Which football job is better Lassiter or Marietta?
by John Bednarowski
MDJ Sports Editor
February 03, 2010 03:43 PM | 2728 views | 10 10 comments | 11 11 recommendations | email to a friend | print
With the surprising announcement that Lassiter football coach Chip Lindsey would be leaving the school to take the quarterbacks coach position at Troy University, we now have two coaching openings in Cobb County – Lassiter and Marietta.

My question is, if you were a coach, which job would be more attractive?

On the surface, it would seem to be a no-brainer. Lassiter is coming off 12-1 season where they went to the state quarterfinals while Marietta finished at 5-6, and over the last two seasons the Trojans went 21-4 while the Blue Devils finished 8-13.

But is the question really that black and white? Is Lassiter a better job than Marietta?

The year before Lindsey took over the Trojans program, they went 3-7 while the Blue Devils went 7-3.

Talent goes in cycles. Lassiter was able to run the spread offense to perfection mainly because they had Parade All-America quarterback Hutson Mason at the helm. The administration vows to keep the spread in tact when the new coach is hired. Now the question is will they have the talent to make it flourish without the likes of Mason and Griffin Roelle.

Marietta on the other hand, could be a sleeping giant. One thing the Blue Devils always seems to have is speed. What if they try the spread offense and get some of those speedy players in space with a chance to make people miss?

Friday Richards did a great job as coach at Marietta, but after 15 years, maybe it is time for a fresh offensive approach.

Lassiter is the new kid on the block. Marietta is steeped in tradition and support. The Trojans job may be slightly more attractive than the Blue Devils, but it’s a lot closer than many people would think.

But that’s just my opinion. What do you think?

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Comments
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REAL Football Fan
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March 22, 2010
Anybody with good common sense would say Marietta. MHS has a real football tradition & community. There is no competition in other schools taking players because its the only high school in the district. Players come from middle school with the knowledge of the MHS program. MHS has better athletes in the community period! Yes I said it, take a look at the other sport programs such as track, MHS has contionuously had great track stars, "What does this have to do with this post" those same track stars 9 out of 10 times also play football. Lassiter is a hot pick in the last seasons, but any real football fan remembers the Lassiter that had 4-6 seasons every year. Lassiter had been the joke of the city of Marietta, along with Osborne, for the last 15 years.
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Unknown12122424
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March 18, 2010
Marietta. All day every day.... Ok Marietta hasn't been that good over the last couple of seasons.... But the traditions, the communities support, the love for the sport..... That's what it's all about....
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Trojanater
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February 11, 2010
Lassiter has absolutely tremendous facilities, a principal committed to maintain a winning tradition, and the money to keep going what Lindsey started. With the new QB, it is going to be 4 more years of Texas Tech "guns up" football, with the ball flying all over the place. Its going to be a great program for years to come. My vote LASSITER TROJANS.
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Timer
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February 07, 2010
The new coach at Lassiter hopefully will be able to recruit &/or bus in the talent like Lindsay.
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ghost of Northcutt
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February 06, 2010
Just curious, but assuming the current MHS assistants remain at MHS in their teaching positions, and not retained by the new HC, and not leave for coaching gigs at other schools, how can a new head coach bring in his "staff" - especially coordinators - if there are no open slots? In fact, since a deal has been struck that guarantees the former HC his "teaching" job for the next few years (and that's a whole other story, right Mr. Mayor?), there really isn't a lot of wiggle room. And with furloughs imminent and depleted budgets getting tighter, I don't see MCS adding slots. Perhaps natural attrition will free up a couple of slots, but I would imagine HC candidates are asking about this during the interview process. Just curious.
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Do Your Homework
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February 04, 2010
Beware of Marietta. Everything that glitters isn't gold. Lot of internal strife. Toxic environment that lacks trust. Kids and parents run the school. Good luck trying to discipline the athletes. Some say there are athletes still in the building. This ain't the late 80's and early 90's. Other schools have athletes who want to work to get better and compete. Not at Marietta. The players want something for nothing. The parents enable it and the school placates to the parents. Bad combination for coaches trying to discipline. And if you do go, you better get used to the "OM" way of doing things. They don't want change, they want "yes" people. Coaches grave yard for the next decade or two.
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High School Fan
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February 04, 2010
Well, I think Dexter Wood might have an opinion - he was unsuccessful at Lassiter and somewhat successful at Marietta with Zeir quarterbacking and then tremendously successful at Buford. It was not the QB at Lassiter that made it happen - it was Coach Lindsey and the "system". Mason should go with Lindsey to Troy and have a bit of a chance to play at the next level. Larry Blankney at Troy is the brains behind the system and his assistants depart for major jobs like Texas Tech, and Auburn in very short order. Lassiter would be my choice particularly if the next hire is an EDUCATOR that happens to coach.
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LHS Dad
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February 04, 2010
What you don't know about Lassiter going into next year is that the next starting QB is a freshman who might end up being better than Mason. The kid moved here specifically to play for Lassiter and has already had unofficial discussions with a few SEC teams. I'll bet he throws for more yards than Hutson. Furthermore, the starting Varsity running back, Tyren Jones is also only a freshman. We will end up with better hands at receiver than this varsity squad had too. This team will have a State Championship within 2-3 seasons as long as the next Coach doesn't screw it up.
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KSU Owls
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February 04, 2010
The spread offense would be the perfect offense at a program like Marietta. Also, if you take a larger, say 15-20 year sample, you'll probably see that Marietta consistently has the better talent. Both schools I'm sure have great kids, but I would have side with the deeper tradition at Marietta.
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polk@cleburne
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February 03, 2010
I think the MHS job would be the better of the two, but I am biased. Great facilities, lots of history dating back to 1913, good community support. What MHS needs is a fresh approach that will make the program relevant again. With all respect to 2004 and 2005 region titles, the program has been in decline. The head coach has been dis-engaged for sometime, so a new approach is most welcomed. Once upon a time Marietta cornered the market on speedy skill players but now every school in the area has comparable talent. Would love to have a coach that can really develop QBs, something that we don't have, and any team's success begins and ends with a competent and capable QB.
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