For all those fans of the late 70’s and early 80’s television show “The Jefferson’s”, the theme music will forever resonate in the brain as it talked about moving on up to a new part of town.

That pretty much happened to the Elizabethton Cyclones on Tuesday when school administration made the decision to notify the TSSAA of its intent to move up from being the second largest school in 3A to one of the smallest in 4A.

But according to Elizabethton Cyclone athletic director Mike Wilson, the move was a needed one for a number of reasons.

“The positives are it improves travel situations greatly,” said Wilson about the pros of moving to 4A. “I think we will be traveling far less to get to games. We will be playing teams that our community is more accustomed to us playing.

“We will be playing Sullivan County schools which we have had a history with,” continued Wilson. “We haven’t played Sullivan Central in a long time, but we have played South and East. . . I think our folks feel better about traveling to those places and playing rather than traveling to some of the places we travel to now.”

Another big pro for Wilson is the fact the fans and players will be going into facilities that Cyclone fans have been accustomed to in the past.

“I don’t want to criticize anyone or their facilities, but I just think that playing in 4A we will be playing in places our fans prefer to play than where we are now,” Wilson said.

Since the announcement was made, there have been varying views on what going to a higher classification will do to a Cyclone program that has been pretty much ruling the roost in the last couple of years.

Wilson said that all aspects of the program were looked at and, in the long run, he feels that the direction of moving to 4A will ultimately be the best for the program.

“We can be competitive either way,” Wilson stated. “We looked at how competitive we can be, how competitive the games will be and obviously Greeneville is the big dog in 4A, and we are now no longer the favorite to win the league, we are the underdog.

“But I think we can compete very well. We are not going to be guaranteed to win it every year because Greeneville is tough—Greeneville is very tough.”

The athletic director was also quick to point out he was well aware of the disadvantages the move would create as well.

“Disadvantages for us as a program will be getting to a state semifinal, or a state championship game is going to be harder in 4A than it is 3A,” Wilson commented. “Not necessarily because teams in 4A are so much better than an Alcoa, but you have to play more of them to get there.

“It makes it harder for our kids to get there. You will have to play better competition earlier to get there and every coaches dream is to get to the state championship game, and it makes it much harder to do that, but we had to balance that with the interest of our community and fans and where we are playing and how competitive the games are.”

Another disadvantage that has become real to Wilson is the complication of getting a schedule set as both he and Cyclone head coach Shawn Witten were hard at work early Wednesday morning getting on the phone and calling coaches to find potential matchups.

Right now there could be up to five non-conference games needed to fill the schedule.

“Scheduling is going to be a bit of a bear,” added Wilson. “Our top priority is non-conference scheduling. Science Hill, Tennessee High and Boone will still be in the mix and I have been on the phone with other schools and I have had a school contact us.

“You got to understand—you have this wish list of people you want to play, but you have to understand that your open date has to match their open date. That is a bear when you try to get five non-conference games,” Wilson continued. “When you are Elizabethton, most of the people who want to play you are Dobyns-Bennett, Boone, Science Hill, Greeneville, and Tennessee High, and I am not trying to sound arrogant.

“You are not going to get average Joe’s that will call and want to play us as often. We are not an easy win and if it’s a team wanting to win, they aren’t going to call us. Now for someone like D-B, they are going to call us because they see a possibility at a win and a large crowd so it’s a win-win. That is the issue with scheduling.”

When asked if money came into play in the decision-making process, especially when it came to the cost of transporting players, food, and other expenses created by travel, Wilson said that money was a secondary to the other relevant issues facing the program.

“The money issue is secondary and I will tell you why—we can stay 3A and play Tennessee High, Science Hill, Boone, Dobyns-Bennett, and Greeneville and solve any money problems you may have,” Wilson responded in regard to the question. “We are not going into debt now. We sell a lot of season tickets and the Science Hill game is a big gate.  Tennessee High will be too because they are not going to be down forever and are going to pick up because their junior high is very good.

“That is not the driving issue. That might surprise you but it is not the main issue,” Wilson continued. “I think that there are pros and cons. There are good things about 3A and about 4A. The money issue is overrated. Our chances for competing for state championships in 3A are better, but for travel, facilities, and competition then 4A is the better way for us to go.”

Wilson also had a personal take on the way classifications are set in football versus the other sports that schools across the state participate in.

“In my opinion, there are too many classes in football and it is presenting way too many problems for people having to travel,” said Wilson “It has ripped up a lot of natural rivalries. I bet you that half the people can’t even tell you the name of the football conference Elizabethton plays in versus the name of the conference the other sports play in because they are not the same.

“I do not like what they have done with classifications.”

For those who are wondering, the football team is currently part of the Mountain Eight while the other sports at Elizabethton fall into the Three Rivers Conference.