Travis Cote named new BG Head Football Coach

As reported by Marc Thaler, he will leave Manchester West and be the new coach at BG.

http://nhgameday.blogspot.com/2011/06/cote-is-new-hc-at-bg.html#more

A "Wing-T with wrinkles"??? Isn't that the offense that Londonderry runs? A "3-4 defense"? This isn't D-1 where quite a few of the offenses are spread and pass oriented. I'm not an X's and O's football person, but I do know BG is loaded with athletes... Work to their strengths, right?

If BG been so successful with the option/spread option and a 4-4 or 5-4 defense, why change what ain't broke?

I guess we'll have to wait and see, not a fan so far!

Update: The Telegraph/Tom King had a different take on this - one of the reasons Johnson like him was because he apparently switched to an option attack this year at West. As a fan it was hard to tell in our game against them last Fall as BG was so much more dominant... Telegraph article:

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/sportshighschoolsports/923087-221/bishop-guertin-hires-new-football-coach.html

This is a very good move for BG. I know some of you are disappointed that he actually attended a public high school. Coach Cote should be able to keep BG in the upper echelon of NH High School football. He has one weapon at BG that he didn't have at West, he can now recruit. I love reading BG's line-up of how many kids don't live in Nashua, and better yet of how many kids don't even live in NH. Obviously at West he was not allowed to have kids who live in Mass. on his team, now that is no problem.
The biggest problem that many of you will have with Coach Cote is he will probably suggest in the future that BG move up to DI. I know you BG fans hate that idea. But when you recruit you should be playing at the highest level of NHIAA, or play other private schools not affiliated with the NHIAA.

Obviously boxout you must have proof that BG recruits in order for you to state that... Or are you being a lemming... If BG recruited, then EVERY sports team would be unbeatable. If anything, BG attracts. There's a HUGE difference. Parents "recruit" insomuch as they get their friends to consider the higher cost alternative. You still have to take a test to get in and you still have to pay just shy of $12K now for the luxury of BG. The "issue" I have with those that state BG recruits is that many seem to believe that EVERY player is there because they want to play some sport and ONLY because of that.

You also must be talking to parents of current players outside this forum and stating their opinions here because in the 2 responses so far it hasn't been said that anyone is disappointed about the coach having attended a public high school. Personally, I could care less. It seems he's qualified and he got past the interview process, which more than likely included administrators other then Tony Johnson. My only question thus far is who's right in their reporting capabilities - Tom King or Marc Thaler - at least with respect to the style of offense & defense that will be. As for going to D1 - bring it on... The reality there though is the NHIAA needs to do *something* about the current arrangement of teams. It's been stated in other places before - having 6 division champions is ludicrous for a state this size. Just look to our southern border to see a division and conference format that would probably suit NH better.

Here's a link to Tom Kings article: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/sportshighschoolsports/923087-221/bishop-guertin-hires-new-football-coach.html

Did he say more in the print edition JAF? I dont see where he mentioned the scheme he'd be implementing at BG...

JAF I must have misread where you clearly stated; "not a fan", to me that is the same thing as being disappointed in the hiring. Please stop with the semantics.
Do you have proof that BG doesn't recruit? Trust me on this one JAF, I am not the only one who thinks BG recruits, far from it.
I noticed how you ignored the part of public schools have to have players that live in their towns or cities, they can't have a kid come from Mass. and play HS sports. Every team in the state would be better if they were allowed to do what BG does.
BG doesn't release or do they have to student information. I would love to hear the number of students at BG who don't live in Nashua, who play sports and those that don't. I would love the same numbers for out-of- state as well. I would bet that there are more athletes that go to BG from out- of- state, than students who go to BG from out- of- state, who don't play sports. If my memory serves me right, almost half of the hockey team was from Mass.
Assistant, they mentioned what Coach Cote ran at West, and how last year he implemented almost the same thing as what BG runs. There was no mention of what they would run in the future. It is all speculation. I got the print edition.

re: Assistant

the hard copy has much more data... retyping the part... "Johnson also like the fact that Cote changed his offense last year to an option-based attack, which is similar to what Johnson ran with the Cardinals." ... perhaps I'm reading too much into it. Who knows, I guess we'll find out in August.

re: boxout
"not a fan" meant - not a fan of wing-t w/ wrinkles and a 3-4 defense... I'm not sure how you jump from not a fan of a style to disappointed of the hiring. I'm happy there's a coach and we can move forward. I don't think you can disagree that wing-t isn't exactly a "new age" offense. If you're trying to get kids into college from playing football (I'm not, but there are others that might be), then playing an archaic offense may not be the best way to get your child noticed. More colleges seem to be going to the spread - as evidenced by more teams in NH D1 that are doing the same. I believe Souhegan has some sort of spread/option too, right? How many kids get recruited from there? I would think a wing-t is more suited if you have 1 or 2 really good athletes (like Londonderry from a few years ago with the kid that went to UConn, Griffin?).

w/r/t: recruiting... I didn't make the accusation that BG recruits - you did... My children weren't recruited. You and others can think all you want - doesn't mean you're right nor does it mean I'm right about every student. It's a tired accusation though and ends up in a lot of back and forth arguments that mean nothing. Like countless families I know at BG, our family chose a BG education over our town's public high school (Campbell). Are there some that chose BG because of the football or hockey or lacrosse or whatever program? I don't doubt there are, but as I've stated in other responses I don't believe that percentage is that large. As for public high schools, people can move if they are so compelled and have the money. I remember a story a couple years ago about a family that lived in a small town near a larger town who's son was a very good athlete. With a bit of encouragement from some families they got to know playing travel ball - they decided to move to the larger town in order to enroll at that high school. Seems far fetched doesn't it? In the end in order to survive BG has to draw from more than just Nashua and they have to have "something" to offer those parents that want to plunk down $12K a year to go and still pay their town taxes for the local school system. Since BG competes in many sports, it's only natural that a large percentage of the 850 or so students are also athletes. And of the student athletes there certainly are a percentage that are out of state, so what? What does it mean? Just because you live in MA doesn't mean you're a better athlete or student. What would you do with the out of state numbers? Does it really matter that much to you?

The Wing T isn't as bad as you say Plymouth had the longest streak in the nation running it and they send kids to college. The Wing T is a lot of misdirection, it's an offense that really needs to be perfect, it might be a tough transition, but it should fit what BG has, but really what offense wouldn't.

A few more quotes on Thalers blog from Cote:

http://nhgameday.blogspot.com/2011/06/interview-extras-from-cote-johnson.html

Not much additional info, but a quick article from the Lowell Sun:

http://www.lowellsun.com/highschool/ci_18298886

NHHSSports has an article with some discussion going on (similar to ours we have going here - shocking ):

http://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/nashua/cote-hired-as-new-bishop-guertin-football-coach

JAF I will grant you the benefit of the doubt in that you support the hiring. To me though, whenever I have not liked a coach's offense or defense, I don't like the coach or coaching. Please understand I hate or dislike (too strong of words) any coaches. I just have my own philosophies. So I am hoping now that you can see the correlation between not being a fan of a coach's offense and being disappointed in the hiring. I don't usually dislike a coach's game plan, but like the coach.
Trust me on this one JAF, BG is getting a CLASS ACT for a coach. He will run a good football team out there year in and year out.
The rest of your post loses me in comparing public schools to private schools. Yes there are many stories of students who move to a different town to play sports, the biggest difference in this situation is; it happens once every once in awhile. See at BG it happens every year. They bring in more athletes every year, than athletes that move from town to town. BG even gets a break, these athletes don't have to move. I understand it is an "old argument". Public playing Private. But every year BG stretches and stretches its student base. Why? It might be because transportation is getting faster and faster. I also understand that MA students/athletes may not be better than NH kids, but isn't fun to bring them into BG?
Many schools have 850 students and the percentage of athletes would be exactly the same. Many schools can't field teams for sports, but BG can because they have an option of getting kids from any where. There are schools bigger than BG who don't have the sports that BG does, many because they don't have the budget or the player numbers. Don't get me going on Private schools getting tax payer dollars. It does matter to me that BG competes on an obvious not level playing field. Your attitude is the way it is because you support the school, I do as well. But I am wise enough to know that many of the programs at BG wouldn't be in existence if it weren't for out of state and out of town athletes.

Boxout,

I see you complaining about BG about not about Trinity; why is that?? I also never see you complain about the largest school in the state, Pinkerton, that has kids from several communities and also tuitions kids from other areas too. I believe that if you have a good coaching staff and your public school has a good academic regimen then the good student-athletes will stay there and there won't be any arguments. Maybe you should work on improving your school system instead of crying about not being able to compete. No one complained when BG football had losing seasons.

Fair enough Boxout - I don't think we're that far off. I don't have my head in the sand and I haven't drank the TJ kool-aid. I think I stayed out of the other TJ topic that's been locked - there are reasons for that. Like I said before - I'm not a football X's and O's guy, but the one thing I'm concerned about as a spectator is that the offense in question may not suit the talent on the team this fall... I'll take your word that the coach is a class act and will be great for the program.

I agree that BG does get more than its fair share of athletes, but my point still exists - the school is first about charism and education, athletics is a draw, but it's not necessarily the primary reason for a majority of students. It wasn't for us, but it was nice. Our older son was 2 time all state in football and is at Tufts (he was recruited). I still support my local high school and the kids that play there. Believe me I wish I got a break on tuition at BG because of athletics, but that wasn't the case! I think for some "local" MA people it's certainly a cheaper option than perhaps the Groton School! Athletics will also bring in money - which in the end is what places like BG need. They have to continually expand their "commuter" base in order to stay viable.

I "get" why the recruiting tag exists, especially when the teams do well. However, like NH Hoopfan points out - what happens when the sports doesn't do well - did the recruiting fail? No one brings up the R word then - funny how that works... And believe me when I say, teams love to kick BG Athletics when they are down. It still boggles my mind that we got 10 runned in a baseball game last year by a suicide squeeze. If BG did that - everyone would be all over them complaining about good sportsmanship. I laughed a couple years ago when Exeter got the good sports award for football season when they beat BG in the championship - you should have seen the cars in the parking lot with BG s***s painted on the windshields. The Exeter parents prior to, during, and after the game were anything but "good sports". OK - so I'm way off track now....