Season Wrap-Up/Review

Tricky_Falcon · Post by **Tricky_Falcon** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 3:11 pm

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:All I'm going to say, to avoid going on a bash Brandon tangent, is that I think the success of the last two years was more in spite of the coach than because of the coach.

If you're saying in spite of Meyer leaving I'd agree but if you're saying inspite of Brandon being our coach I'd say you're way off.

Jacobs4Heisman · Post by **Jacobs4Heisman** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 3:14 pm

I'm not saying that Meyer leaving did not have an impact. It had a huge impact, the timing of it especially. I'm just saying that I don't think Brandon has come anywhere close to maximizing the ability of the players he was given. That is the essence of a head coach, and I think he's been lacking so far.

Not that it matters, as I doubt any of us could have done any better, or that any of our opinions matter in the grand scheme of things

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 3:17 pm

JWEIII wrote:I am not using Omar's injury as an excuse for "Brandon" (what ever that means). I am saying that but for Omar's injury this team is in a bowl game this year (for the 3rd year in a row).

What that means is that when I (or others) criticize the coaching staff for something we oftentimes here, "Well they won 2 bowl games, and would've probably gone to another one this year if not for Omar's injury." Not accusing you directly, but there are definitely those here that bring up Omar's injury whenever anyone complains about this disappointment of a season.

Injuries are part of football, and it's up to the coaching staff to overcome them. I'm a Browns fan and we've had some years in recent memory that would make you cringe when you look at the injury reports. Doesn't matter. Get the job done should be the mantra.

Despite 2 bowl game wins, and whatever else this staff has accomplished that may sound good, what I've seen is a steadily declining team in the fundamental areas of football. This has resulted in the steady decline of the overall quality of our team. On top of that we haven't seen more than 2-3 of this staff's recruits step up to become major contributors. Last season we saw some signs that a few young guys will be major players.

San Diego Falcon · Post by **San Diego Falcon** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 3:48 pm

Despite 2 bowl game wins, and whatever else this staff has accomplished that may sound good, what I've seen is a steadily declining team in the fundamental areas of football.

Reminds me of a saying you often here: "Winning hides a lot of things."

Those things weren't able to hide this year.

JWEIII · Post by **JWEIII** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 7:59 am

But he is winning. 3 winning seasons, 2 bowl wins in 3 years. Granted, he can't seen to win the big game (haven't we been down that road before?), BUT who do you want? What is Butch Davis doing?

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:20 am

JWEIII wrote:But he is winning. 3 winning seasons, 2 bowl wins in 3 years. Granted, he can't seen to win the big game (haven't we been down that road before?), BUT who do you want? What is Butch Davis doing?

Cannot say it much better than J4H did when he said we're winning in spite of the coach moreso than because of the coach.

As for who I want. I don't know, I'm not an AD. I would prefer a fiery, young, coach who is looking to make a name for himself. There have to be talented assistants out there that are looking for their chance to lead a program. With our recent success this is certainly a more appealing job than it was when Meyer came here. Butch Davis is out of our league...he'll get big bucks when he comes back to the college ranks, besides he's still getting a paycheck from the Browns so he can afford to wait for that better opportunity.

JWEIII · Post by **JWEIII** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:51 pm

hammb wrote:

Cannot say it much better than J4H did when he said we're winning in spite of the coach moreso than because of the coach.

In your opinion? That's easy to say, but what could possibly support such an opinion?

In the last 3 seasons BG went 26-11 (.702) and won two bowl games. Hmmmmm... (I could name about 100 Division I schools that would take those numbers).

So with a different coach (no one in paticular), BG would have been better. Perhaps 30-7 and 3 for 3 in bowls, including a BCS win! You are right, clearly he doesn't know what he is doing! Fire him now! And get... well... a firey young guy with no experience.

Again, my point is everyone is complaining, but look at the last 3 seasons. We have had it pretty good - what school wouldn't take those results?

Jacobs4Heisman · Post by **Jacobs4Heisman** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:11 pm

JWEIII wrote:
hammb wrote:

Cannot say it much better than J4H did when he said we're winning in spite of the coach moreso than because of the coach.

In your opinion? That's easy to say, but what could possibly support such an opinion?

the only support I have are my own observations. Here are a few that relate directly to coaching.

#1 -- We get consistently destroyed in the third quarter. The third is known as the "coaches" quarter, because of halftime adjustments. We could be up by 30 going into the third and I still wouldn't be confident.

#2 -- We were a fundamentally poor football team.

#3 -- We consistently fail to "get up" for big games, Miami being the exception this year. Immediate examples include NIU and Toledo from last year, along with Boise, Akron, and Toledo from this year.

#4 -- We did not overcome adversity this year. There was a distinct lack of leadership during the WMU - Kent State period this year. It came through loud and clear on the field.

This is not even mentioning the severe problems that I had with the way Brandon has spoken to the media, starting with partially blaming Omar for the Toledo loss last year.

Listen, I don't think we should fire the guy, but I would not cry if he were to leave at any time. At a school in our financial situation, we are in bed with the coaches until they quit or their contract runs out.

Some people are happy with the job Brandon has done, and some are not. It just so happens that negativity is easier to voice than support. Such is life when you are a public person making 6 figures.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:25 pm

I am in agreement with hammb and J4H. We have won despite the coaching. J4H made some great points in his previous post. Here is one I would add. The media picked us to win the MAC this year. That means we obviously had the talent to win. And it wasn't just a bunch of fans drinking the orange kool-aid. This was the MAC media that gets paid to report on football that said we should win it all. We didn't win it all and looked damn bad at times also. With the expectations and talent this team had, you gotta look somewhere when that doesn't pan out. And I look straight at the coaching.

Another example is that stupid punt formation. Anybody could see that it was flawed. Yes, if the punt isn't blocked, we did a good job covering kicks. But... we kept getting punts blocked. I would gladly sacrifice 5 - 8 yards on a punt return in order to not get any punts blocked. Blocked punts essentially are like a return to where the ball is recovered. Factor that into the stats and our punt return coverage sucked. Yet Brandon continually looked the other way and did nothing. One block and you can say it was a missed assignment. Two blocks and I would never use that formation again. How many punts did we have blocked?

JWEIII · Post by **JWEIII** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:31 pm

Warthog wrote:
The media picked us to win the MAC this year. That means we obviously had the talent to win. And it wasn't just a bunch of fans drinking the orange kool-aid. This was the MAC media that gets paid to report on football that said we should win it all.

Another example is that stupid punt formation.

Sorry, but that its the same media that picked OU to finish last in the MAC in hoops last year. Not buying that.

Punt formation? Seriously? He wins 7 out of every 10 games (.702) and back to back bowl games and we fire him for his choice of punt formations?

1987alum · Post by **1987alum** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:35 pm

Warthog wrote:The media picked us to win the MAC this year. That means we obviously had the talent to win.

As a member of the media, I find this comment flattering, though misguided. Not saying we didn't have the talent to win the MAC - I believe we did.

Jacobs4Heisman · Post by **Jacobs4Heisman** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:43 pm

JWEIII wrote:
Warthog wrote:
The media picked us to win the MAC this year. That means we obviously had the talent to win. And it wasn't just a bunch of fans drinking the orange kool-aid. This was the MAC media that gets paid to report on football that said we should win it all.

Another example is that stupid punt formation.
Sorry, but that its the same media that picked OU to finish last in the MAC in hoops last year. Not buying that.

Punt formation? Seriously? He wins 7 out of every 10 games (.702) and back to back bowl games and we fire him for his choice of punt formations?

OU had skads of impact newcomers. Nobody predicted them to explode like they did. As far as talent goes, we were the best team in the MAC last year. Nobody is going to convince me otherwise.

I don't think we should fire him, and we won't (unless he pulls a solich) so it's not really worth discussing. I just don't think we should extend his contract or prevent him from talking to other potential employers unless I see some serious improvement in the areas I mentioned next year.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:45 pm

JWEIII wrote:Sorry, but that its the same media that picked OU to finish last in the MAC in hoops last year. Not buying that.

Not saying the media is always right. Just trying to throw some third party validity into the notion we were supposed to be a great team this year. When a team falls way short of expectations, coaching has a lot to do with it.

JWEIII wrote:Punt formation? Seriously? He wins 7 out of every 10 games (.702) and back to back bowl games and we fire him for his choice of punt formations?

You wanted reasons why one would think Brandon is not a good coach and I gave you a solid football reason. Are you saying that punt formation was a good coaching decision?

Quit living in the past. Did you watch this team this year. It was obvious that this team is regressing, not progressing. Yes we won two bowls, but we have not capitilized on that success to make the program consistently better.

And are you saying that you would rather have Brandon as the head coach over Meyer just because Brandon won two bowl games and Meyer didn't even go to one? Bowl games are no basis to determine how good a coach someone is.

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 2:02 pm

Meyer made his share of coaching gaffes as well. (The fake punt call in 2002 against Toledo really sticks out). He also didn't do a very good job of preparing the team for road losses against USF, NIU and UT that year.

I'm not saying he was a bad coach, I'm simply saying that he made his share of mistakes.....as has Gregg Brandon...

JWEIII · Post by **JWEIII** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 2:05 pm

Warthog wrote:

And are you saying that you would rather have Brandon as the head coach over Meyer just because Brandon won two bowl games and Meyer didn't even go to one?

Not what I'm saying. What does Urban Meyer have to do with this?

So who do you want? Everyone says he does this wrong... he does that wrong... he screwed that up... but has no input (other than he stinks).

SCOREBOARD! .702 winning percentage. I don't care if he has the kicker punt sideways and refuses to wear pants on the sideline. Win me 21 of the next 30 games (.700) and I'll name my first born Greg... or Brandon (does he know he has two first names?).