It was quite an interesting flight home on Saturday sitting behind Dallas Cowboys Marion Barber and Roy Williams, who has more pressure on his shoulders than what surrounded the plane at 30,000 feet.
The pressure fails in comparison to what Sherman Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Al Hambrick and the school board must be facing with the impending decision on the hiring of a new Bearcat athletic director/football coach entering crunch time.
Drew Young's six-year reign, one in which a trip to the state semifinals wasn't good enough to the general public, is officially finished after his last day has officially come and gone. It was a tenure featuring plenty of doubters, ones saying comparisons can't be made with the situations of John Outlaw, Ronnie Tipps and Young.
Outlaw won 10 or more games in three of four seasons from 1988 to 1991 and won four straight district championships in the same span. There's no arguing the fact he was successful, and his 59 wins in seven seasons prove it, including the 11 he won in 1994 before leaving town.
Was Sherman a powerhouse during the Outlaw regime? Many think so, but even four double-digit wins in seven years doesn't classify. Look up Southlake Carroll, Highland Park, Dallas Carter and Outlaw's current Lufkin program as those who can be given such high esteem.
The Bearcats have only 14 seasons with nine or more wins since 1920, including eight of 10 or more (six of those by either Outlaw or Tipps). It doesn't matter whether they are in the school's brief stint at 5A, 4A or if it was 1A, facts are facts.
Tipps, the subject of much banter recently, won 10 games in his first season of 1995 and 19 of his final 25 in his last two years of 2001-02 (not good enough for the local armchair quarterbacks). Those two seasons ended prematurely with an overtime loss to Dallas Samuell and a 49-21 shellacking at the hands of Dallas Kimball.
Both games probably should've been wins on paper, but overtime losses occur, and a 28-point loss is proof the Bearcats weren't the better team. Games are won on the field, and Tipps was successful after winning 59 of his own.
Young won only 37 games in his six seasons, and although his Bearcat team entered last year's Battle of the Ax against rival Denison with an 8-1 record and had an opportunity to win its first district championship since 2002, it wasn't good enough for many.
Sherman led the Yellow Jackets 10-0 one year ago, but most of the crowd could be heard griping about how the Bearcats weren't up by two touchdowns. It's a negative vibe the kids fed off of, one in which they're exposed to on a daily basis through the numerous complaints about playing in a weak district (one which I saw formed firsthand two Februarys ago) the school has no control upon or the supposed lack of leadership on the current staff.
It's the attitude surrounding the program from a community who wants a "big name" to come and save the day, or as one avid reader terms it, "answer our prayers."
Sure, Young had the best player in school history at his disposal for three years, but even Waymon James would tell you he never could've done the job by himself. Young, who was an athletic director in every sense of the word, could be seen at numerous sporting events, including numerous basketball and soccer games home and away. He had the fifth-most wins in school history -- plain and simple. It's time to put the past where it belongs and focus on the present.
The new hire, whether it be from outside or within, should have the utmost support of the Sherman community, and the unfortunate aspect judging from what has been said the last month, the likelihood of it happening is slim to none. Don't be blind to the most important people in this equation -- the Sherman football players.
They are the ones who will be outside in the 100-degree weather beginning Aug. 3 twice a day preparing for the 2009 season under a new head coach with eyes gazing at them from near and far. They are what's most important for what they do inside the classroom and for entertainment purposes on Friday nights.
Show them the support they deserve and respect the decision-making process. In other words -- answer their prayers.