Lafayette's Linn Elevated to AD: Will Coach Football in 2016

Lafayette football coach Andy Linn has amassed
a record of 56-8 as the Rams head whistle. 2016
will be his last season as he prepares to move
up to Athletic Director

“Make no mistake, it was SUDDEN!”
To say that Lafayette football coach Andy Linn’s ascent to the Athletic Director position at his school had any kind of purposeful structure behind it would be a misnomer. However, upon further review, it makes perfect sense.
Asked if outgoing director Dan Barner and himself had ever talked about a possible transition, Linn, who was approved by the Williamsburg-James City County school board for his new position on Tuesday, said, “We used to talk about it very early on (his teaching career at Lafayette, which started in 1998). But it was never a discussion like, this is going to be your job someday,” he added. Linn will remain as the Rams football coach for one more season before devoting all of his energy to the administrative side of athletics.
The history between Linn and the outgoing Athletic Director goes a much longer way than many people may realize.
“Yes, during those first seven years (1990-1997), I was at Berkeley as a teacher and athletic director, and Dan (Barner) was the AD at James Blair. He helped me at the middle school level and was the guy that I called for help early on.”
Eventually, Barner took the AD job at Lafayette, and a year later, Linn came aboard as a physical education and health teacher, as well as assistant football coach.
It was ironic how the two stayed together at Lafayette for so many years, especially as Linn proved to be an instrumental part of the Rams’ gridiron success with the development of his offensive linemen. How come he didn’t move up to the head whistle sooner?
“I’m kind of a loyal guy,” said Linn, who spent 14 years as a football assistant before becoming the Rams’ head coach in 2011. “I could have applied for the Warhill job a couple of times or Jamestown on a couple of occasions. But I’m loyal to Lafayette and I was proud of what we had built.”
Eventually, Linn’s time came, and the former W&M lineman made a direct impact on the success of the Rams. Through his fifth year at the helm, Lafayette has sported a 56-8 record with four Bay Rivers District titles, a 3A state championship appearance (2014), and three consecutive undefeated seasons in the District with an ongoing 33-game winning streak
But fate was about to change Linn’s life, and even he was unaware of it.
“He (Barner) just decided that it was time (to retire),” said Linn of his former boss, who unexpectedly announced his retirement as the calendar was pushing May. Asked if he had given his eventual successor any hints of his plans to leave, or to give Linn a heads-up on the new job opening in W-JCC, Linn said no.
In an understatement, Linn added, “People rarely make a normal transition into a new job,” noting his own 19-year lapse between athletic department administrative positions.
And while Linn will be leaving the sidelines after next season, he is comfortable about leaving his program in the hands of current assistant coaches, such as Kyle Neve, Brian Sorrell and John Byron, who have served with him at Lafayette for many years, admitting that having them as current coaches “made a difference” when it came time to apply for the vacant AD position.

WOODSIDE (VA) To Open Football Season in Canton, Ohio

Woodside will be traveling to Canton, Ohio, site of the
Pro Football Hall of  Fame, to open their football season
season in late August, against the GlenOak Golden Eagles.
As seen on Recruit757.com

For the second straight year, the Woodside football team will be traveling for their sole non-conference game. However, this season’s trip should be more memorable than last year’s jaunt to Rock Hill, South Carolina, as the Wolverines will change course and head north to Canton, Ohio, site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, to challenge the GlenOak Golden Eagles in both teams’ season opener.

Last year’s opponent, Northwestern, ended last season as a 14-0 4A state champion in South Carolina, and also won the state crown in 2013. They gave the Wolverines fits last August with their ability to match the high-octane offense of Woodside, as evidenced by their 47-23 win.

This year’s opponent, GlenOak may be a better match for Woodside. The Golden Eagles finished its 2015 campaign with a 7-4 record and opening round 41-13 playoff loss to Mentor High. GlenOak can score bunches of points (28.9 avg. last year), but also sported a defense that gave up an average of almost 23. This could work well for Woodside, a team that has averaged 33 points per game over the past three seasons.

Many of the featured players for Woodside will be back in action as the team opens its season in Canton. Quarterback Tyhier Tyler returns as the starting quarterback and last year’s leading scorer Tamir Walker will continue to get his share of carries in the Wolverines Wing-T offense. Other key returnees include Demetri Banks on offense and D’Angelo Chesson on defense. Chesson single-handedly kept the Wolverines in games against Bethel and Denbigh with key touchdowns, as Woodside finished their regular season 7-3 before losing a thrilling 34-27 double-overtime playoff opener to Grassfield.

Before they attack the Peninsula District schedule next year, they will have a chance to witness football history.

Wolverine coach Danny Dodson plans to take his team up “a bit early” to get in some sightseeing before the game on Friday, August 26th, a wish that should be possible since school will not be in session until after Labor Day. The team will scrimmage against Lake Taylor (Aug. 11) and York (Aug. 18th), before leaving for Ohio on Wednesday the 24th.

One of their stops will be the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Dodson is hoping to pay the admission fee for all of his players, which is part of the $10,000 - $12,000 he feels the team will need to raise to cover the trip.


And after they get to Ohio, their next goal will be to cover the Yellow Jackets, and earn a key season-opening win before diving into their nine-game Peninsula District schedule.

TRACK SHORTS: VOL IV: PHOEBUS WINS 3A STATE TRACK TITLE

Virginia Catholic League -- Not Happening in 2016-17; Future Uncertain

The proposed Virginia Catholic League will not be forming for the 2016-2017 school year, and opinions vary as to whether the league will be conceived at all.

Under the initial concept, the four Catholic high schools from Northern Virginia (Bishop Ireton, Bishop O’Connell, Saint John Paul the Great, and Pope Paul VI), Benedictine from Richmond and Bishop Sullivan in Virginia Beach would merge to form a separate athletic entity.

The possibility of creating such a league was the topic of a Washington Post story on January 7, 2016 by Brandon Parker, and was published a week after five of the six school’s athletic directors met at Saint John Paul the Great in Dumfries to discuss the idea. The idea of a six-team VCL became realistic in late 2015 as O’Connell withdrew its football team from the highly competitive Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC). For a school to compete as a full member of the WCAC, it must compete in either basketball or football, or both.

At the time, O’Connell Athletic Director Joe Wootten told the Post that the “exploratory committee of sorts” was engaged in “very preliminary” talks. He added that “this is more so something to look at two or three years down the road.”

Six months later, little seems to have changed, except that the formation of a VCL for the 2016-17 school year will not happen. As for the future, there is no certainty of the league forming, mainly because the first meeting has not developed into a second.

Bill Simmons, Athletic Director at Ireton, recently said, “I don't see this happening. We talked about football just to see and fill up our schedules. The developments at (Bishop) Sullivan make it less likely even that will continue. Northern Virginia schools can get all of that approach in the WCAC without going to Virginia Beach.”

Rich Hine, Athletic Director at Bishop Sullivan, told Recruit757 that the Crusaders will stay in the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools (TCIS), but that the football team will play an independent schedule, analogous to Notre Dame, which once competed at the college level in the Big East for all sports except football. At the time of the Post article, Hine noted that several WCAC teams had called him to explore the possibility of scheduling a game.

Bishop Sullivan’s entry into the upper echelon of prep football schools was cemented after the hiring of coach Chris Scott, who stepped down from the same position at Ocean Lakes after sporting an 86-10 record, while winning a state title in 2014. Several of Scott’s star players including Khalan Laborn, are also transferring to Sullivan, immediately making them one of the better teams in Virginia, private or public.

Ryan Hall, Athletic Director at Benedictine, also stated that the league “will not happen” next year, but left open the remote possibility of a future merger. Hall noted that there was a lot of work needed if a Virginia Catholic League was to be formed.

“We would need to sit down and draw up a mission and vision statement – one that matches with each school’s Catholic identity,” said Hall. “It’s not like you can schedule the games, hand out a trophy and call it a day.” He added that another meeting would have to be scheduled in the future to discuss these matters, and “that meeting has not happened yet.”

On the other side, Hall added, “We are definitely scheduling each other for football next year.”
Here’s how a Virginia Catholic League might look

1)    Benedictine (2015 record – 10-2 – VISAA Div. I State champions)
2)    Bishop Ireton (2015 record – 8-3 – VISAA Div. I runner-up)
3)    Bishop O’Connell (2015 record – 1-8, 0-7 WCAC, #12 in VISAA Div. I)
4)    Bishop Sullivan (2015 record – 4-6, 3-2 TCIS, #6 in VISAA Div. II)
5)    Pope Paul VI (2015 record – 2-8, #11 in VISAA Div. I))
6)    Saint John Paul the Great (2015 record – 7-4 - #5 in VISAA Div. I)

In fact, Ireton and Sullivan will square off in each team’s opening game, and Benedictine will open their season on August 27th against John Paul the Great. Last fall, Ireton and Benedictine met in the VISAA Division I state final, a game that Benedictine won 35-6.

Currently, Ireton, O’Connell, John Paul the Great and Paul VI compete (John Paul the Great on a limited basis) in the WCAC, a league which will become more elite with the recent $16 million donation from Under Armour founder Kevin Plank (’90) to his alma mater, WCAC member St. John’s College High School. The money will be spread throughout the school’s programs, but can be used for capital expenditures, such as enhanced athletic facilities.

Benedictine competes as an independent school, and all six Catholic schools are also members of the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association (VISAA) as Division I or II participants. There are four divisions in the VISAA, and inclusion in Division I is defined by the enrollment of over 180 students per gender.

However, according to Hine, “VISAA determined, after the 2015 season, to consolidate the football teams into three divisions - from the four that were previously in play.  With that re-divisioning - Bishop Sullivan was moved up to Division I, and is now the smallest school in Division I.”  All other major VISAA sports have three divisions, while several (i.e. cross-country and track) are divided into two.

The six schools vary in size from 429 total students at Sullivan to over 1,150 at O’Connell.