2023 LUFKIN PANTHER FOOTBALL TOPIC DISCUSSIONS

[PurpleNation]

1 hour ago, PackAttack said:

Then 8-5A DI would play 7-5A DI in the 1st Round of the playoffs:

Tyler

Red Oak

Highland Park

Desoto

North Mesquite

West Mesquite

Midlothian

Good luck playing that row the next two years. We are going to wish to have Longview back, unless Lufkin goes Region III. There is one out there that puts us in Region III.  We should be so fortunate to get out of Region II.

I think us going to region 3 vs 2 will be does the UIL think it's easier for district 7 to play teams from College Station, Killeen, Pflugerville or our district. To me it doesn't make sense to put us in region 2 they would literally need to pass up those other schools to get to the teams in our district. But yeah if we go region 2 we get an easier district but a more challenging playoff bracket.

[PurpleNation]

1 hour ago, PackAttack said:

This is the full Texas_HS Sports prediction for 5A DI.  We will see who is right. In this set up, Lufkin would be in 9-5A DI Region III and play District 10-5A DI in the 1st round of the playoffs. 

Who does DCTF have for district 9 and 10 if they have us in?

Just running numbers it doesn't make any sense to have our district at 8 vs College Station district. Tyler will have a far drive in bi district games but that's better then making all of Dallas travel to Houston or visa versa 4 and half hours in some cases going to Crosby, Beaumont, and Port Arthur even Humble/ New Caney would be 4 hours away. Lufkin is the closest at 3 hours. They could get to Killeen/College Station/Georgetown/Liberty Hill in 2 and 2 half hours. No way they can justify that. I hope not 😂

[PackAttack]

DCTF Mock 9-5A DI - REG III , ALL Houston schools.

Spring Woods

Austin 

Madison

Milby

Sharpstown 

Waltrip

Westbury

 

[PackAttack]

DCTF Mock 10-5A DI- REG III:

Pasadena

La Porte

Angleton

Galveston Ball

Friendswood

Barbers Hill

Baytown Sterling

 

 

[PackAttack]

DCTF Mock District 11-5A DI- REG IV:

College Station 

AMC

Lake Belton

Georgetown East View

Georgetown

Pflugerville Hendrickson

Killeen Chaparral

Pflugerville Weiss

[LufkinPack]

Y’all know that dctf projection is probably most likely. But how nice would it be to get moved over to region 3. Oh well 

[PurpleNation]

Yeah DCTF is usually right on the money. It's funny how they don't mind making our district drive 4 hours but have a problem with making Austin drive 2 hours in bi district games.

[PackAttack]

47 minutes ago, PurpleNation said:

Yeah DCTF is usually right on the money. It's funny how they don't mind making our district drive 4 hours but have a problem with making Austin drive 2 hours in bi district games.

How much do our other sports district realignments play into whether we play Region II or III in football/   Should not make any difference.  We can play football in Region III and still play in Region II for all other sports.  Then again it looks like New Caney Porter and Humble Kingwood Park may be in the football district too.

[PurpleNation]

2 minutes ago, PackAttack said:

How much do our other sports district realignments play into whether we play Region II or III in football/   Should not make any difference.  We can play football in Region III and still play in Region II for all other sports.  Then again it looks like New Caney Porter and Humble Kingwood Park may be in the football district too.

Without the pre split in other sports the districts should look completely different I imagine but why did they send us to Houston instead of an East Texas basketball district last realignment? I'm convinced the UIL looks out for certain areas when doing this. 

[LufkinPack]

1 hour ago, PurpleNation said:

Yeah DCTF is usually right on the money. It's funny how they don't mind making our district drive 4 hours but have a problem with making Austin drive 2 hours in bi district games.

Yup. I think they just cater to certain areas more than others. We fit into their “who cares” category lol 

[timeout!]

4 minutes ago, LufkinPack said:

Yup. I think they just cater to certain areas more than others. We fit into their “who cares” category lol 

Learned that firsthand when they put us in a Dallas district.😄

 

[LufkinPack]

38 minutes ago, timeout! said:

Learned that firsthand when they put us in a Dallas district.😄

 

😂 ok facts. 

[PurpleNation]

47 minutes ago, LufkinPack said:

Yup. I think they just cater to certain areas more than others. We fit into their “who cares” category lol 

Westlake and Lake Travis play in Region 4 most years outside a few occasions in Region 2 while the rest of Austin is always Region 2. 

[PurpleNation]

42 minutes ago, timeout! said:

Learned that firsthand when they put us in a Dallas district.😄

 

Matt Stepp response on Twitter to why he has us in Region 2 is because it's easier for the Austin schools in Bi-district for travel. But that's the same for our district. Like we can play Houston schools just as close. You can either make everyone travel 2 hours or you can make one group travel 30-60 minutes while the other group travels 4-4:30 hours. It doesn't make any sense. 

[LufkinPack]

14 minutes ago, PurpleNation said:

Westlake and Lake Travis play in Region 4 most years outside a few occasions in Region 2 while the rest of Austin is always Region 2. 

Oh you already know LT and WL are protected lol 

[PurpleNation]

Two different coaches on Twitter were saying DeSoto is opting up. Now they weren't DeSoto coaches but I would imagine they probably know something. 

Also another coach said Fort Worth ISD would be opting all there teams up to 5A D1 that's 4 more then the projection that had us in Region 3. I think that helps push us to Region 3 because the more teams you have in Div 1 and the DFW the less likely they need us from what I understand. It just depends on the cutoff numbers.

[PackAttack]

2 hours ago, PurpleNation said:

Two different coaches on Twitter were saying DeSoto is opting up. Now they weren't DeSoto coaches but I would imagine they probably know something. 

Also another coach said Fort Worth ISD would be opting all there teams up to 5A D1 that's 4 more then the projection that had us in Region 3. I think that helps push us to Region 3 because the more teams you have in Div 1 and the DFW the less likely they need us from what I understand. It just depends on the cutoff numbers.

I wish Lufkin were closer to 5A DII.  It's not so much the 5A DI enrollment we have, it's the type of community we are overall, a little larger population, but very much like Huntsville, Nacogdoches and Corsicana in make up IMO. Of course 5A DII in football will never be for Lufkin because we sit currently at 299 over the limit.   Right now in my mind with the current conditions here, I don't believe it matters one bit what district we end up playing.  Lord, I do here the bells ringing for next year (maybe it's Christmas bells, LOL) and how good things will be, BUT we just came off three years with a Notre Dame signed RB and didn't even make the playoffs.  I know, I know, I hear that we were in a highly competitive district with many top tier teams.  Two of them are now playing each other for the 5A DI Region championship.  That is just my point, we had the talent to beat most of these guys and did not, thus is our problem, which I won't beat to death.  WE can no longer beat the top tier programs. To think something better will happen with the guy we have running the offense is a pipe dream.  Yes, the D will be awesome, and I believe that part of the scenario PN, because you have someone competent on that side who knows what he is doing and not just dusting off the playbook the last 20 years.

WHO do we have on the offensive side that pops up and knocks your junk in the dirt to say we will be great next year??? Let's be honest here.  We have some great WRs coming back, an unproven QB we know can run, but can he pass the ball???  Inexperienced backfield with potential, maybe Wallace returns or not??  Then there is the OL, I can't even begin to speak to that because we haven't had a decent OL since 2017, I'll be generous, maybe 2018.  Look, you know that is a huge issue and if these coaches wanted to fix that they could, Longview doesn't seem to have an issue and most good staffs don't have a problem doing that, even if it means playing some kids both ways occasionally.  Maybe the new district will be less competitive and maybe it wont be. Is that good or bad?  Being a tougher district is much better, because it holds this programs feet to the fire. What is out there that's telling me next year will be different that the last three?  I hear crickets.  Not going to  pretend to know what the AD/HC tells the administration about the condition of the football program and not making the playoffs, or to even know how the administration/board feels about the failings of the football program. Taking over a well established program 12 years ago that has now not made he playoffs in three years.  I mean what substantial reasoning can be used to make any of this sound plausible? Can't imagine what is said behind closed doors.

Longview fans are whining and groaning, they had a really great team this year, then got knocked out of the third round, the season was a failure to them. Some are unjustly all over John King, lest they forget the team finished 11-2 this year.  We in Lufkin should be so fortunate, we would swap places in a heart beat for just a taste of that success, and be just as pissed if we lost. Think I've said this many times, it's tough being in the football coaching business in Texas.  We Lufkin fans are on the other end of that spectrum today, out before we ever got in, finishing 5-5, and our main RB was not hurt?  Quick's best records in his 12 years are 11-3 in 2017, 10-2 in 2018, 9-4 in 2012 and 9-2 in 2019.  Quick is 6-9 in playoff games, 85-50 overall. His record the last 4 years is 21-20 and one playoff game. 

2012 (9-4) ,2013 (5-6), 2014 (6-5), 2015 (7-4), 2016 (7-4), 2017 (11-3), 2018 (10-2), 2019 (9-2), 2020 (6-5) 
2021 (4-6), 2022 (6-4), 2023 (5-5)

If you were sitting over at DCTF today, what would you think about Lufkin's chances next season?

[PurpleNation]

45 minutes ago, PackAttack said:

I wish Lufkin were closer to 5A DII.  It's not so much the 5A DI enrollment we have, it's the type of community we are overall, a little larger population, but very much like Huntsville, Nacogdoches and Corsicana in make up IMO. Of course 5A DII in football will never be for Lufkin because we sit currently at 299 over the limit.   Right now in my mind with the current conditions here, I don't believe it matters one bit what district we end up playing.  Lord, I do here the bells ringing for next year (maybe it's Christmas bells, LOL) and how good things will be, BUT we just came off three years with a Notre Dame signed RB and didn't even make the playoffs.  I know, I know, I hear that we were in a highly competitive district with many top tier teams.  Two of them are now playing each other for the 5A DI Region championship.  That is just my point, we had the talent to beat most of these guys and did not, thus is our problem, which I won't beat to death.  WE can no longer beat the top tier programs. To think something better will happen with the guy we have running the offense is a pipe dream.  Yes, the D will be awesome, and I believe that part of the scenario PN, because you have someone competent on that side who knows what he is doing and not just dusting off the playbook the last 20 years.

WHO do we have on the offensive side that pops up and knocks your junk in the dirt to say we will be great next year??? Let's be honest here.  We have some great WRs coming back, an unproven QB we know can run, but can he pass the ball???  Inexperienced backfield with potential, maybe Wallace returns or not??  Then there is the OL, I can't even begin to speak to that because we haven't had a decent OL since 2017, I'll be generous, maybe 2018.  Look, you know that is a huge issue and if these coaches wanted to fix that they could, Longview doesn't seem to have an issue and most good staffs don't have a problem doing that, even if it means playing some kids both ways occasionally.  Maybe the new district will be less competitive and maybe it wont be. Is that good or bad?  Being a tougher district is much better, because it holds this programs feet to the fire. What is out there that's telling me next year will be different that the last three?  I hear crickets.  Not going to  pretend to know what the AD/HC tells the administration about the condition of the football program and not making the playoffs, or to even know how the administration/board feels about the failings of the football program. Taking over a well established program 12 years ago that has now not made he playoffs in three years.  I mean what substantial reasoning can be used to make any of this sound plausible? Can't imagine what is said behind closed doors.

Longview fans are whining and groaning, they had a really great team this year, then got knocked out of the third round, the season was a failure to them. Some are unjustly all over John King, lest they forget the team finished 11-2 this year.  We in Lufkin should be so fortunate, we would swap places in a heart beat for just a taste of that success, and be just as pissed if we lost. Think I've said this many times, it's tough being in the football coaching business in Texas.  We Lufkin fans are on the other end of that spectrum today, out before we ever got in, finishing 5-5, and our main RB was not hurt?  Quick's best records in his 12 years are 11-3 in 2017, 10-2 in 2018, 9-4 in 2012 and 9-2 in 2019.  Quick is 6-9 in playoff games, 85-50 overall. His record the last 4 years is 21-20 and one playoff game. 

2012 (9-4) ,2013 (5-6), 2014 (6-5), 2015 (7-4), 2016 (7-4), 2017 (11-3), 2018 (10-2), 2019 (9-2), 2020 (6-5) 
2021 (4-6), 2022 (6-4), 2023 (5-5)

If you were sitting over at DCTF today, what would you think about Lufkin's chances next season?

I think DCTF is going to look at returning starters first and Lufkin will have a bunch of them and they will look at how competitive we were against some really good teams and I think they will rank us pretty high. Somewhere in the top 10. Rightfully so or not I think we will have high expectations. How many returning starters do we have is up for debate. I do know we had 10 under classmen that started on defense against Lancaster. Now Menefee was hurt so realistically 9 that saw extensive time and another 5 that say decent playing time like Alexander. Offensively You have 4 WRs that started games during the season. A QB that's not really a starter but played some games and we expect upgrades the position. Gavin returns in the back field and Chinn started several games at H-Back down the stretch who is a really good lead blocker. If you count Gio coming back that's 3 on the offensive line. You have like like 7-8 kids that have started on varsity. The expectations are through the roof next season for me. They have no business not winning that district and I'll be honest Longview shouldn't beat them next year. I can't think of time we ever returned this many starters. If DeSoto does indeed opt up. I think we have a legitimate chance to win the title. That should be the mindset. I'm just telling you SR heavy teams that return a ton of players typically do well. Think about it. We nearly beat Lancaster with 17 kids that started that will be back next season. Lancaster is now 1 game from the semi-finals and we had Forney on the ropes most of the game. No excuses next season  PA. 

[PackAttack]

37 minutes ago, PurpleNation said:

I think DCTF is going to look at returning starters first and Lufkin will have a bunch of them and they will look at how competitive we were against some really good teams and I think they will rank us pretty high. Somewhere in the top 10. Rightfully so or not I think we will have high expectations. How many returning starters do we have is up for debate. I do know we had 10 under classmen that started on defense against Lancaster. Now Menefee was hurt so realistically 9 that saw extensive time and another 5 that say decent playing time like Alexander. Offensively You have 4 WRs that started games during the season. A QB that's not really a starter but played some games and we expect upgrades the position. Gavin returns in the back field and Chinn started several games at H-Back down the stretch who is a really good lead blocker. If you count Gio coming back that's 3 on the offensive line. You have like like 7-8 kids that have started on varsity. The expectations are through the roof next season for me. They have no business not winning that district and I'll be honest Longview shouldn't beat them next year. I can't think of time we ever returned this many starters. If DeSoto does indeed opt up. I think we have a legitimate chance to win the title. That should be the mindset. I'm just telling you SR heavy teams that return a ton of players typically do well. Think about it. We nearly beat Lancaster with 17 kids that started that will be back next season. Lancaster is now 1 game from the semi-finals and we had Forney on the ropes most of the game. No excuses next season  PA. 

I love debating things both ways.  The thorn in my side is not the returning talent, or how much of it we have that can make a difference, or a champion.  I look at things from the management side of things, it's just my make up.  Successful people are more successful consistently, not every 4 or 5 years, they find a way.  The up and down these past 12 years tells a story, and it's not always lack of talent in the Lufkin program.  Has King or Surrat been up and down, YES, but they found a way to stay successful. That's my point.

[LufkinPack]

If next season goes bad, PN is gonna be on their a$$ 😭

[PackAttack]

7 hours ago, LufkinPack said:

If next season goes bad, PN is gonna be on their a$$ 😭

The thing is it doesn't matter, it took me too long to finally accept what has happen here. It's not pretty when you have certain guys just riding the old salary trail into the sunset, and don't give 100% effort to win anymore. Like I said before, I know too much.  When the beer flows on the golf course, or at the ball park, some folks speak too much of their mind. 

[timeout!]

10 hours ago, PurpleNation said:

I think DCTF is going to look at returning starters first and Lufkin will have a bunch of them and they will look at how competitive we were against some really good teams and I think they will rank us pretty high. Somewhere in the top 10. Rightfully so or not I think we will have high expectations. How many returning starters do we have is up for debate. I do know we had 10 under classmen that started on defense against Lancaster. Now Menefee was hurt so realistically 9 that saw extensive time and another 5 that say decent playing time like Alexander. Offensively You have 4 WRs that started games during the season. A QB that's not really a starter but played some games and we expect upgrades the position. Gavin returns in the back field and Chinn started several games at H-Back down the stretch who is a really good lead blocker. If you count Gio coming back that's 3 on the offensive line. You have like like 7-8 kids that have started on varsity. The expectations are through the roof next season for me. They have no business not winning that district and I'll be honest Longview shouldn't beat them next year. I can't think of time we ever returned this many starters. If DeSoto does indeed opt up. I think we have a legitimate chance to win the title. That should be the mindset. I'm just telling you SR heavy teams that return a ton of players typically do well. Think about it. We nearly beat Lancaster with 17 kids that started that will be back next season. Lancaster is now 1 game from the semi-finals and we had Forney on the ropes most of the game. No excuses next season  PA. 

Preseason top 10 rankings? State title runs? 

I love the enthusiasm. And would mostly agree if this was 10 years ago. Everything on paper says all that could be possible, with the exception of questions at Qb and OL.  If those two things come together, then we could be in for a great season. Unfortunately, nothing about this staff. Tells me they can turn a team around that has miss the playoffs the last 3 years and make it a state title contender. That would be a huge turnaround for a program. I don't have any data to back it up. But it would have to be some type of Texas HS record. For a program that has been mediocre for the better part of a decade, with the same coach and no big transfers coming in. 

I would be surprised if DCTF gave us top 10 preseason ranking. I noticed them start to pull back from showing Lufkin too much love, after we burned them a few times. Kinda got the feeling they didn't have much faith in the program. Even after we had big wins. Nothing ever changed much with our ranking. We didn't even crack the top 10 last year after starting 3-0 and defeating #3 A&M Consolidated. 

PN, I think the coaching staff has done you a disservice. Most of the talent you said this group would have, has been there. But the staff has mismanaged this group and done little to fix several issues. We were in a tough district and held our own. Could've beaten McNorth both times we played them. We played Lancaster close both games and could've easily won either. I think we beat Forney last year, if not for the mental fog the team was in after taking a butt kicking from Longview. And we had them on the ropes late in the 4th, with our stud RB forced into action to play Qb this year.  So there is something there with this group. Just not sure we have the staff to get the most out of them. 

[mr. b]

I would agree timeout! We were 5-5 last year.  Still say we could have easily lost 3 more if not for Young.  That would have made us 2-8.   Still terrible no matter how you look at it.   Season hasn’t been over for a month and already hearing spatters of how great we could have been if this or that.     Seniors next year should give us some advantages but moving from a 5th/6th place to district champions will be tough.  Looking forward to see how the new district forms but usually LP will get screwed.  Doesn’t matter to me who we match up with in the playoffs for 1 because we seldom make it but 2 we have to beat the best to make it to the ship.  
 

[timeout!]

I'm looking at all the possible scenarios for realignment. Lufkin being in a weak vs strong district and who we could possibly matchup with if we qualify for playoffs. The UIL will do UIL things and Lufkin will have to deal with whatever hand it's dealt. No matter how things shake out. Coach Quick and the team will have to beat some good teams. There is no way around that. You can take your medicine in district, during the playoffs or both. But you gonna have to prove yourself worthy at some point.

The really good programs look forward to proving themselves worthy. They take on all challengers and never look for an easy route to success. Duncanville wants nothing more, than to get another crack at North Shore. I'm sure NS feels the same, and prob would prefer a crack at Desoto. Unfortunately for Desoto, they won't get a chance to play NS. But will have plenty of teams lined up to knock them out. Longview is much the same. Their fans would love to be in a district with Desoto again.

No matter what happens with Lufkin. Everything will play out next year one way or another. Is it possible to miss the playoffs for a 4th straight year? 

[PurpleNation]

35 minutes ago, timeout! said:

Preseason top 10 rankings? State title runs? 

I love the enthusiasm. And would mostly agree if this was 10 years ago. Everything on paper says all that could be possible, with the exception of questions at Qb and OL.  If those two things come together, then we could be in for a great season. Unfortunately, nothing about this staff. Tells me they can turn a team around that has miss the playoffs the last 3 years and make it a state title contender. That would be a huge turnaround for a program. I don't have any data to back it up. But it would have to be some type of Texas HS record. For a program that has been mediocre for the better part of a decade, with the same coach and no big transfers coming in. 

I would be surprised if DCTF gave us top 10 preseason ranking. I noticed them start to pull back from showing Lufkin too much love, after we burned them a few times. Kinda got the feeling they didn't have much faith in the program. Even after we had big wins. Nothing ever changed much with our ranking. We didn't even crack the top 10 last year after starting 3-0 and defeating #3 A&M Consolidated. 

PN, I think the coaching staff has done you a disservice. Most of the talent you said this group would have, has been there. But the staff has mismanaged this group and done little to fix several issues. We were in a tough district and held our own. Could've beaten McNorth both times we played them. We played Lancaster close both games and could've easily won either. I think we beat Forney last year, if not for the mental fog the team was in after taking a butt kicking from Longview. And we had them on the ropes late in the 4th, with our stud RB forced into action to play Qb this year.  So there is something there with this group. Just not sure we have the staff to get the most out of them. 

Yeah I think they will be ranked in the top 10. They just return to much and 5A overall will be a little down. They just have to much experience. Yeah they lost some close games but to some really good to high level teams. Forney and Lancaster are still playing. Consolidated is still playing. I can easily see Lufkin playing in the quarter finals next year with a chance to get to the semifinals.