Gary Blackney

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:53 am

Interesting to hear that he was at the game tailgating (according to the game notes), and was interviewed at the half. Did he say anything of note? It's good to see him coming back out to check out the program after the way things ended for him here.

nwofalconfan · Post by **nwofalconfan** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:58 am

Sideline radio guy talked to him during the game. He was very complimentary of Urban Meyer and Brandon, which I thought was very big of him. He talked about how many wonderful people he still knew from BG or something like that.

orangeandbrown · Post by **orangeandbrown** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:59 am

I know he is not highly regarded here, but I always found him to be a decent person for whom being a head coach just didn't work out.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:21 am

orangeandbrown wrote:I know he is not highly regarded here, but I always found him to be a decent person for whom being a head coach just didn't work out.

That's where my head is at.

Hell, he won two MAC titles and two bowl games in his first two years. No other Falcon head coach can say that.

He won 19 MAC games in a row. No other MAC coach has done that -- and Blackney did it in his first 19.

A lot of people here only remember the bad times. The good times were good indeed.

bgmaggot00 · Post by **bgmaggot00** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 12:30 pm

Thats very cool to hear. I came to BG in 2000, so like others had mentioned, all I knew of the Blackney era was that TERRIBLE 2-9 season. The beginning was quite promising though. Good to hear that he's still supporting his former employer.

Rollo83 · Post by **Rollo83** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 6:52 pm

I heard the Blackney interview at half time. He said, "I think the Falcons are playing great and have this victory all sewn up." That was just before FIU took the second half kick-off 90 yards for a touchdown. Nice to see Gary still hasn't lost his touch!

bgsufan1970 · Post by **bgsufan1970** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:10 pm

Gary Blackney: class act. For those that heard the interview on the radio and were not around during his tenure at BG it may be easy to look at his last few years at BG and draw certain conclusions. He did good things for the program and cared about those people that supported it.

JoeFalcon · Post by **JoeFalcon** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:43 am

I echo the sentiments about his class.

Meyer consistently and publicly disparaged the program he inherited throughout his tenure. His barbs were more about the lack of support (at the time) by the administration than the coaching itself, but it had to be grating to hear the refrain 'This wasn't a Division I football program" time after time, especially when the so-called non-Division I players recruited by Blackney and his staff got Urban's name on the map.

Good for him to stay connected to the program and take the high road.

transfer2BGSU · Post by **transfer2BGSU** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:47 am

JoeFalcon wrote:Meyer consistently and publicly disparaged the program he inherited throughout his tenure. His barbs were more about the lack of support (at the time) by the administration than the coaching itself, but it had to be grating to hear the refrain 'This wasn't a Division I football program" time after time, especially when the so-called non-Division I players recruited by Blackney and his staff got Urban's name on the map.

You never heard a single word out of his mouth that was positive. I can't tell you how many times I went to the Falcon Club luncheons and was depressed when I would walk out of them because UM spoke and left me completely disheartened about the state of our football team.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 11:33 am

orangeandbrown wrote:I know he is not highly regarded here, but I always found him to be a decent person for whom being a head coach just didn't work out.

I always thought Coach Blackney was a class individual. Yeah, the last few years weren't very kind to him but he was always dealing with personal issues. I think that affected him more than anything. As SF pointed out, he had a hell of a 4 yr run from 91-94. 36-8-2 in those years.

I wish him nothing but the best. He stepped down when he knew it was time and that took guts. Whatever comments Urbie made he should have kept to himself. I'd like to see BGSU honor Coach Blackney sometime in the future for his accomplishments.

Enjoy retirement, Coach!

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 11:35 am

transfer2BGSU wrote:
JoeFalcon wrote:Meyer consistently and publicly disparaged the program he inherited throughout his tenure. His barbs were more about the lack of support (at the time) by the administration than the coaching itself, but it had to be grating to hear the refrain 'This wasn't a Division I football program" time after time, especially when the so-called non-Division I players recruited by Blackney and his staff got Urban's name on the map.
You never heard a single word out of his mouth that was positive. I can't tell you how many times I went to the Falcon Club luncheons and was depressed when I would walk out of them because UM spoke and left me completely disheartened about the state of our football team.

That, in my opinion, is how a football coach should be. Why I loved Urban Meyer, why I love Bill Parcells, etc. The best football coaches are never happy with the performance they're getting. They know, deep down, that perfection cannot be obtained, but they preach to their team that they must strive to achieve it.

IMO, it undermine's a coach's credibility to his team if he's talking with the fans/media about how good things are going.

I didn't follow BG football when Blackney was going well, so my memories of him are all a bunch of crap. I never knew him personally, so I have no doubts that he might be a great guy to talk to or whatever. However, I'm inclined to agree with Urban Meyer that he didn't inherit a division 1 football team when he got here. He had D1 players, but they were not a D1 team, he got rid of a LOT of cancers and taught that team how to become a D1 team.

Rollo83 · Post by **Rollo83** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 12:11 pm

hammb wrote:
transfer2BGSU wrote:
JoeFalcon wrote:Meyer consistently and publicly disparaged the program he inherited throughout his tenure. His barbs were more about the lack of support (at the time) by the administration than the coaching itself, but it had to be grating to hear the refrain 'This wasn't a Division I football program" time after time, especially when the so-called non-Division I players recruited by Blackney and his staff got Urban's name on the map.
You never heard a single word out of his mouth that was positive. I can't tell you how many times I went to the Falcon Club luncheons and was depressed when I would walk out of them because UM spoke and left me completely disheartened about the state of our football team.
That, in my opinion, is how a football coach should be. Why I loved Urban Meyer, why I love Bill Parcells, etc. The best football coaches are never happy with the performance they're getting. They know, deep down, that perfection cannot be obtained, but they preach to their team that they must strive to achieve it.

IMO, it undermine's a coach's credibility to his team if he's talking with the fans/media about how good things are going.

I didn't follow BG football when Blackney was going well, so my memories of him are all a bunch of crap. I never knew him personally, so I have no doubts that he might be a great guy to talk to or whatever. However, I'm inclined to agree with Urban Meyer that he didn't inherit a division 1 football team when he got here. He had D1 players, but they were not a D1 team, he got rid of a LOT of cancers and taught that team how to become a D1 team.

Here, here! We needed to hear that...even if it hurt. What, you weanted a guy to come in here and sugar-coat our program? Hell no! He come inhere and told us things needed to change and then he proceeded to make those changes happen. You can't under estimate what UM meant to this program the last 5-7 years. I am sure he said the same type of things at Florida when he got there following the Zook years.

MACMAN · Post by **MACMAN** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:32 pm

He was/is a good person who just got in to a bad spot with coaching. He lived just down the street from us and was always personable. Anyone hear about how his wife is doing? I remember she was not well, but have heard no mention of her for a long time.