FIRE THE COACH

[1987alum]

This weekend is so important...a loss may provide Brandon with a tougher task asa head coach than a win. Two divisional losses will just about kill our chances for a title. What happens then? Last year the team packed it in after the Temple loss.

Correction, last year's team packed it in before the Temple loss.

Good points, though, Flip. Saturday will be a very telling game for Coach Brandon. How the Falcons play will tell a lot about the direction this program is heading.

No offense to you '87, as this is directed at a group.

But how much more evidence do we need to see what direction the program is headed? Every time Brandon fails a "watershed" test, most of the people that said that was the game that will tell us what we need to know, then say that the next game is the one that will really tell us where we're at.

I heard countless times before last season that it was THE watershed season for Brandon. It was a miserable failure. I know that every game gives us more information and will lead every individual in one direction or another re their feelings on Brandon's competency as a HMFIC. My question is this -- at what point do you make up your mind? Does it take us going 4-8 again? What if we go 6-6 but lose to Toledo? What if we go 5-7 but beat Toledo?

Basically, what season result would it take for you (the "royal" you), to have confidence in Brandon moving forward?

j4h: As usual, no offense taken.

The Miami game taught me two things, I think. 1) Some incredibly great performances (particularly our passing game and ability to generate a large turnover-ratio advantage) covered up a lot of weaknesses in this team. 2) As hammb points out, Brandon does not seem able to consisently get the team fired up and/or focused.

At this point, here's how I would grade the rest of the season:

Confidence that we're growing as a program and ready to get back to the MAC elite: Run the table.

Proof we're stuck in the second tier of the MAC, in danger of sliding further down: Win most of our games, maybe even Toledo, but lose another important MAC East game (Buffalo, Kent).

Proof we're really starting to swirl the bowl: Drop more than one remaining MAC East game, even if we beat Toledo.

Sign of the Fourth Horseman's arrival: one or no wins the rest of the season.

[Falconfreak90]

Coach B has 1 year left after this season on his contract. I feel he has to produce a winning season and MUST beat UT this season to keep his job. That's how I see it. Coaches are hired to win...period. When they don't, they get replaced. Nothing personal, just bidnezz. I feel Greg Christopher will be much more aggressive than Paul Krebs would have been in this area. GC knows the program must win and be successful to move forward...and keep butts in the seats. We have all the tools for success with the Sebo Ct, new turf, Doyt upgrades...ect. Get it done or else...and that's how it should be at BGSU. We have a rich tradition and much success over the years...we should strive for title contention and bowl bids on a yearly basis. Sure there will be down years but I'm tired of the roller coaster this program has seen since the 70s. Five good years followed by 4 down years. 4 good years followed by 6 losing seasons.

Consistently winning...BGSU should strive for nothing less.

I am so pulling for Brandon to get it done...I really am. If it doesn't happen, we need to find someone that will get it done. I want that MAC Trophy in the worst way.

BG still has a legit shot to win the division. I think Miami will lose at least 2 East games...this can be similar to 05...three teams tie at 5-3 (BG, Akron and Miami) and the Zips won the tie-breakers. Nobody in the East is better than the next team this year. Just like hoops, the MAC will eat itself up this year. I fully expect CMU to lose a couple games yet. They ROLLED Ball State in Muncie two weeks ago and yet LOST to North Dakota State AT HOME, 44-14 earlier in the year. How do you explain that one? Simple. One team showed up ready to play and one didn't. Just like this past weekend...

Don't let it happen again. Go out full force and leave it on the field.

IMO, I think these next 6 games will either make or break Coach B here at BGSU. I sincerely hope he gets it done.

BEAT KENT!

[MACMAN]

This weekend is so important...a loss may provide Brandon with a tougher task asa head coach than a win. Two divisional losses will just about kill our chances for a title. What happens then? Last year the team packed it in after the Temple loss.

Correction, last year's team packed it in before the Temple loss.

Good points, though, Flip. Saturday will be a very telling game for Coach Brandon. How the Falcons play will tell a lot about the direction this program is heading.

No offense to you '87, as this is directed at a group.

But how much more evidence do we need to see what direction the program is headed? Every time Brandon fails a "watershed" test, most of the people that said that was the game that will tell us what we need to know, then say that the next game is the one that will really tell us where we're at.

I heard countless times before last season that it was THE watershed season for Brandon. It was a miserable failure. I know that every game gives us more information and will lead every individual in one direction or another re their feelings on Brandon's competency as a HMFIC. My question is this -- at what point do you make up your mind? Does it take us going 4-8 again? What if we go 6-6 but lose to Toledo? What if we go 5-7 but beat Toledo?


Basically, what season result would it take for you (the "royal" you), to have confidence in Brandon moving forward?

I have little faith in GB...I thought he made some changes, and he did, but seems to be neglecting other aspects of those changes....I am convinced now he is not wired right to be a HC. i dont know exactly who could replace him, thats not important but we need to start looking, and we should consider keeping GB as an OC andlet him get back to his roots and maybe return to the "genius" he was as an OC.

[Falconfreak90]

MACMAN,

I truly don't understand how you cannot have faith in GB but have all the faith in the world in Scott Paluch.

GB isn't without faults and should shoulder the criticism of the team's poor play last week. It's his job.

It's up to Coach as to how this season plays out.

BTW, I don't understand this statement you made...

" i dont know exactly who could replace him, thats not important but we need to start looking"

What wouldn't be important about a replacement? Maybe we can coax Moe Ankney out of retirement with that thinking.

[NWLB]

Bowl wins put hardware in a case, and thats a nice thing.

Rankings give you lots of PR, and vanish the instant you lose, or the season ends.

OOC wins are like rankings.

Conference titles state that you are the best among those teams you play every single year. That you are not a fluke. That you aren't a middle-range team in a less regarded conference. They make you a champion playing in a bowl, not "that team that couldn't win or get to their own conferences championship."

You don't put up "We Were Ranked 18 The Third Week of the Season" banners.

Being a bowl champion doesn't rate you higher than the conference champion.

Being a conference champion means your rivals AREN'T.

I think people would have a very different view of the conference title race if Toledo were winning it every year and having that fact rubbed in their face. As it is, they've won a lot more of them than we have since 1992, and they ALSO have the rankings and bowl games to go along with it.

I want bowl wins and rankings like everybody does. But I want them as window dressing at the end of a championship season in the MAC. I can tolerate having one without the other, but only as a consolation, not the prize itself.

[Flipper]

Bowl wins, big OOC wins and rankings build your profile beyond the MAC's footprint. The MAC shools play second or third fiddle in their own markets, achieving things like we did in 2003 and 2004 earns us more respect in places like Florida than winning th econference will in Ohio...

[Schadenfreude]

IMO, I think these next 6 games will either make or break Coach B here at BGSU.

Bingo.

I think if Brandon can get us to a bowl game, then he merits a two-year extension, and he'd probably get it (if not more).

I know some here probably wouldn't agree. Some would let him twist in the wind no matter what he does at this point. But I do think a bowl game merits an extension of some kind. I say two years would be quite reasonable, if not exactly generous.

By bowl game, I mean winning out and finishing 9-3 -- which would practically guarantee a bowl game -- or going 8-4, which could get it done considering the mediocrity in our league this year, but would obviously be chancey.

I'm not sure I want to get into each and every other possible scenario. But I will say that I think a division title would be gravy at this point. I don't have my hopes up for that.

[NWLB]

Bowl wins, big OOC wins and rankings build your profile beyond the MAC's footprint. The MAC shools play second or third fiddle in their own markets, achieving things like we did in 2003 and 2004 earns us more respect in places like Florida than winning th econference will in Ohio...

Isn't Florida the state that gave us the the 2000 Election crisis? Do we really care what people in Florida think? And do we have such a flood of talent from that state, that it makes a difference?

And frankly, the success of MAC players in the NFL does more than rankings, bowl wins, or conference titles.

Its still window dressing. Nice to have, but it really doesn't do much than give people bar-debate fodder. CMU, Ball State, Akron, Toledo, Marshall, and Miami all have MAC titles, and most have more than one, since BGSU last turned the trick. I think settling for less is the same mentality that would have given GB a five year extension a month ago.

[Flipper]

No...you are wrong...success by a few individuals in the NFL does not bring as much notoriety to your program as winning big OOC games and being ranked. Winning the MAC doesn't even get you third billing on the local news...you'll still be behind OSU, Michigan and Notre Dame. Winning a bowl game and getting a national ranking gets you covered by the national media by real reporters with expense accounts, degrees from actual colleges and shoes that match their pants.

Everybody cares about Florida...that's why you've been banned from the state...

[NWLB]

Bah hahahahaha.

Yeah, no. If you are talking about recruiting, the NFL does trump most everything I think. Much as you think otherwise.

All the rankings of all the MAC teams, all the bowl wins, all the OOC wins, none of it has elevated the MAC to some pedestal above most any other conference.

To which I say it is better that we act least win a conference title, rather than focus on fluff.

[Flipper]

Bah hahahahaha.


All the rankings of all the MAC teams, all the bowl wins, all the OOC wins, none of it has elevated the MAC to some pedestal above most any other conference.

Then why is the conference title worth so much to you? I'm at least being consistent in my arguments. I don't think the MAC title is wrth as much as a national ranking...you belittle the conference in an attempt to convince me that the tile is more meaningful. That doesn't make any more sense than using the term "woman" in the same sentence as the phrase "Hillary Clinton"

[Warthog]

I don't think the MAC title is wrth as much as a national ranking...

Flipper, can you explain what you mean by "worth"? A program isn't worth anything, IMO, if it can't win a championship. Rankings are just fluff.

To me, an actually championship won on the field is something that you have proven you are the best. A national ranking is some kind of esoteric measurement drawn up by computers and sportswriters who have probably only seen highlights of our games. You can't argue with the fact that you are the best in your conference when you win the title. You can argue for eternity about rankings.

I'll take the championship any day.

[Schadenfreude]

I'm with Flip. A national ranking -- if sustained at the end of the season -- is a little more meaningful to me than a MAC title. It seems to be harder to do, and it gets more national attention.

I lived through the 1991, 1992, 2003 and 2004 seasons. To me, 2003 was the most meaningful, even though we didn't win the conference.

National rankings get us far more publicity than a MAC title, and publicity helps us build the program.

I would point out that, historically speaking, there isn't a whole lot of either/or to this question. The 2003 Falcons are almost certainly the only program in MAC history to finish in the Top 25 without winning a conference title.

[Lord_Byron]

I'm with Flip. A national ranking -- if sustained at the end of the season -- is a little more meaningful to me than a MAC title. It seems to be harder to do, and it gets more national attention.

I lived through the 1991, 1992, 2003 and 2004 seasons. To me, 2003 was the most meaningful, even though we didn't win the conference.

National rankings get us far more publicity than a MAC title, and publicity helps us build the program.

It's a time thing. The immediate feeling of finishing in the top 25 and winning a bowl game is very satisfying and in the short term, I think I like that feeling better than a conference championship.

However, going back to the Doyt five or ten years after that, it's kind of nice to see the championships up on the wall. It's a more permanent success.

[Schadenfreude]

It's a time thing. The immediate feeling of finishing in the top 25 and winning a bowl game is very satisfying and in the short term, I think I like that feeling better than a conference championship.

However, going back to the Doyt five or ten years after that, it's kind of nice to see the championships up on the wall. It's a more permanent success.

Good point.

For what it's worth, the championships are no longer on the wall. I'm not happy with that.

Maybe someone finally concluded that 1992 was an awful long time ago.