Blade Column on Coach Brandon...

Zom · Post by **Zom** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:10 pm

Oh Yeah. Stadium beer. Now I remember. Sitting in Cleveland stadium dressed like a Michelin man poking gloved fingers through fast freeze beer. Well, at least i never had to worry about it dribbling down my chin. I think stadium beer is why I migrated. Or was it the stadium mustard? Someone get me a stadium hot dawg, PLEEEEEEEEEZ

Rightupinthere · Post by **Rightupinthere** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 6:14 pm

Falconfreak90 wrote:
Jacobs4Heisman wrote:All the naysayers and all the supporters will have a much clearer view of Brandon's ability as a head coach in about 4 months.

This is his watershed year IMO, as well as his last chance to win me, and I suspect others, over.
I think that is a fair assessment, J4H.

I'm still trying to determine if I'm a naysayer or supporter. At any rate, I also believe this to be a fair comment.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:30 pm

Flipper wrote:"Brandon doesn’t want to see a repeat performance from his defense, not with a spattering of cheeseheads in the crowd."

This is possibly the dumbest sentence I've read since Touchdown Rockets quit posting over here. The Blade should have let the engravers come to work this morning and locked out Musselman...

I think he was reaching for a witty ending or something. It didn't quite work -- but it wasn't horrible.

There will be cheese-eating surrender monkeys there, I suppose.

BGSUFootballFan · Post by **BGSUFootballFan** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:49 pm

I would say that I am a supporter. Only 2 games keep me from being a HUGE supporter of GB. The 2 games that weigh on my mind the most are those losses to UT. We had a huge lead and blew it in '04, and then lost a heartbreaker at home last year. I know a lot of people dont circle that game as the reason for our dissapointing season last year, but if we win that we would have been playing in the MACC game against NIU. Seeing how a less talented Akron team beat them, lets say we win that game as well. We would be playing Memphis again in the Motor City Bowl, and IMO be the MCB champs. Some people think we got lucky to beat Memphis the 1st time, but as long as they are going to blitz every single down, leaving Chuck and Steve with one on one coverage, Omar is going to pick them apart every single time! So to me, if you change maybe one play in the BG-UT game, not only do we jump to 7-4 but 9-4 IMO, and are bowl champs for the 3rd year in a row. So I am heavily leaning towards the side of supporter for Gregg Brandon, but to allow a total collapse against your biggest Rival in '04, carry over into an OT loss at home in '05, leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and wondering if this season is really going to be as good as I had originally thought!

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 9:26 pm

Valid points, BGSUFootballFan. Those 2 losses to that school up north are as bitter as you can get. Makes me sick to this day. We MUST, MUST win in the Glass Bowl this season. Period.

I am, more than likely, one of Coach Brandon's biggest backers. I know the man has made mistakes in his 3 years as head coach but he isn't the 2nd coming of Moe Ankney, either. Last year was a MAJOR disappointment...everyone knows that. I truly believe Coach learned some things about himself as a coach during the off season as evident in some of his comments about the upcoming season. He took the heat for things that went wrong last season and, I'm confident, will correct those things.

When things don't go well, or as well as they should, the head coach is always the man that must answer. Look at Joe Pa...half the folks in Happy Valley wanted to run the man outta the state 3 years ago. We fans are fickle...we always want to win. I know this...I don't think I would want to be a head coach in college football. It takes a special breed to do that.

At any rate, I do feel this season will shed a lot of light on Coach's abilities and style. 11 more days...about time.

GO FALCONS! BEAT WISKY!!!

BGSUFootballFan · Post by **BGSUFootballFan** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 9:35 pm

I agree FF. Being a college football coach these days is a really tough job. No matter how you slice it up, there in no way possible that all 119 teams can have a successful season, and who gets blamed for that? In most cases the head coach. We fans are fickle to an extent, but its proven in most cases that the most important element in a team start with the head coach. I think Brandon has always been a great offensive mind, but never had the D or ST's to compliment it. I think our DC is one of the best in the country as shown by his previous record and I look for his impact to come through THIS season. Of course with the 2 new kickers its hard not to see how our ST's dont improve this season either. Anyway you look at it, loses to UT are unacceptable, and if we lose again this year that would be 3 in a row for GB. He needs to find a way to win with this team, especially over our closest rivals this season! Cant wait to watch it all unfold!

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:15 pm

Falconfreak90 wrote:I know the man has made mistakes in his 3 years as head coach but he isn't the 2nd coming of Moe Ankney, either.

I'm more worried that he could be the second coming of Gary Blackney.

It's the Journey... · Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:35 pm

God I hope you're wrong on that one!!!!! My first 6 years at BGSU were his last 6. I can't go through that again......

theziggies · Post by **theziggies** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:41 pm

hammb wrote:
Falconfreak90 wrote:I know the man has made mistakes in his 3 years as head coach but he isn't the 2nd coming of Moe Ankney, either.
I'm more worried that he could be the second coming of Gary Blackney.

I think that's a little dramatic. We would do best to remember that Urban Meyer was the exception, not the rule at BG. Coach Brandon has moved a lot of things in the right direction.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 3:37 pm

hammb wrote:
Falconfreak90 wrote:I know the man has made mistakes in his 3 years as head coach but he isn't the 2nd coming of Moe Ankney, either.
I'm more worried that he could be the second coming of Gary Blackney.

hammb,

The key phrase is "could be"...

There are a couple reasons I don't see that happening. One, our recruiting has remained at a high level of success over the 3 years Brandon has been the coach. Blackney, as much as I liked the guy, didn't recruit as well after the initial success he had. Yes, he recruited guys like Josh Harris, Kurt Gerling, Mitch Hewitt and others....great recruits that turned out to be great players. But, more often than not, his recruiting just wasn't there. He didn't seem to coach with the same zeal he had in his first four years. I'm sure his private life took a toll on his coaching as well. You saw the product in the late 90's. We had no depth at all. We fell behind everyone else when we refused to change our style. Marshall came in and turned the league upside down. BGSU didn't roll with the changes and paid a heavy price. It seems to me that Brandon understands the need to change with the times and personnel. That remains to be seen, of course, but he's addressed the things that needed addressed in the off season. We'll see how well those issues have been addressed.

Two, we didn't get the kind of exposure we've gotten in the last few years. We've had more national exposure than in the first 80+ years of the program. People know who Bowling Green is these days. They see our games on TV and the players starting to make NFL rosters on a yearly basis. That never happened during the Blackney years and, in fairness to him, he did not have the opportunity to get that kind of exposure. We are attracting athletes from a major part of the country. Our depth has improved drastically in the last 4-5 years.

It seems to me you don't have a whole lot of respect for Coach Brandon. I don't see how that's possible considering what he's accomplished in his first 3 years as a head coach...his only 3 years as a head coach. Yes, last year was a disaster considering what we expected. It happens to ALL schools. Look at Tennessee and Michigan last year...or Purdue. Teams that were picked to do well that fell flat on their faces. Do I wish BGSU could finish on top every year? Hell yes. But I know that won't happen cuz the MAC is a very competitive conference.

We could go on and on about this and it's cool we can agree to disagree. I know I need someone to balance my all out optimism!

Coach is under contract thru 2008...that gives him 3 years including this season. We'll see what happens.

GO FALCONS!

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:08 pm

Falconfreak90 wrote:
It seems to me you don't have a whole lot of respect for Coach Brandon. I don't see how that's possible considering what he's accomplished in his first 3 years as a head coach...his only 3 years as a head coach. Yes, last year was a disaster considering what we expected. It happens to ALL schools. Look at Tennessee and Michigan last year...or Purdue. Teams that were picked to do well that fell flat on their faces. Do I wish BGSU could finish on top every year? Hell yes. But I know that won't happen cuz the MAC is a very competitive conference.

I have a great amount of respect for Gregg Brandon the man, I think he is a good guy, and is more than willing to talk with anyone about anything. He's a cool guy to chat with. I have an even larger amount of respect for Gregg Brandon the Offensive Coordinator. I think the guy was a wonderful OC, and was almost perfect in every aspect....play calling, plays to utilize certain strengths, plays to exploit weakness of the opposition, and when to call on trickplays.

I don't have a whole lot of respect for Gregg Brandon the head coach, and quite frankly I don't think he's really accomplished that much in his tenure. I don't measure a coaching job purely by wins & losses. Wins are the result of talent coming together with fundamentals, preparation, & leadership. My observation has been, really since the OSU game in '03, that we have not been the most prepared team, certainly not the best lead team, and our teams have been fundamentally putrid for his entire tenure. A great deal of our wins have come from vastly superior talent on our side of the ball (mainly offensively) allowing us to just roll teams. Kudos to Brandon for amassing some of that talent, but you cannot ride talent alone to titles or undefeated seasons. Eventually you have to put forth as much effort into the other aspects of the game. Last year that finally shone through in that we were not as vastly superior talentwise (in some cases because of injuries) that we could afford to forsake the other aspects of the game.

In the past year and a half I have also really hated the way he's been with the media. Starting with the '04 UT game after which I think he completely through Omar under the bus. I heard rumormill stuff that there was a rift created between the two of them that day, but the sources are not good enough for me to fully believe it, still it's a rumor out there. If you are going to create a team where one player is the key to your team and your season, I suggest you don't alienate that player in the media, but that's me. If something needed to be said, it should've been said in the lockerroom. His way with the media continued last year when he whined in both post game shows & in 1470 interviews. He whined about recruiting hardships, etc, and frankly I didn't want to hear it. Recruiting is not the reason why our team was fundamentally awful and pissed down their legs at the first sign of adversity. I don't like to hear my head coach whining in interviews. I also don't like my head coach telling radio guys that he must be doing something right because we're winning games, as he did for years in regards to the defense. It undermines his credibility when he tries to go back to his team and point out areas of weakness.

It's hard to fully explain, but when I watch a football team play I can usually tell within a half whether or not they're a well coached team or not. The score has little bearing on that, but it's the little nuances of the game. The intensity level displayed, the playcalling, the tackling, and special teams performance are very good indicators, to me, that a team is well coached. In most cases I have not seen the types of things that I would like to see in those areas from Gregg Brandon coached teams. Certainly I'm hoping to be wrong, and hoping that he becomes the greatest coach in school history, but improvements need to be made, and I'm not as sold as some others that he can make them.

To me good coaches are born, not taught. The best coaches you know it right away, they don't take 3+ years to "grow into the position."

We could go on and on about this and it's cool we can agree to disagree. I know I need someone to balance my all out optimism!
Coach is under contract thru 2008...that gives him 3 years including this season. We'll see what happens.

GO FALCONS!

We've agreed to disagree for the past couple years, I'm sure we'll get by with another year of it

. I just bring balance to the force

I'm certainly not calling for his head on a platter, but I don't see anything warranting an extension either. If I don't see improvements in the areas I've mentioned, I might change my tune a little, but we shall see. This season is not about W's & L's to me, it's about improving the little things that create a good football team.

JoeFalcon · Post by **JoeFalcon** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:38 pm

Getting back to the media part of the discussion, Amstutz might as well wear teflon (a terrifying image, no doubt).

There is the occasional John Harris column questioning the lack of discipline among them team and the rational behind his player rehabilitation efforts, but not anything sustained or provocative, like a call for his resignation.

Musselman drove them crazy by not towing the Bancroft Street line and they promptly moved Matt Markey over to the UT beat. Their complaints continued, albiet less frequently, due to Markey's supposed BG ties. Most of them still can't get over the fact BG gets any coverage in the paper to begin with.

BGSUFootballFan · Post by **BGSUFootballFan** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:43 pm

hammb, I'd like to hear your opinion on Joe Novak! He seems to be more the type of coach that you would like to see us get and he's certainly had an interesting run at NIU. Started off 3-30 the 1st 3 seasons, but now I think almost everyone says they are one of the best teams in the MAC year in and year out. Whats your take on his coaching style compared to Brandon's and his W/L record compared to GB's?

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:31 pm

BGSUFootballFan wrote:hammb, I'd like to hear your opinion on Joe Novak! He seems to be more the type of coach that you would like to see us get and he's certainly had an interesting run at NIU. Started off 3-30 the 1st 3 seasons, but now I think almost everyone says they are one of the best teams in the MAC year in and year out. Whats your take on his coaching style compared to Brandon's and his W/L record compared to GB's?

To be quite honest I have not watched enough of their games to be certain. About the only NIU games I've seen are against BG. My impression is that his teams do seem to be good fundamentally (especially blocking). He seems to always have a good, if not great, RB the last few years as well.

I was talking about Novak with a buddy of mine once, it's very difficult to guage him. I don't believe that he went from being the awful coach that went 3-30 to becoming a great HC, but perhaps there was just no talent on those teams? Maybe it took him awhlie to grasp recruiting?

I really don't have a lot of answers, and don't know too much about their team from when they were 3-30. In the years that they have been among the best of the MAC they have looked stronger than we are fundamentally, to be sure, but still they have never been able to get over that hump for a title, either.

I'm not sure I'd rate Novak any better than Brandon, but I'd have to watch a little closer. In their matchups I'd say Brandon clearly outcoached him in '03 (his best coaching job, IMO), but Novak clearly outmatched Brandon in '04. In actuality I think they're pretty even, for the most part.

BGSUFootballFan · Post by **BGSUFootballFan** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:58 pm

Fair enough evaluation I guess for not really watching that much. I am just really into watching and grading coaches because I hope to be one someday. I think you seem to have a keen eye for coaches as well, but 3 of the coaches I know and respect the most Urban Meyer, Lou Holtz, and Gregg Brandon you dont seem to care for. I just thought of asking you about Novak because he seems to be more your style from the way you talk, and I thought maybe was someone you looked at as a pretty good coach. Now I'm guessing you dont have a very high opinion of him if you are calling him equal to Brandon. So my next question is who is it that you think is a GREAT coach and why? Perferrably someone who is a current head coach because I know more about them than previous!