Flipper wrote:How can you disagree that we've been nationally ranked? We have been... You can't say we don't have the tools...clearly we do because we've achieved everything you want except having more fans in the stands. If you need more people validating your choice of schools to be happy...well..that's more your issue than the University's
I am surely not the only one who gets that experience. And I don't need more people validating my choice of schools, If I was the only fan of BG and they were great I would certainly be happy.
I think with Jim Tressell as coach he would build an environment where we were not excited about being nationally ranked once 8 years ago.
I've said it before and still feel this way. I'd take Tressell at BG in a heartbeat. Forgiveness and redemption. While he has done some shady things in the past, the facts remain that he was/is an incredible football coach. Rigging raffles or not reporting tattoos doesn't win you football games on the field.
"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools."
- Ernest Hemingway
GT...Well...we were ranked for large segments of three seasons...not just once. We finished the season ranked once and were were like....27th the following year. But...you cited fans in the seats and the questions other people asked you about BG as a convern...so...are you sure the numbers of people and thier perceptions aren't important to you?
And I do wish to point out that because I'm not arguing the noton that Tressel = instant sucess doesn't mean I buy into it. We don't know if he can win without cheating because he's never won without cheating. For all any of us know he'd come here..sell a few curiosity tickets, lose a bunch and move on. Look at Marshall...they were football powers drawing near sell out crowds every week when they were in the MAC and cheating. They finally stopped cheating and now they suck in a doormat conference like CUSA...
It's not the fall that hurts...it's when you hit the ground.
Personally I can't stand Jim Tressel, because I think he's the biggest hypocrite in college football. I don't doubt that a lot of the crap he's gotten caught with happens at other schools as well, but I'd much rather have an on-the-surface sleezeball like Saban than the guy who preaches integrity and then behind the back is just as much of a slimeball as anybody else out there.
Not to mention hiring Tressel would likely cost a fortune, and there is no way we'd see a return on that investment.
Like Flipper said, I'm not convinced he'll be successful without cheating either. I don't think he's a great X's & O's guy at all. His teams have never been ahead of the curve on either side of the ball with that regard, IMO. His strengths are motivation and recruiting. At both YSU & OSU he was able to pull in the best recruits available and he motivated them to play their asses off. How much of that recruiting & motivation was tied to the extra benefits they got? I don't really know. Sure, he's always been a great coach, but does making him play by the rules cost him his greatest strengths? I really don't see how anyone can know for sure.
hammb wrote: but I'd much rather have an on-the-surface sleezeball like Saban than the guy who preaches integrity and then behind the back is just as much of a slimeball as anybody else out there.
You could be shot for saying such things in my neighborhood I like Saban for these reasons, he tells it how it is and comes off as a real hard ass and perfectionist which he is. Though I would argue him being a slimeball, the amount of work he and that football team did and the awareness they created in tornado relief after 4/27 was pretty awesome.
hammb wrote:Like Flipper said, I'm not convinced he'll be successful without cheating either. I don't think he's a great X's & O's guy at all. His teams have never been ahead of the curve on either side of the ball with that regard, IMO.
I don't know much about what The Vest did with the Penguins, but at Zero State, his schemes on either side of the ball were, at best, adequate. I can't recall the exact game, but I recall an opposing player being asked about stopping a play and they said something like "well, they were in their passing (or running) formation." Not exactly a ringing endorsement of creativity.
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hammb wrote:Like Flipper said, I'm not convinced he'll be successful without cheating either. I don't think he's a great X's & O's guy at all. His teams have never been ahead of the curve on either side of the ball with that regard, IMO.
I don't know much about what The Vest did with the Penguins, but at Zero State, his schemes on either side of the ball were, at best, adequate. I can't recall the exact game, but I recall an opposing player being asked about stopping a play and they said something like "well, they were in their passing (or running) formation." Not exactly a ringing endorsement of creativity.
He is no doubt conservative. But he was an incredible game manager and his record speaks for itself.
Globetrotter wrote:He is no doubt conservative. But he was an incredible game manager and his record speaks for itself.
Conservative or lacking creativity? I question whether or not he is/was an incredible game manager and his record does, in fact, speak for itself, especially his off-the-field record.
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He sold his soul for Maurice Clarett. He wins a National Championship but will forever be connected with the convicted felon.
He sold his soul for Terrell Pryor (who elected to attend "the State University of Ohio because it will help me get to the next level") and he loses his job because of the need to cover-up the actions of his players.
That record is something to be proud of alright.
"The name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back" -Herb Brooks
I love this debate because I think we have 2 firm camps that both make a ton of sense. I think that both of our responses are also heavily influenced by where we live. I am in the heart of Cbus and work at OSU. Every time I mention that Tress might be going to Akron and my desire for him to go to BG people say 1) either that he would never do that and its beneath him or 2) that would put BG on the map.
Globetrotter wrote:He is no doubt conservative. But he was an incredible game manager and his record speaks for itself.
Conservative or lacking creativity? I question whether or not he is/was an incredible game manager and his record does, in fact, speak for itself, especially his off-the-field record.
The guy is a brilliant coach. That can not be really questioned. You don't win that many games without being a really good coach, the guys did not win in spite of him. He is like the Royce Gracie of College Football coaches. He would get ahead and then just hold on until you lost.
I like Saban for these reasons, he tells it how it is and comes off as a real hard ass and perfectionist which he is. Though I would argue him being a slimeball, the amount of work he and that football team did and the awareness they created in tornado relief after 4/27 was pretty awesome.
