Seen enough to decide

[BGSU33]

I'm as sick and tired of seeing this program lose as anyone is. It's been six long seasons of well, misery might be the applicable word. However, after seeing how God awful this program looked on offense, defense, special teams and coaching against just even our MAC peers last season, I will admit, I have seen improvement. While that improvement has been inconsistent and hasn't even resulting in a single MAC win, the mere fact that it exists in phases is proof that it exists. It hasn't translated to wins against the MAC, where I think we've now lost 12 consecutive conference games. But it has led to a win over a Big Ten school, a solid FCS team and has had us within a score of a few FBS opponents. Last year we were getting obliterated by our own conference foes. and had zero chance in any of those games. That said, it sure would be nice to see us somehow win just one MAC game this year to stop that bleeding,

But I believe there's one thing we all can agree on, and even Loeffler would agree with because he's constantly telling us where we are as far as being on schedule, next year the wins must start to happen. Period. End of story. Next year is 100% without a doubt the make-or-break season for this staff and program as a whole. If we're in this mess again next year, it'll prove this all isn't working and this staff can't get it done. But, if we turn the corner, then the process will prove it can be trusted. I do believe this program is about where it should be as far as on schedule myself. Year 1 was a wash, and Year 2 was beyond a disaster. Year 3 has shown improvement. Not great improvement, but there's been development that wasn't there in Years 1 & 2.

That said, next year must....MUST....start resulting it wins. And IMO, this upcoming offseason will be massively critical in seeing that come to fruition, with one major hurdle to clear by simply retaining our players. A rebuilding program simply can't suffer all the defections it has (and we've had a lot of them) and expect to rebuild when you're constantly trying to soldify a shoddy fountaining with cracks and holes all through it. Retaining (and further developing) our eligible players is of extreme importance after this year, as is adding a few key transfers, which will be critical as well. If we do both, then I do believe we'll see us moving out of the MAC basement. I admit I'm more critical of this program than complimentary of it. I hate losing more than I enjoy winning and that isn't always fair. But I do think the pieces are in place to see this thing finally getting going already. I have trusted this process. But come season's end, the honeymoon will be over. Next year is going to tell us a ton about a lot of things concerning the team, the staff and the program.

[MarkL]

PJ Fleck laughs at your 5 year turnaround plan...

I'm really glad you mentioned Fleck because I needed a more recent example than Urban Meyer. When there is a rapid turnaround from dumps to good in college football, it really boils down to one of two situations. One, the new coach inherited a far better situation than the prior record would indicate, and this is Jim McElwain. Two, the new coach is special, and that's PJ Fleck.

McElwain inherited a winning culture, a hard working team, and some good talent. The problem the year prior was an utter lack of senior leadership. He inherited a decent situation, then plug and played some key transfers and won handily against an awful MAC west. Fleck on the other hand recruited elite level talent to Kalamazoo, unlike anything ever seen before or anytime soon. He was an elite recruiter and a great fit.

Loeffler is not a special coach, that is a rare breed. There's only so many Urban Meyers and Nick Sabans out there. So the only way for a rapid turnaround would be if Loeffler inherited a better situation than the record would indicate. Nope. Jinks was fired for a myriad of off the field issues ranging from arrests to other attrition, and also fielding an absolutely terrible product on the field.

2019 was a bad season with some highs. 2020 was Mike Jinks' legacy. 2021 is the first season where the program is undoubtedly Loeffler's, and consequently the first season of any real improvement in his tenure.

And a thought I've had is to find another coach as bad as Jinks and see the aftermath. I came up with Mike Locksley and his disaster at New Mexico. Won just two games in 2 years and part of a third. He punched an assistant in front of the team. He lost to an FCS. Disaster.

In the subsequent three years, UNM won a total of 11 games. Two over FCS. Four total conference wins. No wins of note. Year four they finally broke through with a winning season.

It takes time to recover from a disaster like Mike Jinks. We can dissect what we like and don't like about the process. I personally would prefer an RPO heavy offense, or maybe a run heavy out of the spread like the early Malzahn years at Auburn. But regardless of how you feel about the method, it takes time. It takes basically an entire generation of players coming and developing.

[roguewarrior]

Yes. We are so significantly improved from last year that I suspect much of the board has amnesia. A year ago we lost all our games by four or more possessions and this year have been in all of them. Nobody thought we would do better than 2-3 possession beatdowns one after the next.

Loeffler will be back next year. And a call to relieve the coach coming from the parent of a player sounds like a sour reaction to a kid not getting playing time, like happens in high school all the time where the parents just know how much brighter they are than the coaches. Just how it sounds, correct me if I'm wrong.

If you are referring to me, you are wrong. Read what I wrote. I didn’t call for him to be fired, I said he will not be a championship level coach.

[MarkL]

You start up a thread saying enough, you say he's not a legit winner, say you see no way forward except mediocrity, and starting a thread this way is just encouraging everyone, including the trolls, to pile on. Read between the lines, see what this thread really is. Coming from a player parent that just sounds like small town football I know better than the coach mindset.

[guest44]

Or it sounds like a parent who watched the game. We all watched the terrible clock management at the end. We all watched BG use the entire play clock down by 15, in the 4th quarter. Loeffler is 5-19 or 3-19 vs FBS opponents. The quarterback who is going to win the MAC and “go to the moon” in year 5, isn’t on campus. Sounds like the rare case of a parent who is just observing what’s actually happening. Also, MarkL are you so sure his son doesn’t play a significant role?

[roguewarrior]

You start up a thread saying enough, you say he's not a legit winner, say you see no way forward except mediocrity, and starting a thread this way is just encouraging everyone, including the trolls, to pile on. Read between the lines, see what this thread really is. Coming from a player parent that just sounds like small town football I know better than the coach mindset.

Apparently those with an actual, real vested interest are not allowed to have an opinion. Maybe I should adopt a “big town” mindset, whatever that is.

[zete]

We are better than we were two years back and better than we were last year. Yes, we still suck, but we don t suck like we did before, so even though we still suck, we are showing progress in the world of sucking.

[pdt1081]

You start up a thread saying enough, you say he's not a legit winner, say you see no way forward except mediocrity, and starting a thread this way is just encouraging everyone, including the trolls, to pile on. Read between the lines, see what this thread really is. Coming from a player parent that just sounds like small town football I know better than the coach mindset.

Apparently those with an actual, real vested interest are not allowed to have an opinion. Maybe I should adopt a “big town” mindset, whatever that is.

We read what you post here. What does your kid hear from you?

[Flipper]

Three years is a really long time...it's 36 months...1095 days...how long do you guys think we need to see lousy football before you decide it's time to move on? I get that the situation was bad here, but it's been three years. OK...the OLine is awful...who put us in the position to have no one with real game experience in those spots? Mike JInks? Dino Babers? nope...Did Mike Jinks recruit McDonald and decide to play him even though he continues to make Godawful throws with his little league baseball delivery? Nope. Tiny incremental improvements like not giving up 62 to Kent but still losing or staying within 20 of Akron....Akron...for God's sake...Akron...I don't that's nearly enough progress to show after 3 years on the job.

And stop complaining about how young we are. We're halfway through the season...you shouldn't be seeing the same mistakes you saw in week one

He isn't going to win...and by win I mean a conference title nd sniffing the top 25...results that are historically achievable here...pull the fricking plug and find someone who didn't steal their playbook from Lloyd Carr

[TommyG]

It’s a 5 year contract and we still owe him over $1 million dollars. No chance he gets fired until after 2022. That’s if Moosbrugger doesn’t add any years to the deal…which is something he definitely is dumb enough to do.

[guest44]

It’s almost shocking Moose didn’t offer an extension after the Minnesota game. A game that if played this Saturday would have Minnesota favored by 30 again. A fluke for the ages. He would have staged a photo op near the W flag & the cheesy MAC pirate flag, and announced it all over social media. It would have gotten so many likes despite still being 5-17 at the time.

[mbenecke]

It’s almost shocking Moose didn’t offer an extension after the Minnesota game. A game that if played this Saturday would have Minnesota favored by 30 again. A fluke for the ages. He would have staged a photo op near the W flag & the cheesy MAC pirate flag, and announced it all over social media. It would have gotten so many likes despite still being 5-17 at the time.

Ah, 44. You're back.

You got quiet for a month there. Had nothing to say when we beat Minnesota in September, then suddenly came back this weekend. Where did you go? Stop watching sports for a month? Forget your password? Or feeling sad because BG has had a pretty solid month of success deparment-wide?

You contribute nothing positive here, but I guess trolls gonna troll.

[guest44]

After the loss to Akron, I figured I’d give it a week to see if that too was a fluke. Then I watched Loeffler manage the clock worse than a 12 year old on Madden on Saturday and figured I’d stop back.

When Eastern Michigan and now arguably Akron have better football programs than Bowling Green State University, the department isn’t doing a whole lot right. It’s been nearly impossible to do for multiple decades.

[Flipper]

It’s a 5 year contract and we still owe him over $1 million dollars. No chance he gets fired until after 2022. That’s if Moosbrugger doesn’t add any years to the deal…which is something he definitely is dumb enough to do.

If the Jinks contract is any indication...we only owe him that if no one else will hire him after we can him.

[roguewarrior]

You start up a thread saying enough, you say he's not a legit winner, say you see no way forward except mediocrity, and starting a thread this way is just encouraging everyone, including the trolls, to pile on. Read between the lines, see what this thread really is. Coming from a player parent that just sounds like small town football I know better than the coach mindset.

Apparently those with an actual, real vested interest are not allowed to have an opinion. Maybe I should adopt a “big town” mindset, whatever that is.

We read what you post here. What does your kid hear from you?

He is a good soldier. He remains positive. He is discouraged at the losses, not so much the why. I don’t pile on the coaches with him, at all. It won’t do any good for him ( and frankly does nothing good for us out here!). If and when they move on from Loeffler, we will be gone by then anyway. The benefits of playing here for 4 years are the same, regardless of wins, loses or on the field glories.