On the football coaches

So, the Falcon Nation is clearly anxious.  That's landing in a number of places, including some of our players and our coaches.

So...the coaches.

Look, I was concerned about this from the start.  That we got someone untested when we didn't need to, that Texas HS football isn't college football, that we brought in guys on the staff who have mostly not even been assistant coaches, that we raided the graduate assistants and quality control assistants from an average program that should be stealing our coaches...that's all been written here.

Furthermore, the coaches have done nothing to make us think that they were ready for this assignment.  Maybe they are--maybe (even probably) the results would be exactly the same if Babers hadn't left--but there's no phase of the game that you can point to and say, yeah, that's a unit that is exceeding what we thought they could do.  To me, whether the coaches are up to this job remains a very open question, and more open now than it was at the beginning of the year.

Having said that...it is way too early to give up on them.

First, they aren't going anywhere and the quickest route to an answer we all want is for these guys to prove themselves and succeed.  At Miami and Ball State--for example--it took years to recover from a bad coaching decision, if it has happened.  In fact, anyone remember 2010 at BG?  That season was on Gregg Brandon, even though he was gone.

So, the best way to avoid that fate would be for these guys to turn out to be good coaches.  Again, I have my doubts, but I could also be proven wrong.

Second, yes, both games fit the narrative of coaches who are in over their head.  Having said that, it isn't the only narrative.  I'm not sure any coach could have taken the MAC's 11th ranked QB from two years ago, an almost entirely new WR corps, losing their all-time best RB and nearly their entire defensive secondary and be producing results that would make everyone happy.

I feel like we are producing on the lower end of what I thought we would, given all of those changes.  I mean, Knapke isn't any worse than he was in '14 and he had better receivers that year.

Again:  I don't see any evidence the coaches are succeeding but I'm nowhere near deciding they are destined to fail.

Here's the thing.  It isn't going to get better right away.  In fact...

Well, Coach Jinks is upbeat, which is largely his only option, team just needs some consistency and make the ordinary plays and "we'll be fine."

But, give the current trajectory, winning either of the next two games is looking pretty unlikely.  If people are grumpy now, it is going to be worse at 1-3.  The MAC East should help to ease some pressure, as it always does.  Even with that, the team that played last night is not going to run the table in the East, flawed though it might be.

BG has won 2 championships in 3 years.  We are having good times.  Even if this year isn't great, the best path to success is not to have to reboot the program--probably after 4 years in a 5 year deal at the earliest.

Finally, a reminder.  They don't appear to be in over their heads on recruiting.