PrepGridiron Posted June 6, 2018 Report Share Posted June 6, 2018 Will start in about 50 minutes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUFORDGAWOLVES Posted June 6, 2018 Report Share Posted June 6, 2018 Just got back from couples counseling with @Sportsnut Things are looking good. Sincerely C.A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglesinsider Posted June 6, 2018 Report Share Posted June 6, 2018 Here's the latest news from today as a primer for those catching up before Coach Russell gets here: - Saint Frances has agreed to leave the MIAA A in football, effective immediately - they will play a 10+ game national schedule with Good Counsel being the only Maryland team known so far - the schedule includes teams from Florida, New York, Ohio, Virginia and Connecticut along with four teams from Canada - a majority of games will be home games - Archbishop Spalding became the 5th MIAA A school to cancel their game with SFA, citing SFA's need to have maximum scheduling flexibility to make their national schedule work - Coach Poggi said the their intention was to leave the MIAA A after 2018 to become an independent, and they intend to play independent, national level schedules going forward - Calvert Hall and Saint Frances issued a joint statement clearing the air after some of the ugliness of the past week More in-depth coverage, including full joint statement can be found here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/high-school/bs-va-sp-miaa-st-frances-national-0606-story.html 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted June 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2018 6 minutes ago, eaglesinsider said: Here's the latest news from today as a primer for those catching up before Coach Russell gets here: - Saint Frances has agreed to leave the MIAA A in football, effective immediately - they will play a 10+ game national schedule with Good Counsel being the only Maryland team known so far - the schedule includes teams from Florida, New York, Ohio, Virginia and Connecticut along with four teams from Canada - a majority of games will be home games - Archbishop Spalding became the 5th MIAA A school to cancel their game with SFA, citing SFA's need to have maximum scheduling flexibility to make their national schedule work - Coach Poggi said the their intention was to leave the MIAA A after 2018 to become an independent, and they intend to play independent, national level schedules going forward - Calvert Hall and Saint Frances issued a joint statement clearing the air after some of the ugliness of the past week More in-depth coverage, including full joint statement can be found here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/high-school/bs-va-sp-miaa-st-frances-national-0606-story.html Thanks for the primer. There is definitely a lot of recent news circling around the program and it is a real treat to have the coach on at this time. Assuming coach arrives on time, we expect to start in about 15 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 First, we'd like to welcome Coach Russell to Prepgridiron.com. Henry Russell is the head coach at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland. After serving on the staff at Gilman (MD) for several years, Coach Russell took over St. Frances in 2016 and quickly has turned the program into a national powerhouse. Going 10-2 in 2016, Russell led St. Frances to an undefeated campaign in 2017 capping the season with several top 5 rankings and a resounding defeat of Utah power Bingham in the Geico Bowl Series. Russell is a class of 1999 graduate of Gilman (MD). He attended the United States Naval Academy and served two tours in Iraq. In collaboration with PrepGridiron Logistics, coach has been kind enough to give us some of his time and answer several questions posed by the members of this board. As we have done in the past, we will be asking coach the questions and he will be responding in the thread. We will be asking coach five questions and expect to open up the floor to members. Feel free to respond and ask questions, note, however, that it will be at Coach's discretion whether he responds further. Lastly, we ask that you keep your responses civil and on topic. The thread will be heavily moderated so that we can encourage other coaches to come on in the future. Thanks again, Coach, and everyone enjoy. The first question will be asked when coach arrives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Looks like Coach is here. First question, Coach: Who are your top returning starters and their respective positions for next season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Russell Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Good evening, thanks for having me on tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Russell Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Our top returners on O are QB Jalon Jones (Florida commit) RB Joachim Bangda OL Darrian Dalcourt on D LB Shane Lee (Alabama commit) LB Osman Savage DE Chris Braswell and FS Jordan Toles 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Coach it has been reported that SFA has agreed to leave the MIAA A effective immediately. If true, while it may be too late for this upcoming season, have you thought about joining conferences outside of Maryland, such as the WCAC (DC), Big North (NJ) or Philly Catholic League? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Russell Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Yes we decided that based on the forfeits that have taken place over the last week it would be best for us to play an independent schedule this year. Moving forward we would love to play with the nation's best teams, and ideally we could find a conference (whether new or existing) that fits the same mission and purpose that we have for our student athletes. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Based on the ranked football talent conference wide, it is clear that the MIAA schools other than Saint Frances have decided to end the MIAA A football arms race that has been going on since the Mid-2000s. Why do you think they've decided to gear down their football programs now? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Russell Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 I think all the schools in the A conference have really stepped up the level of play over the last decade. There have been several teams ranked in the top 100 nationally. I don't really see everyone gearing down, as many of the teams have top notch talent returning this year. Last year McDonogh had an Under Armour All American in PJ Mustipher and this year I think several young players will do their best to carry on the strong tradition the conference has. Gilman is taking a QB transfer from DeMatha who is highly regarded. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 We are cheating a bit coach as this is a two part question. We know you have already addressed it on Twitter some, but can you tell us what is really going on with the schools that are backing out from playing you? What kind of message does this send their kids about running away from obstacles instead of taking them head on and seeing how they measure up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjd33 Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Coach, thanks for joining us. I was in the Minority in the camp that you guys would of beat IMG last year. Obviously that matchup didn’t take due to weather. But Anything you saw on film for preparation of that IMG game where you feel your guys would of had the advantage or matched up very well with the ascenders. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Russell Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 As a coach I respect the decision that any adult makes if their goal is to protect their kids from any kind of danger or harm. I don't coach those kids and don't know a majority of them. So it's hard for me to judge why they feel it's not safe to play our kids. I will say that football is such a special sport because you can take so many life lessons and teach them through a football season. There is so much that goes into a football season on a lot of emotional levels. I love the sport and what it teaches. I learned so many life lessons during my time as a player. I took those lessons with me in combat serving in the Navy, I take them with dealing with family issues or tough times in my adult life. For those reasons I love coaching football because the young men I coach learn so much more than just football. 1 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Loved that last answer, Coach! Last question. And, again, we are squeezing in another 2 for 1. What has the transition from Gilman to SFA been like and how did the staff all end up at SFA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Russell Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 It has been night and day when it comes to logistics, the vast needs (help with rides, help with food, help with counseling through tough family situations) and the lack of resources compared to Gilman. From a football standpoint it's amazing how much our kids put into the team and improving themselves. Our kids love football and they love competing if we didn't put a limit on the time they can workout or practice they would never want to stop and go home! The staff was approached by former head coach Messay Hailemariam. He knew how much we cared about kids and making an impact on lives through football. Messay convinced us that St Frances needed us to make a huge impact on a community that was hurting. We all decided to make the move together. Messay is now our Dir of Football Ops and is an incredible person. I'm glad he helped us make the move to St Frances. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Coach, again thank you so much for your time. If you have additional time, I know our members would appreciate being able to ask a few of their own. We are on your time though, Coach, so let us know. I know one member has already posted a question above, so I'll repost it below if you have some time and you'd like to answer. Coach, thanks for joining us. I was in the Minority in the camp that you guys would of beat IMG last year. Obviously that matchup didn’t take due to weather. But Anything you saw on film for preparation of that IMG game where you feel your guys would of had the advantage or matched up very well with the ascenders. Thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Just now, Coach Russell said: It has been night and day when it comes to logistics, the vast needs (help with rides, help with food, help with counseling through tough family situations) and the lack of resources compared to Gilman. From a football standpoint it's amazing how much our kids put into the team and improving themselves. Our kids love football and they love competing if we didn't put a limit on the time they can workout or practice they would never want to stop and go home! The staff was approached by former head coach Messay Hailemariam. He knew how much we cared about kids and making an impact on lives through football. Messay convinced us that St Frances needed us to make a huge impact on a community that was hurting. We all decided to make the move together. Messay is now our Dir of Football Ops and is an incredible person. I'm glad he helped us make the move to St Frances. ^^^^ THIS!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Russell Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 We were really disappointed that our game with IMG was cancelled last season. Obviously they are an incredible team, but we felt it was a game we could have competed in with them. We tried to make the game up after our championship but it was past the date in which IMG was able to play unfortunately . 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Coach, last year I thought the DeMarVa region was one of the best in the country. How do you think that part of the country compares to talent elsewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Russell Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 With DeMatha there is a lot of history with our staff. Our Assistant HC was at DeMatha as their HC for 29 years and spent a total of 37 or 38 years there as a coach. Our OC played at DeMatha and was the OC at DeMatha for many years. We have been trying to work out a game with DeMatha since their HC joined our staff over 7 years ago. I think there are issues outside of the field that led to us not being able to workout a game with them. Our game was never finalized with them this year. We thought we were close, but it did not work out. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbiafan Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 I have 2 if you have time I also see that someone brought up img a second ago, i also am in that minority who felt you all would have defeated IMG and i was impressed with your all's game against Bingham in what was the first time I've seen you all play a full game before My question is this, with the emergence of all star teams and the possibility of teams going independent to play a more national schedule could you see the possibility of a national conference and playoffs being formed with these type of schools and if so would you all have interest in that Also i see IMG has been on your all's schedule but are there any other potential FL teams you all might consider playing in near future and if so who would you consider playing Sorry those may technically both be 2 part lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Russell Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 The DMV as we call it here is LOADED with talent. College coaches tell me that in our area there is a much top tier talent as anywhere in the country. I am biased, but I agree 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Coach, what does the move away from the MIAA do for your team from a playoffs perspective? Will you be able to compete in any playoffs outside a invite to the Geico Bowl Series? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.