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From what I understand Coach GB and the current staff will be back next year. The program did not go as anyone thought it would for 2006. The team performed very poorly in a very weak division against teams that were not competitive themselves. So what is the outlook for 2007? If we continue our path as Coach Brandon always refers to then we might be in for another disappointing season. After talking to a few players during and after lunch today and witnessing the anxiousness of which they departed the team bus after the Toledo game. They all agreed they were very miserable and glad the season was over with. It appears as though the coaches have done a superb job of taking away the players desire to play, perform and be there on the team. So how does this situation get fixed? How do you motivate or inspire athletes who have lost all confidence in the staff and their approach to football. This is not a slam, but I'm worried that if we go into the 2007 season with this level of moral we can only expect the worst again. They said the coaches appear at times to be clueless about decisions or what to do during the season which is what directly contributed to the frustration, disappointment and bad plays.
What can the coaches do to rekindle the 2007 Falcons desire to perform? They need help, seriously...

I would suggest that you urge the players you're talking to to either take their concerns to the AD or a student representative, or to do their absolute best to get behind the staff and work their guts out in the offseason, or both.

If they don't want to do it, then you should.

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:I would suggest that you urge the players you're talking to to either take their concerns to the AD or a student representative, or to do their absolute best to get behind the staff and work their guts out in the offseason, or both.

If they don't want to do it, then you should.

Yep, I agree and I have encouraged them to take 'valid' concerns to the coaches. But I'm looking for something more constructive than destructive, suggesting that I play will only make matters worse... working your guts out is a plus, but learning the game and becoming smarter athlete that can execute usually wins out.

are they starters? Do they know what is expected of them by the coaches?
Are there specific areas that they don't feel they're getting enough instruction on to make an improvement?

If there's any confusion about these types of issues, they should definitely talk to the coaches. I don't care what you do for a living (and this is these kids college job) you have to have a clear understanding of your supervisor's expectations.

If it's a matter of having no confidence in the abiltiy of those above you to teach and lead...welcome to the reality of life. The best thing you can do in that situation is work hard and do exactly what you're told to do (as long as you aren't harming yourself or anyone else.). You never know...the stupid idea from the idiot you work under could be a work of genius that you aren't capable of understanding

Players play...coaches coach...if the coaches can't coach, they likely won't be coaches much longer. If the players can't play..they won't play. it's really pretty simple.

Once you have lost a team, its almost impossible to regain what is necessary to be competitive again.

ie. MSU, Cleveland Browns, FSU

If your players quit on you, your season is over, and likely your tenure at the school.

I think Flipper is closer to being correct. It is time for some of these players to QUIT whining, step up and take a leadership role, and do what is expected of you and taught to you. Not one person thought Mick McCall couldn't coach when we had Omar, nor has anyone said they thought Stud couldn't coach "O" line, and many of the rest of the staff have been thru some very successful seasons, and personnel as well. It is time to do what Urban did when he got here and get RID of the whiners and malcontents, and get on with the program! This bit about running to mommy (ie the AD) everytime things don't go as planned is getting old and tiring and it is time for some of these players to look in the mirror.

Overstreet23 wrote:
The program did not go as anyone thought it would for 2006.

Er, not here. Couldn't disagree more. It was about right on the money for me. We had a sophmore QB. In fact, freshman and sophmores at all the skill positions. A burtal schedule. We lost our entire offense last year. We played, what, something like 29 freshman! Freshman kicker and punter.

Who really thought we would be in contention this year? Anyone who thoutht we would, PM me - I have a great deal on some cheap swampland in Arizona.

Good golly, this young inexperienced team really was only out of one game all year. They are going to be fine! This ain't the Big Eleven. Even Toledo had to reload this year.

JWEIII wrote:

Overstreet23 wrote:
The program did not go as anyone thought it would for 2006.

Er, not here. Couldn't disagree more. It was about right on the money for me. We had a sophmore QB. In fact, freshman and sophmores at all the skill positions. A burtal schedule. We lost our entire offense last year. We played, what, something like 29 freshman! Freshman kicker and punter.

Who really thought we would be in contention this year? Anyone who thoutht we would, PM me - I have a great deal on some cheap swampland in Arizona.

Good golly, this young inexperienced team really was only out of one game all year. They are going to be fine! This ain't the Big Eleven. Even Toledo had to reload this year.

People hide behind the youth issue. I've seen young quarterbacks do exceptionally well. The fact that we had such talent at QB in the past, yet have nobody ready to take-over now, means that either the talent overcame the coaching deficit in the past, or the coaches failed to do part of their job.

Oh, its cute and easy these days, to ignore what remains an integral part of the job. That is, to prepare not only for this year, but for ever year. Sure you have ups and downs. But people are so drunk on the new system of hiring newbies that win a lot, move on, and are replaced with the latest flash in the pan, we seem to think that is how it is done.

BG did not lose all of its offense after last year. Clearly there were Rbs left, there were plunty of quality recievers, who had played behind the previous starters. And none of that explains why the spec. teams suck so badly after so many years. Where Urban Meyer once and still puts his best players on the turf, Brandon doesn't, and the results haven't been the same since. As for the kicker, nice try, but I don't pin most of the blocked PATs, Field Goals, or Punts on him as much as the guys in front of him.

Who would have thought we should be in contention this year? I would. What being in contention this year would have meant, is not being as bad as Miami, Toledo, among others. It isn't to say we should or could have won the MAC, we should have been close enough, and playing well enough, to have been there in case others failed.

“Good golly” this team was only out of one team this year? How about the three games they were hardly in at all, which they were utterly lucky to win. How many blocked or missed PATs/FGs against UB were there? BG should have lost that game about 8 times in the final few minutes and the OT. The EMU game was about as bad, and these were HOME GAMES. Sure, they got it up for Wisc., but still lost. The Ohio State game might as well never have been played, given how little energy either team showed. Those teams looked like they both wanted to go home. OSU wasn't going to lose, we weren't going to win, and the media, local, national, and otherwise, is sooooo impressed with the quality of BGSU football these days, they utterly ignored the game. Some actually, in print, called it the “bye” week. The non-televised IU game got more press.

People didn't come calling to hire GB in his first two years, exactly because they wanted to know if he could sustain things after Urban left. That means beyond the first two years. And thus far, he hasn't. He peaked right after Urban left, there have been reservations expressed about him here and in the stands since day one, and we are only seeing validation of that now.

And lets even go further, lets ignore the record, all drink the Kool-Aid, look at this from another direction.

GB shows little ability to handle the public aspects of his job. His comments in the press leave you wondering what, if anything, is going on in his head. The demeanor of his team reflects on him. And that isn't good either. The energy and external enthusiasm for BGSU football has been slipping in ways obvious and subtle for years. Urban at least knew that presentation was a big part of the entire process. Like it or hate it, the PR aspect of being a head coach is huge in this fancy new modern era.

If I were looking at him as a possible head coach, I'd pass in part because he lacks the skills needed to handle a major college program, and I'm not even talking about his on-field qualifications.

NWLB,

Sorry, but BG did lose all of its offense from 2005...Jacobs, Sanders, Sharon, Pope, Lane and Warren. 5 All MAC performers and one, Lane, that should have been honorable mention. Partridge was banged up half the year and Parks missed the last 6 or so games with a broken leg. Macon sat out as a RS. O' Drobinak was the TE but rarely saw a pass until the Miami game. We all had high hopes for Bobby Thomas but he didn't have the grades for 2006. The only other player that had rushing yards in 2006 besides the departed SR's was AT, with 170 net. 170 out of 1,581.

Receiving? Sharon and Sanders had 130 of the 249 catches themselves. Pope added 27 and Lane had 24. Derrick Lett had 11, Thomas 4. The leading returning WR, Partridge, had 23, Ruiz had 11, Parks 9, O' Drobinak 9. That's a total of 52 catches. We lost about 80% of our RC yards.

I think we did lose all our offense from 2005. Practically a whole new group of players to build chemistry.

When we played our best player on STs in 2005, Pope got hurt.

thank you for making some sense Freak for all these people that are freaking out.

Good logic freak! I agree that we did underachieve this year and in certain instances, the play was uninspiring. However, I'm not ready to give up the ship! This is a young team. This team will get better next year.

In spite of what many of us want to be, the reality of the situation is that we are not financially on par with Big 10 schools or Pac 10 or whoever spends millions more on recruiting than we do. Therefore they will go the extra mile to find kids who can contribute immediately. We have to get some kids who may take a bit longer to develop. I'm not saying they are not talented kids, but nevertheless, most of them need a bit of seasoning before they are ready for prime time. And we have a few of them ready to go for next year. Looking forward to the Spring game and renewing my season tickets!

Who among us would be happy to hear the team got off the bus happy with the game or this season? It wasn't fun to watch, it couldn't have been fun to participate - these guys have tasted succcess, but this was sour.

GB's biggest challenge is facing him square on. Recruiting will not be easy, and building a winning attitude will be critical to next year's success. We are all concerned that things will get worse, but all hope, and some of us believe that next year will be much better.

Obviously coaching is about results. This is a good staff. First they must make a plan that they believe in and then get the team to totally buy into or our worst fears will come to pass.

Go Falcons!

factman wrote:I think Flipper is closer to being correct. It is time for some of these players to QUIT whining, step up and take a leadership role, and do what is expected of you and taught to you. Not one person thought Mick McCall couldn't coach when we had Omar, nor has anyone said they thought Stud couldn't coach "O" line, and many of the rest of the staff have been thru some very successful seasons, and personnel as well. It is time to do what Urban did when he got here and get RID of the whiners and malcontents, and get on with the program! This bit about running to mommy (ie the AD) everytime things don't go as planned is getting old and tiring and it is time for some of these players to look in the mirror.

Well...I was trying to put a positive spin on that notion
I'm not saying there aren't problems, but I've always felt that you should check your package before you start worrying about someone else's...

Flipper wrote:

factman wrote:I think Flipper is closer to being correct. It is time for some of these players to QUIT whining, step up and take a leadership role, and do what is expected of you and taught to you. Not one person thought Mick McCall couldn't coach when we had Omar, nor has anyone said they thought Stud couldn't coach "O" line, and many of the rest of the staff have been thru some very successful seasons, and personnel as well. It is time to do what Urban did when he got here and get RID of the whiners and malcontents, and get on with the program! This bit about running to mommy (ie the AD) everytime things don't go as planned is getting old and tiring and it is time for some of these players to look in the mirror.

Well...I was trying to put a positive spin on that notion
I'm not saying there aren't problems, but I've always felt that you should check your package before you start worrying about someone else's...

You said "package."

Falconfreak90 wrote:
Practically a whole new group of players to build chemistry.

Hmmm. So you made the point I was TRYING to make in one sentence. Show off.

We started from scratch this year. And while the results sting a bit, it wasn't all that unexpected (to me, anyway).

This probably will open whole new can of worms, but I was more upset with last year's results than this years. But I'm kind of strange.

Anyway...