ISU vs CWU thread

[biobengal]

Griz discussion on whether ISU is the worst BSC team in the last 25 years.
Obviously, this isn't true... not even the worst ISU team in the last couple years.

http://www.egriz.com/grizboard/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=38876

 

[ISUDude]

Several posts have asked how things need to be changed, here is a crack at it:

1) Wipe the slate clean- that means all the coaches. Not saying that any of the coaches are good or bad, but as one said earlier, they have lost the faith of the team (a group comprised principally of z kids). No holdovers on the new staff. Target a position coach (wr, db, etc) at a winning D1 program. I would start by targeting Utah, boise, and a montana (a coordinator from mon). The money that we can offer would be similar to what they make already. They will come because they want the head coaching experience for a resume. They will come because by nature coaches are arrogant and think they can fix it. Shoot 120k isn't too shabby. Coming from a D1 program they understand the makeup of the monster (money games, apr, recruiting, academics, the pressure). By targeting utah/boise, they also understand the regional cultural, social atmosphere. things like missionary kids, grayshirts, polynesians, etc. Why not go to former bengal, kyle whittingham or gary anderson, explain the situation and ask to talk to their coaches. Get them as an advocate for us.

2) Assistant coaches- with your new hc, bring in another couple of position coaches from a winning D1 program as your coordinators. We are putting 45-48 k into our present 2, plus the same to cullen(the real defensive coordinator!!!), lump all that together and split the majority for 2 coordinators and that's 50-60k for them. To round out the staff, go to the regional D1 schools and get their ga's. Ga's do all the same work but for nearly no pay. So the 30k that we can offer will be to them like hitting the lottery, plus they are looking to land a full time job... Everyone wants that job to be at a D1 university. So we go to cal, byu, asu, wyo, csu, usc, etc and get their best recruiting ga's to fill out our staff. What we will end up with is a hc who has been emersed in winning and running a program such as utah with coordinators who are young but hard working. And a staff that will work and do whatever they can, doing the dirty work, and will be grateful for the salary that we can offer. Plus by getting people familiar with the local area, plus other areas (denver, arizona, california, vegas) we can recruit in varied markets and find the best local and outta state kids. In addition, the staff would be required to visit every high school in the state personally each year. Not just having guys come to camps, but be in their schools. Renting a car isn't that expensive and canvasing areas with multiple coaches means you can double or triple the guys in one car and hotel room and really get stuff done for cheap. We would have the hardest working staff in the country.

3) Apr/academics- in D2, you aren't under as much pressure in this area and don't really have to deal with it. This has been apparent since z has gotten here. While this is a collaboration with the advising/academics people in the admin., how much attention you pay to it is all on the staff. Just look at the number of guys that are ineligible, have had troubles, etc since z has been here. The new staff must have set guidelines for discipline and accountibility, something that is lacking now. This must be a strict policy. Urban meyer does class checks on players. I just read about him standing up in a class when his player walked in late, he chewed him out in front of everyone and said that if he was late again he would lose his scholly (he had talked to the teacher previously to say that there may be a outburst). Having each position coach out doing regular class checks on their guys doesn't cost money or take much time, but their guys will always be in class. Really paying attention to class schedules and syllabi, so that the coaches know when assignments are due and can followup in their weekly personal mtgs with each player about the econ 101 test, etc. All the coaches need to be personally invested into EVERY player, not just schooly guys. They need to build a real relationship so that when as webcaster put it, they dig into or yell at a guy, they will respond positively, because the player really knows and understands how much their coaches care. This will help with the attrition rate the cub rightfully has been bringing up. Players won't respond if they feel you don't care. Discipline without respect will only lead to rebellion! That is what we are seeing. Not only do players need to respect the coaches, the coaches must respect the players. Study hall needs more than a casual or passing glance. Again the personal mtgs will help with this, but really holding the kids responsible for the time the spend in there. Not time spent on facebook, but real time spent studying for math 108.

3) Community- while a portion of this is not in the coaches control (we are in part responsible as well as the admin), they can control their team getting out. Make community service mandatory for every player. During the season they might not be held to as much, but they can still get out. Here's an idea, have each player sponsor a class or grade at local elementaries. They would be required to work with the teachers and come in and help the class/grade. During the season it might only be 2x a month. But think of all the kids who would bring their parents out to games. In the offseason it might be like once a week. Why not send the to grocery stores in their uni's and carry peoples groceris to their cars, go to the vfw, elks lodge, etc and speak or play checkers. This should help to get the players and community personnaly invested in one another. Not just the players to the community or vice versa, but together. Extend this out to IF, AF, soda, twin, etc. This doesn't cost money. But holding players accountible for their service and the time spent while at ISU will help with things. Then if an occasional player gets into trouble, at least there is a recognizable infrastructure that is transparent to all for them to rebuild our trust in them.

4) Recruiting- this is a hotbed, but we can bring in both local and outta state guys. We just need to be smart. If there is an idaho kid that can play, they need to be identified and be brought in without hesitation. Outta state we need to focus our resources. Identify areas in cali where we have traditionally been able to get some guys. Narrow our search area to those places. we should look at places like denver or vegas that aren't being saturated by othe bigsky/D1aa schools and own the areas. We don't have tons of resources, but we can compare to big sky schools. Hell montana didn't have the budget to go out during the spring recruiting period. We should identify alternative techonological tools and use them. Things like skype or web conferencing. Hell a PS3 costs 299 and you can talk over that and play a game. The biggest point here is that we can't do what USC does and fly all over the country to every state. We can't go to wash, ore, cali, az, ut, and ida and expect that with our resources to cover any area thoroughly. Z hasn't shown that he or his staff can consistenly bring in the talent that previous staffs have (not surprising personally but that's neither here nor there). It can be done here. It can be done now. Kids do care about facilities, but ours are realisitcally comparable to big sky teams. We are the big dogs with flashy buildings. But we can do like anderson did when he got to ut st, and that is treat the player like D1 players. They care more about gear than buildings! And we get more than montana right now! I'm sure we can raise 5k for an extra couple t shirts and shorts for each guy. Not just promise them on their trips here, but actually getting them stuff for them. Nice lockers or a field is awesome if we can, but a player can't take that with them!! Speaking of facilities, there isn't some ISU booster that is a farmer that will bring his tractor and grade out the practice field? Do that and now you have a sparkly new practice field!

I know that I have more on that topic, but I can think of it right now. I think these are feasible ideas that the new staff can utilize. I don't think that z can do it. Not in 1, 3, or 20 years. This last weeks games story lines made me wonder. Z took over at CWU a year after they won a national championship, the coach that preceeded him won 70% of his games and never finished lower than 2nd in conference. Z took over a WINNING program and did alright. Had a few good seasons but wasn't consistently dominant. He finished with a winning % 10% lower than his predecessor. Since he has left, they have done better than when he was there, and just beat him at his new D1 job. This is his third year... At some point he can't be rebuilding, but just returning his own soil. The team has steadily declined since he got here, talent wise and competitively. His recruits are leaving at an alarming rate, much high than our conference foes. He got rid of the o-coordinator and now our offense is terrible. Say what you will about orthman... His offenses and players may not haveliked him, but he moved the ball on ore st, boise, idaho, and our conf foes. His offense did put up over 30 points against a D2 school also which is a positive. This with the same players that are currently being used. Z didn't get rid of the d-coordinator. This after the defense couldn't stop anyone. The d is better this year due to cullen, who is a really good coach. But you now have a lame duck coordinator who is on your payroll and makes more than any other assistant. Cullen can't do it by himself as seen throughout the games this year. A fresh start and voice(s) in the lockerroom is needed. This past recruiting class seems to be better, why not give them a viable batch of coaches to utlize their skills? Z hasn't ever rebuilt a program, he just had to steer the ship at CWU after it had already made it through the storms. And at this he merely good, not great or dominant. Just good. He kept a winning program afloat. That team just beat the hell out of us. He has made ISU into a D2 team. The time for the division 2 experiment is over

 

[Bandyrich]

Here is my two cents...The person who stated that there is now foundation for the program hit the nail on the head. Without a foundation there will be no "success" as we know it. My limited experience was no system or foundation being readily available for parents or players. Also attracting quality players wither local or not, is only part of the process...retaining them is another. Usually individuals that move on to college level sports are "go getters", they have the skill and the desire to compete and do well. To have them come into the program and simply imply "show up" and in a few years you may get to play doesn’t do much to motivate these athletes. And to save argument…I don’t feel that it is up to the player to be the sole source of inspiration of a successful program.
Secondly I watched numerous practices and sat in wonderment of the condition of the practice field. I would be willing to say that in my opinion the condition of the practice field have directly contributed to some of the injuries that ISU has experienced. The un-even, un-level surface is unacceptable.
I wish success to the program and do not profess to be the great know-all, yet based on results…something has to change!

 

[bengalcub]

I am feeling some of what you are saying Dude.

I am not sure or not if it is time for Coach Z to go. But, I really doubt that he can get it done here. If ISU retains him, they need to sign him to a 3 year contract. Year to year just won't cut it as it really handcuffs a staffs ability to recruit.

Some will laugh at me and say no way, but if Tingey decides to go in a different direction...I have two words for you. Bruce Barnum. He is a no-nonsense, hard-nosed, take accountability kind of fellow.

 

[notabengalalum]

. I would be willing to say that in my opinion the condition of the practice field have directly contributed to some of the injuries that ISU has experienced. The un-even, un-level surface is unacceptable.!

And all along I thought that film of the ISU practices was hosed up because the local sports reporters all held their cameras at a cockeyed angle! :lol:

 

[bengalbeliever]

Several posts have asked how things need to be changed, here is a crack at it:

1) Wipe the slate clean- that means all the coaches. Not saying that any of the coaches are good or bad, but as one said earlier, they have lost the faith of the team (a group comprised principally of z kids). No holdovers on the new staff. Target a position coach (wr, db, etc) at a winning D1 program. I would start by targeting Utah, boise, and a montana (a coordinator from mon). The money that we can offer would be similar to what they make already. They will come because they want the head coaching experience for a resume. They will come because by nature coaches are arrogant and think they can fix it. Shoot 120k isn't too shabby. Coming from a D1 program they understand the makeup of the monster (money games, apr, recruiting, academics, the pressure). By targeting utah/boise, they also understand the regional cultural, social atmosphere. things like missionary kids, grayshirts, polynesians, etc. Why not go to former bengal, kyle whittingham or gary anderson, explain the situation and ask to talk to their coaches. Get them as an advocate for us.

2) Assistant coaches- with your new hc, bring in another couple of position coaches from a winning D1 program as your coordinators. We are putting 45-48 k into our present 2, plus the same to cullen(the real defensive coordinator!!!), lump all that together and split the majority for 2 coordinators and that's 50-60k for them. To round out the staff, go to the regional D1 schools and get their ga's. Ga's do all the same work but for nearly no pay. So the 30k that we can offer will be to them like hitting the lottery, plus they are looking to land a full time job... Everyone wants that job to be at a D1 university. So we go to cal, byu, asu, wyo, csu, usc, etc and get their best recruiting ga's to fill out our staff. What we will end up with is a hc who has been emersed in winning and running a program such as utah with coordinators who are young but hard working. And a staff that will work and do whatever they can, doing the dirty work, and will be grateful for the salary that we can offer. Plus by getting people familiar with the local area, plus other areas (denver, arizona, california, vegas) we can recruit in varied markets and find the best local and outta state kids. In addition, the staff would be required to visit every high school in the state personally each year. Not just having guys come to camps, but be in their schools. Renting a car isn't that expensive and canvasing areas with multiple coaches means you can double or triple the guys in one car and hotel room and really get stuff done for cheap. We would have the hardest working staff in the country.

3) Apr/academics- in D2, you aren't under as much pressure in this area and don't really have to deal with it. This has been apparent since z has gotten here. While this is a collaboration with the advising/academics people in the admin., how much attention you pay to it is all on the staff. Just look at the number of guys that are ineligible, have had troubles, etc since z has been here. The new staff must have set guidelines for discipline and accountibility, something that is lacking now. This must be a strict policy. Urban meyer does class checks on players. I just read about him standing up in a class when his player walked in late, he chewed him out in front of everyone and said that if he was late again he would lose his scholly (he had talked to the teacher previously to say that there may be a outburst). Having each position coach out doing regular class checks on their guys doesn't cost money or take much time, but their guys will always be in class. Really paying attention to class schedules and syllabi, so that the coaches know when assignments are due and can followup in their weekly personal mtgs with each player about the econ 101 test, etc. All the coaches need to be personally invested into EVERY player, not just schooly guys. They need to build a real relationship so that when as webcaster put it, they dig into or yell at a guy, they will respond positively, because the player really knows and understands how much their coaches care. This will help with the attrition rate the cub rightfully has been bringing up. Players won't respond if they feel you don't care. Discipline without respect will only lead to rebellion! That is what we are seeing. Not only do players need to respect the coaches, the coaches must respect the players. Study hall needs more than a casual or passing glance. Again the personal mtgs will help with this, but really holding the kids responsible for the time the spend in there. Not time spent on facebook, but real time spent studying for math 108.

3) Community- while a portion of this is not in the coaches control (we are in part responsible as well as the admin), they can control their team getting out. Make community service mandatory for every player. During the season they might not be held to as much, but they can still get out. Here's an idea, have each player sponsor a class or grade at local elementaries. They would be required to work with the teachers and come in and help the class/grade. During the season it might only be 2x a month. But think of all the kids who would bring their parents out to games. In the offseason it might be like once a week. Why not send the to grocery stores in their uni's and carry peoples groceris to their cars, go to the vfw, elks lodge, etc and speak or play checkers. This should help to get the players and community personnaly invested in one another. Not just the players to the community or vice versa, but together. Extend this out to IF, AF, soda, twin, etc. This doesn't cost money. But holding players accountible for their service and the time spent while at ISU will help with things. Then if an occasional player gets into trouble, at least there is a recognizable infrastructure that is transparent to all for them to rebuild our trust in them.

4) Recruiting- this is a hotbed, but we can bring in both local and outta state guys. We just need to be smart. If there is an idaho kid that can play, they need to be identified and be brought in without hesitation. Outta state we need to focus our resources. Identify areas in cali where we have traditionally been able to get some guys. Narrow our search area to those places. we should look at places like denver or vegas that aren't being saturated by othe bigsky/D1aa schools and own the areas. We don't have tons of resources, but we can compare to big sky schools. Hell montana didn't have the budget to go out during the spring recruiting period. We should identify alternative techonological tools and use them. Things like skype or web conferencing. Hell a PS3 costs 299 and you can talk over that and play a game. The biggest point here is that we can't do what USC does and fly all over the country to every state. We can't go to wash, ore, cali, az, ut, and ida and expect that with our resources to cover any area thoroughly. Z hasn't shown that he or his staff can consistenly bring in the talent that previous staffs have (not surprising personally but that's neither here nor there). It can be done here. It can be done now. Kids do care about facilities, but ours are realisitcally comparable to big sky teams. We are the big dogs with flashy buildings. But we can do like anderson did when he got to ut st, and that is treat the player like D1 players. They care more about gear than buildings! And we get more than montana right now! I'm sure we can raise 5k for an extra couple t shirts and shorts for each guy. Not just promise them on their trips here, but actually getting them stuff for them. Nice lockers or a field is awesome if we can, but a player can't take that with them!! Speaking of facilities, there isn't some ISU booster that is a farmer that will bring his tractor and grade out the practice field? Do that and now you have a sparkly new practice field!

I know that I have more on that topic, but I can think of it right now. I think these are feasible ideas that the new staff can utilize. I don't think that z can do it. Not in 1, 3, or 20 years. This last weeks games story lines made me wonder. Z took over at CWU a year after they won a national championship, the coach that preceeded him won 70% of his games and never finished lower than 2nd in conference. Z took over a WINNING program and did alright. Had a few good seasons but wasn't consistently dominant. He finished with a winning % 10% lower than his predecessor. Since he has left, they have done better than when he was there, and just beat him at his new D1 job. This is his third year... At some point he can't be rebuilding, but just returning his own soil. The team has steadily declined since he got here, talent wise and competitively. His recruits are leaving at an alarming rate, much high than our conference foes. He got rid of the o-coordinator and now our offense is terrible. Say what you will about orthman... His offenses and players may not haveliked him, but he moved the ball on ore st, boise, idaho, and our conf foes. His offense did put up over 30 points against a D2 school also which is a positive. This with the same players that are currently being used. Z didn't get rid of the d-coordinator. This after the defense couldn't stop anyone. The d is better this year due to cullen, who is a really good coach. But you now have a lame duck coordinator who is on your payroll and makes more than any other assistant. Cullen can't do it by himself as seen throughout the games this year. A fresh start and voice(s) in the lockerroom is needed. This past recruiting class seems to be better, why not give them a viable batch of coaches to utlize their skills? Z hasn't ever rebuilt a program, he just had to steer the ship at CWU after it had already made it through the storms. And at this he merely good, not great or dominant. Just good. He kept a winning program afloat. That team just beat the hell out of us. He has made ISU into a D2 team. The time for the division 2 experiment is over

Dude, you don't have a clue.
You make a few good points about player involvement, but you are mistaken about the coaching and recruiting ideas. WAY OFF

Your coaching analogies is WRONG. Better think again about who and WHY would the people you put forth would come to Pocatello, ID versus where they are now and the limited $$ budget we have and how this staff has worked with the limited resources.
Your apparent view of how hard this staff works in recruiting and the costs and TIME involved and it being cheaper to just do it in the Idaho and surrounding area is WRONG.

I happen to know many of our staff and I am telling you they work hard on the recruiting trail.
Now, maybe we don't have enough of the right athletes, but those that I know-THEY WORK THEIR ASSES OFF during recruiting times and are visiting schools, coaches, athletes(1x, 2x, 3x,4x,5x etc..) and in-home visits. We are so handcuffed compared to many other schools in the BSC in terms of recruiting budget. In California especially and even in surrounding states of WA and UT, there are hundreds more schools and athletes to see in SHORTER DISTANCES.
To help our recruiting to open it up to get a better athlete we need more of 2 things:

1. WINNING-to get the best student-athletes that really want to play for a winning program and tradition.
2. MONEY-to pay for MORE visits to MORE schools and all of the costs associated with hosting kids on a recruiting trip. The more you can see, the more you can evaluate and the better the chances of landing the right ones.

 

[bengalcub]

I see what you are saying Believer and I do think that this coaching staff works extremely hard.

Sure this team could use better recruits and more money to recruit, but what does it matter if you have an attrition rate on incoming FR close to 50%.

This staff has had a very difficult time keeping kids around. Why is that?

 

[spartan]

i nominate isu dude as the winner of moron (d-bag) of the century award

he can pick it up from the football office up at holt arena after he explains his points listed above without the coaches laughing or kicking his ass

 

[Webcaster]

Thanks Ted does that mean I can throw away my dictionary..... ha ha but the words I have misspelled were not picked up because they are words that are correctly spelled, just the wrong word. I'm having a heck of a hard time in news writing class. Thanks I will be more careful with my wording and typing........

 

[bengalbeliever]

Well, that is a good question.
As much as I believe that ultimately, 'winning cures' everything, there are things I think we can have some control over.
Keep in mind this is opinion.
In no particular order and somethings I would answer to you are better off left off a message board so here are some off my head as I am sitting here:

1. Recruit the right athletes/hire the right coach and assistant coaches.
Z is the right head coach for ISU. He is by a landslide, the best we could get at this point anyhow.
Coaches need to maintain better relationship with the players.
2. Give each athlete an EQUAL and fair opportunity to be the #1 in their respective positions.
Everyone must earn their right to be in the A group. Be stern, but fair about assessments also. Don't play favorites and have double standards for how you handle players. This should hold true for practices also. Coaches would earn respect from entire team if this was the case from the start and everyday.
3. The overall Pocatello ID setting has somethings to be desired for some 18-21 year old male student athletes. ie when they get up here and things don't start to go their way and they "hate Pocatello anyhow" they wanna leave.
4. Find ways to change the communities image of the ISU football team. Not everywhere, but MANY, MANY, MANY community business' and public have a huge NEGATIVE image about the football team due in part to what the average fan's only barometer....Wins and Losses. It takes a savy and more educated populus to be able to understand the real reasons why a college football team wins and loses. I blame alot of this on the ISU Athletic administration for not doing a better job and being realistic about the true 'pulse of Pocatello' when it comes to ISU Football. Seems like the same 'good 'ol boy' and 'good 'ol girl' attitude and we need more forward, contemporary, and innovative philosophy and also in media relations.
I didn't want it to be true but I was disgusted when I came to town and I had new 'optimism' and wasn't drinking the loser/hater koolaid and found many community members to be tainted with few positives to be said about the team.
5. Upgrade facilities not just for football but other athletics. This would include a new turf for Holt which IMO has been the cause for numerous athletes injuries. New lockers and scoreboard were huge help.
6. Design a new and more contemporary ISU Athletic website. The one we have flat out stinks. We are in a computer technology and information society and many preconceived ideas are determined by just looking up our program by the internet Webpage. NO EXCUSES why this hasn't been done. Everyone in God's green earth have done it why haven't we?????? IT DOES MATTER
7. Game day experience is horrible to the seasoned fan or the first timer to Holt Arena. Any way, any how. Potatoes, fertilizer, wutever. Its long been time to 'think outside the box' for this. This includes DOING ANYTHING WE CAN TO PLAY A HOME GAME WITH THE MAJORITY OF 12,000 FANS CHEERING FOR OUR TEAM.
8. Even more closer monitoring and policing of players' grades and classes and especially eligibility compliance issues.
9. Give Z contract extension for 3 more years. Recruits are gonna take this into consideration.

I dunno. It is what I believe. You asked and caught me at the right time. I want this team to be successful. In many ways it is unfair to be judged by the wins and losses for the football program, but that is life and many things aren't fair I guess. One thing, I try to be a part of helping build something than just complain about things or continue to do the same things over and over again and expect the same results. Hard to hold Z and Co. accountable when some of these other important issues haven't been taken to task by administration, but the bottom line is performance on the field.

 

[tigersmilk]

in regard to "point 9." wont recruits also take into consideration that Z's record here has gotten progressively worse since he became head coach at ISU. why would a potential come to a place were they renew a deadbeat coach? there's no hope in that..

 

[Bengal Roar]

I wanted to literally cry last night during the game. I felt so embarrassed for the coaches and team and myself as a fan.

The fact of the matter is we have Div II talent. I noticed it during the Weber game. Do you remember when i said i didn't want to comment on a few items last week? Well i wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt this week and it was proved to me that our talent is div II at best like John Clayton said. We are DivII players dressed in BSC uniforms. It's the truth! Are our coaches Div II minded still or are they 1-AA minded? Our recruiters/coaches need to wake the hell up. How do you let Mr. Goody get snatched up by WEBER!? HE IS IN OUR OWN #!@#$#% BACK YARD!!!! You didn't even need to travel nor spend money to find him!?!?!?

I talked to my dad last night and he was at an engagement party or whatever and the talk was ISU football and what the problem was and many said it was the lack of attention and the neglect over the past 20+ years from a past President that didn't give a rats ass about athletics. We are paying for it now like Pocatato said!

Cub also has a good point about how many seniors or upper classmen who stick with it or who will be the leaders for the future? When Cub has one foot out the door we got problems folks! I feel your pain though cub. During the game i was thinking what other things i could do on my Saturdays and quit putting up with this shit. I was having thoughts of abandoning the whole frickin thing and not ever coming back until they proved to me what they can do. If myself and others as loyal fans are feeling this way, what the hell are the casual fans saying? People are tired!

The game day experience is getting way better. I think Tingey is doing a great job. Nice to see replays on a nice looking screen. Nice to see more and more during the game and Tingey knows what needs to be done and he is making it happen IMO. Cool to watch the pole vaulters too.

Last but not least..........................(Right tackle Brad Shedd heaped some of the blame on him and his fellow offensive linemen too.
"Some plays, I'll admit to it, sometimes we take plays off, and that's when you're going to get somebody hurt," Shedd said. "You get yourself hurt, and it's not going to get you good rushing yards. You've got to attack, attack, attack and not let up. That was what was killing us a lot.") WTF? this is straight up BULLSHIT! All the players that are not giving 110% need to be pulled and put back on the field when they are ready to give 110% and if they don't like it then pack up ALL your shit and go home. We don't need you and we don't want you,PERIOD!!! If we as fans give all we can give and try to be the 12th man don’t you think we can have some respect back from some players and have them leave it all on the field? I am really bothered by the above comment about taking plays off! I say burn the redshirts. Get someone who wants to play and will give all they got on every play in there. Someone who will have heart and who will not take plays off. Do you think Montana and Weber guys take plays off? That is why their running backs look so damn good because they are all on the same page!

Prove me wrong. Prove others wrong. I want the ISU football team (coaches included) to prove me wrong. Are we Div II talent or 1-AA talent? Are we heading in the right direction or aren’t we? Are you playing the right players who will give you 110% or aren’t you? This is homecoming week. Are we going to leave the dome again next Saturday with another agonizing gut wrenching kick to the nuts or are we going to adjust and fix the problems this week like we say every week!? It’s up to you guys. I hope you can prove me and many others wrong! We love ya Coach Z and staff. We love ya players but we as fans EXPECT the best so give us your best this week! We are just all hashing this out together. Remember we are family and we got to work all this stuff out so we are all on the same page. GO BENGALS!

 

[dave84again]

maybe all those fans who left took to heart the coaches comments on how we should not be at the games if we don't like what he is doing?????? just a thought. this game was sick, no getting around it. I still say if we can win 3 games this year, all is OK. this bitter loss will linger for some time, but maybe coach can prove some of us wrong by years end. i'm willing to wait until the year is over. from what we have seen so far.....i think we could, and i mean could, just admit a mistake at who we hired for the coaches job. prove us wrong Z.

 

[bhumble]

I am feeling some of what you are saying Dude.

I am not sure or not if it is time for Coach Z to go. But, I really doubt that he can get it done here. If ISU retains him, they need to sign him to a 3 year contract. Year to year just won't cut it as it really handcuffs a staffs ability to recruit.

Some will laugh at me and say no way, but if Tingey decides to go in a different direction...I have two words for you. Bruce Barnum. He is a no-nonsense, hard-nosed, take accountability kind of fellow.

I am, and always have been, a fan of Barnum. The offensive numbers his teams put up speak to his ability