Northside hires new coach

Northside Christian hired Andre Dobson as the school's new football coach.

The announcement came via e-mail sent by Northside's administration to faculty and parents of students at the school.

Dobson, a former player and coach at Evangel University, will start April 7. For the past three seasons, he coached at Monte Vista Christian in Watsonville, Calif., where he took over a program that lost 18 straight games. Last season, Dobson guided Monte Vista to the city championship.

Northside Christian athletic director Raul Hernandez said Dobson's "coaching and playing experience and his passion for students and football made him an obvious fit."

Dobson replaces Bob Dare, who was dismissed as coach and vice principal/dean of students in February. Dare and the school reached a settlement two weeks ago.

--BOB PUTNAM

Comments

I just saw that on their web site. Wow! the AD must have come out of his comma...what a joke!

Is it true??? Northside will not go 0-10 after all....they cancelled the game with Fort Walton Beach???

[ncs football player]

Those who post saying how the team sucks and all really does nothing to help mend the situation and make it better. But to be honest i could really care less about any of your opinions, if you dont support my team then i dont want you around or at the games. And fyi, we just took a total of about 20 guys to an fca football camp and held our own with teams like apopka who finished in the top 4 in the state in 6A, nature coast and bradford. You may say nothing positive has happened this summer, but i tell you from firsthand experience that a lot has changed. The team that takes the field against berkely will be vastly different from the one who was beaten by Seminole. Thats a guarentee.

[Obama B]

It will be an even shorter reign for McCain

[Juan "I would rather run agains Hillary!" McCain]

We may have been laying low but we have not forgotten!

Not much excitement or participation in the summer weights...terrible spring game...kids not playing...suspect coaching staff...unproven hire...unethical fire!

It will be a LONG season but hopefully a short Dobson/Hernandez era.

[2001 player]

Hey Coach Dare, if you even read these (which I doubt you do!), just wanted you to know that you are an awesome coach and an even greater man of God and Northside does not deserve you! I wish you and your family all the very best and I know that God will use you no matter where you go and Northside will regret this crazy and cruel treatment of you and your family! They should be ashamed of themselves and will answer to God one day for their actions. I do not want to even tell anyone I am an alum of Northside, but will forever brag that I played for you!

[Players dad]

I think 12:46 has it right. Raul has decided to make this thread about baseball and deflect the discussion away from his firing of Dare, hiring of Dobson and the destruction of the football program almost overnight.

Smart Raul!

Please resign and take Mary and the Burketts with you!!!

okay, Raul. Justify all you want.

8:22-yes they did get consistent bullpen sessions, sometimes during the course of one of those blowout games when KB or others were being used. More bullpen than most HS kids get,esp with a small roster (this is 2-A, not a 25 man 5-A roster you know).

READ THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG!! It's NOT about freaking BASEBALL!!!!!!!

[8:22]

7:27 Are you telling me that during the course of the season that all theses pitchers were getting consistent bullpen sessions during practices? Are you telling me they pitched in games based on their ability and ranking on the team ( #1,#2, #3, etc. )? Do you know what bullpen sessions are? They have nothing to do with games and playing other positions.

You may not know this, but does the OTHER COACH know that the player ( pitcher #4 ) he referred to that injured his knee and couldn't pitch has told his classmates that he wasn't going to pitch a lot because he needed to save his arm for his infield position per the head coach. This is high school baseball, not Joba Chamberlain and the New York Yankees. OR, was this the politically correct way of telling him that I need to get another kid on the field and the mound against the likes of Keswick & AF is the only place I can hide him.

5:57 did u win that game

http://www.ahsaasports.com/baseball/Playoff%20Brackets/2008/class5a08.asp

That's the link to the 5A playoff bracket for Alabama. northside played Russellville. who made it to the regional finals. and the year before made it to the final four.

oh, 8:22. exactly what pitchers are you talking about? as "another coach" said, this is northside. they had 5 pitchers. 2 of those 5 were new to the varsity roster. those 2 improved dramatically over the course of the year. as to the other 3 starters, you cant take 3 guys who start in the field every time they dont pitch and magically make them 3 aces who throw 90. seriously, what do you expect?

It's pretty darn obvious that Mr Burkett is blogging on this with the defending of his son!

[KB is a tuba player!]

Yawn! Baseball is not the topic...you bleacher creatures had months to post during your season and obviously you did not.

4:43--One of those "north" teams was a 5-a club from Alabama who was down here in mid season. That was a 1 run game.

2:01 You forgot to tell us that those two strong teams from up North saw the outdoors for the first time while they were down here. Never even had a practice outside not to mention a game! St. Pete Catholic was 500 and Dixie below 500. Do you want me to continue? Are you an administrator from Northside? Half truths; not quite tell the full story. You seem to have it down pat.

2:01 & 2:07 I haven't read anything on this blog that said the baseball players /coach sucked! Get your head out your...

Thank you 2:01. Anyone who thinks the baseball team/coach sucked this year have no business blogging because they don't have a clue about sports or baseball

Where are all the people who wanted Dare fired when he went 2-8 in both 2005 and 2002? Did they all leave or are they just staying quiet? Just curious

For the record, the baseball coaches did a fine job. The head coach was responsible for teaching these boys a lot that they had never learned before. They played great and went further than any NCS team had in the last 6 seasons.

The schedule was VERY strong as they played several tough teams down the stretch (Miami Christian, Oragnewood Christian, Dwyer, Largo, St. Pete Catholic, Dixie Hollins and 2 out of state teams to name a few). They won 22 games this year and only lost 10.

The pitching coach worked with and used 7 different starting pitchers, all of whom (including JH) improved.

The 1st base coach was enthusiastic and did a fine job.

The bench coach, ET, did his job well yet again.

The outfield coach, who didn't even have a kid on the team worked with the boys and helped EACH of them improve.

Say what you will, but Northside Baseball is where it is becasue of these men, and will continue to be for years to come.

Great job guys!

[Julius C]

I came, I saw, I could not have conquered with the players left on that football team.

[Friend of Juan]

Oh...Juan's lame because he speaks the TRUTH...keep putting your head in the sand NCS "Football" Guy!

[NCS Football guy]

Listen, I think Raul is lame too but PLEASE go talk baseball elsewhere!

[Queen V]

WE ARE NOT AMUSED.....by all of this blogging mess

[another coach]

8:22-how can you develop HS pitching more than they did? You can't just inject them (legally at least) with something that suddently makes them throw 90 MPH. They played 32 games, so somewhere along the way they had a lotta kids pitch. The #4 starter was out for the year with an injured knee.

And if they needed to develop pitching, why was it this year and not last year? Same kids, less results though. It's easy to say "develop pitching" but this is Northside, not Seminole or Dunedin where the staff goes 10 deep. You have to keep guys on the field for defense and pick your spots as much as you can.

I didn't take that remark as meaning Coach H had made mistakes, I took it to mean that if you have 1 horse, you used to be able to ride them into the finals, but not anymore with the new format.

[Juan "I really need that hispanic vote!" McCain]

Pretenders and imitators. It is funny how just those two words can apply to so many different things pertaining to NCS and this blog.

Why should we wait for someone to ask us to reveal the truth?

My mission was not to do anything other than reveal that the administration of our school is grossly incompetent and made a very bad decision in the firing and hiring of football coaches. I believe that I and many others on the blog did accomplish that goal.

The other parents and players need to know that there were some incredible applicants for the position. Candidates that could have done wonderful things for the entire campus while teaching the boys many lessons through football. It is a shame that the AD and others felt it necessary to pick Dobson whom I really just see as a pawn in all of this mess.

[8:22]

5:58 My original premise was NCS did not develop their pitching over the course of the season because KB had to get his time on the field. Unfortunately it cost them going deeper in the playoffs. After JH, who pitched his butt off ( and almost his arm ) NCS had nothing but mediocrity to put on the mound. No fault of the kids. Your last start can't be spring break and then one short appearance two weeks before districts and expect to be sharp and get the job done. Bottom line...poor coaching! Kids NOT being developed to allow an OK ( as you put it 5:58 )kid take innings away from kids who could of helped during the playoff run.

If you are a baseball parent and are ok with this thats fine. But don't come on here and call it something different. Read Hernandez' quote in the paper after their final loss. He admits he screwed up with the pitching. He needed to be deeper. Translation...develop your best arms over the course of the season. Don't put the pressure on a kid in a do or die situation who hasn't started since spring break. Its not Rocket Science...but you can't coach with hidden agendas!

[8:22]

5:58 My original premise was NCS did not develop their pitching over the course of the season because KB had to get his time on the field. Unfortunately it cost them going deeper in the playoffs. After JH, who pitched his butt off ( and almost his arm ) NCS had nothing but mediocrity to put on the mound. No fault of the kids. Your last start can't be spring break and then one short appearance two weeks before districts and expect to be sharp and get the job done. Bottom line...poor coaching! Kids NOT being developed to allow an OK ( as you put it 5:58 )kid take innings away from kids who could of helped during the playoff run.

If you are a baseball parent and are ok with this thats fine. But don't come on here and call it something different. Read Hernandez' quote in the paper after their final loss. He admits he screwed up with the pitching. He needed to be deeper. Translation...develop your best arms over the course of the season. Don't put the pressure on a kid in a do or die situation who hasn't started since spring break. Its not Rocket Science...but you can't coach with hidden agendas!

[Dick C]

Hey Friend, I don't think my boss was saying it was Juan's fault, just that he set out on a mission and got it done. No one ever asked him to expose truths. He had that agenda on his own.

Oh, and don't go hunting with me. It's not safe

[Dick C]

Hey Friend, I don't think my boss was saying it was Juan's fault, just that he set out on a mission and got it done. No one ever asked him to expose truths. He had that agenda on his own.

Oh, and don't go hunting with me. It's not safe

8:22 if you want to debate, join a debate club. Teammate is correct. No one needs to be called out. If you read up the blogs, you will see no one said KB needed to throw in playoffs, he was just being defended as an OK player. Get your facts before you call someone out to a debate

[8:22]

Hey teammate still venting...try counting to ten.

Still waiting for you to factually tell me where I am wrong. What false claims have I made? Who am I calling out online? I predict you won't because you can't. Oh, to be a kid again...........

[teammate of KB]

this is not a "debate". this is you calling people out online and making false claims, and me informing you how wrong and stupid what you say really is. besides, having an intelligent debate would require me debating against someone of intelligence. according to your prior posts, that person is definitely not you.

[8:22]

Hey teammate its great to vent, now that you have, where are the facts to support your position. Oh, I know, you don't want to waste your time providing facts to support your opinion. If you can't handle an intelligent debate, maybe YOU need to stay off this blog. It doesn't make you look real smart running at the mouth and not backing your opinion with any facts. Maybe your time would be better spent studying for exams!

[teammate of KB]

8:22 you are the dumbest person alive. every word you have said on here is the complete opposite of the truth so i wont waste my time correcting every statement you have made. YOU are the naive and stupid one who cant see anything. seriously, never post on here again. you know absolutely nothing.

[8:22]

You tell them friend of Juan! Are people that naive, stupid, or because it didn't affect them personally " its not that big of deal ". Can they not open their eyes and see the much bigger picture.

[Friend of Juan]

George W. If Juan and I posting on this blog caused parents to leave, players not to play, Global Warming or anything else you want to blame us for...then we are surely dealing with the shallowist of people in Pinellas county. Truth is, it was NCS's AD and ADMINISTRATION who CHOSE to advertise on FHSAA website to replace Dare before he even knew what was going on. It was the NCS's Administration who had the "no comment" to the Times relating to the dismissal of a 20+ year WINNING coach. It was NCS's AD and ADMINISTRATION that out of 50 applicants hired a guy who had only 3 years experience as a head coach, was 12-17-1 and lied on his resume about a CONFIRMED mythical "city championship". I'm not even going to mention the lying that took place in front of the students prompting a petition...How is all this blundering of Northside's AD and Administration mine and Juan's fault? If you're looking to blame somebody sir...you need to ask to see Brandes, Hernandez, and Burkett. All we did was expose the truth! Maybe you're like Jack Nicholson said.."You can't handle the truth!" If that's so...then YOU sir have a problem and don't care one ioda about the kids and the injustice that's been done to them!

[8:22]

8:01 For the record, KB pitched against the likes of Admiral Farragut and Keswick who may of had two wins combined. If he was so effective why didn't he see the field during ANY of the playoffs? He didn't play in the spring game because he didn't go out and practice. What's really sad is when you 16 & 17 year olds ( players on the team ) who have this figured out, but adults still clueless. Before you defend KB again, you may want to get the insight of some of his teammates.

[George W]

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Juan, you and your understudy have done what you set out to do! You got several people to leave the school, and even better, got plenty of people to decided NOT to attend NCS next year (yes, I had inside information that confirmed this)

WELL DONE!

For your next mission, can you get gas prices back down?

I know this is about football, but 8:22 is an idiot. KB pitched because he was effective. Did you see any games he pitched? He was like 4-0 with an ERA of about 2.00 or less. Yeah, it's easy to say he was only on the team because of his mom, but bottom line is he had to produce to get on the field, and he did. So lighten up on the kid. Oh, and for the record, he did not play in the Sring game, so don't say his parents were being appeased there too

Fellas...this blog is about the hiring of a football "coach"...and after Friday night I use that term very loosely!...not baseball.

[8:22]

8:25 Can you read? Or let me rephrase that... can you comprehend what you read?

I did not say KB pitched in any of the playoff games. What I said was, KB pitched during the season to appease parents ( both administrators at the school ) and thus other kids did not get valuable time and experience on the mound. Thus pitching depth weak, no fault of the kids.

Now if you knew baseball, and followed the district ( and surrounding area ) you would have known NCS would have a very good season and opportunity to go deep into the playoffs. Again, no dig on the kids. Those are the facts. Its just unfortunate the coach didn't do the right thing over the course of the season to have them better prepared. Don't take my words for it. Go back and pull up article after final regional and see what the coach says. If I was a parent of one of the kids on that team and my son didn't get enough reps due to appeasement I would be furious. Now if it wasn't appeasement, why DIDN'T KB pitch during the playoffs? Can you shed some light on that 8:25?

NCS will have a very good year again next year in baseball, partly due to weakness of schedule/district, but will not go far into playoffs due to their pitching. Any good baseball coach worth his weight, knows pitching and defense wins championships. Appeasement is NOT in the equation.

Some of you parents ( I'm assuming you are one ), need to take off the "rose" colored glasses. Its NOT about the kids, its about poor administrators and others in a place of authority that continue to make poor decisions and do things with agendas that are unfair to the majority.

Lastly, if you thought NCS went as far as they could go, then you are dissing on the kids!

8:22 - You're blind. I was at all of the playoff games this year, and KB didn't pitch in any of them. NCS went further than ANYONE expected, including most of the players. How about giving them some props. Not to mention that they only had one Sr. (granted a big part of the team, but one non-the-less). They will be contenders for YEARS to come. Just cuz you don't like the coach don't hate on the success of the kids.

4:12 PM Kids graduate every year. Let the excuses begin! I'm waiting for AD/baseball coach to announce his success was based on the talent that was here when he arrived. The district is the weakest it's been in years and will be worse next year. But, he has just discovered the answer to the 100 year old question... that good pitching and defense wins championships! It would have been nice if he developed some pitching over the course of the season instead of appeasing the High School principal. Where was KB when we needed him? Just another blatant example of " leadership " at NCS.

For the record, I like to give facts with my opinion, Seminole was 0-10 last year and their STARTING quarterback did not play Saturday night. Could they have been missing other players? So, NCS got blanked 39 - 0 by a team that did not win a game last year and did NOT have their starting QB. As for the 6 NCS players that didn't play... David E. is the only ( productive ) player missed and could have helped. Any other kid mentioned is not a football player. Ryan M. is afraid of contact and Hunter H. doesn't attack the football from the linebacker position. Would both of these kids started on Saturday night? Probably, but it would of had no impact on the outcome of the game. By the way, where were these stud football players?

[who cares?]

blah blah blah blah

ncs alum -what really sucks is how everyone including the Dares are tryng to move on but people keep talking smmack on this blog. Maybe you can help ncs move forward.

[NCS Football Alum 2002]

Coach Dare's wife was an innocent pawn in all of this! Why do you bring Mrs. Dare into this? Whoever is saying this is more than likely just trying to stir up more blogs and more trouble. How could you possibly think Mrs. Dare had something to do with this? You people are just vicious and mean-spirited and should be ashamed of yourselves. I have not been on this blog and was told that people were still blogging, so checked for myself. This is shameful. I am no longer considering myself an alum of Northside 'Christian' School! Coach and Mrs. Dare were the two people who truly loved me and my teammates, as well as countless other kids. I hear that the Burketts are involved in this and I remember when Mrs. Burkett was Coach Dare's biggest supporter (she was at his 100th win that I was at in Lakeland!). This all sucks!

Yes, Coach Dare is a man of integrity and character, but I keep hearing that it had more to do with his wife than anything else. Why does that keep getting missed?