 and trying to call plays himself. Same offense, same system, many of the same players...offense was woefully inept though. (It's one reason I am puzzled at why Tuberville has been able to hang on so long...he seems to be cut in that same mold of stubbornness).
That assumes that Jenks, Norman North, etc. are not talented, which I disagree with.
One interesting thing to watch is the changing demographics at Union. It's starting to resemble TPS in many ways, with many students receiving assistance of meals. Will it be the same football factory in the future if thee are fewer families investing in football camps and year round activities?
I don't think the demographics are changing as much as you think, but what elementary schools they attend are shifting to the ones a little further south. You will also have families that continue to move into the district just so their kid has a chance to play at Union (same at Jenks). Union as a district also does a great job at supporting all of the programs through different fundraising initiatives as well as the work that the Union Education Foundation is doing. What you will begin to see is the continued expansion and strengthening of the programs in Owasso and Bixby as people move further north and south and those suburbs continue expanding.
I'm not saying it isn't a good district and isn't well supported. I have a sister who teaches in the district and the situation is way more challenging than I conveyed. I also have other friends in the public school systems and they all note that Union is really changing. It's not really a suburban school system anymore. That's my point. What does that do to their continuity in sports when there are many other priorities in those situations?
It wasn't a football factory when Blankenship became the head coach. Hwy 169 ended at 71st street, and there wasn't much south of that at the time. He didn't have the talent that Union cranks out now, which is why it took him some time to win his first state title there.
"Only" three titles.
In his 14 years at Union, the Redskins won eight consecutive district championships, qualified for the playoffs every year, reached the quarterfinals ten times, participated in the state championship seven times, and won three state titles. They also had 56 straight home wins between 1997 and 2005.
I'm aware that several here aren't big fans of his for one reason or another, but in my opinion, he's in the OCA Hall of Fame for good reason.
I understand...my son goes to a Union e.s. and we moved to get away from the one he originally went to mostly because we sensed that many of the teachers felt defeated by lack of parent involvement/care. We stayed within the district though and are now at a school where there is very high parent involvement and care. I understand the challenges some of the Union schools face. Again, the changes are in the more northern schools (north of 71st really) as the ones south of 71st tend to serve locations that resemble more suburban neighborhoods (and with little threat to have to expand to serve growing neighborhoods as most have reached development limits).
Again though, Union will continue to excel in all athletics and endeavors because of this support as well as the fact that people continue to move in because of the additional opportunities that exist in a district of its size with the type of resources it has compared to TPS or a smaller district.
"Only" three titles.
In his 14 years at Union, the Redskins won eight consecutive district championships, qualified for the playoffs every year, reached the quarterfinals ten times, participated in the state championship seven times, and won three state titles. They also had 56 straight home wins between 1997 and 2005.
I'm aware that several here aren't big fans of his for one reason or another, but in my opinion, he's in the OCA Hall of Fame for good reason.
Enough with the facts.
Let the haters hate
hate hate And many times he went up against a nationally ranked top 25 team in Jenks in the state championship games. Do people around Tulsa really grasp how good the HS football is in the metro region? I went to the largest HS in MA (about the size of BA at the time) and our football team was probably about as good as Sand Springs in its best year and that was good enough to win the MA Div 1 Super Bowl a couple of times. Never did see a future D1 player in my 4 years of HS. Jenks and Union put out 4-5 a year. BB deserves credit. BB deserves credit for a lot of the players on this year's TU team. It's OK to find fault with his scheme...it didn't work at the FBS level. Great. That does not (and should not) diminish what he has accomplished as a HS football coach."Only" three titles.
In his 14 years at Union, the Redskins won eight consecutive district championships, qualified for the playoffs every year, reached the quarterfinals ten times, participated in the state championship seven times, and won three state titles. They also had 56 straight home wins between 1997 and 2005.
I'm aware that several here aren't big fans of his for one reason or another, but in my opinion, he's in the OCA Hall of Fame for good reason.
Union is successful in sports because its single high school policy (as opposed to splitting into two or more high schools) guarantees a huge pool of athletes from which to field teams. Gold is right -- the Union district is becoming more like an urban district. Eventually the residential neighborhoods will mature and there will be fewer school-age children in the district and the sports programs will decline. That's what happened to TPS over the course of 30 or 40 years. Several years ago I did some research on why it was becoming harder for TPS to pass school bond issues. I found that in the early 1960s some 75 percent or more of the households within the TPS boundaries had children in TPS schools. By 2000 around 12 percent of households within TPS boundaries had children in Tulsa public schools. That meant that by 2000 fewer city of Tulsa voters had a direct connection to TPS. It also meant that the talent pool for sports (and band and choir and National Merit scholars) had seriously eroded.
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BA is bigger and should have more talent but struggles most years.
Owasso had talent this year too... just crappy coaching.
True. Owasso's youth program is pretty good though too.
Actually, a 7th grade Owasso team won the Championship the last two years.
My son's won it this year and hasn't lost to anyone except TYAA in 3 years.
Maybe Owasso is just catching up.
I don't know how it is here but my son played on a championship caliber HS team in Orange County, CA, and the HC headed a dynasty that included all feeder schools. His assistant coaches were each assigned a feeder school to work with so that when kids entered HS they were familiar with the plays and the system. Feeder schools also identified potential kids early and helped families to move into their district. I wonder if Tulsa high schools operate the same way?
Bill Blankenship was a great high school coach. He is back coaching High School and is still a great high school coach.
While looking at Union's roster, I counted 150 players from 10th through 12th grades on the team. I was told they have 80 to 100 freshmen, and two freshmen teams.
I haven't counted the Jenks or BA players, but this is just a comment about how built up the Union program is. I'm sure the numbers are staggering there as well.
Barry Switzer always commented about taking the right job instead of just taking a job. He realized his success had a lot to do with where he was coaching. That is true with most coaches, although not all. Still, talent doesn't guarantee titles. Switzer could coach. All proven winning coaches can coach.
I haven't counted the Jenks or BA players, but this is just a comment about how built up the Union program is. I'm sure the numbers are staggering there as well.
Barry Switzer always commented about taking the right job instead of just taking a job. He realized his success had a lot to do with where he was coaching. That is true with most coaches, although not all. Still, talent doesn't guarantee titles. Switzer could coach. All proven winning coaches can coach.
But it's just not the HS teams. It's the entire Union Youth program that has tremendous numbers. Jenks too. Union may have between 8-10 youth league teams with 30-40 kids on each from 3rd grade up and then consolidating to fewer teams with more numbers in 7th-8th grades. Chadwick has mentioned many times that while not directly affiliated with the school districts at the youth levels, being able to put on a Union jersey and a Union helmet gives them connection to the HS level and a tremendous source of pride. BA and Jenks too. Chadwick mentioned that the western side of the state doesn't necessarily make these connections between their youth programs and their schools. You may play for the OKC Boys and Girls Club and be a student at Moore or something like that. That connection at an early age is huge and the kids who are serious about it begin their aspirations of being the next Trent Martin at Jenks or Tre Brown or Shamari Brooks at Union (among others) at a very early age.
This absolutely happens in Tulsa. I was already 6'1, 220lbs at age 13, multiple HCs that my mom knew, including one mentioned in this thread, asked us to move into their district so I could play for them and offered to assist in doing so.
We didn't because I wanted to play basketball more. Also, I was bad at football, only thing going for me was my size.
Yes, Coach Blank is best at the HS level. Who would not want the man teaching his own son football skills as well as life lessons? Well, maybe a few on here. I certainly would. Impeccable character and a leader by example at the very least
Which was done in a misguided attempt to save his and the rest of his staff's jobs for the next year.
The west side of the state just got into INFC in 2015.
7th grade doesn't have any western teams though.
BA had 4 teams, none made the playoffs.
Union had 4, 2 made playoffs.
Jenks had 4, 3 made the playoffs.
Bixby had 3, 2 made the playoffs.
Owasso had 3, 2 made the playoffs.
Sand Springs, Sapulpa, B-Ville, Bishop Kelly, and Muskogee each had one but none made the playoffs.
Teams were all generally 19-23 players each.
I was talking to the Stillwater 6th grade coach at an OSU camp last summer and he was saying the western coaches were really surprised by the level of coaching and the players in INFC their first year.
Unfortunately the TYAA organization has a different set of rules than the others and get to pick players from all over Tulsa whereas the other clubs are relegated to players in their district barring an occasional exception.
I suspect the west side will continue to improve, especially with these kids entering INFC ball these last two years and all schools will continue recruiting to their districts in the battle for Class titles.
I am not sure what it takes to get into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. My brother-n-law's teams won 7 tennis state championships and one year he was 1 of 8 regional finalist for national high school tennis coach of the year and he is not in the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
"When we see a man of worth, we should think of equaling him; when we see a man of contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves." Confucius-489 B.C. TU Football: 1st,last,always!
BA very rarely has any INFC playoff teams. They still follow the draft rules created by Tom Lott when he started the organization and refuse to stack teams to create a competitive advantage.
That group before yours also won the Frontier Valley 8th grade championship this year. Maybe things are looking up out north.
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