Thanks bigoakbuddy, and good luck to your Black Knights this year...You guys got a heck of a football program, and a great history to boot!
Rosman fans ?
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Thanks bigoakbuddy, and good luck to your Black Knights this year...You guys got a heck of a football program, and a great history to boot!
It's tough when you lose jobs and the tourists show up. Most retired people don't have kids for any sport. The paper mill Dupont all gone..When Dayco, Welco shut down hurt Tuscola a lot.The same thing would happen in Canton if the mill shut down.Hope you guys get it turned around.
Did you get to go to the Pisgah Tuscola game ?If so what did you think?
I unfortunately did not make this year's game as I had planned, but always enjoy the trip across the parkway to Canton when I do get to see Pisgah play....I hope to make it over during the playoffs if not before then, so Pisgah/Tuscola is still on my bucket list for now...
It's amazing to think that in the early 80's Transylvania County was at the top of the High School Football world during that time with Brevard winning the 3A title in 82' and the Tigers finishing as a 1A runnerup in 84', and folk still regard that 83' semifinal between Rosman and Robbinsville as one of the greatest games ever played in the mountains with Robbinsville winning in 4 overtimes...Football was just on another level during that time in this County, and that era will liikely not be matched in the future for the reasons that you gave above....The enrollment numbers continue to dwindle at both schools according to a recent interview that I seen with the County Superintendent which doesn't paint a bright picture for either Rosman or Brevard moving forward...
It's really hard to believe that it has been 20 years since Rosman last shared a Conference title, sharing the 1998 SMC title with Hendersonville....A year in which Rosman beat every current member of the SMC.....
Times change!
Roar Tigers Roar
You mention that 4 overtime game.I was at that game and will always remember coach Fox's son laying in the endzone with the ball long after the ref said he never crossed the line on the two point try.Was a really good game and from where I was I think he made it.
I wasn’t at the game but had friends there and I recal them saying what a battle it was
Problem with Rosman is there is this high expectation for football success. It is not the 80's or 90's anymore. In reality Rosman has had 1 winning season (2015) and 1 .500 season (2012) since 2002. 2 decent seasons in 16 years isn't great (both under Whitman). They seem to show great support for their kids. But their male athletes have found a lot more success in baseball and basketball.
Rosman kids come to fight. Win, lose, or draw.
I was at that game also..What a battle..The guy that made the tackle on the extra point try said that Foxs knee hit the ground about 4 inches from the goal line..I couldn't tell..All I saw was a massive pile. That was about the most emotional game I've ever been at.Many many years ago.
the expectations for tiger football isn’t high most of the people I talk with just wanna se a competitive team . The last team you mentioned In 15 under Whitman imo should have won more games . Whitman’s last few years let stuff go weightlifting was done by a basketball coach light weight more reps doesn’t help football players. The equipment and facilities were nasty that’s why Whitman was ultimately let go . Rosman doesn’t always have loads of talent so .500 or a little less is acceptable and some years like 15 one game over .500 isn’t .
Rosman was good enough to legitimately compete for a state title in 2015 with better luck with injuries and a better coaching staff. So I dont buy that they cant still have a really good team on occasion.
Maybe the most talented team that Rosman has ever fielded....Probably wouldn't have beaten either of those 97' or 98' teams because the OL those years was maybe the best line Rosman has ever had, and QB Corey Powell may have been the toughest QB ever at Rosman... T.J. Hooper was a load at FB as well...Rosman had the horses those two years to matchup with any 1A school in the state, and they proved that both years....As far as skill players go, Gage Orr led the SMC in rushing as a Jr. and Sr., and Tanner Green may have had more potential on the football field as any Rosman player I've ever seen....Not going to get into bashing Coach Whitman, because we were friends long before he ever coached a game at Rosman as an Assistant or as Head Coach, and I know that he did his best without about half of the fan base behind him....Hard to win at any level of football when you ain't got enough younguns who want to play, and you got parents in some cases steering their kids to Brevard....It's important to see the whole story when it comes to Whitman's coaching tenure at Rosman because a large number of people were against him from the time Chappel turned the job down the second time, and he was hired....It's hard to work in ANY situation when you ain't got all the parents and fans supporting you and your team, and I know that really bothered Freddie the last few years, especially after that 2015 season when every body and their brother expected Rosman to go a lot further than the 2nd round of the playoffs....It is indeed hard to run a race when you've got some of your best horses still in the barn....Injuries really did hamper that 2015 team, and relegated the Tigers that season to basically just an average team because they beat who they were suppose to, and lost to the teams that were favored to beat them....I've always wanted to see Rosman use the TE more when they were running the Wishbone and Tiger Bone, so that' s my critique of the previous staff.....
Just my two cents worth!
The 2015 Tigers gave Robbinsville all they wanted. One of the best games of the year
You can't blame Chappell he's no dummy. He couldn't win in the SMC when played and knew he sure couldn't as a coach. Much respect for coach Whitman, at least he didn't back away from the challenge. My two cents worth.
Maybe a true statement but NOT a fair statement..he was one of the best to ever come through this conference
At the start of the 2015 season I picked your Rosman Tigers to win it all. My son was a Senior that year so I had watched that Tiger team from JV on up. I felt they had all the pieces but no small 1A team could overcome the injuries they encountered that year.
It's just my opinion. No disrespect to mr. Chappell in any way. Great player and coach. His numbers speak for themselves. I shouldn't have worded that way. Maybe coaching in the SMC just wasn't a good fit at the time. Again, I apologize
What I mean by not accurate is Brett wanted to come home while he was at East.But the powers that be did not make that happen.
He did "turn us down", and took the Pisgah job instead, and who would blame him...Pretty simple to me, if you interview for a job, and you don't like what they are offering, you "turn it down" for a better option which is what Bret did, and good for him because he's done a great job at Pisgah just as he did at East Henderson....As for Freddie, he's done more for Rosman football, than you ever have, or ever will.....PERIOD, but I do know based on your previous postings that you are the type of person who just likes to bash, and run down the coaches at every opportunity because I ran into the Tiger Baseball coach back during baseball season at the Super Walmart in Asheville on a sunday, and he asked me if I knew who you were because you were slamming him and his decisions on this website, and he wanted to confront you about what you were posting about him....I told him that I didn't know who you were, but I did tell him to not pay any attention to you, or people like you who think that they know more about the state of the baseball program than the person that is there every day coaching the team...BTW, that's word for word what I told him back in the spring....Told him not to pay you or anybody else any attention, and just coach the team the best way he knows how....You have called Freddie "the Lovely" Freddie in several different post during the past year, but I bet you wouldn't say it to his face or especially his moma Pat's face.....
I like Freddie as s person and a assistant Coach. But he was a terrible head coach period. I'm not sure why I need to speak with his mom about his job but oh well. As far as baseball coach you are right I was vocal. But I spoke the truth. I have spoke about those 2 coaches. I actually have said good things about Rice,Chapman,Huggins,fox,Robinson, dodson, and stack. You believe Freddie has done a lot for Rosman but you dont know that.
And you are wrong about Brett. Before pisgah while he was at East. He wanted to come home, but the powers that be did not make it happen. All he asked for was a teaching position for his wife.
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Hold on, let me get my popcorn.
I'm against anyone that disputes Tigertown Rick. As for as I'm concerned he is the president of the 1A board.. Statewide
I guess that's why i got a little thin skinned over comments about Whitman. I know he has family ties to Robbinsville and those ties are to one of my friends that coached at Robbinsville a few years ago. I think Freddie had the deck stacked against him from the go. Having to compete with Murphy, swain and as Cherokee turned the corner is enough to keep you up at night. Throw in a few injuries to a roster of 24 and you have Freddie's head coaching career in a nut shell. Just have a hard time believing he ran it in the ground. Way to much pride.
You're probably right. I was thinking out loud. Carry on throwing former coaches under the bus. I'm bored anyway think I'll go polish these 13 rings. Have a good day sir.
Passion is what makes high school football great. Good and bad. As a coach, you can't have an ear to your fan base. (if so you'll be sitting with them soon enough). A coach may have one or two close friends but, realizes that most all "fans" have a vested interest. I have never met a coach that didn't try everything with in his power to put a winning product on the field. You might not always agree with the results but, lack of effort on the coaches part is rarely the problem. If, you've never been a head coach you don't know or understand what the day to day process is no matter how close to the program you are. I can't speak for or about any past coaches, schemes, work ethic or results. I can say that losing sucks. No coach wants any part of it or was it part of their off season plans. It happens. Every game to someone as a matter of fact. As proud as Rosman fans are every time I'm there talking to you, now is not the time to implode from within. Teams don't trip over boulders, they stumble over pebbles!!!
I know when a Coach turns down a job or not....Something most of you on here will not admit!
Best I remember, Freddie was a position Coach for Chappell when he was playing for Rosman, and I've talked to Bret on several occasions through the years, including the time when he "turned down" the Tiger job the first time when East Henderson gave him every thing he was asking for...Told me that during our phone conversation after he "turned down" the job....Yeah, I know about the position that he wanted for his wife during his 2nd interview, and that position would have been open at the end of the school year, but wasn't available until that teacher retired....Some people can't face the fact that Bret really didn't want to come home which would have been a step down for him after coaching at bigger schools....
It would have been a lose/lose situation for him and his family, especially when he sees how Freddie has been treated and slandered.....
Let me repeat this again, so some of you can understand this: Rosman has not won a Football Conference Championship since 1998, and the kids on the current roster weren't even born yet....
Numbers in youth football are down, numbers at the JV level is down, and the varsity hasn't been able to put a defense on the field to stop anybody in several years now....
Finally, I don't know why as a society that we feel compelled to pile on, and make crude comments about people to try and build somebody else up....It's really sickening!
I just get tired of seeing people trash Freddie on this website...Freddie is a Rosman guy who played, and was an honorable mention All-WNC LBer when he played, and both he and his brother were impact players on their respective teams that were, and still are some of the greatest Tiger teams of all time, and they grew up in the middle of Rosman...
There was so much angst when Freddie got hired that I made some comments on this website in support of him to try, and get fans off his back....There were some people that didn't like that, but Coach Fox pulled me aside, and thanked me for supporting Freddie, and I knew then that I had done the right thing: I probably lost a few friends when that happened, but it was the right thing to do then, and I would do it again today...
All Freddie wanted was one more year to retire at Rosman with 30 years of service,and he had earned that, but there was too many people that wanted him gone, and he lost his younger sister while all that mess was happening....Under those circumstances, I would have probably felt compelled to care less about the program as well....
Never seen this much HATE toward a former Head Coach and a Rosman guy as I've seen with this whole situation, and it's one of the main reasons that I gave up the radio broadcast, and decided to distance myself from the football program and this whole fiasco...
And still to this day: Freddie Whitman is the only Rosman Tiger to ever have played and coached in a state championship game, and the ONLY Rosman Head Coach to have EVER beaten Brevard....A feat that his teams accomplished 3 seasons in a row.....
And I'm glad that we are still friends!
Chew on that!
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Rick. I don't hate Feddie. I'm just not a fan of how he coached, that's it. Nothing personal at all. But I feel you are wrong about Brett. He did want to come home. You don't have all the facts about that and that is the truth. We lost some great athletes due to how he coached. The Shook kid, which you downed on here said you have to be from Rosman to want to play for Rosman, well that kid was at rosman from kindergarten thru 10th. How do you think his parents felt when you said that.The Brooks kids all 4 of them. I could go on and on. You are trying to say we hate Freddie but the truth of the matter is we just don't like how he coached I don't care if he was from timbuktu. He was actually from Gastonia not Rosman if we get technical.
TigerDen: We lost some great athletes due to how he coached.
*** Please give me some specifics on how he coached. Unless you were at practice everyday, on the sidelines every Friday, on the bus every away game, every Sunday afternoon for a coaches meeting you can't say squat about his coaching. Too many people/parents/former players believe what little Johnny comes home and says about their coaches because their feelings get hurt at practice. Coach Whitman gave more of his heart and soul to the program than anyone coach I have ever known. As far as the transfers, a lot of kids thinks it's better down the road and that's their choice. Back in the day this wouldn't happen but with all the combined travel ball teams etc. these kids are together a lot. Sorry for the rant but move on and let it go Louie !!!
