Fine, sure. Better? Probably not. Chappell did very well in those early years and managed the jump to 3A about as good as one could hope. One poster here complained he never could get past the 2nd round. Many of the best teams in WNC year after year struggle to get to the 3rd round. If that defines Chappell, then I can assure you you'll be disappointed in whoever replaces him and that's a problem with the expectations rather than the coach.
I think the sooner some can get their heads wrapped around that Chappell most likely wasn't going to be here next year it will help this be processed. He was ready for a change. IMO, His major desire to leave in the past had more to do with his life had changed. (It does over the course of a decade). Your kids graduate, go to college, spouse's get new jobs, etc.... and if the place your at isn't truly your home, sometimes you look elsewhere and the reason isn't because where you're currently at is bad. Another place may better fit your current situation. The school could have handled it better and got the same result and I wish they would have but that's over and done with. Coach can look for his new landing spot, and it will probably be a good one, and Pisgah can begin the process of finding a coach under a manageable time frame.
Many of you seem to be misinformed. According to the players, he never told them he was leaving, only that he had applied and was in talks. From what I saw he coached one of his best seasons and was more than committed to his team and the community.
West last two yrs . Brevard couple times to Reidsville...heritage yes and Franklin 4 times from 11-17 my only point being it's hard to win playoff games and a 2nd round exit should never be seen as failure
Pisgah lost in the third round 2016.Brett did not give up his teaching job at Pisgah and is still there for now.
Yeah not sure where your coming from in my quote? Apparently you misunderstood. I’m not saying either party is be “better off” I said both will be fine and they will. He will find another program and I’m sure he will succeed, will he do better than he did at Pisgah? I have no idea. The whole time he was here fans from other schools always said we didn’t play anyone and that his teams are overrated. Now that he’s gone you got fans from other teams saying Pisgah is doomed. It can’t be both. Coach Chappell won games at other programs and he will again and Pisgah won games before he arrived and they will going forward. They went to the 4th round just a few years before he arrived. It evens out
Not misinformed. Kids came home that day informing folks he was leaving. How it was worded I have no clue, obviously I wasn’t there, but that’s the message they got. It may very well be that he said he was shopping around and informed them of that, but most high school kids read that as he doesn’t want to be here anymore. That was what more than one or two players got from whatever happened in their own words.
I’m not sure who I’d be interested in. There’s a few local guys that played at Pisgah who I wouldn’t hate as hires. However, most of them are relatively young coaches who don’t have the most head coaching experience. I would definitely take a long hard look at resumes from coaches away from here that may put in. Sometimes it’s a lot easier to come in with no ties to the community. But not having ties comes with its own obstacles. Coach Chappell in the height of his run here, I thought probably benefitted from not being from here. It also probably cost him in the long run as it looks like it bought him a short string. I think he was probably tired of a lot of the luggage tied to the program/fan base and was ready to a change in scenery. He is a good coach and personally I liked him. I didn’t agree with everything he did, but you couldn’t deny his results. To me carrying the program through two years of away games after the floods seemed to put a lot on him and at least to me his demeanor had changed a bit. Which is to be suspected, it was a lot to ask of a coach. I hope a new start makes him feel refreshed and he succeeds wherever he ends up. He left the program in better shape than it was when he inherited it overall and that’s all you can ask of any coach.
That just might be a fair assessment. I remember BO SHembechler say of a basketball coach at UM that took another job for the next year before the current season was over. Bo sent him on his way with the reasoning I want a Michigan man coaching our teams. (Paraphrasing Not sure the exact quote) Myave that is the case here but I DONT KNOW. Sure cant be because of his record. Thats good enough even for Pisgah fans.
Chappell was sought after every year, doesn’t mean he was shopping around. Man is a great coach and knows how to build and carry a program. He does what most coaches can’t and did more with less talent. Glad we had him as long as we did. Too bad our school admin and AD screwed this up for the kids to come.
I’m curious which team/teams had less talent than what their record showed? Just curious which teams you think over preformed? I can’t think of to many real upsets we pulled off? Not knocking or saying you’re wrong, I’ve just seen this stated now a few times and I’m having a hard time figuring it out. Only real game that we won that I thought we had no business winning was several years back against Tuscola when both teams were undefeated in Canton. Tuscola had the Ferguson kid and another back that I can’t recall, had a big halftime lead and Pisgah came back and won in OT. Credit there because Pisgah could have mailed it in at half and he led the team back. Tuscola had the better team. But for the most part i think “more with less” is being over stated.I don’t think they underperformed much either. Most of the teams that he had ended the year about where I thought they should.
There are some Pisgah guys that are head coaches in the area that deserve conversations if they are even interested. I’m not sure if they are interested or not and they do not need to be locked in on immediately without seeing what all interest is out there. Traditionally, Pisgah hasn’t hired an alumni as a head coach and that seems to have worked well. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Woody may be the only one. As others have said, the town is close knit and some separation is probably a benefit.
" Tuscola had the Ferguson kid and another back that I can’t recall, " Roman Jenkins Brent Turner and Grayson Perkins. AND they had Eli Trantham who was maybe the best on that team. He caught the deflected pass in the end zone. He ALWAYS made plays when they really needed them. No doubt about it. Tuscola WAS the better team that year but did not win that game. I remember some other teams in that series that were I believe better that didnt win. On both sides. I think PHS was better THIS year but didnt win that game either.
