GB getting a contract extension

[hammb]

You had to extend or fire him, and I think they did enough this year to deserve another year. That said, I wouldn't give him more than one additional year and I would keep the buyout as low as possible. I still think he's a mediocre or below coach, but they improved enough this season to deserve a shot at a MAC title next year.

I still think anything less than a MAC title in '08 is grounds for firing him. Then again I don't put a lot of stock in being a "consistent winner' against the craptastic conference we play in. The MAC has become a total joke and we've actually lost ground to the rest of the conference in his tenure.

Still, he deserves an additional year to prove me wrong. Do I think he'll do it? No, because I don't think he's a very good coach. At this point though we're paying one of the lowest salaries in D1-A, and you get what you pay for.

Hopefully the buyout is feasible.

[Rollo83]

Well said Hammb. Pretty much sums up my opinion on the situation as well.

[Flipper]

What a load of crap...not even John Cooper had a "win the conference or else" axe over his head.... he just had to beat Lloyd Carr and Gary Moeller...

[Globetrotter]

Coach B deserves the extension. Yeah the GMAC Bowl sucked BiG time but that doesn't erase what the team accomplished during the regular season. Especially with the expectations around here going into the season.

What exactly did they accomplish? What was the record of teams they beat?

Did you sleep thru the season? We were a pretty young team that was picked to finish FIFTH in the MAC East by the MAC Media, went 8-4 and tied for the East title. We kicked UT's ass all over the field and went 1-1 vs the Big 11. We played SEVEN road games and only 5 at home. We had a new starting QB who did pretty well thru the season. As far as the teams we beat...we played who was on our schedule so don't be hating on the kids for something they can't control.

WTF did you expect? Nobody on this site predicted BG would go better than 8-4 and a lot of folks thought the Falcons would go under .500 again.

You think you can do better? It cracks me up how people on this site think they can run this program better than a man who's been in the business 25+ years.

I guess there are some folks that will never give the man credit and that's too bad. Why not go get Moe Ankney out of retirement? Trust me it could be a whole lot worse than 4 winning seasons in 5 years and 3 bowl bids. I'm just tired of the negativity when this program is on the verge of something special.

I do expect to see BG in the MAC Title game this fall....

If all of what you state in the beginning is true, and I dont argue that it is not, then who put us into this position?

Also, That Minnesota victory is not a quality win. They were not very good at all this year.

[1987alum]

If all of what you state in the beginning is true, and I dont argue that it is not, then who put us into this position?

Globetrotter: Put us in what position?

[hammb]

You think you can do better? It cracks me up how people on this site think they can run this program better than a man who's been in the business 25+ years.

I guess there are some folks that will never give the man credit and that's too bad. Why not go get Moe Ankney out of retirement? Trust me it could be a whole lot worse than 4 winning seasons in 5 years and 3 bowl bids. I'm just tired of the negativity when this program is on the verge of something special.

I do expect to see BG in the MAC Title game this fall....

I know I shouldn't get into it, because I think we just long ago agreed to disagree on this issue, but I just can't help it.

I don't live under any notion that I could do a better job running a D1A football program than Gregg Brandon has. Nor do I think he's the worst coach imaginable, as you pointed out Moe Ankney was much, much worse.

My problem is that so often some of you throw Moe out there when others talk about not giving Brandon a lifelong contract. I know Moe did an awful job, but comparing GB to one of (if not the) worst coaches in BG history isn't that good of a reference point. Yes, it could be much worse than what we have with Gregg Brandon, but my point all along has been that it could be much better as well.

When I look at GB's tenure I see a guy who inherited a program near the top of the MAC, and it was a time when the MAC was as good as I can ever remember it. In the 5 years hence we've become a middle of the road MAC team, all the while the MAC has become one of (if not the) worst conferences in 1A football.

I'm on board with an extension to give the man one more year, and I don't like "lame duck" seasons. Still, I would keep the buyout as low as possible and I would fire him the second we were out of contention for the MAC title.

This is clearly a case where you get what you pay for, and I'm not sure you can do better than Brandon at his current salary point. I do think, however, that there is more money in our alumni base than most people realize, and I think Christopher is going to find that money. If we're going to commit to D1A football (and the Sebo shows we are) then we should commit to paying a legit D1A coaching salary. If we're going to start paying a legit coaching salary I definitely think we can do better.

I stand by my opinion that's been voiced for the past 4 years. If Gregg Brandon were a good coach he would not be here. I know I'm in the minority, but I'm quite happy looking for new coaches every couple years because the big boys keep plucking our successful guys away. Looking for a "lifer" is more than likely settling for mediocrity. We may not like it, but that's the reality of it; especially at our current salary point.

FWIW, I disagree entirely that this group is "on the verge of something special". I don't see competing for & winning MAC titles "special", I see that as "expectation." We're barely even on the verge of that, let alone something truly special. Maybe my sights are set too high, but I believe with proper leadership at the HC spot this program can dominate the MAC. We've got one of the best facilities & some of the best tradition in the conference. Competing for MAC titles once every 3-4 years is setting the bar too low, IMO.

[Falconfreak90]

I don't care if MN was good or not last season. It was a Big Ten team on the road with a QB starting his first game. I'll bet Miami would have liked to beat MN last year...seeing as it was MN's only win. Hindsight is always 20/20...at the time, it seemed to me like everyone here was jacked about the win. Now you're going to say it wasn't a quality win cuz of the way MN turned out? Please. I'd hate to see what you'd say had we lost.
And Wisky only beat MN by 7.

hammb,
We're cool to agree to disagree. I don't recall saying to give Coach a lifetime contract...I'm quite happy with a 2 yr extension (if that's what it is). It shouldn't be longer than 2 yrs, IMO>

And I agree we should be competing for MAC titles on a yearly basis...I expect that. It bugs the crap outta me that we haven't been able to win one since 1992....

As far as the rest of the MAC...is there another coach you'd rather have right now than Brandon?

We'll find out soon enough if we have something on the verge of special or not.

[1987alum]

I'll jump in, too, though I do feel we've been over this territory.

I agree that comparing Brandon to Ankney isn't a fair comparison, so let's look deeper.

Brandon is seventh in all-time wins at BG. He will almost certainly surpass Warren Stellar next year (needs two wins) and that will sit him squarely behind, in order: Perry, Whittaker, Blackney, Stolz and Nehlen. It will take at least two good seasons to get past Nehlen, though he already has as many winning seasons as Stolz and Blackney.

His winning percentage is fourth among BG HCs.

Now, among MAC coaches, there are som interesting comparisons.

He and Brady Hoke are now second in seniority among MAC coaches, with Amstutz being the "dean" of the group. Not surprisingly, he has the second most wins in the group and the second most bowl appearances.

I know we all like to talk about BG's tradition, but the recent tradition (and by recent I mean the past 20 years or so) has been a few really good years punctuated by a stretch of, at best, mediocrity. I would love for us to dominate the MAC for 10 years straight, but we have to start somewhere. I choose the 2008 title.

[hammb]

As far as the rest of the MAC...is there another coach you'd rather have right now than Brandon?

Possibly Solich, but even then I'm not sure. I think Amstutz is a better coach than Brandon, but I don't like the shady way he runs his program, so I wouldn't take him either. I do like what little I've seen from Gill & the guy at Temple, but I'll need to see more before I anoint them anything.

On the whole, though, I just don't think there are really any good coaches in this conference. The good ones we have had in recent years have moved on, the ones who remain just aren't that good. This conference is getting what it pays for with coaching. I think we can do better, and I think most teams in the conference could do better, if they were willing to start paying their coaches a legit D1A salary. There are plenty of quality head coaching candidates that would rather stay on as assistants at big programs than come to the MAC schools, because they'd be forced into a paycut.

The MAC needs to make a real financial commitment to the position and start pulling away the great assistants from the BCS schools. Yes, they'll likely leave in 3-4 years, but those will be successful years. If you're willing to pay you'll have no problem finding another good coaching candidate, especially after somebody sees that it's possible to win their and advance. Right now our conference has put themselves in a price point where the only candidates they can get are the very young/green coaches (i.e. Urban), the guys that are previously run out of a big program (i.e. Solich), or assistants from the mid major level (i.e. Brandon). Not surprisingly this is NOT the best pool of talent for finding the best coaches. Up your payscale and you'll start landing fish from the best pool of coaching talent...then the conference will start to regain some respect.

[Falconfreak90]

Comparing Ankney to Brandon is a fair comparison. Both were here 5 years and look at the results. Why isn't it fair? 87, as you pointed out, GB compares pretty favorably to all the coaches BG has had over the years. Do we give Moe a free pass and tell him it was ok he took a BG team that won 2 MAC titles in 82 and 85 (and barely missed titles in 83 and 84) & totally flopped for 5 unimpressive seasons? Including the worst BG season I've ever seen in 1988? Talk about embarrassing. Look in the media guide or check out TG's site to see the scores that year. Moe could recruit with the best of them...but he couldn't coach on game day to save his life. I was there....enrolled in '86 and graduated in '90.

I am gonna stop at this point because we all have our opinions of Coach Brandon and that's ok...and good. He's a good coach, his players graduate and when they step out of line and break rules, he punishes them. Can we do better with another coach? Possibly. And we can certainly do a whole lot worse. But that ain't part of the equation at the moment. Coach B is the HC of BGSU today and will be for another 2-3 years (more than likely).

Can we just start the season TODAY????

[hammb]

Comparing Ankney to Brandon is a fair comparison. Both were here 5 years and look at the results.

I do think it's perfectly fair to compare Ankney to Brandon. What I don't think is fair is using Ankney's futility to justify Brandon's accomplishments.

When evaluating somebody's job performance I'm not sure that comparing them to the worst possible example is the best way to do it. To the point I don't think anyone, even the most vocal detractors, would say that Brandon is not a better coach than Moe Ankney. Just because things could be worse does not mean that they also could not be better.

[Flipper]

Neither the 2001 nor 2002 teams were near the top of the MAC. The 2001 team lost at WMU and Marshall and at home to Miami. They beat a Toledo team that was without it's starting QB and sat quite a few regulars early in the game.

The 2002 team lost to NIU, UT, and USF...the only good teams they played all year. In fact, Meyer beat exactly one team above .500 in his tenure here.

We are by no means a middle of the road MAC team. We fininshed in a tie for e the divisional championship and went to a bowl last year...that's not middle of the road. WE had one "bad" year where we won only four games. When you look at teams like UT, Miami and NIU, I think you'd have to say that our rebuilding was a heck of a lot less painful than their's.

People like to point to 2005 as a major disappointment...to an extent it was, but that team also had the fewest returning starters of any MAC team that year AND we lost the key to our offense for a big chunk of the season.

There's a consistent pattern of overstating Meyer's contributions here and understating Brandon's. This is especially true of the job GB did in 2003. Fine...call for the head of a successful coach here all you want. But you keep in mind what has happened to other programs in this conference and what has happened to this program in the past.

Be very careful what you wish for....

[Warthog]

Flipper, you say we are not a middle of the road program. Yet, since the last time we appeared in the MAC title game, half the other teams in the conference have made an appearance. And with Buffalo and Eastern basically being non-factors, I think that leaves us squarely in the middle of the pack. You can spew forth all the "we tied for the east division titles" you want. But the fact is we weren't playing for the title so tieing for the division means nothing.

And you praise Brandon for the job he's done and cut down anyone who praises Meyer by saying his team's weren't that good. Are you serious? The flaw you point out for Meyer's teams (not beating anyone good) is the trademark of Brandon's program.

In the six years prior to Meyer taking over, BG won just 23 games. That's an average of less than 4 per season. Meyer takes over that program and wins 8 and 9 games his first two seasons. His job was a lot tougher because of where the program had fallen to. Brandon took over a program that averaged 8.5 wins the previous two seasons and led his first team to the MAC title game. After that, it was a steady decline for three seasons.

[Warthog]

Oh, and going to a bowl game does not make him a good coach. Almost half the teams in I-A make a bowl game now. When you get to play Buffalo, Kent, and Temple every year, you are basically half way to be bowl eligible by default. The bowl system is so watered down now that qualifying for a bowl does not mean you have a good team.

[Warthog]

But you keep in mind what has happened to other programs in this conference and what has happened to this program in the past.

Be very careful what you wish for....

You mean keeping mediocre coaches like Ankey and Blackney around too long? Yep, I can see us heading down that same path.