Why play for losers?

[hokie07 11]

This is has been on my mind a lot lately and I just wanted to get it out there. I know UVAObserver will have a lot of input in this topic, but I wanted to see what everyone else on the board thinks about this too.

 

This time of year brings about many coaching changes. We see it at a lot of schools where players will lobby for a certain coach and try their best to get them hired. But on the other side of the spectrum, there are plenty of coaches at football programs who have shown virtually no signs of improvement with their teams yet their players and administration are backing them 100%.

 

A few local examples:

Al Groh - Virginia

Mark Snyder - Marshall

*Phil Fulmer - Tennessee (yes, he was fired but was still very popular among the players.)

 

None of the teams mentioned above are going to a bowl game this year. Winning is expected at all these programs. That's what the players sign up for and that is what the fans and alumni expect when they donate various amounts of their income. With the exception of UT, the administration is always the first one to be the coach's safety blanket. UVA and MU have done everything in their power to stand by their losing coaches and make it known that there will be no changes despite the cries from alumni. I know and understand that it is the loyal thing to to do, but when is it the right time to put loyalty aside and start striving for results?

Edited December 2, 2008 by hokie07

[atmtaz18 10]

The only reason for Phillip Fulmer being fired is due to his last couple years of barely making .500 and not recruiting like usual. I still beleive that when Tennessee gets Lane Kiffin coaching then they will be up in the top 25 like usual. I would like to see Tennessee get back like they were in 1998.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

This is has been on my mind a lot lately and I just wanted to get it out there. I know UVAObserver will have a lot of input in this topic, but I wanted to see what everyone else on the board thinks about this too.

 

This time of year brings about many coaching changes. We see it at a lot of schools where players will lobby for a certain coach and try their best to get them hired. But on the other side of the spectrum, there are plenty of coaches at football programs who have shown virtually no signs of improvement with their teams yet their players and administration are backing them 100%.

 

A few local examples:

Al Groh - Virginia

Mark Snyder - Marshall

*Phil Fulmer - Tennessee (yes, he was fired but was still very popular among the players.)

 

None of the teams mentioned above are going to a bowl game this year. Winning is expected at all these programs. That's what the players sign up for and that is what the fans and alumni expect when they donate various amounts of their income. With the exception of UT, the administration is always the first one to be the coach's safety blanket. UVA and MU have done everything in their power to stand by their losing coaches and make it known that there will be no changes despite the cries from alumni. I know and understand that it is the loyal thing to to do, but when is it the right time to put loyalty aside and start striving for results?

 

For UVA, the time to put loyalty aside and fire Groh was 2006. UVA had just come off a 5-7 season. The Hoos were exactly 12-12 in the previous two seasons, and had lost 4 games with a team that should've won the conference in the year before that. Al Golden and Ron Prince had left, like many assistant coaches before them. Any program worth its salt would've cut Groh right here, a coach in the 6th year of his contract who had done no better (and worse, if you look at career winning percentages) than his predecessor with FAR more than Welsh had when he got there. Especially with the donor base we have at UVA.

 

I wrote a considerable amount more on this topic before the VT game, and I'll link it here for you guys: http://www.swvasports.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13641. This goes into bloody, laborious detail why UVA's in the shape it's in with regards to the revenue sports.