Category: Podcast

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 40: Evan, Daniel talk Cisco baseball with Mark Adams

In his time as the Cisco baseball coach, Mark Adams has built the Loboes into a consistent winner. Sitting at 11-2 after a win over Comanche on Tuesday, this year is no different.

Earlier this week, Adams took a few minutes to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about this year’s team, the sustained success of the Cisco athletic program and some keys to playoff success in this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss some of the top developments and storylines of the Big Country baseball and softball season.   

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 38: Evan, Daniel discuss All-Big Country Preps basketball teams

In this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast, Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood discuss the inaugural All-Big Country Preps boys and girls basketball teams, giving insight into the selection process and sharing their opinions the superlative award winners and first-tema selections.

To read more on this year’s selections, click the links below:

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 31: Evan, Daniel talk Wylie girls hoops with Amy Powell

After a successful six-year run at Hallettsville, Amy Powell took over the Wylie girls basketball program this school year and has the Lady Bulldogs at 20-10 in their first season as a Class 5A program.

This week, Powell took a few minutes to talk with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about what drew her to the Wylie job, her first season on campus and her philosophies and personality as a coach on the Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel talk about some of the most significant developments and biggest upcoming matchups on the Big Country boys and girls basketball scene.

 

 

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 30: Haskell’s Blake Eddleman talks Maiden basketball with Evan, Daniel

During his time at Haskell, Blake Eddleman has been one of the most successful girls basketball coaches in the Big Country. And with this year’s team sitting at 25-1 and ranked No. 4 in Class 2A, he may have his best Maiden team to date.

This week, Eddleman took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about the 2018-19 Haskell squad, His unique sagging man defense and the future of his program for the Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel talk about the biggest developments and upcoming matchups on the Big Country boys and girls basketball scene.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 29: Evan, Daniel catch up with Eastland boys basketball coach Doug Galyean

Eastland boys basketball coach Doug Galyean is in his third stint with the Mavericks after spending some time away from coaching to battle prostate cancer and returning to the sideline for brief tenures at Lingleville and Santo.

This week, Galyean took some time to talk to Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about being back on the Eastland sideline, the current state of his cancer fight and his love of the game of basketball in this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel talk about the latest developments on the Big Country basketball scene.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 28: Evan, Daniel talk Eula hoops with coach Josh Fostel

Eula boys basketball coach and athletic director Josh Fostel has built the Pirates into a perennial contender, taking them to the state championship game in 2007 and winning a title in 2011.

This week, Fostel took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about his time with the program, Eula’s annual Holiday Classic and this year’s squad for the Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss some of the more intriguing district races and interesting upcoming matchups of the Big Country boys and girls basketball season.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast Greatest Hits Part 2: Evan, Daniel revisit conversations with Duncan, Sandford, Lucas

With Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood taking a two-week break from the Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast to celebrate the holidays, we take a look back at three more of our favorite interviews from the first six months of our weekly podcast.

In Part 2 of our two-part “Greatest Hits” series, we revisit our conversations with current Wichita Falls Times Record News sports writer Zach Duncan, Early football coach and former pro baseball scout Blake Sandford and Hamlin football coach Russell Lucas.

We hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast Greatest Hits Part 1: Evan, Daniel revisit conversations with Slaughter, Huston, Cervetto

With Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood taking a two-week break from the Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast to celebrate the holidays, we take a look back at three of our favorite interviews from the first six months of our weekly podcast.

In Part 1 of our two-part “Greatest Hits” series, we revisit our conversations with current Wall defensive coordinator and former Clyde and Sweetwater head football coach Craig Slaughter, legendary Brownwood broadcaster Dallas Huston and Dublin football coach Bob Cervetto.

We hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 27: Evan, Daniel talk hoops, tackle all-state football snubs

In their final Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast of 2018, Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood look back at Albany and Brock’s state semifinal losses, take a look at the area players who did — and didn’t — make the Associated Press all-state teams and talk about some of the top boys and girls basketball story lines of the early season. 

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 26: Evan, Daniel talk Jim Ned hoops with Hunter Cooley

A former high school standout at Hawley and college All-American at Abilene Christian University who has led both the boys and girls basketball programs at Jim Ned, Hunter Cooley has been a part of the Big Country hoops scene for decades now.

This week, he took some time to talk a little basketball with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood, touching the strength of this year’s Jim Ned girls team, his coaching career and his thoughts on the current state of the game in this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel bid farewell to the De Leon and Hamlin football teams and preview this week’s state semifinal games for Albany and Brock.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 23: Evan, Daniel talk playoff football with Haskell coach Brian Hodnett

The Haskell Indians got off to rough start this season, dropping three of four games during nondistrict play, losing each of those games by at least 28 points. But things started clicking for coach Brian Hodnett’s team during district play, which saw the Indians take good Cross Plains and Albany teams to the wire and defeat Roscoe and Baird to claim the fourth playoff seed out of District 7-2A Division II.

Haskell (4-6) took advantage of that opportunity, coming from behind to defeat District 8 champion Eldorado 26-22 in the bi-district round, snapping a nine-year playoff victory drought. Earlier this week, Hodnett took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about the Eldorado win, this season and what he expects to see in Friday’s area-round matchup against Wheeler for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel break down the most significant — and shocking — developments of the first week of the high school football playoffs.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 22: Evan, Daniel look ahead to football playoffs

The Regular season is over, and the high school football playoffs are here. In this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast, Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood take a look back at the most important games of Week 11 and ahead to the postseason, focusing on the Big Country’s biggest threats.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 21: Evan, Daniel talk Hamlin football with Russell Lucas

Hamlin football coach Russell Lucas has built a consistent winner in his 11 years at the school. And sitting at 9-0 heading into a winner-take-all district championship game against Albany, this year’s team may be the best he’s ever had.

Lucas recently took some time to talk to Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about this year’s team, the qualities that make it special and the importance he places on character and community involvement for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the biggest football games of Week 10 and what they mean for the Big Country’s various district championship and playoff races.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 20: Evan, Daniel chat with Comanche’s Stephen Hermesmeyer

Comanche football coach Stephen Hermesmeyer has turned a struggling Indian program into a perennial playoff contender during his seven seasons at the school. And though he experienced significant graduation losses from last year’s 12-2 squad, his Indians can clinch their second straight district title with a win over Dublin on Friday.

Hermesmeyer recently took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about this year’s team, his wing-T offensive scheme and the status of his program for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the area’s top games from Week 9 and how those outcomes are shaping the Big Country district races.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 19: Sammy Burnett talks Brownwood football with Evan, Daniel

Having spent his high school years playing for a pair of coaching legends at Brownwood, Sammy Burnett’s professional dream was always to return to his alma mater as the head football coach.

Burnett, who realized that dream when he was announced as the Lions coach in February, took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about “the Brownwood way,” how he was influenced by coaches Gordon Wood and Randy Allen and what he wants to build at his alma mater in this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also on this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the top developments from Week 8 and where it leaves the Big Country’s football teams with three weeks remaining in the regular season.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 18: Evan, Daniel talk Snyder football with coach Cory Mandrell

Former Snyder player and assistant Cory Mandrell didn’t experience much success in his first two years as the Tigers’ head coach, leading his team to one win in 2016 and two in 2017. But the Tigers have turned a corner in Year 3, starting the 2018 season at 5-1 with some of their biggest wins in years.

Mandrell took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood on his program’s turnaround, the excitement level around town and the future of Snyder football in this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the Week 7 slate and where it leaves the Big Country’s football teams with four more weeks remaining in the regular season.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 16: Evan, Daniel take fresh look at area district races

With district play either here or approaching for the 16 11-man leagues involving Big Country football teams, every game has heightened importance from this point forward.

In this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast, Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood forego a guest to discuss each district race and examine each of our 40 school’s chances of reaching the postseason.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 15: Evan, Daniel chat with Winters football coach Matt McCarty

Coach Matt McCarty has led a nice turnaround at Winters, following back-to-back two-win seasons with a playoff berth last season, before leading the Blizzards to a 4-0 start to the 2018 campaign.

McCarty took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about that turnaound process, his coaching background and this year’s winters squad in this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the first Southtown Showdown and all of last week’s Big Country football action.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 12: Evan, Daniel discuss Week 1 football results

The first week of the high school football season in the Big Country saw its share of thrilling finishes and surprising outcomes.

In this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast, Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood forego a guest to discuss all the action and excitement of the season’s opening week.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 11: Evan, Daniel catch up with Dublin coach Bob Cervetto

When Bob Cervetto took over the Dublin football program, the Lions hadn’t won a playoff game in almost five decades. In the  seven seasons since, Dublin has twice reached the area-round in football and experienced a higher degree of athletic success during the winter and fall seasons.

This week, the always-upbeat Cervetto took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about his positive outlook on coaching and life, the state of the Dublin athletic program and what keeps him coming back each year on this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the Big Country’s most intriguing storylines heading into the 2018 high school football season.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 10: Al Pickett joins guys to talk “Brother’s Keeper” movie, more

Al Pickett
Al Pickett

In his more than 30 years as a part of Abilene’s sports scene, Al Pickett has done a little bit of everything. In addition to serving as the sports editor of the Abilene Reporter-News for 15 years, Pickett has been the play-by-play voice for numerous local high school and college teams, hosted his own radio show, “Let’s Talk Sports,” and authored five books about sports in Abilene and Texas.

Pickett, who is both the founder and a member of the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame, took some time this week to talk about his career in sports journalism, seeing his book “Brother’s Keeper” being made into a feature film and what his future holds on this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood discuss the situations each of the area’s seven 11-man coaches taking over new programs face in 2018.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 9: Legendary Brownwood radio voice Dallas Huston checks in

Dallas Huston

Hall of Fame sports broadcaster Dallas Huston has spent more than half a century calling Brownwood Lion sporting events, and both his name and voice have earned iconic status in the Big Country as a result.

This week, Huston visited with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood to discuss his time on the mic, his favorite memories of Brownwood football and some of his most outrageous stories from the road on this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode Evan and Daniel share some of their observations from the 2018 photo tour, which took the pair through football practices in every corner of the Big Country.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 8: Early’s Sandford talks Longhorn football, baseball scouting

Early’s Blake Sandford

Blake Sandford took a unique path to becoming Early’s head football coach that included time as an amateur scout for Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds, among other clubs.

This week, Sandford spent some time chatting with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about his time in baseball, the season outlook for his Early Longhorns and his philosophy as an athletic director on this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the wealth of quarterback talent and depth in the Big Country this season.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 7: Evan, Dan talk football with Wichita Falls’ Zach Duncan

Zach Duncan

Like Big Country Preps co-founders Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood, Wichita Falls Time Record News area writer Zach Duncan has been covering high school sports in his market for a long time.

Entering his 15th football season with the Wichita Falls newspaper, Duncan has seen more great games than he can count and worked with some outstanding coaches and players. This week, he took some time to share some his favorite football stories and talk shop with Evan and Daniel.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss District 3-3A Division I and District 7-2A Division II — two all-area leagues that should be competitive from top to bottom.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 6: Area rep Webb Murphy checks in to talk a little FCA

Webb Murphy

For 13 years, former Stamford and Cooper assistant Webb Murphy viewed coaching as his calling in life. A couple of years after leaving that profession, he’s discovered a new calling as the Big Country West area rep for the Big Country Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Murphy, who still holds a deep respect for the coaching profession and those who pursue it, took some time this week to talk to Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about his role with the FCA and how the organization has changed his life and the life of many others.

Also in this episode of the BCP Podcast, Evan and Daniel discuss the geographical boundaries of the Big Country and share their philosophy on expanding the area’s traditional borders to include a number of “new” programs.

Those interested in learning more about the FCA or how to get involved with the organization can reach out to Murphy through the following social media platforms:

Facebook: Big Country Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Twitter: @BigCountryFCA

Instagram: @bcfcainsta

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 5: Craig Slaughter talks coaching past, present, future

Wall defensive coordinator Craig Slaughter.

After spending 16 years as a head football coach, making stops at Hearne, Clyde, Sweetwater and Llano, Craig Slaughter transitioned back into an assistant role last year as Wall’s defensive coordinator.

This week, Slaughter, who’s entering Year 2 on coach Buddy Guy’s staff, took some time to talk to Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about the biggest highlights and regrets of his time as a head coach, how he’s enjoying Wall and what his coaching future holds, among other topics.

In this episode of the BCP Podcast, Evan and Daniel also debate the viability of the wishbone offense as a vehicle for winning a championship at high school and college football’s highest levels.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 4: Gordon’s Mike Reed talks Hamilton, return to six-man game

Gordon's Mike Reed
Gordon football coach Mike Reed

Gordon football coach Mike Reed, who took Rule to two state championship games before winning two state titles in three trips at Throckmorton, is back in the six-man game after a four-year stint at 11-man Hamilton.

Reed, a Gordon graduate, took some time this week to chat with BigCountryPreps.com’s Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about his time as an 11-man coach and what went into his decision to return to the six-man ranks at his alma mater, among other topics.

In this episode of the BCP Podcast, Evan and Daniel also discuss some of their favorite Big Country rivalries — past and present.