FIRE THE COACH

zerothehero · Post by **zerothehero** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:14 pm

He did run with it for ten yard losses!

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:22 am

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:Let's hope that's the case. Hell, there were some people around here who wanted to extend him after 2 games this year.

I'll sack up to that comment. I said it. And I meant it.

It was hyperbole -- in the sense that almost no one on earth extends a college football coach's contract two games into the season. But I did mean it, in the sense that if a decision absolutely had to be made immediately following the Michigan State game, I would have extended the contract for three years.

I think we've learned a lot since that game. Minnesota -- the win that inspired that comment -- isn't nearly as talented as we expected. Neither Michigan State nor Western Kentucky are quite as good as I thought. Temple, it turns out, might be better than we thought, but only by a bit.

The Miami game shows why these decisions on coaches contracts are typically made during the bowl season.

This loss stings. Best thing to do is take a deep breath and see what happens next. Whether we are just fans or whether we are Greg Christopher, we don't have a whole lot of choice.

The colossal tower of expectatons that melted down in Oxford, Ohio Saturday continues to leave me tongue tied. I still can't put to words what we saw.

To me, it defies easy explanation, and I don't agree with a lot of the pat answers that I've seen, and that includes coaching.

Are there any halftime adjustments that would have yielded a 33 point swing in the final score?

Would running the ball more really have changed the outcome, considering the evidence we've seen that our team doesn't seem capable of it?

And, yet I also reject the notion that Miami's players are that much more talented than ours.

That's why I'm tongue tied.

It's not exactly at the front of our minds today, but mathematically, the Falcons still have a shot at playing in the postseason. If they win the last six, they will be in a bowl game. This I believe.

My plan might resemble that of Greg Christopher. It is this: I'm going to keep watching, see how close these Falcons can get to the postseason and then decide at that point how I feel.

I've seen some things that truly impress me about Gregg Brandon. The way he has torn apart and rebuilt the Falcon offense year after year, based on the tools he has -- in my mind it shows real smarts, real humility, real innovation and a real burning desire to win. In other words, it shows he's a hell of a coach, at least in that phase of the game. I also tend to think he has been a decent recruiter (which I'm having a tough time reconciling with what we saw Saturday).

I'll close with two more thoughts:

-- I don't call for coaches' heads easily. Last time I did it, I got what I wanted within two days (post Buffalo, 2000).
-- If Brandon's contract is not extended following this season, that's tantamount to saying he's hanging by a thread. That's a big deal, one that could effect recruiting, his ability to keep coaches around, and a lot of other things. I wouldn't take that as lightly as many here seem to if I was the AD.

That's all I got for now.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:43 am

Schadenfreude wrote:
I've seen some things that truly impress me about Gregg Brandon. The way he has torn apart and rebuilt the Falcon offense year after year, based on the tools he has -- in my mind it shows real smarts, real humility, real innovation and a real burning desire to win. In other words, it shows he's a hell of a coach, at least in that phase of the game. I also tend to think he has been a decent recruiter (which I'm having a tough time reconciling with what we saw Saturday).

I, too, think we are at least on par with Miami in terms of talent. I also agree that it does show some creativity to evolve the offense as it fits the skillsets of his players. However, if we accept the fact that he's accurately evaluating the talent we have, and developing a good offense to fit it, then he has done an absolutely abysmal job in recruiting. This offense has become a shell of it's former self, and it doesn't do very much well. What it does do well is one dimensional and easy to defend. MSU figured it out at halftime. BC had the number all game long. Miami followed suit. As I was saying when we WERE winning, we're too damn easy to defend and teams will figure this out.

Sine I don't believe we've done a terrible job in recruiting, I'm inclined to think that we've tampered with offensive philosophies that should've been left well enough alone.

Whichever of these rings true neither exemplifies great coaching. We're lacking at either the recruiting end, the development end, or the gamplan/scheme end. Somewhere in that mess our coaching staff is failing miserably, and they have been since they lost the players from the previous regime.

Schadenfreude wrote: -- I don't call for coaches' heads easily. Last time I did it, I got what I wanted within two days (post Buffalo, 2000).
-- If Brandon's contract is not extended following this season, that's tantamount to saying he's hanging by a thread. That's a big deal, one that could effect recruiting, his ability to keep coaches around, and a lot of other things. I wouldn't take that as lightly as many here seem to if I was the AD.

To your second point I am inclined to agree. I simply do not know how you bring coach Brandon back next year without an extension in hand. I absolutely HATED how we handled the Dakich situation last year, and I don't want to see it happen again. If you're not willing to give them an extension then allow him to seek another job elsewhere.

Keeping a lame duck coach for a season hurts recruiting, hurts player morale, and essentially throws away a season from a development standpoint. As you mention it also makes it very tough to keep Assistant coaches on board, because at some point they're going to start thinking about their livelihoods and look for a better situation.

To me it's a sign of very poor leadership to do that. We have 5 year body of work from which to judge Coach Brandon. What could come of next season to sway things one way or the other? Either you believe he is the right man for the job and you give him 2 more years or you sever ties and find a new coach now rather than prolong the inevitable.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:01 am

Excellent points made by SF and hammb. I agree with both as well. I've said all along that Coach B needs to produce in order to stay on as Head Coach. ALL coaches are hired and paid to produce. It's nothing personal...just business. Everyone is fully aware of what can happen when the results aren't there. I am praying Coach B gets it done cuz I think he's a good, hard working man. I know he wants to win...no doubt in my mind.

Greg Christopher is a smart man. He, I'm sure, will monitor the situation and see how the second half of the season goes.

BG can remember what happened last year and make sure it doesn't again this year, or....

GO FALCONS

BGorDeath · Post by **BGorDeath** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:17 am

The fact of the matter is (does that sound like a pro wrestler?) that GB was as good as gone last year. After losing to Temple and losing out the year, Christopher was going to let him go. However, when Dakich resigned, GC did not want to hire two of the main coaches at once, so GB got a new lease on life. This is what my sources told me (does that sound like Chris Mortensen?).

It is my belief, that if GB does not do a significant impovement, he will be gone with the philosophy of finding another Urban Meyer, i.e. up and coming prospect, and continue to do that when they leave.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:41 am

So are you implying that Christopher was going to offer Dakich an extension but Dakich truly did not want to come back?

NY-BG-FAN · Post by **NY-BG-FAN** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 12:44 pm

BGorDeath wrote:The fact of the matter is (does that sound like a pro wrestler?) that GB was as good as gone last year. After losing to Temple and losing out the year, Christopher was going to let him go. However, when Dakich resigned, GC did not want to hire two of the main coaches at once, so GB got a new lease on life. This is what my sources told me (does that sound like Chris Mortensen?).

What? This makes no sense whatsoever. Whoever your sources are, they are wrong. Considering Dakich coached the Falcons to the end of the season in MARCH, and the last football game was in NOVEMBER, I don't think Christopher was considering letting Brandon go 3 1/2 months after the season ended. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

BGorDeath · Post by **BGorDeath** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:34 pm

NY-BG-FAN wrote:
BGorDeath wrote:The fact of the matter is (does that sound like a pro wrestler?) that GB was as good as gone last year. After losing to Temple and losing out the year, Christopher was going to let him go. However, when Dakich resigned, GC did not want to hire two of the main coaches at once, so GB got a new lease on life. This is what my sources told me (does that sound like Chris Mortensen?).
What? This makes no sense whatsoever. Whoever your sources are, they are wrong. Considering Dakich coached the Falcons to the end of the season in MARCH, and the last football game was in NOVEMBER, I don't think Christopher was considering letting Brandon go 3 1/2 months after the season ended. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

Well, this crazy talk is what I have heard from reliable sources. Anyhow, the GB watch is on for real.

Class of 61 · Post by **Class of 61** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:03 pm

footballguy51 wrote:I didn't get to watch much of the game, but I did listen on the radio, and from what they were saying, Miami had the short routes covered and we weren't running any deep routes. They kept saying that since Sheehan had all of this time and nobody open to throw to, he should tuck it and run a few times to loosen up the defense. Does anybody here agree with that analysis of the game?

To be honest, Tyler looked a bit "gun shy" early on...as if a bit afraid to throw or force a pass. To a certain degree that's understandable after last week's disaster agains BC. But I DON'T think our O-line played as well as they can...they were being beaten by a straight 4 man rush for the most part...with a few blitzes thrown in. Throw "deep routes"? You have to have time to do that, and I don't think we had that kind of time. MU's coach said they worked hard at taking away Sheehan's 1st and 2nd reads...likely our short outs and quick square in over the middle...then the rush beat our guys as he was trying to find a 3rd option... Should Sheehan have run more? Probably, but it's NOT his natural tendency. We came out flat, screwed up after a great opening kickoff return by Williams and it went downhill from there.

Falcon137 · Post by **Falcon137** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:23 pm

There was no excuse for Sheehan taking that many sacks. He broke a perfect pocket several times and instead of throwing it away or taking a 1 or 2 yard gain he took a sack.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:12 pm

BGorDeath wrote:The fact of the matter is (does that sound like a pro wrestler?) that GB was as good as gone last year. After losing to Temple and losing out the year, Christopher was going to let him go. However, when Dakich resigned, GC did not want to hire two of the main coaches at once, so GB got a new lease on life. This is what my sources told me (does that sound like Chris Mortensen?).

Are you sure? Because, for one thing, Dakich (bless his heart) didn't resign. They practically had to drag him out of Anderson Arena after prying his fingers from a Al Mar Lanes cheeseburger.

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:22 pm

Pry his hands off? Those things are so greasy you practically have to glue them to your hands to eat them...

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:28 pm

Also, BGorDeath, do your sources tell you where Greg Christopher was going to come up with $300,000 to buy out Brandon?

Globetrotter · Post by **Globetrotter** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:41 pm

Schadenfreude wrote:Also, BGorDeath, do your sources tell you where Greg Christopher was going to come up with $300,000 to buy out Brandon?

I think the buyout number is less (and I think considerably less) then his actual salary. Someone (Maybe Hammb) had this number when this talk started last year. You can find the contracts on line somewhere.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:07 pm

It was published in the USA Today at one time, but I don't remember the exact figure. It's obviously not going to equal the total salary that he could've earned, though.