Photo - Kelly Phillips
If Todd Adler does not get serious consideration for the “Coach of the Year” in Kentucky football, then something is just plain wrong. The job that Adler has done with the Logan County Cougars is nothing short of amazing, considering Logan County recently lost 42 straight games, including three straight seasons where nothing went into the win column.
Just look at the recent history for the Logan County program. On October 12, 2012, the Cougars beat Barren County 21-20. Logan County lost its next three games that season, including a playoff game against Graves County.
In 2013, the bottom fell out for the Cougars. They went 0-10 on the season. And, as if that were not bad enough they were outscored on an average of 59 to 7.9 per game. Bowling Green nearly hit the century mark against them, scoring 91.
Things were not much better in 2014. The Cougars again went 0-10 for the season. Once again, there were not many chances for Logan County to pick up a win, as they were outscored on average 43.6 to 5.2. By the end of the season, “the streak” had reached 23 games.
When 2015 rolled around, the Cougars again went 0-10 on the season, but there were some signs that the end might be in sight. Logan County’s defense was improving, and gave up just 36.5 points per game, down by more than 20 poins from just two seasons earlier. By the end of this season, “the streak” had reached 33 games.
In 2016, you could now see that the Logan County program was turning in the right direction. 2016 also marked the arrival of new head coach Todd Adler. They were very competitive in losses to Muhlenberg County, Hopkins Central and Calloway County. Turn the calendar to October 28th, 2016, the place was Elkton. It was the night “the streak” ended and the great burden was lifted from the Logan County program. The Cougars not only won, but won big over the Rebels, 56-27.
When practice began for 2017 there were rumblings that this was not the typical Logan County team. Those rumblings turned out to be big truths for the Cougar program. Logan has won their first nine games of the season, including tight, down to the wire wins over Russellville, Hopkinsville, and Madisonvillle.
The 2017 season marks the first winning season for Logan County since 2004, when the Cougars went 7-3 in the regular season, but lost their first round playoff game to Madisonville.
(Photos – Kelly Phillips)
