Who are we kidding?

[Miguel]

The loss to ISU means that our losing season is official for 2013. I suppose theoretically the team could, if the football gods intervened, finish 6-6 but there is no way we win out. Collins is now 0-11, 5-6, and 1-6. He has beaten four DI schools in 3 years. He has not beaten a team yet that finished the season with a winning record. NAIA Langston has not won a game this season. Last year's DII opponent Mesa State only won three or four games. The four DI wins last year were to the teams on the very bottom of the Big Sky Conference rankings who were playing out the season. He lost this year to an in state school Pueblo which will devastate recruiting. if anything, the team is getting worse every week and the coaches look like they are at a loss as to what to do.

I think we have to face the sad reality that Collins is out of his depth as a head coach. When it was time to hire a new coach to replace Downing, I wanted us to go with a proven winner who had managed a team through a number of seasons. Instead Kay Norton chose to go with a feel good story of a former UNC football player who became a head coach. Collins' record before UNC was not much better than it is now but somehow she believed he was going to be the savior of Bear football. He wasn't ready, nor will he probably ever be.

Losing to ISU, a disasterously bad football team and losing badly to them, proves my point. At this point, whether you believe it to be warranted or not, the fault lies with the head coach, as it must be since that is the nature of the sport. Most of you howled Downing out of town after a season that ended with a number of wins and the promise of improvement. Collins might win a desperate game against UC Davis or North Dakota but so what? The season is over and it is time to start again with someone new rather than put the student athletes through more of this....

 

[KlondikeBear]

The loss to ISU means that our losing season is official for 2013. I suppose theoretically the team could, if the football gods intervened, finish 6-6 but there is no way we win out. Collins is now 0-11, 5-6, and 1-6. He has beaten four DI schools in 3 years. He has not beaten a team yet that finished the season with a winning record. NAIA Langston has not won a game this season. Last year's DII opponent Mesa State only won three or four games. The four DI wins last year were to the teams on the very bottom of the Big Sky Conference rankings who were playing out the season. He lost this year to an in state school Pueblo which will devastate recruiting. if anything, the team is getting worse every week and the coaches look like they are at a loss as to what to do.

I think we have to face the sad reality that Collins is out of his depth as a head coach. When it was time to hire a new coach to replace Downing, I wanted us to go with a proven winner who had managed a team through a number of seasons. Instead Kay Norton chose to go with a feel good story of a former UNC football player who became a head coach. Collins' record before UNC was not much better than it is now but somehow she believed he was going to be the savior of Bear football. He wasn't ready, nor will he probably ever be.

Losing to ISU, a disasterously bad football team and losing badly to them, proves my point. At this point, whether you believe it to be warranted or not, the fault lies with the head coach, as it must be since that is the nature of the sport. Most of you howled Downing out of town after a season that ended with a number of wins and the promise of improvement. Collins might win a desperate game against UC Davis or North Dakota but so what? The season is over and it is time to start again with someone new rather than put the student athletes through more of this....

Agreed, too bad that we as alumni and a community can only express these thoughts and feelings via blog. It is ALL true and I've had my way of expressing myself regarding this hire from day 1. You don't go hire never before proven coordinators with ZERO true division I coordinating experience to run an offense or a defense in this conference. Much less a guy who was a bottom feeder in the RMAC and a guy who coordinated in the worst FCS conference in America, the swac. We have a university president that is incapable of recognizing how far back she has set her FB program and how each one of these kids is behind the eight ball so to speak with their coach. Fire the whole lot of em in my oponion! It's careless and wreck less with kids lives who work hard pay tuition and down right offensive to those who contribute to a better cause. Why did we get rid of Downing? :clap:

 

[beardevil39]

I could not agree more with both of you guys and I think we are pretty representative of a lot of people at least the ones I know. This administration or whoever the powers that be, that made a lot of decisions in the last few years made all the wrong moves. I know its easy to armchair QB but nobody has been listening.
Regarding the new AD, news regarding candidates is supposed to come out mid October (NOW) on UNC Today Site !

 

[Bearsfan24]

Sorry but Downing effin sucked too, he went 3-8 in his last season with wins against a D2 team and two sucky big sky teams.

Collins effin sucks too right now.

Hopefully they hire a new AD that is serious about changing things around here. And on top of the that maybe he'll get rid of Collins too.

 

[gobears35]

I'm just as frustrated with the way things have gone this season as anybody else, but I also don't think it's quite time to cut the cord on Coach Collins.. Certainly, heading into the year expectations for this team were higher than perhaps they've been since we went D1 and it's been disappointing how far the team still needs to go to meet those expectations. I think the coach deserves a majority of that blame, but I also think there have been some mitigating circumstances that have impacted the win-loss record. The main factor is the injury to Seth Lobato. I know he's not been great, but how many teams could survive an injury to a three-year starter at the quarterback spot?

Anyways, back to my point about Collins. I think we shouldn't be so quick to call for his head after failing to live up to expectations that he himself set for the program after the vast improvement last year. I think Coach Collins has proven to be an adept recruiter and someone who can connect with student-athletes, one of the keys to coaching at any collegiate level. I think he also has room to grow, namely the style of offense he runs and his choice of coordinators. I wouldn't be opposed to a shakeup in the coaching staff and a move to a more aggressive offensive scheme that features a more capable passing attack.

Lastly, everybody reminiscing about the "golden era" of UNC Football that was Coach Downing's tenure seem to have a ver short memory. Not only was he not bringing in the level of athleticism needed to compete at the D1 level, it's not like his win-loss record was anything remotely above mediocre. I don't want mediocre from this program and while I hate being a laughingstock as much as the next guy, I think Collins deserves one more year to see what happens. That will be four years, meaning his recruits will be seniors and the program will mirror what he wants. If he fails again next year, then let the floodgates open.

 

[5minmajor]

I'm just as frustrated with the way things have gone this season as anybody else, but I also don't think it's quite time to cut the cord on Coach Collins.. Certainly, heading into the year expectations for this team were higher than perhaps they've been since we went D1 and it's been disappointing how far the team still needs to go to meet those expectations. I think the coach deserves a majority of that blame, but I also think there have been some mitigating circumstances that have impacted the win-loss record. The main factor is the injury to Seth Lobato. I know he's not been great, but how many teams could survive an injury to a three-year starter at the quarterback spot?

Anyways, back to my point about Collins. I think we shouldn't be so quick to call for his head after failing to live up to expectations that he himself set for the program after the vast improvement last year. I think Coach Collins has proven to be an adept recruiter and someone who can connect with student-athletes, one of the keys to coaching at any collegiate level. I think he also has room to grow, namely the style of offense he runs and his choice of coordinators. I wouldn't be opposed to a shakeup in the coaching staff and a move to a more aggressive offensive scheme that features a more capable passing attack.

Lastly, everybody reminiscing about the "golden era" of UNC Football that was Coach Downing's tenure seem to have a ver short memory. Not only was he not bringing in the level of athleticism needed to compete at the D1 level, it's not like his win-loss record was anything remotely above mediocre. I don't want mediocre from this program and while I hate being a laughingstock as much as the next guy, I think Collins deserves one more year to see what happens. That will be four years, meaning his recruits will be seniors and the program will mirror what he wants. If he fails again next year, then let the floodgates open.

Some good points. Collins is going to get another year. The University doesn't have the money to get rid of him and a new AD will want to see for himself what he has to work with.

The bottom line is Collins and his staff haven't got the job done on or off the field. On the field... the win / loss record speaks for itself (injuries or not). Off the field...where should we start? The two biggest things for me are the lack of character and integrity that Collins and his staff have. Allowing "certain players" to play even after breaking team rules.

A day after the column came out in the Tribune (submitted letters from the public) regarding Collins and his staff allowing players to participate even though they had violated team rules I asked a member of the football staff. Their exact quote to my question was, "Someone must have said something." What does that tell you?

 

[PlayerParent]

I'm just as frustrated with the way things have gone this season as anybody else, but I also don't think it's quite time to cut the cord on Coach Collins.. Certainly, heading into the year expectations for this team were higher than perhaps they've been since we went D1 and it's been disappointing how far the team still needs to go to meet those expectations. I think the coach deserves a majority of that blame, but I also think there have been some mitigating circumstances that have impacted the win-loss record. The main factor is the injury to Seth Lobato. I know he's not been great, but how many teams could survive an injury to a three-year starter at the quarterback spot?

Anyways, back to my point about Collins. I think we shouldn't be so quick to call for his head after failing to live up to expectations that he himself set for the program after the vast improvement last year. I think Coach Collins has proven to be an adept recruiter and someone who can connect with student-athletes, one of the keys to coaching at any collegiate level. I think he also has room to grow, namely the style of offense he runs and his choice of coordinators. I wouldn't be opposed to a shakeup in the coaching staff and a move to a more aggressive offensive scheme that features a more capable passing attack.

Lastly, everybody reminiscing about the "golden era" of UNC Football that was Coach Downing's tenure seem to have a ver short memory. Not only was he not bringing in the level of athleticism needed to compete at the D1 level, it's not like his win-loss record was anything remotely above mediocre. I don't want mediocre from this program and while I hate being a laughingstock as much as the next guy, I think Collins deserves one more year to see what happens. That will be four years, meaning his recruits will be seniors and the program will mirror what he wants. If he fails again next year, then let the floodgates open.

Some good points. Collins is going to get another year. The University doesn't have the money to get rid of him and a new AD will want to see for himself what he has to work with.

The bottom line is Collins and his staff haven't got the job done on or off the field. On the field... the win / loss record speaks for itself (injuries or not). Off the field...where should we start? The two biggest things for me are the lack of character and integrity that Collins and his staff have. Allowing "certain players" to play even after breaking team rules.

A day after the column came out in the Tribune (submitted letters from the public) regarding Collins and his staff allowing players to participate even though they had violated team rules I asked a member of the football staff. Their exact quote to my question was, "Someone must have said something." What does that tell you?

There appears to be more conflicting points than there are good ones in the above post. For example, Collins is a proven adept recruiter yet with all of this talent he brought in the program is going backwards? Collins connects with student-athletes...He connects so well that he can not get them to play for him, he throws his players under the bus and blames them for loses without taking any responsibility for not properly perparing them or using schemes that would allow for a better chance of them being successful. Nor does he take accountability for being consistently out-coached!!! And just how many games have we lost due to our starting QB being out with an injury over the last 3 years? Not enough to use that as an excuse, that's how many. I wonder what a poll among the current players would show if they were asked how they felt about the current staff? Is it no wonder why this team under-achieves? They are ill-prepared, lack motivation, have little to no team chemistry; all things by the way that are the direct responsibility of the HC and his staff. And then to top it off, they get ALL the blame by the man in charge when things fall short of expectations. I bet a replacement coach would be competitive with the top Big Sky teams and beat the ones they should IMMEDIATELY (as in 2014) than Collins would be. You will just get more of the same from this Staff that you have gotten if he is not replaced.

Go Bears!