Portsmouth 2013

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

Ok what's the word on the streets everyone?
We return virtually the whole team from last season, with our biggest lose coming in the form of linebacker Levi Hall. However this team suffered a dismal 1-9 record last year.
It will be a totally new look for the Trojans with our new head coach Jason Sparks. I believe he wants to run a spread offense, I've never been a fan of it but if we can move the ball so be it. Just not my favorite style of football.
On the defensive side I have heard talk of 3 man fronts maybe a 3-4 or heard 3-3 even. I don't know if we have the linebackers to run those successfully against the power run teams on our schedule. I'm not sure coach sparks has an understanding of the run games of the Ironton , West, Jackson, Minford, and Logan's of the world. I would think we would be more susssful in more of a 4-4 4-3 or even a 5-2.
As for the weight program I have heard less then impressive numbers so far with very few boys benching over 300 pounds. Hopefully this can improve over the summer. Come on Trojans its time to get after it.
Tell me what's everyone else's take?

[trojandave]

TrojanFBAlum: I would really love to be more optimistic about the 2013 Trojans, but as you said, we are coming off a 1-9 season that was every bit as bad as the record itself. I have told quite a few people that it is not realistic for fans to expect Coach Sparks to turn our football program around in 1 or even 2 seasons. I have talked to him one on one and asked him several questions about his personal football philosophy. I liked what I heard, and hopefully what he can do in 2013 is just get our football Trojans going in the right direction, i.e., getting our kids stronger, playing more physical football, getting more kids out to play, getting kids playing in the right positions, and maximizing what speed we have. Of course a sticking point with me always is special teams, and I would love to see us develop a kicking game that can rival anybody we play.

I told Coach Sparks that in most years he will have some talent to put on the field, but that we have got to get back to playing "tackle football", something that has been amiss the last several years. By that I mean we are getting pushed around on the line of scrimmage too much, and the tackling past the line is subpar. The results show.......giving up 40, 50 and 60 points is unacceptable. Getting dominated by Wheelersburg and Ironton for a decade (1-9 vs. each) is unacceptable.

It will take some time for Coach Sparks to get us going in the right direction. If he can accomplish this difficult task, Portsmouth High School can be a consistent contender for the playoffs and in turn, get the community behind the program which has been lacking also. More kids will come out with more wins.......2+2=4 in this case.

I WANT MY FOOTBALL FRIDAY NIGHTS TO BE MORE FUN!!

[LetsGoPSU]

Gentlemen this is a football....... the program will never be strong without a solid feeder program from the lower levels. It starts in grade school, and orks its way up. That being said, it will take a hile to get there, but the community as well as the staff must become involved.
As for 2013, it will be interesting to see if the Trojans can get away from the matador defense they have put on the field the past few years. 10 to 15 yards a pop just is embarrasing.
Im looking forward to Friday nights...as always, and hoping for improvement each and every week.
Without the numbers in the weight room, Im not very optomistic

[wipala]

It will take time and work..I am afraid that PHS has gotten back into the, We are a BB school and football just fills
space until the round ball comes out..sure hope not..New Coach has his work cut out.....Just would love for the team to
be called Trojans again and not Wojans.....come on boys.....get out to the weight room and start working........
Best of luck Trojans....

[Pol pot]

Tough to run a 3-4 or 3-3-5 without a stud run stopper in the middle. The run oriented teams mentioned above will simply out number you and misdirection you to a slow and painful depth. Football is all abou geometry and numbers!

[trojandave]

LetsGoPSU: Totally agree with you about the feeder system........if it is not in good shape, then the varsity program most generally suffers. The turnaround of Portsmouth football must start well before kids reach the varsity level.

[LetsGoPSU]

the feeder system is EVERYTHING...as an example around 7 years ago Bedford started a non tackling system at the lower level, now we are suffering on Friday nights, this is a once power program, that has taken a back seat to even the smaller county schools.

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

Tough to run a 3-4 or 3-3-5 without a stud run stopper in the middle. The run oriented teams mentioned above will simply out number you and misdirection you to a slow and painful depth. Football is all abou geometry and numbers!

My thoughts exactly, just don't think that's a good fit with the teams we play and the personnel we have. Be interesting to watch how our kids adjust to sparks system and how Sparks adjust to our kids and the teams and style that is played here.

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

As for the feeder system we have been through this before and I agree. Maybe the answer is to run an internal system as discussed before.
My answer is just to get as many kids as posible seeing as many snaps as posible. At the pee-wee level almost all of our kids play for the little Trojans, where before they were spread out over little Trojans Rough Riders Rams and at one time even more teams. With the 3 team format in the city we had 66 starting spots to fill each year now we have 22. We have cut 2/3rds of the opportunity to see playing time for these kids. I think this results in less kids coming out and kids being less competitive with each other at the jr high and high school level because they have been beaten out of the spot at the pee-wee level.

[PTrojan59]

Looking forward to this season

[West Side Pride]

As for the feeder system we have been through this before and I agree. Maybe the answer is to run an internal system as discussed before.
My answer is just to get as many kids as posible seeing as many snaps as posible. At the pee-wee level almost all of our kids play for the little Trojans, where before they were spread out over little Trojans Rough Riders Rams and at one time even more teams. With the 3 team format in the city we had 66 starting spots to fill each year now we have 22. We have cut 2/3rds of the opportunity to see playing time for these kids. I think this results in less kids coming out and kids being less competitive with each other at the jr high and high school level because they have been beaten out of the spot at the pee-wee level.

Correct me if I'm wrong but thinking back to my pee wee days, there was a lot of teams. Was there a team called the bears? helmets, shoulder pads, and blue
jeans....But one thing is for sure, the high school was stacked, and you would be with 44 kids playing a whole game on Saturday.

[noles_fan]

As for the feeder system we have been through this before and I agree. Maybe the answer is to run an internal system as discussed before.
My answer is just to get as many kids as posible seeing as many snaps as posible. At the pee-wee level almost all of our kids play for the little Trojans, where before they were spread out over little Trojans Rough Riders Rams and at one time even more teams. With the 3 team format in the city we had 66 starting spots to fill each year now we have 22. We have cut 2/3rds of the opportunity to see playing time for these kids. I think this results in less kids coming out and kids being less competitive with each other at the jr high and high school level because they have been beaten out of the spot at the pee-wee level.

You could have more numbers if went back to having a team for each age group instead of combining them. And anyone who has seen or even read on here about the pee-wee programs on here you could use some coaches who are more interested in teaching fundimentals and less about how many times little johnny is carrying the ball. Just an outsiders opinion who seen and read about it for the last couple of years. Your head coach should be over seeing your feeder program these will be his kids soon enough.

[sider]

As for the feeder system we have been through this before and I agree. Maybe the answer is to run an internal system as discussed before.
My answer is just to get as many kids as posible seeing as many snaps as posible. At the pee-wee level almost all of our kids play for the little Trojans, where before they were spread out over little Trojans Rough Riders Rams and at one time even more teams. With the 3 team format in the city we had 66 starting spots to fill each year now we have 22. We have cut 2/3rds of the opportunity to see playing time for these kids. I think this results in less kids coming out and kids being less competitive with each other at the jr high and high school level because they have been beaten out of the spot at the pee-wee level.

While I can't necessarily agree that the feeder system is the answer to the problems at the varsity level, I think that the old feeder system had was much better for the kids in the city. As a parent, its much easier to take time out of your day to take kids to and from practice if they are getting to play. Lets say a child lives right on the line of Portsmouth/New Boston. It would be much easier to get that 8-9 year old boy to mound park for practice (where he would have the opportunity to for more playing time), than to drive through town to spartan stadium/Phs.

Maybe someone can suggest this to the powers that be/new head coach. There are very few negatives to the old system.

[Trojanbuckeye]

I agree about feeder system, but, the kids that will be Juniors & Seniors this year were virtually undefeated from 2nd grade through 8th grade. These boys knew the fundamentals, and many many more options and plays than they were ever allowed to play once they became freshmen.

Coach Sparks is pushing these boys get conditioned and that is something that has been lacking the last couple of years. The attitude of the boys in the weight room seems to be better, they are pushing each other and trying to get there. There seems to be more "team" and less "me" at this point.

I really hope this attitude continues and the Mighty Trojans are back for a long time to come.

[BigSlowWhiteGuy]

I have quite a few young kids in my neiborhood and I am seeing somewhat of a disinterest in the sport in general. Portmouth needs more than one Pee Wee team and yet 3 teams is probably too many based on the interest. Two teams that compete in a Scioto County League would be fine but we would be spread thinner and a little less emphasis on winning and more emphasis on teaching the game is preferable anyway.

[High Plains Drifter]

I noticed some threads were taken off and sure mine was just one in the mix. I see no harm in asking what type of offense they have been working on.

[jgordon0315]

So what's the latest?? Anything noteworthy about our beloved Trojans? Any noticeable differences in coaching philosophies between Coach Clifford and Coach Sparks? Don't know if it's worth mentioning but I had a chance to witness the Trojans during camp earlier in the offseason and the practices are real loose....as Coach Sparks was blasting music through the sound system. One thing's for sure Coach Sparks brings a lot of energy to the table. Is everything already set in stone on offense and defense or is it gonna be open competition. Just wondering how much feedback the staff is giving Coach Sparks versus how much Coach Sparks is implementing his own handprint on the team. Altogether, I'm pretty excited to see what we look like. Hope we can get things turned around soon enough.

[trojandave]

jgordon0315: I probably will check out some practices to see what's going on.......I have said a hundred times over, until DEFENSE returns to the Trojan football program, wins will be hard to come by. It doesn't matter who we play, or whether it be at home or on the road. Trying to outscore teams will not work over the course of a season, or in the long term health of the program.

We have our shortcomings, and now is the time to recognize them......and fix them. To fix them, though, will take Coach Sparks some time. No one in their right mind can expect him to turn things around in 1 year. It may take 2-3 years to re-establish Portsmouth as a respected football program.

One thing I did tell Coach Sparks.......in most years he will have athletes to work with, and he will have some for sure this year. However, we are in desperate need of depth and that only comes with more kids coming out.......and winning should bring out more kids playing football. Just another reason why I think it will take a few years to get Trojan football back on the winning side of the ledger.

I am by nature an optimist, but with a 15-35 record over the last 5 years, it's hard to glean something that will get me truly excited about this year's Trojans........but I will be there cheering them on with my loud mouth, win or lose.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE......I CANNOT EMPHASIZE IT ENOUGH!!...............GO TROJANS!!!

[CharlieHustle]

Who's all headed down to 'Midnight Madness' on Friday night/Saturday morning?

[jgordon0315]

Should be interesting, to say the least! Nice change-up