Top Coaches in the NW/MV/WP

[Thunder_struck8712]

Sometimes we often hear scrutiny of coaches as well as praise. Sometimes we often disagree about who is a good coach and not. Curious to see how people rank coaches in the foothills and northwestern mountains. There is so much more to winning when it comes to coaching. We often get blinded by that, and forget these guys are tasked with building young men and getting these most out of these men. Here is my top 5

1. Diamont-South Stokes
I think this goes without saying. Dave teaches his kids so much more than just the game of football. He has won everywhere he has been, and is in the process of turning a cellar dweller into a solid program. The outcome of his athletes lives are more to him than the wins. We are fortunate to still have Dave coaching in our area.

2. Adkins-Mount Airy
Adkins seems to get some criticism from the Mayberry crowd over his offense. I think this has alot to do with him running something he is still learning. I would love to see him implement his East Wilkes offense at Mount Airy. There isn't a more knowledgable coach of the game in the area imo. He laid the ground work for the success at South Iredell and built a winner out of East Wilkes. He builds great relationships with his kids and builds these kids into young men.

3. Grinton-Stamount

There isn't a coach in the area that puts more work and time into his craft as Sandy. That time will attribute to quite the success at Starmount for him in the future. He gets a lot out of his kids and I feel has the Rams heading back in the right direction. The mystic of the Rams will return.

4. Sessoms-North Stokes

No one gets as much out of his kids than Frank. Frank is unique guy but manages to get it done wherever he goes. That says alot about him and has to speak volumes for the attention he draws from his kids. You don't have success at North Stokes or Alleghany as a coach without the respect and attention of the kids. He's also a pretty solid game manager. He has a gameplan and sticks to it.

5. Lowman-East Surry

Yes he has talent, but talent doesn't always mean success. It takes a good coach to dominate with that talent. He has East Surry on a different level right now. The kids have obviously bought into what he is selling. He will keep ES as a constant 1A threat imo.

 

[Slasher Killer]

Not bad.. my few cents.

Dave's #1 of course.. he could make almost school great because of his attention to details and how he does everything. He just embodies grit.


Some other picks:


-Chris Johnson, Forbush. He's imo the most underrated coach in the area, a lot of that is due to not much success there in wins. Forbush since my freshman year hasn't been overly talented until now (they were hideous when I first started and had an 0-10 JV team in '16,) but Chris has gotten a ton out of his kids. He had a solid year in '13, and some decent teams those next few years but he never could seal the deal (it stunk so bad watching them barely miss the upset over West in 2017.) I think the next 3 or so years he will have a nice run at the 'Bush.. in 2021 they could be as good as the 2004 team, not as athletic but as stout if they stay toghether. As a person I very much like him, we always laugh and talk about stuff during JV games.. we always shake hands too. One of the few opposing coaches I like.


-Monty Southern, SC. Southern's a very hard to go up against coach, he gets those boys rilled up in their good years like nothing else. He's a die hard Golden Eagle, QB'ed thru their 0-10 years in the 80's and never quit them then or now, and he bleeds SC gold. He runs that weird offense to perfection and they always seem to play everyone hard when they have talent. They just are a little too wild for my taste, but it is what it is. That 2016 team is one of the luckiest teams I've seen in my life, and I've never seen a squad like them.

-Brian Hampton, Ashe. Coach Hampton did great with us at North when I played for him after that first year, he is responsible for starting our turnaround and that 2010 season was beyond fun, and he's done fantastic at Ashe with some years where he has had very few athletes but turned them into tough players. He smartly goes with a hard schedule to battle test the kids and it pays off in spades when they have talent, the Air Raid they run is a thing of beauty. Look forward to seeing them the next few years, they have another good JV class.

-Sessoms is awesome.. shame he never had more than 2 good years where he competed at Alleghany. Put him in one of the power teams of the area and I'd say he'd do dang well. He's finally updated his offense and it's paid off this year. Put him at West Stokes instead of UpChurch with what he knew and I see West still doing good.

-UpChurch is very solid.. hard to prep for every year considering what wacky stuff he runs that pays off. That heavy set in 2017 almost beat us, their option stuff's gonna be a headache this year.

-Like Grinton a lot.. he has potential to be as good as Hutchens was.

-If Lyons hadn't resigned I'd put him here, he was great with us. He put a lot of emphasis on our JV and youth teams and it lead to our conference title in 2017 as well as the O and D switch in 2015. I think Taylor's gonna become a good one, he's just gotta get things settled.. it will pay off before too long once we overcome the transitional shakes. It happens at every program.

 

[Thunder_struck8712]

Johnson, Southern, Upchurch, and Hampton all have conversations as well. I had a hard time picking between Lowman and Hampton for my 5th spot. After the ones we both mentioned I think there is a drastic fall off. Non of the Wilkes County guys are getting it done at all imo and I don't see that changing. Turner is the best of that group but I think he underachieves with what he has. Not sure how much longer Wood will keep kicking it at Elkin, but he's managed longer than I thought. He's a math teacher, so if his test scores are good, it's hard to get rid of that. Not really sure about Lyons at Alleghany yet. And the Forsyth guys seem to be a disaster. McCoy is off to a great start at Walkertown and Middleton at WSP has that offense churning.

 

[Sportsnut17]

Another great thread, good job on both of your selections.

 

[Kingbluedevil]

Upchurch with a undefeated season and state championship from stokes is impressive. The players like playing for him and that's the main thing.

 

[Slasher Killer]

Yeah very much agree about the Wilkes schools.. the fact Central's depth has dropped so hard so fast looks rough on Turner and he need to be careful. I wasn't that impressed by his hiring or how he ran things the first two years but he managed to turn it around. I'll give him his due, that 2016 run with him being sick was pretty well done. He also dumped the gimmick offense he started with for something more reasonable and it's worked good.

Wilmouth and Rutz I'll give them a break because both of them especially the latter are still new.. Chipman I'm 50/50 on. On one hand he's had the most consistent success ever at North Wilkes, before him the best coach was that guy from the 70's and he had that conference title, but besides that I feel he could do a lot better. He focuses too much on offense, if they ever had a defense they'd win more. He also let Tyler Boles leave which was dumb; granted he was young and fussy but he was the best talent they ever had, they coulda won another conference title with him. He was kinda wasted at Central. Chipman was the same way at East, his way or the highway, as a result that 2007 JV team he had never amounted to much.

I'm not the biggest fan of Wood at all, I think he's average at best in terms of being HC. Solid OC but awful HC. He's only lasted as long as he has due to being with Grissom, any other guy woulda been fired or let go in 2013 or '16. If he does go I see Josh Pardue getting his job, he wouldn't do too bad. He got a raw deal at Walkertown.

Lyon will end up being a solid coach for Alleghany due to his experience and how well he does adjustments, he gets a lot out of those kids. If he'd change some things up I see them playing people in the MVAC hard this year.

Forsyth wise only coach I like is Hamlin at Atkins, he has done a lot of good for them since he's been there. He deserves a better program to run, if he had RJR or one of the Guilford 3A schools he would do quite well. Atkins just will never be at that level due to their school nature.

 

[KW2346]

Slash what could Lyon change up?

 

[Slasher Killer]

Well like you said the other I'd use #43 more.. but on the whole yall's offense is fun to watch.

Lyon's great at noticing the fine details.. that's one thing that worried us. When a coach does that they are very good.

 

[SlickRich28120]

Give me one good reason why Coach Upchurch isn’t 1 or 2 on that list ? Who else on that list has won a 2aa state championship or any state championship, what he done that year with talent from stokes county and a program that he built from ground up is nothing short of a miracle, not to mention he continues to win year in and year out. The list is a sham without coach Upchurch

 

[Kingbluedevil]

Give me one good reason why Coach Upchurch isn’t 1 or 2 on that list ? Who else on that list has won a 2aa state championship or any state championship, what he done that year with talent from stokes county and a program that he built from ground up is nothing short of a miracle, not to mention he continues to win year in and year out. The list is a sham without coach Upchurch

Agree 100 % he built the program. I know Holder is not coaching now but I thought he was one of the best.

 

[FoothillHeadHunter]

Top 6 current coaches based on current success and no particular order. Head coaches are only as good as their talent and the assistants around them. There are a lot of solid veteran assistants that are just as important to these programs as the head coach. Disclaimer, Holder would be the top if still coaching.

Griton- took team to western finals in first season. Granted 1AA West was weak but he still guided his team there and won the games in front of them.

Upchurch- won 2AA state championship and a consistent 7-9 win team every year. Curious how many coaches from the 2011 staff are still there?

Lowman- Won western finals in a weak Western bracket but like Griton, won the games none the less and guided that program to the state title game.

Dave Diamont- has always fielded successful teams that typically don’t beat themselves. Has SS at 3-1 and am excited community behind him.

Brian Hampton- takes lesser skill as a whole and makes them competitive every year at Ashe.

JK Adkins- built EW into a perineal MV contender and made a couple of playoff runs. The Bears this year are young and the level headed MA fans know it. Give him some time. MA will be fine.

 

[NWWatchdog]

Give me one good reason why Coach Upchurch isn’t 1 or 2 on that list ? Who else on that list has won a 2aa state championship or any state championship, what he done that year with talent from stokes county and a program that he built from ground up is nothing short of a miracle, not to mention he continues to win year in and year out. The list is a sham without coach Upchurch

I think Upchurch has done a tremendous job at West over the years. I do think those who want to be skeptical of him (whether fair or not) argue that ever since the state title year in 2011, West has racked up most of their wins against weaker non-conference competition and in a weaker 2A conference. Once playoffs come, they’re gone after the 2nd round. I don’t think that should diminish or discredit their record though. No one can deny the great team that was built in 2011 and no one can take that state title away. You also can’t help who your conference competition is - sometimes schools/conferences go through down cycles or drastic changes (look at what’s happened to Carver). I do think though if they added a stronger 2A or 3A to the non-conference slate rather than a North Stokes it would do them more good (although that game might be dictated by higher powers that expect all county schools to play one another).

 

[SlickRich28120]

I say to the nay sayers that there will not be another state championship football team to come out of stokes county in our lifetime. That in itself is a testament to what jimmy Upchurch has done at west stokes. As for the schedule aspect of the conversation, there isn’t a team in the surrounding county’s or ours that plays a barnburner non conference schedule, just saying, and you know what it hurts. The northwest 1a has been a two team conference for years , the mvac is a joke as is the other area conferences. That 2011 state title is the biggest accomplishment of any of the area teams. Ma has talent every year, same can be said for east most years, this one in particular. They have been known to play some good baseball in stokes county, girls tennis , softball, but football was never even thought about till jimmy Upchurch was there. Ma and east have always been known

 

[Thunder_struck8712]

I think Upchurch is a great coach. However I think West has been on a steady decline in recent years. His state championship is a great feat but I feel they have been hit and miss since. That 2011 championship was awesome but I don't think its the best feat in the area. You'll be hard pressed to top a 2002 Elkin team with 19 kids on the roster winning a state title from the 4 seed in which 2 games required late game magic for the win imo.

 

[Kingbluedevil]

I think Upchurch is a great coach. However I think West has been on a steady decline in recent years. His state championship is a great feat but I feel they have been hit and miss since. That 2011 championship was awesome but I don't think its the best feat in the area. You'll be hard pressed to top a 2002 Elkin team with 19 kids on the roster winning a state title from the 4 seed in which 2 games required late game magic for the win imo.

15 of them probably transferred from starmount. Lol

 

[SlickRich28120]

Not to take anything away from that team at all, they were 19 really strong ball players on that team. But we have to be honest , there’s a difference in small 1a ball and beating Shelby in a regional championship and beating a Kinston team that should have blew them out.
I can’t say much about any of the coaches on that list. 11-0 isn’t nothing if you lose in the first round of the playoffs, Adkins couldn’t even make the ship with a loaded team he was handed from coach holder in a year the west was as weak as pond water. Rest of the coaches on that list play in conferences that the champion would finish no better than 4th in the smc year in and year out. That’s just my opinion, what was done in 2011 in stokes county will not be repeated in our lifetime. You can put all those coaches teams together and you still don’t beat Shelby. Going 9-2 , 8-3 or even 7-4 year in and year out in stokes county is a feat. As coach sessoms at north stokes how hard a draw stokes county is

 

[Kingbluedevil]

They also beat a loaded south Iredel team that was undefeated. They beat the blue dogs first game after they had won the states. They did all this with a quarterback that a bad shoulder injury on his throwing arm. They also beat East Surry last year and they were decent.

 

[Deana_King_rivals106402]

Elkin 2003 team was the best Elkin team. That was the team with the East Wilkes and Starmount transfers.

 

[FormerSC Stud]

I don't think there are any asst. coaches left on staff from the 2011 West Stokes championship team

 

[SlickRich28120]

Thanks for the clarification on that deana, deff not a jab at the elkin faithful. I had a many fun playoff nights on the banks of the big elk watching coach Grissom and his team dominate 1a football . But still to this day what was done at west considering the talent pool in stokes county was an amazing feat. Like I said , that won’t be replicated in our life time, not in that county. I can’t remember a point to where you could have combined all the stokes county schools and played within 4 to 5 touchdowns of Shelby , just saying

 

[Kingbluedevil]

That was probably not one of Shelby s better teams but they were expected to win that game. That last drive everyone knew what they were going to run but they couldn't stop it. What Elkin, Mt Airy and Starmount have done is awsome. Championships are hard earned.

 

[TD-FridayNight]

Not to take anything away from that team at all, they were 19 really strong ball players on that team. But we have to be honest , there’s a difference in small 1a ball and beating Shelby in a regional championship and beating a Kinston team that should have blew them out.
I can’t say much about any of the coaches on that list. 11-0 isn’t nothing if you lose in the first round of the playoffs, Adkins couldn’t even make the ship with a loaded team he was handed from coach holder in a year the west was as weak as pond water. Rest of the coaches on that list play in conferences that the champion would finish no better than 4th in the smc year in and year out. That’s just my opinion, what was done in 2011 in stokes county will not be repeated in our lifetime. You can put all those coaches teams together and you still don’t beat Shelby. Going 9-2 , 8-3 or even 7-4 year in and year out in stokes county is a feat. As coach sessoms at north stokes how hard a draw stokes county is

I can't believe you made that statement about Adkins. You take Jefferson Boaz and one more starters and put at 60% and put Stephen Gosnell out of the game and see how far East Surry gets in the playoffs. Mount Airy's Adkins had D-1 Greene out and their leading rusher at 60% and another starter that neither he nor Smith would have played if it was not a playoff game. I want to hear what everyone will say if the same happens to East Surry if they meet one of these fired up SMC teams and they put 2 or 3 of East Surry's top starters out for a few games. This is 1A and as everyone has always said, it only takes losing 1 or 2 starters and it can be lights out. But no, everyone wanted to say Mount Airy's losing their D-1 Greene and Smith at 60 %, it could not hurt Mount Airy, that they just couldn't play with East Surry. Greene and Smith not hurt and it would have been a totally different game, close as was the first game. You can't blame 3 injured starters on Adkins losing ! Totally surprised to hear that come from you. You have always talked good about Mount Airy.

 

[SlickRich28120]

This isn’t a Mt Airy thread pops, it’s a coaching thread , you dig it?

 

[TD-FridayNight]

This isn’t a Mt Airy thread pops, it’s a coaching thread , you dig it?

A thread about top coaches also and didn't say anything about putting a coach down .

 

[Thunder_struck8712]

That was probably not one of Shelby s better teams but they were expected to win that game. That last drive everyone knew what they were going to run but they couldn't stop it. What Elkin, Mt Airy and Starmount have done is awsome. Championships are hard earned.

Sometimes, myself included, we get lost in the one championship is better than another. Great feats for all. It's hard to win a state title and only 4 schools from the area can claim they have won the ultimate prize.

 

[SlickRich28120]

And only one who has won multiples. Those elkin teams were NASTY. Multiples meaning in the modern era.

 

[Kingbluedevil]

Sometimes, myself included, we get lost in the one championship is better than another. Great feats for all. It's hard to win a state title and only 4 schools from the area can claim they have won the ultimate prize.

I'm pulling for East Surry to get theirs this year.

 

[Kingbluedevil]

I know this is slightly out of our area but Reidsville has one hell of a coach in Teague

 

[Thunder_struck8712]

And only one who has won multiples. Those elkin teams were NASTY. Multiples meaning in the modern era.

Yeah they were. I would love to have seen what 03, 05, and 06 could have done on 1AA. I think they could have gotten it done at least in 03. I know Tville and Ablemarle were dirty but so was Elkin.

 

[Deana_King_rivals106402]

One of those was before the split championships. Starmount won 1A by beating Robbinsville, Albemarle, Hendersonville, Maiden, and North Edgecombe. A great run by the Rams in 1998.