Slow Motion Replay: ‘Holy Toledo, Batman! It’s Coach Ben Pumphrey!’ @KyHighFootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @khsaafootball

June 21, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

We thought we had concluded our “Slow Motion Replay” series and then a colleague reached out to me and said “What about Ben Pumphrey?” We researched it and couldn’t have agreed more. Pumphrey was among the more fun and charismatic coaches the KHSAA has ever known. He was also a guy who traveled the commonwealth taking hard jobs, jobs many of his colleagues didn’t want. Pumphrey did it to make a difference and what a difference he made. Pumphrey was enshrined in the KHSAA Hall of Fame in 2004 and richly, deservedly. Today he is being featured by us. Again, his being featured by Friday Night Fletch and KPGFootball is richly and deservedly past due. Enjoy this edition of the Slow Motion Replay series. Be aware, there is no telling where this series will actually end and when. We will keep writing them as long as you care to read them.

Friday Night Fletch.

Slow Motion Replay: Hoover Niece, walked 14 miles out of Cane Holler straight into the KHSAA, Dawahares Hall of Fame @EstillAthletics, @LCC_Football, @mjholcomb24, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball

March 22, 2025 Fletcher Long 2

There were counties in Tennessee where winning a criminal defense case as an attorney was next to impossible. There were counties where the defendant enjoyed a perceived advantage over the government as the constitution intended. The difference between a sway back mule and a thoroughbred was “geography” in most instances. The same may be said about football. There are places where you get good talent and you routinely contend. Then there are places where exceeding .500 is near miraculous. Homer Niece coached at such a place and his efforts there, over a 27-year span, put him in the Hall of Fame and rightfully. Enjoy the feature.

Friday Night Fletch.

Slow Motion Replay: Remembering the late Poppa Joe (Jaggers) @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @KyHighFootball, @khsaafootball, @KHSAA

February 25, 2025 Fletcher Long 8

He was lovingly referred to, throughout Kentucky, as “Poppa Joe.” He was also called the “Bear Bryant” of Kentucky High School football. Joe Jaggers, the patiarch of the first family of Kentucky High School football, died at the age of 81 in 2022. Jaggers was a 1958 graduate of Caldwell County High and a 1963 graduate of WKU where he played both football and golf. Jaggers was inducted into the Dawahare, KHSAA Hall of Fame in 1993. Enjoy this look back into the past at one of Kentucky’s all-time greats.

Friday Night Fletch