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To accuse Coach Brandon of "abysmal coaching jobs" and making "assinine" calls is in my opinion going way too far.

The main point about our program and our Coach at this point as I see it is that the expectations of fans have increased far beyond what any of us would have predicted a few years ago. Who would have thought that some fans would seriously be hoping that the Falcons might be playing in a BCS Bowl.

I'm just as disappointeed as anyone in some of our shortcomings over the last couple of years. But I also am thrilled at how far we've come and what I see as an even brighter future. And I frankly am disturbed by some posters hurling insults at our team and our coaches.

I agree Salsa...

Brandon is 23-8 in his 2 1/2 years as HC. We've won Back to back bowl games, been ranked nationally and had EPSN Gameday here on campus. We've beat up on BCS teams and scored gobs of points.

Winning the MAC title has been the thorn in our side. I think that changes this year.

Is he perfect? Heck no. Who is? But he's got our program heading for things we could never have dreamed of just 5 short years ago.

I, for one, am happy he is still the coach. Sure we don't win EVERY game but we expect to win EVERY game. That's a key. And it sure is a heck of a lot more fun these days than the last half of the 90's. Talk about brutal watching some of those games.

Brandon has things to work on. He's been a Head Coach for less than 3 years. He has my support, as always.

GO FALCONS!!

They're my words, and I apologize if I offended you.

I stand behind my opinions. The coaching in the 3rd quarter of the Wisconsin game was abysmal...meaning VERY BAD.

I called the opening kickoff return play asinine (my bad on the spelling). According to dictionary.com, the definition is "Utterly stupid or Silly" I'd say that's a pretty succinct way of describing that kick return play.

I rarely, if ever, use such verbiage when discussing players, but I have no reservations against the coach. He's a state employee who's in a high profile job. He's likely in the top 5% of highest paid state employees. I think he realizes quite well that he's in the public eye and criticism will come. I will continue to voice my opinions about the job he's doing, which in my opinion still leaves room for improvement.

Hammb,

I don't really want to get into a debate but there's a comment in the other "props" thread you made that's been bothering me this morning. I wasn't going to address it, but since you posted in this thread it's prompted me to approach the subject.

In the other coaching "props" thread, you made a comment along the lines of, "in the Ohio game we simply executed better in the second half" and seemed unwilling to even acknowledge that the coaching staff could have made any adjustements in the second half or at least any adjustments that you could see. I don't know what you have against Brandon but it appears you have a chip on your shoulder when it concerns him.

I mean after the Wisconsin game and last season's UT game, I seem to recall you stating more than once that Brandon was out-coached by Alvarez and Amstutz. But when we dominate OU in the second half this past weekend, you quickly discount any notion that Brandon perhaps out-coached Solich and instead propose the alternative that we simply executed better. To me at least, you seem to very quick to demean the man when we have had a poor performance in the past, and very slow to give him any credit what so ever when we play well like against OU. I wonder if you would even entertain the notion that Brandon at least coached on a level similar to Solich this past weekend in the second half? I'm not asking that you put him on a pedestal, but simply to take a step back and realize he has done a great job on occasion with this football team and Ohio this past weekend was one of those occasions.

And I don't see anything wrong with hammb's post. That opening kickoff was a bonehead play. Just get someone back there to return kicks the right way. BJ Lane does pretty well on KR's and I think Corey Partridge would be good. We didn't need smoke and mirrors to beat the Bobcats.

The Head Coach is the man in charge. He's the one that must answer the questions.

But I still support Brandon, as always.

Man! This is a GAME. He is a COACH. He's not perfect, no one is. I hate to break it to you all, but we are still Bowling Green. We are still in the MAC. I don't think Holtz, Schottenheimer, Carroll, or Stoops is going to show up on campus any time soon. I think that we have come leaps and bounds since 2000. Remember that? 3 wins? Losing to Buffalo?

So just pour yourselves a nice refrigerated glass of White Zinfandel, take a Midol and relax...

Falconfreak90 wrote:And I don't see anything wrong with hammb's post. That opening kickoff was a bonehead play. Just get someone back there to return kicks the right way. BJ Lane does pretty well on KR's and I think Corey Partridge would be good. We didn't need smoke and mirrors to beat the Bobcats.

We might as well see if the smoke and mirrors works. That way, when we need it, it will be there.

CapitalFalcon wrote:So just pour yourselves a nice refrigerated glass of White Zinfandel, take a Midol and relax...

I totally agree with Salsa save for his comment ----- he sees "an even brighter future." Wow, with this high powered offense flying the coup at the end of the season and with an exceptionally weak recruiting effort this year, where is this "even brighter future" coming from? I see a major rebuilding job needed for next year, and BG may have to settle for being just another MAC team for a while at least. OF COURSE, I HOPE I'M DAMN WRONG!

Dr. Bucko wrote:I totally agree with Salsa save for his comment ----- he sees "an even brighter future." Wow, with this high powered offense flying the coup at the end of the season and with an exceptionally weak recruiting effort this year, where is this "even brighter future" coming from? I see a major rebuilding job needed for next year, and BG may have to settle for being just another MAC team for a while at least. OF COURSE, I HOPE I'M DAMN WRONG!

Whoa , guys you have to admit not even I have been this pessimistic about falcon football.

Dr. Bucko get a grip. :duh:

UK Peregrine wrote:Hammb,

I don't really want to get into a debate but there's a comment in the other "props" thread you made that's been bothering me this morning. I wasn't going to address it, but since you posted in this thread it's prompted me to approach the subject.

In the other coaching "props" thread, you made a comment along the lines of, "in the Ohio game we simply executed better in the second half" and seemed unwilling to even acknowledge that the coaching staff could have made any adjustements in the second half or at least any adjustments that you could see. I don't know what you have against Brandon but it appears you have a chip on your shoulder when it concerns him.

I mean after the Wisconsin game and last season's UT game, I seem to recall you stating more than once that Brandon was out-coached by Alvarez and Amstutz. But when we dominate OU in the second half this past weekend, you quickly discount any notion that Brandon perhaps out-coached Solich and instead propose the alternative that we simply executed better. To me at least, you seem to very quick to demean the man when we have had a poor performance in the past, and very slow to give him any credit what so ever when we play well like against OU. I wonder if you would even entertain the notion that Brandon at least coached on a level similar to Solich this past weekend in the second half? I'm not asking that you put him on a pedestal, but simply to take a step back and realize he has done a great job on occasion with this football team and Ohio this past weekend was one of those occasions.

UK,

I honestly do not go out of my way to demean the man or discount the notion that he out-coached solich. I think my biggest problem is that I have a hard time making any coaching judgements when we were so clearly superior athletically to the Ohio team. I certainly don't think Brandon was out-coached Saturday, not in the least. The only questionable moves, in my mind, were the opening kickoff, stupid punt formation, and using Pope when he's obviously not healthy. Other than that we ran a pretty straightforward scheme doing what we do best. The biggest difference that I noticed between the two halves was that the open receivers were now getting the ball more accurately thrown to them, and were hanging onto it. Our guys were open downfield in both halves, but we seemed to execute better in the second half. I didn't see any thing that really popped out at me to make me believe that we changed anything from one half to the other. In the end we were playing Ohio, who we clearly outclass physically and just were not capable of keeping up with us.

In the UT game last year I think Brandon overthought himself. The running game was working wonderfully and we could've used it to run some clock with our big lead. Instead we came out throwing, and UT was able to pressure Omar and force some 3 & outs...before you knew it they were winning. In the Wisconsin game we made offense look easy in the first half, but didn't make adjustments when Wisconsin started blitzing more, again getting pressure on Omar. In both of those games I think we needed to counter the opposition's adjustments by doing something to better protect the QB...we failed to do so, and IMO, were outcoached in both games.

I do not have a chip on my shoulder regarding coach Brandon, at least I don't think so, I really want the man to succeed. Life would be much easier if we got somebody who was a great leader & wanted to stay in BG for years. I would definitely be all the happier for it. I think my propensity to be negative about now stems from the fact that we've seen this before. We have a penchant for not playing well against our good opponents, but looking like geniuses against the lower tier. I'm not so quick to laud praise after two decisive victories when my most vivid memories are still of the Boise debacle, and falling short against Wisconsin. If Coach Brandon gets his guys ready to play and we go out and play with the same intensity and discipline at Miami, I'll be quick to give praise, I assure you. Perhaps its a lack of respect for the Ohios & Temples of the world, but I don't really feel that beating them to a pulp says much about the abilities of our team or coaching staff.

I genuinely hope that Coach Brandon grows as a coach and becomes what many feel he can. I really don't think he's an awful coach, but I do think he's a middle of the road coach. The guy seems to be a good recruiter and a very good judge of talent. While I fail to heap praises for our wins over OU & Temple, the reason I do not is because he's been able to assemble a talent pool that is vastly superior to most of the MAC. HUGE props for that, as it is the most important part of college coaching. The guy is a genius, offensively. Our offensive scheme is top notch and even the most talented college defenses struggle to contain it. It is fun to watch, and we're never out of a game with weapons like we have. The guy has obvious strengths, and I'm hoping that he continues to work on his weaknesses as a coach, and becomes what everyone else seems to think he has. Right now I'm just not quite sold he is the coach that can consistently bring home MAC titles...starting with this year would be a good way to change my opinion...

falconboy: Have to agree with you there!

Dr. Bucko: We will not rebuild, we will reload.

Turner, Thomas and Partridge have me feeling good about the Falcons' future. O'Drobinak and Ruiz are back next year and it appears Macon is headed for a redshirt this year, too, so he'll be back. Watson, Nystrom and Kent will be back, too. Others, I'm sure, are waiting in the wings.

EDITED TO ADD: Lichtensteiger, Markray and Lanning... man, our line should be good for a long while...

I am curious why we haven't heard hammb critiquing the fine coaching of his "other " favorite team. I for one, sure as hell wouldn't trade coaches and have to watch that boring football. Sure he can get better talent overall, but that doesn't have much to do with the coach!!!

factman wrote:I am curious why we haven't heard hammb critiquing the fine coaching of his "other " favorite team. I for one, sure as hell wouldn't trade coaches and have to watch that boring football. Sure he can get better talent overall, but that doesn't have much to do with the coach!!!

For starters my "other" favorite team is the Browns. I'll discuss them any time you want, but not on a BG board.

If you're talking about the Buckeyes, I root for them, and am a fan, but not nearly as much as I am of the Falcons. I rarely read or post on Bucknuts, I'm more interested in BG football. As for why you don't hear me critiquing that coach it's because this is a BG board. If you want to have a discussion about him in the Other Schools forum (which I rarely visit) I guess we can.

FWIW, I was a huge fan of Tressel initially, but right now I'm lukewarm on him at best...I think he's a better motivator than Brandon, not nearly the offensive schemer, and even more hesistant to make adjustments. His teams are much more sound fundamentally on defense & STs, but flounder cluelessly on offense. Worst of all he runs a dirty program, worse than Cooper ever did. Cooper's guys didn't go to class. Tressel's guys get in fights, with drugs, or "borrowing" cars. I assure you I don't think Jim Tressel is god's gift to coaching either.

1987alum wrote:Turner, Thomas and Partridge have me feeling good about the Falcons' future. O'Drobinak and Ruiz are back next year and it appears Macon is headed for a redshirt this year, too, so he'll be back.

I'm worried about wide receiver depth. Patridge is good... but who comes next?

I noticed Ruiz was split out quite a bit. I found that interesting. Is he going to evolve into a possession receiver. Does he have the speed for that?