Rotary Program: 8/30/06

Program Chairperson: Ron Damron

Speaker: Mack Bryan, Head Football Coach - Pikeville College

Mack Bryan has been a head football coach for the past 9 years, with stints at Appalachian State and Southern Mississippi and at one time was an assistant coach at Pikeville. He says he is glad to be back to what he says is one of the best small towns in the country. He thanked Ron Damron, President, Hal Smith, and the Pikeville community for allowing him to return to the place that he hopes will be a home for himself and his family for a very long time. His plan for Pikeville College football is to focus on the journey and not the destination. Coach Bryan says that he wants to stabilize the program and concentrate on players as student-athletes who will stay at the College until graduation. Instead of recruiting 60 students and then have many leave or drop out, he is going to recruit 30 of the best from no more than a 6-hour radius in Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. He pledges that the students will be accountable, responsible, and learn to be on time to class and practice. This year, there will be some new faces and most of them will be red-shirt freshmen and sophomores. He says this can be a good thing, because the youth of the players will hopefully add vitality and excitement to his game-plan, which is to pass and pass and pass on offense and blitz on defense. He assures us that there will always be something happening, so don’t leave our seats and miss one exciting play. Coach Bryan outlined what each position will be expected to do on both sides of the ball and talked about the battle brewing for the Quarterback position. He said that Chip England would be back from last year, but Jacob Hunley from Breathitt County may still have a chance to get some playing time as the signal caller. During the Q&A segment, Coach Bryan also talked about who would be part of the coaching staff, including B. J. Conley, Josh Fuller, John Hunn, Scott Branton, Jeremy Barnes, and Jesse Pack. He also remarked about the two PC players who were picked by the NFL last year and said he was always happy to have the publicity of such success stories. He also mentioned that there were NFL scouts looking at two of the current players. He said that the status of the player that was suspended is still in the hands of the courts and law-enforcement, but that his situation would be revisited as soon as those channels were open to the College. Coach Bryan invited everyone to come to the opening game this week at Hambley Field, as Pikeville faces a strong George Mason team. The tailgate party will begin at 10:00 AM and will be open to the public. He thanked everyone for inviting him to speak to Rotary today and hoped to see all of us at the game. - JMC