Gregg Brandon

[kdog27]

Personally, I think Brandon is a joke

It would be interesting to somehow know what you would have said about him 11 months ago.

[windycityfalcon]

Personally, I think Brandon is a joke. The program has been going down hill more and more each year the last 3 seasons. He doesn't know how to coach in game and espicially, doesn't know how to recruit anybody other then at QB, RB, and WR. He needs to start recruiting some defensive players, espicially defensive lineman. Did you see how their D line got manhandled by the Wisconsin o-line? The only reason why Brandon was so sucessful his first year was that he was using Urban Meyers players. That's why are team has gotten worse and worse over the last 3 years. If we don't get rid of Brandon soon, who knows how bad our record will be next year.

replies would be great

Do you remember the end of the Blackney era? You think the program has been going down hill the last 3 season? We've won a bowl game 2 out of the last 3 years.

How about the end of Moe's run as head coach? Remember that?

C'mon people - I'm not saying I think Brandon is the greatest coach in school history, but cut him some slack before you start calling for his head. His team didn't live up to expectations this year, but he had a winning season. Sure it should have been better, but we're not Buffalo.
Am I satisfied with this season.. hell no, but I don't think it's time to call for Brandon's head.

[CapitalFalcon]

Hey da3mite, who would like to see come here instead?

[Touchdown Rockets]

The best thing for everyone is to get some stability. Increase his salary a little, increase the buyout amount, and extend his contract (probably somewhere in the five to ten year range). Y'all need to give the man some time to build a recruiting base and get comfortable with his staff and the town. No need to rush these things, fellas.

[BourbonFalcon]

I can't believe this but I agree with the Toledo fan!

[orangeandbrown]

Yeah, well, he might just be hoping to keep Brandon around like UM fans hoped to keep Cooper around.

[hammb]

The best thing for everyone is to get some stability. Increase his salary a little, increase the buyout amount, and extend his contract (probably somewhere in the five to ten year range). Y'all need to give the man some time to build a recruiting base and get comfortable with his staff and the town. No need to rush these things, fellas.

This is exactly why I'm not confident in him. It's not good when your rival wants you to keep a coach.

[Flipper]

Yes, but TR has as much credibility as this guy....

[Jacobs4Heisman]

I am really not a fan of Brandon's coaching style or demeanor. Having said that, I've been convinced by the optimists around here to give him some more time to show us he is ready to be a good head coach. Let's see how this next year unfolds. If we can be respectable against the big boys early next year, possibly getting 1-2 wins out of the 3 big OOC games, and then compete for a MAC east title, Brandon will have impressed me. Like Hammb said, my expectations for this year was 3 losses at the most and a bowl game. My expectations for next year are about .500.

[michhiker28]

Actually to my mind that is just it. This may have been Brandon's first year with any significant amount of his players in the line up. Remember that Meyer's success was not based on Meyers players. He succeeded with what was available in the barrel at the time (which was what I found impressive by the way--that and his discipline). This next year will be the telling one.

I agree with you that the program seems to have been on a downhill track the last 2.

--MH

[Dr. Bucko]

The biggest problem Brandon has, the number one issue is that he can not recruit. Last year's recruiting class (2005) ranked number 8 in the MAC and was a bottom feeder on the National Level. After the bowl victories, I pretty much assumed that good athletes would be knocking the doors down --- wanting to play for BG. That clearly was not the case. No matter how good the coach is (or the coaches are), not much can be done without athletes. BG's defensive line was a point in case. They were slow, they ,as a group, were pathetic, and the coaching staffs from other schools knew it. That's why they threw the run at BG so often. Our guys were always trailing/chasing the runner. And like it or not, it probably ain't gonna get any better next year. ---- The second problem (a fixable matter) was the play calling. It seemed to be often out of phase with common sense. Take that second attempt to block a punt during the UT game. Nobody in their right mind would have called that defensive play -- it backfired (as predicted), and then UT went on to score. The game was over with that play. And how often was that assinine bomb called (ultra long sideline pass ---- that never worked) called on 3rd and whatever. Too often that played stymied, nullified all the gains up to that point. It took the sting our of too many drives. ---- Will next year be any better. hmmmmm?

[orangeandbrown]

On recruiting. Like a lot of people, I was kind of down on last year's class. You can't rely on those rating services, though. They just aren't reliable. Coach is very high on the class that redshirted this year. Now, he kind of has to--there's a lot of eggs in that basket right now. But, let's see if they can produce.

[transfer2BGSU]

Personally, I think Brandon is a joke. The program has been going down hill more and more each year the last 3 seasons. He doesn't know how to coach in game and espicially, doesn't know how to recruit anybody other then at QB, RB, and WR. He needs to start recruiting some defensive players, espicially defensive lineman. Did you see how their D line got manhandled by the Wisconsin o-line? The only reason why Brandon was so sucessful his first year was that he was using Urban Meyers players. That's why are team has gotten worse and worse over the last 3 years. If we don't get rid of Brandon soon, who knows how bad our record will be next year.

replies would be great

I think you should forward your resume to Paul Krebs. You obviously know EVERYTHING we need to have in a head coach.

[1987alum]

Dr. Bucko:

Interesting that you'd say he can't recruit. His first class was thrown together in a mad rush after Meyer skipped town.

Even with that condensed window, he pulled in folks like Loren Hargrove, who looked solid this year. That class also featured Korey Lichtensteiger, Drew Nystrom and Patrick Watson on the offensive line; they've all looked very good; Edmond Massey looked good until health problems sidelined him. Dan Macon got his redshirt this past season, but shows flashes of being an excellent running back and Sean O'Drobinak put the TE back in the offense. Devon Parks is one of our best defensive players. Deaudre Perry, well, he's the enigma, but there's no doubting that the kid is a good d-back.

If you look at the first class he put together with a full recruiting season, here are some of the names you'll find - Diyral Briggs, Andrew Campbell, Brandon Curtis , Nicholas Davis , Enrique Dozier, Jeffrey Fink, John Haneline, Edwin Hood, Aaron Kent, Lance Latkiewicz, Brandon Mack, Corey Partridge, Anthony Turner, Nate Waldron, Peter Winovich.

These kids are either sophomores or RS freshmen, so it's not like we should be expecting them to have dominated in 2005. That being said, Curtis, Davis & Mack have all shown flashes of being solid defensive linemen. Dozier, Hood and Waldron look pretty good. Winovich hasn't found a home, but still gives plenty of reason for optimism, as does Haneline. Partridge is on track to be the next great BG receiver and Turner, despite looking a bit shaky at times this year, has all the tools of a great QB. Briggs really came on at the end of the season and could be the difference-maker on the defensive front seven that we've been longing for. Campbell, Kent and Fink are unproven O-linemen, but our track record there has been pretty good. Latkiewicz was highly touted coming out of HS and, IMO, could have been the best defensive player recruited that year. It's disappointing on many levels that a heart problem ended his career before it started.

As for this year's class, most all of them earned redshirts, so they are largely a mystery. But Antonio Smith and Kenny Lewis sure looked good for freshmen. And I certainly have no complaints about Bobby Thomas. Ruiz was not quite as advertised, but seems serviceable. We'll see how the rest of these guys look in the spring and then next season.

I don't believe our defensive shortcomings can be blamed on lack of athleticism. Rather, it appears that there hasn't been an emphasis on fundamentals. Lovett will have a full cycle to work with his crew; it will be interesting to see if there's marked improvement.

As for the ranking of our recruiting class ... I don't put much stock into such things. It's widely recognized that guys who aren't recruited by the "big boys" don't get the kind of scrutiny necessary to make great judgments.

This year's recruiting class will be interesting. This will be the first time Brandon will be on the road coming off a disappointing season. We'll see how much of a factor that is. But so far, I think it's unfair and inaccurate to say that he "cannot recruit."

[UK Peregrine]

Damn you '87 with your reason and logic!

Nice post, I enjoyed and agreed with most of it.