STORY: John Brantley steps down at Belleview

[SportsNut25 607]

Brantley had previously served as head coach at Trinity Catholic in Ocala from 2008-2014 where he won a state championship in 2010.

 

http://floridahsfootball.com/2017/04/19/john-brantley-steps-belleview/

[Proseteye 382]

The enigma of Belleview. Had practically no winning season since 2004 when they were undefeated and lost a close one in the 2nd round of the playoffs. No matter who was the the coach along the way they sometimes lost every game in a few seasons. Along comes Brantley, in the 2016 season, and all of a sudden they are a playoff team once again. Unfortunately, Belleview will revert to form. Unless a really strong and knowledgeable coach like Brantley takes over, this team will go back to being the same ol same ol. I still remember that team in 2004. Their offense, which was mostly a powerful ground game, was very difficult to stop. I'm quite sure, with Brantley as HC, they were a balanced offense and possibly out of the Power I formation. Hate to see him leave and am sure the team and fans are saying "what do we do now"?

[GridAcesPeanut 1]

http://www.ocala.com/sports/20170515/rattlers-hire-kelly-as-new-head-coach

Smells like nepotism at its finest. I feel sorry for the kids of this program. 

[Joshua Wilson 684]

All I will say is that this would not be allowed in a lot of counties, but it is what is and that is what we have to roll with here.

[ColumbiaHighFan2017class 2,332]

I read it and didn't understand the comment above

 

Did i miss something?

[DarterBlue2 1,722]

18 minutes ago, columbiahighfan said:

I read it and didn't understand the comment above

 

Did i miss something?

Near the end, it says his dad is the principal. Even it was on merit, it does not look good at a public school.

[ColumbiaHighFan2017class 2,332]

3 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

Near the end, it says his dad is the principal. Even it was on merit, it does not look good at a public school.

Ohh,  did not catch that when i read it

[Proseteye 382]

I only wish the best for Belleview. I don't really feel that this was a case of nepotism since Kelly was already an assistant coach with the team, under Brantley, and did have a pretty good resume. After all, he should have been given preference should he not have? He's a known product and, with Brantley leaving after only one season, you should do your best to maintain cohesiveness with the team.

 

That being said, this Belleview team did not lose a lot to graduation. Many of the underclassmen carried the load. Their QB, Corey Wilsher, was only a Sophomore last season and passed for nearly 1,500 yards. They have a couple of good Sophomore and Junior RBs back along with three or four WRs. Their defense will mostly be returning Sophomores and Juniors. We play them, the first game of the season at Belleview, and we should know how good they are going to be after that. I think it's going to be one tough game.

[GridAcesPeanut 1]

Unfortunately, word around town is that the kids may not be as happy with Kelly as the folks who made the hiring decision. There's already talk of the talent they didn't lose to graduation moving on to other schools in the county. From what I hear, the Spring practices have been night and day compared to when Brantley was at the helm which means that the cohesiveness is probably out the window already. They also haven't been in the weight room all Spring. I guess we'll see how it comes together at the Spring Game but I don't have high hopes. 

There's no way that it wasn't nepotism considering the high level talent they had in the 4 other final candidates. You can say that Kelly has a good resume but I always have additional questions when a coach GA's at high level colleges but can't make the grade to continue the course upwards. Then his next opportunity comes from his Dad...even as an Assistant Coach. There hasn't been a HC hired where his Dad was a principle in Marion County since 1907. Hasn't been done in a 100 years and it shouldn't have been done this go around. Again, I wish the kids the best but I'm sure this choice will be Belleview's undoing. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[SportsNut25 607]

23 minutes ago, GridAcesPeanut said:

You can say that Kelly has a good resume but I always have additional questions when a coach GA's at high level colleges but can't make the grade to continue the course upwards.

Alabama (Student Asst.)
Georgia (Grad Asst.)
Mississippi College (DL/Special Teams Coordinator) 
Samford (Asst. OL) 
 

Nothing at all wrong with that resume. A ton of GA's from high level colleges end up taking "lower level" job. It has nothing to do with how good they are. It's simply they need to pay some bills and still get their feet wet. It behooves them and their career to go from an FBS GA to a D2/D3/NAIA/JUCO position coach/coordinator before moving back up in the ranks. It gives them a better chance to prove themselves. 

[Proseteye 382]

7 hours ago, GridAcesPeanut said:

Unfortunately, word around town is that the kids may not be as happy with Kelly as the folks who made the hiring decision. There's already talk of the talent they didn't lose to graduation moving on to other schools in the county. From what I hear, the Spring practices have been night and day compared to when Brantley was at the helm which means that the cohesiveness is probably out the window already. They also haven't been in the weight room all Spring. I guess we'll see how it comes together at the Spring Game but I don't have high hopes. 

There's no way that it wasn't nepotism considering the high level talent they had in the 4 other final candidates. You can say that Kelly has a good resume but I always have additional questions when a coach GA's at high level colleges but can't make the grade to continue the course upwards. Then his next opportunity comes from his Dad...even as an Assistant Coach. There hasn't been a HC hired where his Dad was a principle in Marion County since 1907. Hasn't been done in a 100 years and it shouldn't have been done this go around. Again, I wish the kids the best but I'm sure this choice will be Belleview's undoing. Hopefully I'm wrong.

If what you say is true then possibly the Rattlers are in for another less than scintillating season. However, I don't understand young people these days. Pick up their blocks and go home when a little bit of adversity is presented to them. Instead of giving Kelly a chance at HC, they now are going to sabotage the season by running off to who knows where. What are these parents teaching their sons? Except for Vanguard, Belleview was the best HS team in the area last season. Most of the players, and what Brantley taught them, are still there. And I'm sure that Kelly is not going to screw with that. So, really, what could be their problem?  Just remember, when you decide to transfer to another school, especially one that is fairly decent, you may just be riding the bench for a year or their HC might just not work out for you. Then what do you do? 

[Proseteye 382]

In a pre-season jamboree, at Dunnellon HS, Belleview came out on top 8-0 in a quarter against Forest HS and 12-7 in a quarter against Dunnellon HS. Although spring games don't mean much it does show that the Rattlers may be picking up where they left off last season.