crusader_of_90 said:

I hear he has an Auntie who lives in Centerville ... he should wear Orange and Blue next year!!!!

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MMA_Det said:

Blackmon was NOT liked by anyone

The team experienced some incredible results under his leadership, but he had the alumni seething

What happens at DLS is going to be his defining moment as a coach… and we saw what took place this season

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DeanOfSelection said:

Adam Nissen out as St. Laurence football coach​

A year after leading St. Laurence to its first state championship game in 44 years, Adam Nissen is out as St. Laurence football coach.
The school announced in a statement Friday that Nissen’s coaching contract will not be renewed, ending his six-year tenure.
“I’m still in complete shock,” Vikings senior running back Harley Rizzs said. “There’s still a lot of confusion going on. We don’t really know why (this happened).”
“We thank Coach Nissen for his commitment and contributions to the Viking Football program,” athletic director Tim Chandler said in the statement. “As our program prepares to compete at a higher classification next season, we will begin the search for new leadership to build upon our strong football tradition and continue developing outstanding student-athletes at St. Laurence.”
Nissen led the Vikings to the Class 4A title game in 2023, losing 59-38 to unbeaten Rochester. It was St. Laurence’s first state-final berth since finishing second in Class 5A in 1979. The Vikings’ only other trip to state was in 1976, when they went 13-0 and won the Class 5A title.
The Vikings finished 8-4 this season, losing 26-14 in the Class 4A quarterfinals to eventual champ DePaul Prep.
St. Laurence navigated around significant injuries to two of its top players, Illinois State-bound quarterback Chase Kwaitkowski and Rizzs.
“As a team, we feel it all got thrown away,” Rizzs said. “We put a lot of work in for it to all go down from here. … I felt I had a good relationship with him. He was like family to me.”
Nissen was 35-28 with three IHSA playoff berths in his six seasons. His .556 winning percentage is the best for a Vikings football coach since Bob Fabrizio was 19-13 (.594) from 1986 to ’88.
Rizzs praised the culture Nissen developed at St. Laurence.
“It was probably one of the best brotherhoods you could have in a program,” Rizzs said.
It’s the second time in less than a decade that St. Laurence has parted ways with a coach who had significant playoff success. Current De La Salle coach Harold Blackmon took the Vikings to two semifinals and one quarterfinal between 2015 and ’17 before being let go after the 2018 season.

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gobears25 said:

popularity contest for the top recruits, no surprises here. as you can see their recruiting status is first and most important to mention. squeezed reiff in as an olineman when he only played there half the season and listed his defensive stats as the reason and a four year quarterback with multiple state career records as an "ath". no need to take it seriously.

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MMA_Det said:

Based on the total number of points scored, the Normal QB must have some incredible stats as well

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doctor_d said:

I’ve said many times that I’m not looking for separation, but Texas is near the pinnacle of school ball and they are separated. I get to hear about it fairly often from one of my best childhood/high school friends, who now has lived in the Dallas area for the past 25 years as a teacher and formerly a football coach/now a ref. The only difference is that in Texas, the big public schools are considered better, but I haven’t done the research to find out if the small/medium size schools have much head to head to compare.

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USD24 said:

Honorable Mention has to go to Joliet Central's Tom Hart. He led the Steelmen to their first win in what seemed like decades(was actually first win since 2019). Winning a single game at JT Central was a big deal! As someone who always roots for the hometown teams, it was great to see!

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McCaravan said:

Blackmon pinned his firing on Coach Frank

Disabato: Harold Blackmon severs ties with Frank Lenti and St. Laurence, looks ahead to leading Oak Lawn

Harold Blackmon was relaxed and upbeat during our conversation. That wasn’t the case when we spoke on April 1. Blackmon, 40, had been fired as St. Laurence’s football coach. He said he …

www.chicagotribune.com

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McCaravan said:

Blackmon pinned his firing on Coach Frank

Disabato: Harold Blackmon severs ties with Frank Lenti and St. Laurence, looks ahead to leading Oak Lawn

Harold Blackmon was relaxed and upbeat during our conversation. That wasn’t the case when we spoke on April 1. Blackmon, 40, had been fired as St. Laurence’s football coach. He said he …

www.chicagotribune.com

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PowerI66 said:

Sounds like a school for a coaching candidate to avoid

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sporthog9er said:

First Blackmon and now Nissen...both "blindsided"

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Cyclone630 said:

Nobody hurt me and took a state title away.

I do see that when the truth is exposed we get strawman arguments from people who make buying a state championship a big part of their identity and self worth.

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johnndoe said:

Parallels to Bolingbrook?

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MS4EVER said:

I’d love to see E-town be great again. I’d Buzz couldn’t do it I’m not sure who can!

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doctor_d said:

I think my favorite is some type of a return to football enrollment. It’s relatively easy to figure out, i.e. it doesn’t involve complicated formulas and/or maxpreps rankings which is a turn off to some. It doesn’t have to be exactly what we used to have, but something of that ilk. In general, the small and mid size enrollment teams that have developed into dynasty situations, whether public or private, had a schedule that contained many larger enrollments and/or generally tougher competition than they faced throughout most of all of the playoffs. I can’t remember exactly when it was exchanged for the multiplier, but I have a feeling it was scrapped because it affected some public schools negatively.

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