DarterBlue Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 Nice interview with head coach, Rick Darlington. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUFORDGAWOLVES Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 Good fishing down there, all kinds of places... good excuse to take in a game and spend the weekend fishing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarterBlue Posted March 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 2 hours ago, BUFORDGAWOLVES said: Good fishing down there, all kinds of places... good excuse to take in a game and spend the weekend fishing! True dat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORabidOne Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 9 hours ago, DarterBlue said: Nice interview with head coach, Rick Darlington. Is Coach Darlington still coaching, after they ran him out of Valdosta? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarterBlue Posted March 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 2 minutes ago, ORabidOne said: Is Coach Darlington still coaching, after they ran him out of Valdosta? Dumbest move Valdosta ever made. He came home to Apopka and has made the title game three times since, winning two. What Valdosta failed to realize is that due to new schools and changing demographics, Valdosta was no longer going to have the powerhouse status of yore. Speaking from personal observation, Coach Darlington is an excellent, old school coach. He may not be right for every program, but he is great at what he does. Much better than your departed boy when it comes to building character! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sausmann9 Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 On 3/3/2018 at 5:21 PM, DarterBlue said: Dumbest move Valdosta ever made. He came home to Apopka and has made the title game three times since, winning two. What Valdosta failed to realize is that due to new schools and changing demographics, Valdosta was no longer going to have the powerhouse status of yore. Speaking from personal observation, Coach Darlington is an excellent, old school coach. He may not be right for every program, but he is great at what he does. Much better than your departed boy when it comes to building character! I'll be honest as well when Darlington came to VHS people didn't seem very reasonable to him. Understandably so, the Valdosta people wanted a title his first season. He didn't have the talent of previous Cat teams to do what was wanted. In 2011, I personally had dealings w/ Rick Darlington outside the realm of football is he IS a very up-standing kind of guy. He and his wife are really good people despite his VHS tenure and record. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rufus69 Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 2 hours ago, sausmann9 said: I'll be honest as well when Darlington came to VHS people didn't seem very reasonable to him. Understandably so, the Valdosta people wanted a title his first season. He didn't have the talent of previous Cat teams to do what was wanted. In 2011, I personally had dealings w/ Rick Darlington outside the realm of football is he IS a very up-standing kind of guy. He and his wife are really good people despite his VHS tenure and record. Uh, I don't think that is an accurate statement. Not even close. Darlington had 35 Seniors in that class. He took the Cats to the State Title game against Camden...before losing 16-7. In 2004, he was in rebuilding mode (after graduating 35 Seniors) but still took his team to the Quarterfinals. Darlington's problems in Valdosta were "people related". There are probably multi-sides to the argument.....but he was helped with his decision to resign. Truthfully, it was a very, very good move for him. He is loved and respected at Apopka (as he should be). Best guess is...that wasn't ever gonna happen at Valdosta. Rufus>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarterBlue Posted March 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 13 minutes ago, Rufus69 said: Darlington's problems in Valdosta were "people related". There are probably multi-sides to the argument.....but he was helped with his decision to resign. Truthfully, it was a very, very good move for him. He is loved and respected at Apopka (as he should be). My take on Coach Darlington is that he needs to be given room to coach and run his program as he sees best. Coach has a strong personality and some very strong beliefs when it comes to how a football program should be run. He tends to thrive when he is allowed to call the major shots. From afar, I get the impression that this was not going to happen in the Valdosta program during the time he was there and for several years after. So in that sense, the return to Apopka was probably best for him from a success perspective, though not necessarily from a financial perspective. Proof of his ability is the fact that he has won 3 state titles and also had a runner up spot while at Apopka. Despite always having talent, no other coach including the very accomplished Chip Gierke was able to get Apopka past a state semifinal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rufus69 Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 47 minutes ago, DarterBlue said: My take on Coach Darlington is that he needs to be given room to coach and run his program as he sees best. Coach has a strong personality and some very strong beliefs when it comes to how a football program should be run. He tends to thrive when he is allowed to call the major shots. From afar, I get the impression that this was not going to happen in the Valdosta program during the time he was there and for several years after. So in that sense, the return to Apopka was probably best for him from a success perspective, though not necessarily from a financial perspective. Proof of his ability is the fact that he has won 3 state titles and also had a runner up spot while at Apopka. Despite always having talent, no other coach including the very accomplished Chip Gierke was able to get Apopka past a state semifinal. I would be shocked if anyone around Azalea City questioned his coaching ability. He just didn't fit. Some would say...he didn't try to fit...BUT...I think it's all water over the bridge. My point was...he had players. Especially in 2003. Rufus>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camcat88 Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 47 minutes ago, Rufus69 said: I would be shocked if anyone around Azalea City questioned his coaching ability. He just didn't fit. Some would say...he didn't try to fit...BUT...I think it's all water over the bridge. My point was...he had players. Especially in 2003. Rufus>> His 03 team was good, they just ran into a very good Camden team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarterBlue Posted March 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2018 2 hours ago, Rufus69 said: I would be shocked if anyone around Azalea City questioned his coaching ability. He just didn't fit. Some would say...he didn't try to fit...BUT...I think it's all water over the bridge. My point was...he had players. Especially in 2003. Rufus>> I wouldn't dispute that. RD is a great coach, but not a magician. Given the overall quality of Georgia High School Football, it would take quality players to make a larger classification State Finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sausmann9 Posted March 6, 2018 Report Share Posted March 6, 2018 5 hours ago, Rufus69 said: Uh, I don't think that is an accurate statement. Not even close. Darlington had 35 Seniors in that class. He took the Cats to the State Title game against Camden...before losing 16-7. In 2004, he was in rebuilding mode (after graduating 35 Seniors) but still took his team to the Quarterfinals. Darlington's problems in Valdosta were "people related". There are probably multi-sides to the argument.....but he was helped with his decision to resign. Truthfully, it was a very, very good move for him. He is loved and respected at Apopka (as he should be). Best guess is...that wasn't ever gonna happen at Valdosta. Rufus>> Ah yes it was 04' everybody jumped on him, sorry my bad. And that was one hell of a title game considering Camden was stout as could be and VHS was guided by a first year coach. Still, what coach could have/would have done better in that SAME situation??? Maybe one of Rab's favorites like Ole' Cecil or Mr Hunter himself, lol, any guesses??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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