timeout!

He has been around for a while. I had him for Health back at Dunbar.

😂 We'll have to keep fixing it up and hope we can get something out of it.

A bunch of guys that had that Dog mentality. Flying around and looking to knock somebody block off. Watching prime Lane running over HS kids and seeing them bounce off like rag dolls never gets old. I wish he could've maintained that size and weight in college. One of the best athletes I've seen in person play. Dude could do it all..some people forget he lead the district in punting his senior year. And was the quarterback on that game winning drive against Longview at SFA. The one thing they really had was confidence. There was an intimidation factor and swagger they had when they stepped off the bus. No excuses about school enrollment, facilities, or any other nonsense. It was all about lining up and going at it. I was at most of those games in that clip. We were a true perennial power back then. And it all came to a screeching stop a couple years after 04. Gone as quickly as it came. There was no slow decline as for as playoff success. It went from long playoff runs to one and done most years after that. With very little in between outside of 2012 and 2017. Time sure has flown by. It's been over 22 years since that title run and 19 since that 04 team. Heck..it's been 6 years since the 2017 run. That's also quickly falling back in the review mirror now. I'm sure some folks come on here shake their head. We just a bunch of old timers sitting on the porch reminiscing about better days. Holding on to that old truck we should've sold long ago.

Kedren is one the best backs in the nation. Not many people are familiar with him, as some other backs in the state or around the country. I put that on Lufkin lack of playoff success. He barely gets a mention when talking heads are discussing running backs in district. All the focus is on Tatum and Lacey. They then lump Young in with the other notable guys from Tyler, MKN, and Forney. You would never know he is the #2 ranked back in the state, only behind Tatum. This staff will have egg on their face. If they don't manage more than 1 or 2 playoff wins during his tenure here. To be honest, it should be a lot more than that. But he only has one year left, so we have to be realistic with this staff. You just can't have talent like that come through the doors and come up empty handed. It wouldn't be the first time though.

I'd like to see us come out and put people on notice this year. Winning the district would be one way to do that. I really want to see our team start earning some respect. We have some great pieces in place. The freshman team that ran the table are all on varsity this year. I don't feel like we should have to wait until they are seniors to make some noise. Get the O-line and Qb play together and we can play with anyone in district. But you know..it is what is, until proven otherwise.

Yep..they even have working replay for the sub varsity games. All though it's not on the same level. Silsbee community is all in on their teams too. At least that is what I have seen for the football and basketball programs. A lot of it has to do with the success those programs have had. The fans are excited every year. I would like to see more people get excited about Lufkin basketball. We had two consecutive good seasons. With some really good players and one of the best facilities in the state, to take in a HS basketball game. And the gym is still not as full as it should be. Maybe that will change over the next few years. Just to give you guys a quick update. Austin Brown competed in the Nike Peach Jam tournament earlier this month in South Carolina. It is the premier tournament in the country each year. Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul all have teams that played in the tournament. Several other teams with current and former NBA player kids participated. Along with other top recruits across the nation. Brown plays for JL3 Elite out of Houston on the U16 team. He had very limited minutes this year. Just shows you how much talent is on that team. Still great competition that will make him better. Several other BBall players are having a great offseason.

It wasn't a knock on Tatum or OU. He had other choices on the table. OU was one of the few schools that would allow him to play baseball too. He said that was a big part of his decision going there.

Do you guys feel there is much brotherhood among former Lufkin players? I follow a few other HS sports pages. And I notice how much more involved some former players are with each other and their programs. It's not every program, but enough to take notice. I've seen former players from certain schools, never miss a chance to comment or show some appreciation for the school and current players. Theres a certain pride and camaraderie they have about coming from those programs. Maybe some former Lufkin players can chime in.

I have to agree. Young would be ranked much higher if not for questionable coaching and inconsistent line play. But then again..how much more would a higher ranking be worth? He pretty much had his pick of top schools. Notre Dame is a great institution for academics and sports.

I just watched the Longview Game Day stream for Tatum commitment announcement. Seem like a great kid and has his head on straight. You have to be with offers from schools like Duke. I'm all about seeing young men taking care of their business on and off the field. No matter what school they come from. I felt the same way about the RB from CS last year that's going to Duke. And I'm just as proud for our very own Kedren Young. You need young men like that in the locker room to set positive examples for others. OU has a heck of player coming. Looking forward to seeing him and Young square again this year. King mentioned being an old O-line coach before taking over. And I thought to myself, thats why you hardly see a bad O-line in Longview. You can tell he still takes pride in how those guys play. He comes off as someone that takes it personally. You not gonna embarrass him every week with poor play.

I went back and watched the fish game vs Longview last week. And you can tell the difference between how their line played vs how ours played. I know they run a different scheme than Lufkin, but you can tell. That their kids just play with more aggression on the O-line than ours. I could be wrong, but you hardly ever hear them complaining about offensive line play.

I know we have discussed this before. I really wish Lufkin would look into doing something like this. I would not have a problem with changing the name. If that means huge renovations or new stadium. https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/beaumont-isd-board-approves-proposal-annual-student-teacher-awards-naming-rights-memorial-stadium/502-14f30dc4-d922-4b48-8507-c9de31bfceb6

I think Kedren has a good shot at it. If the O-line comes together this year. Tatum is still a threat though. He is good as advertised. Young is just as good in my opinion. He just doesn't have the benefit of playing behind a line and scheme like Longview.

I think their HC Brian Morgan is starting to turn some of that around. He took over in 2018 and they have posted at least 8 wins in 4 of his first 5 seasons. Lufkin and PATM actually have the same amount of playoff wins(6), since 2012. So there may not be too big of a difference between the programs during that span. If you were forced to choose. Would you bet your life savings on Quick/Green in a first round matchup with PATM? I think I know the answer..😁 Until they prove different. I'm taking the field versus Lufkin in any first round matchup for now. And it has nothing to do with the players. It's the staff I don't trust. My mind could be changed, depending on how the season unfolds. It's not set in stone we even finish in the top four.

Have to agree. I watched PATM play twice at Abe last year. They started the game out well against Longview and made some plays. But begin to make bonehead mistakes and the wheels came off. It would just be another 1st round exit, if all we are only able to grab is a 4th spot finish. Lufkin has a lot to prove this year. I feel like we have the talent to do well this year. I think our ceiling for this year is 9-1 if we have a great year and everything just comes together. I don't see us beating Longview. Not on the road against those refs, players, and coaches. Maybe we can catch Lancaster underestimating us. A 8-2 finish would be a really good year for us too and is prob the most likely outcome if they play to their potential. I know we beat Consolidated last year, but you still cant assume thats a win. They have a really good Qb coming back and will want give us payback from last year. Several other teams we will have to earn wins against. Nothing is a given. I like our chances this year and think we will surprise some people. Just hope the coaches can navigate the waters with the talent they have.

I heard we are down 200 plus students this year. If that trend continues next year. Is there a chance Lufkin slips down to 5A DII ?

"For instance, those returning starters aren't counting two D1 LBers that transferred into Lancaster from Cedar Hill and Duncanville respectfully. They've also had D1 talent transfer in at WR, which pushed one of their D1 WRs to full time safety. List goes on. They aren't deprived of any ballers on either side of the ball. They actually look like a really good football team from top to bottom." This is one reason. I'm always apprehensive about predicting how good those DFW teams will be from one year to the next. Things are always fluid in that area. They are never really short on filling holes. Talented guys from other schools just transfer in to fill the gaps.

I don't know if there will ever be a better time than this 2-3 year window. If they can't get done during that time. I don't see it happening for them. You right about Quick legacy as a HC. Not much there, if anything to look at. One can argue that he has actually taken some of the shine off as DC here. Because of the lack of success as a HC. He would be revered as the best DC coordinator to come through Lufkin. Had he packed his bags and left for other opportunities 20 years ago. Much of that has been forgotten. It's funny how talent focused we are now. No one speaks about the system or culture here. It's simply if we got enough talent. Talent definitely plays a big part of a program success. But you have to have something else pushing it along. College Station lost their HC and star Rb last year. They still found away to power themselves back to another state appearance. It wasn't all based on talent. The culture and expectation at that school played a big part. I don't think we have much that here now. What happens a few years from now if the talent dips again? Just wait another 5,10,15, years for another super group to come through?

This is an important year for Quick and the program. Not because his job it at risk, but because I think it will solidify were this program is at for the foreseeable future. And also how Quick legacy as a HC here will be looked back on. If Lufkin fails to reach the playoffs this year or is one and done. I don't see this staff turning it around the next year or anytime soon after. Not when you consider all the talent they have this year. Keep in mind these guys from that Freshmen team will be juniors, along with a mix of some good seniors. You have to start taking steps forward at some point. So the next group learns how to win and can pass it down.

We had some other talented players on that team. So it wasn't just those two carrying the load. Malik Jackson, Terry Mark and several other good players were on that team. Those of us who have been around for a while. Have seen enough to pretty much piece together the puzzle. We can draw from those memories and see what is different. I'm not as young as I once was. But I can still remember certain games and situations that leave you scratching your head. That game against Ennis could've easily went Lufkin's way. It was doing those horrible defensive years. So Lufkin was playing the Wr's at Db for key downs. In an attempt to have our best athletes on the field. One of those downs being the game winning TD for Ennis. Lufkin had 5'11 Coutee matched up against Ennis 6'4 WR/TE Donta Thompson who was split out. Coutee is a good athlete, especially at the HS level. But he's 5'11..I'm sorry, but that's just not the matchup I would've went with. The only kid thats under 6ft I would trust covering someone that tall was Leonard Hewitt. Well of course Ennis saw this and tossed the ball up to him and he caught it for the go ahead score. Lufkin had used 6'2 Terry Mark on defense some that year too. Mark was a great athlete and could jump with the best of them. Why not put him on that side and match him up with 6'4 Thompson? We never got the answer to that question, because Quick was never asked.

Here is something else to chew on. Remember when Lufkin lost a close game to a loaded Ennis team at home in 2014?They had 5 star recruit DE James Lockhart that year. And a speedy 6'4 Wr/TE who's name I can't remember. He caught the winning TD on us at the end of the game(55-48). Guess what? Only one of those teams had two future/current NFL players on the field. I'll give you a hint. It wasn't Ennis.. They went on to win state that year. We got knocked out in the first round by Longview after being up 28-0. The same Longview team we beat 44-14 to open the season. Lufkin only managed 2 playoff wins during KeKe Coutee and Eric McCoy's tenure here.

Nick was fine young man. Always had a smile on his face and had a great sense of humor. He will be missed.

20 years is an ample sample size to know what you have. There's no getting around that and Lufkin hasn't been talentless that whole time. I've seen some of Greens offenses put numbers. They are mostly empty calories though. He hardly ever calls the right play in crunch time. How many close games have we lost late because of bad play call? I can think of a few offhand. Plano West in Waco back in 2012..we ended up taking the field goal and missing after failing to convert. The defense didn't do us any favors. The playoff game against JT at Rose..can't remember the year. It was Kordell Rodgers junior or senior year. It got picked off after we basically ran the same play that didn't work on 3rd down. Tried it again on 4th and turned it over on downs. And lets not forget that bonehead play against Westfield that almost cost us the game in 2017. We are up late in the 4th qtr and TIME is on our side. Our Rb has been slicing them all game. And for some odd reason, Green calls a bomb to Jackson and it gets intercepted and ran back to our side of the field. I remember watching the replay and the guy calling the game saying. No way Lufkin throws the ball this late with time ticking down. Green must of heard him and said hold my beer.

That pretty much sums up. Although I think King would prob squeeze out more than 1 playoff win. Especially if he has them in his system from the time they are freshmen. Losing in the 1st round isn't something King has done often. Even when Longview has had down years. Them 1st round exits is a Lufkin thing.

That would be about what we would expect from Quick and Co. Just continuing the status quo of the program. A 1st or 2nd round exit would be an improvement over the last two years. But it would be about what we would usually expect from them with decent talent. I think we should expect more out this group. They have been billed as the most talented group in over 15 years to come through here. And I can agree from what I have seen. PurpleNation was spot on with his assessment of many of the players from this group, especially Zion. I think there are few he called out. That should've been giving more playing time this past year. The coaches left them on JV or didn't play them much on varsity for whatever reason. The team has enough to at least make a 3rd round appearance. Anything less would be a disappointment for me.