Brandon to IU?

transfer2BGSU · Post by **transfer2BGSU** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 6:39 pm

factman wrote:This is funny........a certain basketball coach with Indiana ties(which will remain unnamed) and I were talking about this exact situation a couple of weeks ago, and he said Indiana would come after Coach Brandon.
I said, "Would you take the job?" His response was, "Hell NO!"

I can believe a coach at Indiana State may not want to move up to Bloomington.

CapitalFalcon · Post by **CapitalFalcon** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 10:25 pm

bgsuman wrote:Yeah, no way he would go to IU, bad move.

I don't know if I would say that. I remember a LOT of people on this board saying "No way Urban goes to Utah! It's a lateral move at best. He's got a great thing going here! WHat could he possibly do at Utah?" and on and on. Never say never...Unless you're Urban, then you can say anything you want and do the exact opposite.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 8:43 am

factman wrote:This is funny........a certain basketball coach with Indiana ties(which will remain unnamed) and I were talking about this exact situation a couple of weeks ago, and he said Indiana would come after Coach Brandon.
I said, "Would you take the job?" His response was, "Hell NO!"

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 8:45 am

MotownFalcon wrote: I don't know if I would say that. I remember a LOT of people on this board saying "No way Urban goes to Utah! It's a lateral move at best.

It is possible you could dig deeply into the archives and prove me wrong, but I seem to remember most of my "lateral move" argument was directed at Wyoming, not Utah.

Not sure what Wyoming would pay, but that aside, it truly would be a lateral move.

Utah, as we see in retrospect, is a role model, not a peer, and they had a whole lot more money to throw around.

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:03 am

Wyoming had big $$$ too. I think they were paying in the $400k per annum range

orangeandbrown · Post by **orangeandbrown** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:17 pm

No, a lot of people here said that it was a lateral move. I remember it clearly. Our expectation was he would leave us for a big job, and we didn't see Utah as that. Before this year, many people wouldn't have.

Of course, in many ways it wasn't lateral. Pay wasn't lateral. And Utah is more of a state focal point than BG...to put it mildly.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:38 pm

orangeandbrown wrote:No, a lot of people here said that it was a lateral move. I remember it clearly. Our expectation was he would leave us for a big job, and we didn't see Utah as that. Before this year, many people wouldn't have.

Fair enough.

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:52 pm

I feel the need to weigh in here.

I really can't believe no one else has said this, but if Gregg Brandon has an ounce of sense in his skull (and I've met him, and think he does), he will not even entertain offers for two more years. Why you may ask? Two words:

OMAR JACOBS

"Now, what is this crazy Bleeding Orange SOB talking about?" you may be asking yourself. Well, what I mean is, when you have a sophomore quarterback leading the country in just about everything, who, as a sophomore at a mid-major (that really chaps my ass) had some considerable (albeit peripheral) Heisman buzz going you go NOWHERE.

Right now, Brandon is not going to get offers from big-time schools like Washington, Stanford, etc. Indiana and to a lesser degree Illinois are not big-time schools, and the move would not be worth it at this point for Brandon to either of those. If he goes now he goes to a middle of the road program and will not be able to find a talent like Omar anywhere that might hire him at this moment.

Sooooo, if he stays here and rides out the next two years with Omar (and Omar will stay for four years if Brandon does), and it turns out that Omar is a Heisman finalist or even wins it, and he does something great with Bowling Green in the meantime, he's going to be making a lot more money and a much more prestegious program if he stays. Its better for him long-term.

I think he's smart enough to realize that what happened with Urban was, at least to some degree, a fluke. You just don't go from non-BCS school to non-BCS school and wind up in the Fiesta Bowl two years later. It just doesn't happen (except for in this case). He's seen what is going on with Urban now taking a non-BCS school to a BCS bowl (insomuch as ND going nuts to get him), and I think any rational human being is able to recognize that Brandon definately has the talent here at BG to make a similar splash in the national spotlight (even if not to the same level).

Plus, look how long Hoeppner has been in Miami although schools have been trying to get him for years. He's waited and now he's being offered Big Ten jobs.

So, there you have my detailed explanation of why Gregg Brandon will not only be here in 2005, but 2006 as well. Now, tear away at my argument!

orangeandbrown · Post by **orangeandbrown** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 7:36 pm

Bleeding Orange wrote:I feel the need to weigh in here.

I really can't believe no one else has said this, but if Gregg Brandon has an ounce of sense in his skull (and I've met him, and think he does), he will not even entertain offers for two more years. Why you may ask? Two words:

OMAR JACOBS

"Now, what is this crazy Bleeding Orange SOB talking about?" you may be asking yourself. Well, what I mean is, when you have a sophomore quarterback leading the country in just about everything, who, as a sophomore at a mid-major (that really chaps my ass) had some considerable (albeit peripheral) Heisman buzz going you go NOWHERE.

Right now, Brandon is not going to get offers from big-time schools like Washington, Stanford, etc. Indiana and to a lesser degree Illinois are not big-time schools, and the move would not be worth it at this point for Brandon to either of those. If he goes now he goes to a middle of the road program and will not be able to find a talent like Omar anywhere that might hire him at this moment.

Sooooo, if he stays here and rides out the next two years with Omar (and Omar will stay for four years if Brandon does), and it turns out that Omar is a Heisman finalist or even wins it, and he does something great with Bowling Green in the meantime, he's going to be making a lot more money and a much more prestegious program if he stays. Its better for him long-term.

I think he's smart enough to realize that what happened with Urban was, at least to some degree, a fluke. You just don't go from non-BCS school to non-BCS school and wind up in the Fiesta Bowl two years later. It just doesn't happen (except for in this case). He's seen what is going on with Urban now taking a non-BCS school to a BCS bowl (insomuch as ND going nuts to get him), and I think any rational human being is able to recognize that Brandon definately has the talent here at BG to make a similar splash in the national spotlight (even if not to the same level).

Plus, look how long Hoeppner has been in Miami although schools have been trying to get him for years. He's waited and now he's being offered Big Ten jobs.

So, there you have my detailed explanation of why Gregg Brandon will not only be here in 2005, but 2006 as well. Now, tear away at my argument!

First, Omar isn't going to win the Heisman. No way.

Second, if Brandon gets the chance to double his salary---it won't matter WHO his quarterback is. He's gone.

Hoeppner had a lot longer connection to Miami than Brandon to BG.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 8:30 pm

orangeandbrown wrote:First, Omar isn't going to win the Heisman. No way.

I don't share your absolute certainty.

Our conference has had a couple players invited to New York over the years. I think Randy Moss was in '97, as well as one of the Marshall quarterbacks.

Omar Jacobs may turn out to be the most dominating player this league has seen since Randy Moss. His numbers are absolutely freakish already. What is it, 36 TDs against three interceptions?

If Omar could lead us into the Top 25 in each of the next two years, I think Omar would have a real shot at the Heisman his senior year.

After all, he would have advantages Randy Moss didn't have: More television appearances, and all the credibility the MAC has gained since Moss was drafted by the Vikings.

Omar would need a near-perfect storm to win... but I see silver-lined clouds gathering already.

Second, if Brandon gets the chance to double his salary---it won't matter WHO his quarterback is. He's gone.

There are some flaws in Bleeding Orange's arguments. For instance, I don't at all buy that Omar would automatically stay if Brandon did.

But I think BO presents a fair point here.

Let's say, hypothetically, that the best potential opportunity that comes Brandon's this year is Indiana. We all know that's a tough place to succeed.

Why wouldn't he wait a year -- knowing he's got one hell of a team coming back, including Omar -- and see if he can pull off something better, such as (hypothetically) Illinois?

orangeandbrown · Post by **orangeandbrown** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 8:46 pm

Schadenfreude wrote:Let's say, hypothetically, that the best potential opportunity that comes Brandon's this year is Indiana. We all know that's a tough place to succeed.

Why wouldn't he wait a year -- knowing he's got one hell of a team coming back, including Omar -- and see if he can pull off something better, such as (hypothetically) Illinois?

I would agree with this part of the argument. I don't think he would take a completely dead end job like Indiana rather than wait for something better. But I also don't think Omar is going to impact the decision if a good offer comes along.

As for the Heisman...I stand by my phrase. The MAC will never win a Heisman.

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 8:59 pm

Good QB's come along every year. I would suspect that a good coach taking a job at a bigger school would figure he could find a pretty good one soon enough-- particularly a coach who has built a rep for being an offensive genius.

Conversely, given the fact that a QB's career can always end on the very next play, I can't see a coach turning down a solid opportunity because he has a good or even great QB on his team right now.

Is Indiana a good opportunity? It's a Big 10 job, the campus is nice and they're talking about making some facility improvements. Somebody will think that makes it a good opportunity. Would Gregg Brandon?

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:03 pm

orangeandbrown, I think you need to review your thinking as a fan of BGSU. To say that it is impossible for Omar to win a Heisman is foolish. In 1997 and 1999 Marshall players were invited to NY -- and this was well before the MAC began getting the kind of national attention we've garnered in the last few years.

Also, and I mean no disrespect, but I truly hope that Brandon is not as shortsighted as you are -- for his own sake. He has a lot more to gain by staying at BG for a year or two and trying to win big with all of the talent he has here and pick up a big-time job rather than an Indiana-type position. And yes, no matter what you guys may want to think, Omar will play a major role in this decision. Brandon would by no means stay if he didn't have a stud at qb going into next season.

I don't mean to be so blunt, but I think the two of you are just plain wrong on this one. People are already recognizing Omar's talents nationally, and I see him making a run at the Heisman in the next year or two. Probably not next year, but probably in his senior year. I think it would be too difficult for any non-senior at a non-BCS conference school to win a Heisman. He may have an outside shot at an invite next year, but he probably won't win it.

Call me what you will, but I think the possibility of a Heisman and a major national statement will keep both Omar and Brandon here.

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:08 pm

orangeandbrown wrote:
Schadenfreude wrote:Let's say, hypothetically, that the best potential opportunity that comes Brandon's this year is Indiana. We all know that's a tough place to succeed.

Why wouldn't he wait a year -- knowing he's got one hell of a team coming back, including Omar -- and see if he can pull off something better, such as (hypothetically) Illinois?
I would agree with this part of the argument. I don't think he would take a completely dead end job like Indiana rather than wait for something better. But I also don't think Omar is going to impact the decision if a good offer comes along.

As for the Heisman...I stand by my phrase. The MAC will never win a Heisman.

The thing of it is, though, that there aren't going to be the big-time jobs going after Brandon this year. There are too many proven and big name coaches out ther -- Meyer, Zook, Willingham, Davis, etc. -- for the big jobs this year. Brandon will be getting Indiana-type offers this year. In a year or two though, providing he shows improvement (especially in getting a team up for a big road game), the big-time jobs will start coming his way.

orangeandbrown · Post by **orangeandbrown** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:13 pm

I didn't say he needed a big-time, I said he wouldn't take a dead-end job like the one in Indiana. He would go to Utah, for example, or Brigham Young.