BENNETT'S MINUTES: Ex-boss praises new Cougar coach

Mark Bless knows a thing or two about coaching football.

The Avon coach has won 205 games in his 28 years, which include six years at North Vermillion and 15 years at Mooresville before going to the Hendricks County school.

He has won four sectional titles and one regional crown, and has produced numerous Division I talents. His 2015 regional champs were led by Mr. Football Brandon Peters, who now plays at Michigan.

His dad, Bill, was the winningest coach in University of Indianpolis history.

So, when Bless gives his blessing to a former assistant getting his first head coaching job, its means more than coming from most coaches.

The latest fruit plucked from the Bless coaching tree is 25-year-old Sam Carnes, the new North Putnam coach who served last fall as the Avon junior varsity coach, special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach.

Carnes will take over this summer from Greg Barrett, the longtime Cougar boss who is moving to South Vermillion.

“He is a very good, young coach,” Bless said. “Every year, coach Carnes took on more responsibilities within our program.”

Bless considers Carnes as not only well-versed in the Xs and Os of football coaching, but also in helping to develop players into better people at the same time.

“This spring, Coach Carnes installed a new series of lectures to our football team called ‘Above The Line,’ which is from [Ohio State coach] Urban Meyer’s book about the overall character, attitude and mindset of our student-athletes.

“He stressed the importance of this mindset to elevate the success rate of our players to affect all phases of their lives.”

Bless considers Carnes as a “highly intelligent young man with great ambitions,” and that he is driven to succeed.

“He prepares daily to reach his goals for himself and his players,” Bless said. “Sam also has an outstanding personality which leads to the development of solid relationships with his fellow coaches and his players. Coach Carnes knows where to draw the line of discipline when he develops a rapport with his guys.”

Carnes will be one of the state’s youngest head coaches, and Bless feels he is ready for the opportunity.

“Like any young head coach, coach Carnes will rely on his coaching network to get answers of situations he may not have faced before,” he said. “But, one thing for certain is that he will learn very quickly from any mistakes he may make and be better because of it.

“I believe Coach Carnes will bring a strong work ethic and work to develop a cohesive team chemistry, while making hard work fun.”

Sounds a lot like a Barrett clone, which is undoubtedly what North Putnam was looking for in its new coach.

Odds and ends

• Unbelievably, the pairings for the IHSAA softball sectionals will be made today.

For the first time, the matchups will be announced on IHSAAtv.org in a 7 p.m. webcast.

The baseball pairings will be announced in the same manner next Friday.

Heath Shanahan, Director of Broadcast Operations and Executive Producer for IHSAAtv.org, will produce both programs.

“With the continuing evolution of IHSAAtv.org, we’re very excited in trying something new with respect to these two state tournament drawings which will also provide an opportunity for entire teams to view the programs together,” he said.

Greg Rakestraw of 107.5 FM & 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis and an announcer for the IHSAA Champions Network will host both shows.

Following their conclusions, both programs will be archived immediately on the On-Demand tab at IHSAAtv.org and a formal news release will be posted to the IHSAA.org website.

• Coaching changes and college signings continue to take place for many familiar names to local fans.

Northview boys’ basketball coach Clint Weddle resigned earlier this month after winning two straight sectional titles.

Among basketball players making college decisions were Monronvia’s Luke Smith (Indiana-Kokomo), Robinson, Ill. standout Dylan Dirks (Vincennes) and Taylor Bruninga of Illini Bluffs (Illinois State), who played against Cloverdale in the season opener in November at Washington, Ill.

• Coaches associations are great in high school sports for many reasons. They offer opportunities for coaches to attend clinics to network and further their skills with guest speakers, both of which are beneficial purposes.

The associations also provide numerous opportunities for athletes to earn recognition through all-district, all-region and all-state teams for both performance and academic excellence.

Again, valid purposes.

Another thing they do is to publish weekly rankings of the teams in their sport, presumably getting voters enough information to accurately assess a team’s worthiness.

Basketball and football rankings are much easier to do, considering the vast amount of information on sites like John Harrell’s about team records, schedules and opponents.

For most of the other sports, it is predictably more difficult for someone in one far corner of the state to know the best teams in an opposite corner.

This week, however, a travesty occurred in the Indiana Coaches of Girls’ Sports Association softball polls that unfortunately reduces the validity of such polls.

The ICGSA polls normally rank the top 10 teams, including their records, and list all other schools getting votes below that list in the order of voting.

We don’t have any Class 1A teams in Putnam County, but the 1A poll was so flawed it was ridiculous. Two of the teams receiving votes had won just two games in the first month of the season, but that was two more wins than another nearby team had.

If you vote for a winless team in the fourth week of the season, you should lose your vote. Period.