Blade Reports Brandon Extension Likely

[Schadenfreude]

Point 1: This year he often mentioned how the kickers last year were poor. Big Birds dad even mentioned it here.

So? They walked out on the team!

Rather than being thrown under the bus, they stepped off the bus.

I don't see the problem.

Other points:

Point 2:"It just may be that Brandon has these kids playing way above their heads through excellent game planning and that there really isn't anything left in the well when opposing coaches finally catch on to what he's doing."

I am afraid I dont understand this logic. So Brandon is such a good coach that he has the players so prepared there is nothing that they could do better or differently in the second half?

Roughly, yes.

Take the first game of the season. Minnesota. The Falcons had built a huge lead at halftime, and the Gophers came all the way back in the second half.

Was this an inability to make second half adjustments on Brandon's part? No. Minnesota made adjustments. They gave up on the passing game and started pounding it on the ground.

Ultimately, that left Brandon without a way to respond. The Falcons were pathetic defending the run all season. It's one of the defining traits of this team.

A pessimist would accuse Brandon of not making good second-half adjustments in that game. The optimist -- and I am one -- would rather celebrate the fact that he went into Minneapolis with a strong enough game plan to build a 21-3 lead at halftime with a very flawed football team.

Point 3: Attendance here is a problem, I think the coach has a ton to do with potentially fixing that problem even if he does not cause it.

We'll just have to agree to disagree here.

Additionally, I would observe that you are making a good case for bringing back Gary Blackney. Best attendance we ever had was during his era.

The coach's job is to win games. Brandon has been pretty good at that.

Point 4: I believe that the parents who have stopped by here have had negative things to say about the coaches relationship with their children. That is what I am basing it on, I am not trying to put words in there mouth nor call them out if they dont want to speak out about it again, but that is where I got the feeling of having a bad relationship with players. PM me and maybe I can find the exact posts

I have no idea what you are talking about here. I really don't.

[Rollo83]

Def improved & starting getting turnovers, OL solidified has yr went on, incorprating Turner in off as yr went on. Brandon had a solid yr.

Defense improved because the last four games were against EMU, BUffalo, Akron and Toledo...no exactly the power teams in the league...and please don't write back and tell me Buffalo is a good football team...or that Toledo with freshman QB was a high-powered offense.

We had five 5th year seniors on the line...why did they need to solidify?

Turner only became part of the offense when Ransom and Geter went down with injurries.

Don't get me wrong, I think he deserves a short extention just because of the recruiting and uncertainity aspects. BUt at this point of his career, Brandon isn't someone I ask to sign a 5-8 year extention and tell him I want you to the be the head coach at BG for a long time. His teams are too inconsistent in their play week-to-week and his in-game decisions and strategy haven't been that great as a whole yet.

[Schadenfreude]

Let's also consider the impact such a move would have on the athletic department's reputation and standing. Do you really want the University to get a reputation as an institution that does not reward achievement? Do you think we'd be likely to attract talented coaches down the line if we let a winning coach twist in the wind as a lame duck?

This is a most excellent point, and I thought it deserved to be quoted.

Coaches aren't fired at Bowling Green. They fire themselves. When coaches' contracts aren't renewed here, it's obvious to the world that they played themselves out of that job.

In other words, we are decent. We are ethical. And this helps us when we go out looking for head coaches.

If we were as trigger happy as some fans here are prone to be, I think we would never have landed a guy like Louis Orr, and we might have had a harder time keeping Curt Miller.

So this stuff matters. When fans and boosters get unrealistic expectations, it's poison.

And, look, trust me, I want to see the Falcons playing on New Year's Day, just like Hawaii will be and Boise State did.

But I don't think the answer is to let an 8-4 coach dangle in the wind or push him out the window.

Flip -- I think it was Flip -- made another excellent point. If you are down on Brandon, is there a MAC coach you'd rather have?

He didn't get any responses, and I thought that was telling.

If you wouldn't trade Gregg Brandon for another coach in the MAC, then what does that say about your expectations?

There is some debate about the length of the extension Greg Christopher ought to offer.

I guess if I were Christopher, I'd offer a two-year extension with the verbal understanding that if Brandon turns in another season like this one, we can work out another two-year extension. I picture a conversation like this:

Brandon: "What do you mean 'as good.' 8-4? Bowl game?"
Christopher: "We'll know it when we see it."

Here's the thing: a two-year exension implies a lack of confidence. Most coaches are offered five year deals out of the gate, and two more years would only lock in Brandon for three.

Brandon can be expected to want more and he can be expected to figure, deep down, that he's earned more. He's a human being.

So that's why I think putting two years on paper and informally all-but-committing to two more years with a decent 2008 would be the way to go.

And I do think, if Brandon turns in another season like this one, he would earn another two-year extension. And I'd give it to him.

I know some here feel differently, that anything short of a MAC title would be a cruel disappointment in 2008.

I hope we do win the MAC next year, and BG should be in the hunt. But to suggest that anything less than that makes Brandon a bad coach is setting the bar too high.

Right now, he has this football team in the 75th percentile of the MAC. As long as he keeps 'em there, we should stand behind him. Because, if he keeps 'em there, the titles will come.

I guess I'd close by saying stability is underrated. Look at Joe Novak, Gary Pinkel or Lou Mangino. Northern Illinois, Missouri and Kansas stood behind those guys through some lean years. In each case, it worked out pretty well.

[Globetrotter]

Globetrotter...I said your statements in the context of this conversation were idiotic and dumb and did not refer to YOU in those terms. You're being a tad senistive and a bit melodramatic.

You cannot wipe away the impact playing under a lame duck coach would have on the program by simply dissmissing the statement...you offer no logical arguments to back that statement...I offered at least three clear and concisie arguments explaining why this would be considered a foolish idea.

You're also arguing the attendance issue on two different tracks...you've laid the attendance issue squarely at Brandon's feet on at least two occasions. When called on this foolishness you then backtrack and say he should be a part of the solution or he should work to fix the problem...please enlighten us with your ideas on what steps Gregg Brandon could take to improve attendance that he hasn't already taken...you cannot offer a specific criticism and then attempt to hide behind meaningless rhetroic to support your argument...be specific.

So far as the strength of scehdule goes...you play the teams you play. Since you brought up Urban Meyer before, I'd like to point out that Urban Meyer won 17 games in two years here. He turned down an extension here to coach Utah and he's considered a coaching deity. ONE of those 17 wins came against a team that finished the year above .500 (another came agint a team that finished .500 on the money).

Brandon has earned an extension and he is going to continue to be the coach of this team...I suggest you begin sifting through the list of NFL assistants with BGSU ties so you can be ready with a list of candidates fir the next coaching search. I have a feeling that if next year's team plays to it's potential we'll be needing to replace another coach who's moved on to greener ($$) pastures.

I think you were being an AZZ and now are backtracking and saying that I was being sensitive. Water under the bridge..

As far as a lame duck coach goes I addressed this is prior threads. I do not see it as a problem when it comes to anything but recruiting and he has already recruited well for 2008 and this is his best trait. I dont think your other arguments hold much water. As far as uncertainty goes, if the players like Brandon, they will be directly playing to keep him here. That uncertainty can actually be a positive. Assistant coaches looking out for their futures does not make much sense to me either. These coaches have been here for just a year and I doubt they will leave just because of the uncertainty. In terms of the contract showing the U rewards achievement, Curt Millers extension shows just that, I advanced the notion earlier that extending Brandon actually does the opposite and shows we are willing to reward mediocrity.

I feel like this extension is something that people who don't really follow the team would get behind by just looking at the superficial numbers of wins and bowl games. Prior to this thread I got the feeling that people here were more savvy. I feel like with 4 games in November the sentiment at AZZ.com shifted from one pole to the opposite concerning Brandon and I do not think 4 games warrant such a bold shift.

I think you make a great point about strength of schedule concerning Brandon compared to Urban and wins against quality teams.

For me last year was such a horrible year and then when you combine that with the October we had this year, and look at the fact that the success we did have came against poor teams, I think the conclusion has to be we need some more consistency before we can even think about rewarding any success.

[Flipper]

Ucertainty is not a good thing...in this case it would be a needless and unwelcome distraction. The team should focus on winning, not the status of it's coach. Yes...I think you would run the risk of losing coaches here if you didn't offer a winning coach an extension. Working under a lame duck coach isn't a particularlly secure enviroment. Would you continue to work for a company that was a few months away from bankruptcy or would you begin to look for a more stable situation?

You're also trivializing the effect such a move would have on recruiting...we have only 14 grants to work with the year...I don't know the exact number, but I think we'll be looking at far more scholarships next year...you can't just take a year off from recruiting and expect to have any continuity in the program. As you're recruiting this year's class, you're working towards laying the foundation for the following year's class... in a sense, you're not only shooting yourself in the foot for one year, but you're damaging the potential success of the following year when you really can't afford to do either.

Rewarding medicority? The man had the conference's best overall record...we're going to a bowl game...probably the highest profile bowl game avaialble to the conference. This is the thrid bowl game we've gone to in the past five years. The guy has had ONE losing season here! There are a number of programs in the MAC that would KILL to see such mediocrity.

Look...I get it, you don't like Gregg Brandon, but some of your arguments don't even comport with reality...

[1987alum]

Look...I get it, you don't like Gregg Brandon, but some of your arguments don't even comport with reality...

And Flip, that's putting it mildly.

[orangeandbrown]

Defense improved because the last four games were against EMU, BUffalo, Akron and Toledo...no exactly the power teams in the league...and please don't write back and tell me Buffalo is a good football team...or that Toledo with freshman QB was a high-powered offense.

Why not? Buffalo scored points on people, and UT had the best offense in the conference, mostly because of an outstanding back. Did they miss their QB? Of course. Should the performance be completely dismissed. No.

I think Brandon showed a lot this year....with his players. He deserves two years, and more if we win the MAC next year. We could do lots worse.

[Globetrotter]

Look...I get it, you don't like Gregg Brandon, but some of your arguments don't even comport with reality...

And Flip, that's putting it mildly.

These are childish comments you should be above.

[Globetrotter]

Ucertainty is not a good thing...in this case it would be a needless and unwelcome distraction. The team should focus on winning, not the status of it's coach. Yes...I think you would run the risk of losing coaches here if you didn't offer a winning coach an extension. Working under a lame duck coach isn't a particularlly secure enviroment. Would you continue to work for a company that was a few months away from bankruptcy or would you begin to look for a more stable situation?

You're also trivializing the effect such a move would have on recruiting...we have only 14 grants to work with the year...I don't know the exact number, but I think we'll be looking at far more scholarships next year...you can't just take a year off from recruiting and expect to have any continuity in the program. As you're recruiting this year's class, you're working towards laying the foundation for the following year's class... in a sense, you're not only shooting yourself in the foot for one year, but you're damaging the potential success of the following year when you really can't afford to do either.

Rewarding medicority? The man had the conference's best overall record...we're going to a bowl game...probably the highest profile bowl game avaialble to the conference. This is the thrid bowl game we've gone to in the past five years. The guy has had ONE losing season here! There are a number of programs in the MAC that would KILL to see such mediocrity.

Look...I get it, you don't like Gregg Brandon, but some of your arguments don't even comport with reality...

Flip what would you say had we went 2-2 in the last 4 games and not made a bowl game? What would the sentiment be here regarding Brandon

[Globetrotter]

Defense improved because the last four games were against EMU, BUffalo, Akron and Toledo...no exactly the power teams in the league...and please don't write back and tell me Buffalo is a good football team...or that Toledo with freshman QB was a high-powered offense.

Why not? Buffalo scored points on people, and UT had the best offense in the conference, mostly because of an outstanding back. Did they miss their QB? Of course. Should the performance be completely dismissed. No.

I think Brandon showed a lot this year....with his players. He deserves two years, and more if we win the MAC next year. We could do lots worse.

I am certain the policy for coaching decisions should not be "We could do lots worse."

[Flipper]

Flip what would you say had we went 2-2 in the last 4 games and not made a bowl game? What would the sentiment be here regarding Brandon

What if Spartacus had been given a Cessna?

[Globetrotter]

Flip what would you say had we went 2-2 in the last 4 games and not made a bowl game? What would the sentiment be here regarding Brandon

What if Spartacus had been given a Cessna?

Typical answer

[Rollo83]

Defense improved because the last four games were against EMU, BUffalo, Akron and Toledo...no exactly the power teams in the league...and please don't write back and tell me Buffalo is a good football team...or that Toledo with freshman QB was a high-powered offense.

Why not? Buffalo scored points on people, and UT had the best offense in the conference, mostly because of an outstanding back. Did they miss their QB? Of course. Should the performance be completely dismissed. No.

I think Brandon showed a lot this year....with his players. He deserves two years, and more if we win the MAC next year. We could do lots worse.

Both teams only won five games this year...Toledo only 3 MAC wins. "Best offense in the conference?" Are you kidding me? Does CMU, Ball State or even BG's offense get a sniff here? Please don't measure our defense against the Toledo and Buffalos of the world.

[Flipper]

Flip what would you say had we went 2-2 in the last 4 games and not made a bowl game? What would the sentiment be here regarding Brandon

What if Spartacus had been given a Cessna?

Typical answer

To a typically irrelevant question...we can propose hypothetical situations all day long and it would still be a pointless endeavor. We didn't go 2-2 , we went 4-0.

[Globetrotter]

Flip what would you say had we went 2-2 in the last 4 games and not made a bowl game? What would the sentiment be here regarding Brandon

What if Spartacus had been given a Cessna?

Typical answer

To a typically irrelevant question...we can propose hypothetical situations all day long and it would still be a pointless endeavor. We didn't go 2-2 , we went 4-0.

The point is are those extra two wins worth an extension? If we can't play with hypotheticals this would be a very conservatively restrained place. As fans all we can deal with is hypos because we dont know everything Greg Christopher, Gregg Brandon or any of the players know.