View of coach Jinks from a veteran football coach

[Clubber]

A lot of people were saying the same thing about Fleck early on. He was able to get better results in year two than Jinks, but he was a great recruiter who couldn't put it together on the field.

P.J. Fleck? He got his Broncos to the Cotton Bowl.

Do you mean a different Fleck?

He's talking about Fleck's first year and a half. He had some issues early on. Both on the field and off.

[Flipper]

Yeah...the WMU fans were on Fleck worse than we are on Jinks...he was despised after his first year or so because the team was turrible.

I'd be ecstatic and maybe even eat a bug to show contrition if Jinks engineers a similar turnaround here

[bowlgreen]

Wow, only 6 seniors contributing. Look, coaches play the best athletes regardless of how they got there. So to have 14 seniors not being a major factor not only means that there is a talent drop off but, it also means that Jenks didn't drop these guys last year--which shows alot of heart in my opinion. Imagine if your job had 85 employees, and 14 of the 20 oldest ones were unable to perform their task.

This to me is an unbelievable stat. Its also what I would call evidence of Babers not recruiting right.

[guest44]

Some things don't require deep analysis. Babers won the MAC Title. His teams hammered MAC opponents, beat Big Ten teams badly. Jinks has been embarrassed out of conference by everyone, and most wins he does have are vs backup QB's or Kent State, who actually has the worst coach in the league. When the most positive thing you can say about a coach is, at least the team hasn't quit on him, you know it probably doesn't end well.

[kdog27]

This next game will tell a lot for me if there actually is improvement in this team. They played good against UT last year and easily could have won. If they are never in this game then it will be hard for to believe things are going in the right direction. 4-8 followed up by at best 4-8 now.

[MarkL]

Jinks has 5 MAC wins. All five ended with the backup QB playing, all due to injury. Some started with the backup QB, and both Akron and Buffalo last year spent some time with a third string QB. Just a little context.

[Schadenfreude]

This next game will tell a lot for me if there actually is improvement in this team. They played good against UT last year and easily could have won. If they are never in this game then it will be hard for to believe things are going in the right direction. 4-8 followed up by at best 4-8 now.

I think that's setting the bar a bit high. I'd love to see us win this and I hope we have a chance. But I don't see this game as a litmus test. Too many injuries on the offensive line, for one thing. Big picture: I think Jinks needs more time to bring new talent into this program. I'm not sure this game really speaks to that question because Jinks has only had time to put together one strong class.

[kdog27]

So you're expecting a beat down?

[Schadenfreude]

So you're expecting a beat down?

It could happen. I sure hope not. A win over the Rockets would be great.

Either way, I don't think it has much bearing on the trajectory of the program. With each passing week, it become more apparent (to me at least) that Babers left a mess that will take time for Jinks to clean up.

[kdog27]

All the Jinks apologists blame Babers. That's convenient but in August of 2016 expectations were still pretty high on the roster that returned.

Look, I was no fan of the way Babers operated the program but I think we should expect more than what we have seen in 22 games that include 3 of the worst losses in program history (giving up 77 points twice and losing to fcs). At some point there needs to be ownership for the performance or lack of it.

[Flipper]

I agree for the most part...my biggest issue with Dino was that he tore down the existing culture that had some substance in favor of a "looser" environment that lacked substance. Plus he was only here or two years and seemed focused on immediate benefits because that suited him over sustaining the program he hoped to be gone from ASAP.

Plus...his teams were SOFT. Punch them in the mouth and get out in front and it was usually over by halftime. His program reminded me of those fake nards people buy for their neutered dogs. They look real..but they're only for show

[Class of 61]

How many AZZ'ers are going to be at game WED.??

[footballguy51]

How many AZZ'ers are going to be at game WED.??

I've got a group of three going, weather permitting.

[Schadenfreude]

All the Jinks apologists blame Babers. That's convenient but in August of 2016 expectations were still pretty high on the roster that returned.

One of the biggest mistakes Mike Jinks has made is in managing expectations. We all went into 2016 thinking we might still compete for a MAC East title, in part because of the way Jinks was talking about the team heading into the season. Jinks also went in there thinking he was going to keep running this #FalconFast offense before finally giving up on it mid season and finding a personality for the team that better fit the talent he had.

I'm not sure I can explain all of that. Inexperience could have been a factor. (I don't expect every new head coach to necessary be a master at working with the media, for example.) It may be that he took too many people at their word about where the program was heading into this job, or that he underestimated the level of talent it takes to win the MAC East. It may be that our departing athletic director impressed upon him the importance of running #FalconFast while our current AD didn't feel nearly so strongly about it.

I'm speculating here.

Regardless, it is becoming clear that a key challenge for this program is a talent deficit. Only time can cure that.

Look, I was no fan of the way Babers operated the program but I think we should expect more than what we have seen in 22 games that include 3 of the worst losses in program history (giving up 77 points twice and losing to fcs). At some point there needs to be ownership for the performance or lack of it.

I think most of us sensed that the 2014 and 2016 recruiting classes might be weak because of the instability linked to the departure of coaches Clawson and Babers, respectively. In retrospect, it also now appears that the one class that Babers truly owned, 2015, also wasn't amazing.

To oversimplify it, Mike Jinks might be working with one good Clawson class, one good class of his own, and three classes where the talent is quite uneven.

There is a time where Jinks will fully own where the program is. I don't think we are there yet.

I really do hope to see more progress starting next season, though.

[bg1984]

Here are links to the 2014 and 2015 recruiting classes. The eye test doesn't lie. Feel free to count the number of significant contributors to this year's team from these classes.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hustle ... era-begins" target="_blank

https://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football ... news-recap" target="_blank



I found this quote from the 2014 article particularly upsetting:

"The Falcons will lose some important players from the team that won the school's first MAC title in 21 years, particularly in the offensive line and defensive backfield. However, former head coach Dave Clawson and new top dog Dino Babers have put together a class that should keep BGSU at the top of the MAC for the foreseeable future."

Uh.... yeah...not so much!!!