Bishop, Carver, Reynolds football coaches won't return
Charlie Jones is retiring after a long tenure at Bishop McGuinness, Wayne Griffin was not retained after three seasons at Carver and Pat Crowley has stepped down after eight seasons
RJR head coach steps down
- Thread starter Sportsnut17
- Start date
Wow, hope those schools don’t go after Coach Beal. I could maybe see RJR approaching him. What he has done with the defense at East would make him a good candidate.
May be a silly question or I am not 100% familiar with his background - but why would he leave EF for anywhere other than like a SC/GA coaching job? EF has a pretty awesome thing going over there.
RJR has really fallen and it's sad.... I don't see a way out. They've become Parkland. Just 13 years ago they went undefeated, won the CPC with WR Jake Gainey and a dynamite lil' stocky QB with a rocket arm. I still remember the Hail Mary to Gainey vs undefeated West Forsyth. It was electric that night. It was one of the biggest games ever in Forsyth County both teams were 10-0. Attendance was maxed and fans were on the roof of the Gymnasium watching from 200yds away.
Yes, I remember that good season RJR had. But to be honest, RJR football for several years has not been good and I can't see it getting any better. I believe they are a smaller 4A school so they are always going to struggle with numbers against much bigger schools like East and West Forsyth, Davie and Reagan. I think RJR is also an arts magnet school. So kids that are into the arts are likely not going to be interested much in athletics. I believe it also hurts RJR not having a campus stadium. Not much of a "home" game when you have to take a bus ride to get to Deaton Thompson Stadium. That is a nice stadium for HS football. But let's face it...not the same as a stadium next to the school. I thought RJR was going to get a stadium close to campus in Hanes Park. But it seems that has been going on for years and I never heard what the final resolution was. I think a lot of the home owners in the neighborhoods around Hanes Park did not want the stadium there. Though, considering RJR would only have 5-6 home games every season, I doubt it would inconvenience those folks too much.
There's a way out. The right coach getting in there first. Many players either didn't come out or transferred elsewhere because of the recent staff. That all could change with the right hire. Reynolds issues and Parklands aren't even close other than sharing an off campus stadium that didn't benefit either school.
Construction has started on a stadium.
That is good to hear and I hope it helps. Though, RJR will still be at a disadvantage due to being a smaller 4A school with much lower numbers than East and West Forsyth, for example.
A way out would be getting rid of Open Enrollment in WSFCS.
That’s exactly what the problem is.
100% agree. Carver, North Forsyth, Reynolds and Parkland have not benefited from this. Not sure whose bright idea this was. But it stinks for some schools and has led to them being not what they used to be. And I don't want to hear about "good players want to go to good football programs to get noticed". It is 2022 and social media is every where. If you are good and a D-1 prospect, the college scouts will definitely find you.
There is a disinterest in RJR football, they can barely get 25 players to come out for football. It's kinda comparable to Parkland but who knows, the right coach might be able to get students to try football....I just don't see it, the students at RJR are very different than 10yrs ago and football is not important to them.
HMMMMM Well It is sad what has happened maybe the right guy can come in and fix it
The disinterest derives from Open Enrollment though. Those schools that are "Magnet" schools now, Atkins, Carver, North Forsyth, Parkland, RJ Reynolds, W-S Prep, are only Magnet schools because of Open Enrollment, people moved away not just for football, but when kids are moving schools for basketball, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, tennis, etc. etc. it can put a big dent into the sporting/school spirit. Which is why you say there is disinterest in RJR football.. it didn't used to be like that RJR was a school that competed on many fronts every year. The talent moved away, which killed interest over the past X number of years, lets say what? 15? and then all of a sudden is a magnet school for Visual and Performing Arts, so the kids that the school is bringing in aren't even athletic, further killing off any sporting spirit the school may have had. It's somewhat hard to see an above average football coach wanting to get into that situation in the present and future.
It seems like WSFCS vision was to make the sporting schools strong. They didn't need to get creative with the types of Academy's these schools offered.
E Forsyth - Academy of Finance
Tabor - Academy of Hospitality and Tourism (Sports Marketing)
W Forsyth - Academy of Finance, Fire Academy
Reagan - No Academy
Glenn - Academy of Finance, Fire Academy
Walkertown - EMT and Fire Academy
Make the other (magnet) schools that couldn't keep up sporting wise, more specific fields of interest for students to gravitate towards.
Atkins - STEM - Academies of Biotechnology & Medical Sciences(Nursing), Creative Media & Technology, and Engineering
Carver - AVID - Academies of Hospitality & Tourism, and Information Technology(Cyber Security)
North Forsyth - Academy of Health Sciences(Biomedical Science, EMT, Nursing, Veterinary Assisting)
Parkland - International Baccalaureate (IB)/Dual Language
RJ Reynolds - Visual & Performing Arts
W-S Prep - AVID - Academy for Human Services and Sports Management
John F Kennedy - Academies of Construction & Design, Health Sciences(Pharmacy Tech), and Culinary Arts & Hospitality
It seems like WSFCS vision was to make the sporting schools strong. They didn't need to get creative with the types of Academy's these schools offered.
E Forsyth - Academy of Finance
Tabor - Academy of Hospitality and Tourism (Sports Marketing)
W Forsyth - Academy of Finance, Fire Academy
Reagan - No Academy
Glenn - Academy of Finance, Fire Academy
Walkertown - EMT and Fire Academy
Make the other (magnet) schools that couldn't keep up sporting wise, more specific fields of interest for students to gravitate towards.
Atkins - STEM - Academies of Biotechnology & Medical Sciences(Nursing), Creative Media & Technology, and Engineering
Carver - AVID - Academies of Hospitality & Tourism, and Information Technology(Cyber Security)
North Forsyth - Academy of Health Sciences(Biomedical Science, EMT, Nursing, Veterinary Assisting)
Parkland - International Baccalaureate (IB)/Dual Language
RJ Reynolds - Visual & Performing Arts
W-S Prep - AVID - Academy for Human Services and Sports Management
John F Kennedy - Academies of Construction & Design, Health Sciences(Pharmacy Tech), and Culinary Arts & Hospitality
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That may be a tough ask even for the right sort of coach. As noted in other posts, RJR is an Arts magnet school. Not to stereotype every kids into the arts, but those kids in general are usually not into sports too much. And I believe RJR is smaller for a 4A school. Thus, they will always have a problem fielding teams as deep as W. and E. Forsyth have. Though, with RJR finally getting a campus stadium, that may help a bit. It can't be fun for the RJR players having to take a bus to Deaton Thompson for a "home" game. The new stadium may increase interest and get more of their fans to the games.
Ok, so pardon my ignorance. Do all Forsyth Co. high schools offer "academies" of some sort? Do Guilford Co. schools also do this? I guess the "academy" idea is a good one as it gets kids interested in certain areas early on that they can carry on into their working lives. And obviously, no one school can offer all the academies listed above. They would have to be spread around. Thus, the schools offering academies in areas like the arts, STEM, International Baccalaureate are probably going to be at a disadvantage with their athletics. I am not saying all students into the arts don't care about sports. But let's face it. A kid heavily into drama and playing an instrument likely won't be as interested in playing a sport as a kid that wants to be in a fire academy or sports marketing. Thus, the school offering an arts academy will be behind the 8 ball with regards to their athletic program.
Ask some of the players who were at other schools what college recruiters told them. Know for a fact some transfers took place because recruiters wanted to see them against consistently higher caliber competition. Not saying that's the case for every transfer but I've heard it said more than a few times. People will do what's best for their kids. No harm in that and if that includes a transfer so be it.
Yes, all Forsyth Co. school offer some type of academy, which is probably how they are able to do open enrollment. and No, Guilford County schools does it differently. For example, Page, Grimsley, Smith and HP Central have their own IB programs, instead of just one school in WS. Also, instead of having specific academies at all the high schools and calling some magnets, GCS has Penn-Griffin School for the Arts, Kearns Academy (in High Point, Computer Science, Information Systems) and Weaver Academy (which has a laundry list of sciences, arts, career/technical education fields of study/curriculum), that kids from all GCS high schools can apply to and get transportation to and from. There is one exception in Dudley, they have the Academy at Lincoln, which is a Science, Math, and Technology Academy magnet. Many saw this as a gateway for students to attend NCA&T, but people have said in the past that its been used for sports, as well.
So basically in a nutshell, GCS has 3 specialized Academy's that kids from all over the county can go to, Penn-Griffin, Weaver, and Kearn. If you dont go to one of those, you go to wherever district you live in. Unless you go to Eastern Guilford and want to apply to the IB program at Page, Grimsley, Smith or the Academy at Lincoln (Dudley). In WSFCS, every school has some type of academy, but quite a few of them are redundant.
Here is a list of the fields of study/curriculum offered at Weaver in Greensboro.
Adobe Academy Visual Arts & Media Production
Apparel Production & Fashion Merchandising
Architecture & Computer-Aided Design and Drafting (CADD)
Automotive Services
Collision Repair
Construction Technology
Culinary Arts & Hospitality
Dance & Choreography
Diesel Technology
Electronics
Health Services
Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
Metals Manufacturing
Project Management
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Which maybe makes some sense but not a lot to me. If you are a very good player at RJR, sure, your team and record may stink. But you are going to be facing the likes of E. Forsyth, Tabor, Reagan, Davie and W. Forsyth every Friday night. So you would be on a bad team but still facing top competition nearly every game. Just not sure how a school like RJR can compete if their potentially good players all go to schools outside their district simply to be on a good team.
So is Weaver a place that kids go to to take, for example, a class in Diesel Technology? But they still do their regular classes like science, math and English at the school in the district they are in? They would go to Weaver for part of the day and be at their home school for the other part of the school day? Of course, I guess in a way debating all this is moot. School districts are going to place priority on academics and not sports. Which is the way it should be. Still, it seems there must be some way to keep more of a level playing field so schools like RJR, Parkland and Carver don't get gutted and see their athletic programs become a shadow of what they once were.
Carver was playing talent before open enrollment. They were definitely play more talented teams than EF was. Matter of fact EF used to dodge playing Carver. We can spin this how we want to, but there's no reason Carver should be a 1A school in Winston-Salem. The county's school system is poorly ran.
You can go to Weaver full time, or do a half day type program. School should be about school.... simple as that. Sports should be an extracurricular. It just seems like WSFCS didn't think about the future repercussions of what open enrollment can do to a traditional high school that wasn't set up or supposed to be a magnet school/academy. Basically, WSFCS has a pretty big problem on their hands. It seems like Carver, NF, Parkland, RJR should cease all athletics programs and just be pure magnets/academies. The money they are spending on sports and the beatings they are taking at this point are not helping the situation, then you add on the fact that ticket sales are probably way down, and booster funds are probably dried up. The planning and foresight of the school system is not ideal.
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And they have no athletic program? Which presents another question. If you want to go to Weaver full time but also want to play football and live in the NW Guilford district, do you go to Weaver for class and can then play football for the Vikings? Or are full time Weaver students not allowed to play sports?
Penn-Griffin, Weaver, and Kearn do not have athletics.
My younger sister was actually enrolled at Weaver. She went to Weaver full-time, and participated in Cheerleading at Page, because Page was her home district. So yes, you can still play sports, you just play at your home school.
This. I understand Walkertown took alot from Carver but I go through East Winston everyday so I have a very hard time seeing how Carver is a 1A school.
Yes, it used to be 3A back in their glory days when they were very good at football and in the playoffs every season. Just goes to show how open enrollment has gutted that athletics program and their overall student population numbers.
If Forsyth County changes enrollment options then many many kids leave to charter and private schools likely. It's a game that urban school systems have to play now and will as long as the NCGA doesn't support traditonal public schools.
1998 was the first year of open enrollment for wsfc schools and also the the year carver won the state championship. They benefited from having some players that previously went to East. Open enrollment is not what killed Carver it's the building of multiple schools. You have 5 high schools in a 8 mile radius East, Carver, Atkins, Walkertown and WS prep with East being the only 4a. So even if open enrollment ended creating boundaries would be a political nightmare.
Open enrollment wasn't the sole factor that led to Carver being terrible at football, but it for sure plays a factor. The school board building unnecessary schools within a certain radius is very questionable, indeed. That clearly was a step in the wrong direction, but I could see things being fine, and Carver and the other schools being able to overcome that. Being a strong 1A or even 2A program, but because open enrollment makes it so their best talent is able to bolt to the door, it makes them a doormat 1A program... huge difference. Both factors are a mismanagement by the school board, IMHO.
You're talking years ago I'm talking what's being said now. Not my words I promise you. All those players Carver won with wasn't theirs by the way either. Most times in Forsyth Co. a state playoff run consist of teams loading up on transfers. It's not hard to believe Carver is 1A when it was done strategically. You have almost 4 high schools within 15 miles of them I believe.
Not talking about 4A schools like Reynolds. More like Walkertown, Carver, Prep etc......I understand many Reynolds soured on the program and wouldn't come out for previous coach or would transfer.
More athletes at RJR promise you. They just haven't been turning out for this last coaching staff. That wouldn't be so unbelievable after all.
Could be a good to very good job if the right guy was hired. You would need someone who knew how to rebuild a program and connect with the kids. You would probably need a someone who knows Forsyth County to get coaches on staff and get moving.
It should help with attracting applicants with RJR FINALLY getting a stadium next to the campus. It is a nice perk if you know you are playing your home games in a new facility.
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