Jinks Presser
Pretty quiet Jinks presser. Normal stuff, really, with just a couple exceptions. Most stuff is trusting the process, do things the right way, etc. We're close, in all the games, etc, can't tackle in space and we are poor on sudden changes.
The two interesting things were that the break in the schedule is allowing the team to get out and do some recruiting. He was asked if the pitch has changed, and he said it has. Now, it is "come and you can play." In fact, he noted that it is probably the same as the one Clawson used on current BGSU seniors.
Speaking of Clawson...
First, someone asked about Clawson winning two games his first year. I have fallen into this trap, too. Clawson made a bowl game his first year. It was the two years after that which were pretty ugly, but he had at least one good year under his belt.
Either way, Coach said Clawson was the first person to reach out to him when he took the job and has stayed in "constant" touch with him. I find this really interesting and a classy move by Clawson. For what it is worth, Clawson has urged Jinks to stay the course, do things the right way, trust the process, etc.
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Evidently Clawson has kept up a little on his Falcons or he wouldn't have done that. Clawson himself was under fire for awhile. Successful first year but his next year was horrible. Many began to feel he wasn't going to be any better than FCs or lower. Remember he was let go as OC from Tennessee mid season before we signed him. Jinks sounds like he has a mentor in Clawson and that can't be all bad.
A valid thought I've had myself. However with Clawson we knew openly the disaster of Greg Brandon's management of the team during "winning" years. I was ashamed to see my alma mater hit with NCAA sanction due to how the program was run.
Now if Jinks is in the same boat here, I want to know what did Babers do or not do which equates to what Clawson dealt with. Or at least more open acknowledgement that the Babers experiment was a double edged sword, not a boon that is being botched by his successor.
Thanks for your comments, guy. NWLB, I think it is a good point...if Babers was engaging in some short-term thinking, and it is possible, I don't think he ever planned on being here longer than two years, then I think it would help everyone to talk about it. As you noted in another comment, my guess is that it is a combination of the two. BG chose to go with completely inexperienced coaches top to bottom and I think that's part of the issue.
I agree and feel babers hoped his time here would not be as long as his contract but 2 years got us caught in an ever seemingly down fall. Babers was handed the key to an offense that propelled him out of here. As I posted in a different forum a perfect storm are what we have. In the last 4 yrs we have lost many starting defensive players due to off field stupidity. Unable to get some of the recruits here skilled positions without real experience, coupled that with inexperienced coaches, injuries of players etc, almost feels like the browns. Unfortunately some players fall through the gaps, Jinks has a plan, hopefully it plays out successfully but it's going to require growth on both coaches and players while we as supporters give a couple years patience while there is a reconstruction of the program. I feel those who lay this completely at Jinks feet under estimate the situation that has been building over the last few years. Yes urban was successful when he came but he also had Josh Harris, Brandon ran down what urban began and it took clawson to dismantle that to where he left it. Babers leaving this early hurt us bad but it was timing and his offense philosophy that again hurt us on D. Hi had said that once he got the O going he would start on the D. Didn't happen. A perfect storm.
So there are two ways to look at Babers failure in recruiting. First, that he was trying to create a very focused, all-new, high-risk system which required years to complete and he was gone before that happened. Or second, that his high-risk system would have imploded this year even had he not left and caused the program to have to build from scratch anyway-meaning the attempt to make a smooth transition failed and possibly the ability to build his system at BGSU at all.
To which I’ll again say it was a very high-risk move having Babers try his stunt here and it will cost us more losses and set the program back further than his winning a title with Clawson’s players and ducking out the door before reality set-in was worth. Some will disagree and say it is fine because gee-whiz, we won a title, the second in three years. Fine. Views will vary. But Clawson won the first, the bulk of the team that won the second were his people not Babers. And combined with the disgrace that was Babers' and obvious lack of building over 2.5 seasons we are worse-off not better for his having been here. Even WITH a title last year.
The Sentinel had another high-level, non-offensive article about the “tough” year. Again, no serious challenge of Jinks as a coach and a lot of allusion to the team being young and such. Fair enough as a singular point of focus. However the article failed to push deeper to ask why, if Babers had been doing his job, the implosion was so complete this year.
People keep pointing back to “we lost so many” this or that. I reject that notion as an explanation as to why defense imploded. Statistically the defense was spread so evenly and was so overwhelmingly dominate that if every starter were abducted by aliens it should have done more the previous two years. Now we are suffering from a combination of years of failure and the decline of experienced players. It was a problem created by Babers single-minded and arrogant dismissal of defense. And the kiss-butt fans that tried to imply the collapse of competence on defense was really due to a loss of players and also shifting to a “lighter, faster” defense need to look again. Lots of teams have tried the “fast and agile” defensive approach. It fails. UT tried it’s famous 4x4 “attack” defense. It was ripped blind by any team able to pass the ball at or above the Pop Warner level. If anything Babers should have leaned on the defense to remain stalwart while the offense came together. His ass-backward view on how to build a program has cost us likely one title and god only knows what more before this current mess is fixed.
I suppose for myself personally, this is as much about the blind faith so many had about Babers and the lack of desire to challenge things at times that is irksome. One can bleed brown and orange but still ask hard questions. You can always root for our team while still keep an objective eye on the long-term. This isn’t Ohio State or Alabama, being blindly miffed by losing a national title or indulging in mindless fandom is easy and the norm. At BGSU the world is smaller, expectations need to be different and realistic.
A slow and steady Clawson style program might not be as sexy as what Babers sold Kingston however it does more to help build a foundation you can do something with. That is to say, it would end the painful cycle of having a title run like last year, only to have all these alumni and promotional events nobody attends after the team dies like it has. Casual attendees don’t bother to show, alumni see less reason to bother planning a trip to see the team given the way it seems to fail right when expectations and curious folks show-up to see a game. You can’t argue to sponsors paying for ads matters if nobody is in the stadium or you cannot ever credibly say “this will be a great year,” or even a “winning” season. After decades of generic, white-washed marketing spiels, alumni event announcements, great seasons followed by confounding failure, people simply stop responding.
And all of these issues aren’t possibilities, they are the present reality. This reality hurts BGSU more than anything, even the physical location compared to a “major” city or alumni base.
Kingston left pointing back at his shiny master plan. 7% ANNUAL increases in season ticket sales, merchandise sales, alumni and booster giving, etc. Football is more of an point of focus than other sports however as a “flagship” sport, BGSU has to really stop and take a hard look at things. Beyond a single AD, even beyond letting the athletics department manage this, there has to be stronger long-term mandate for expectations, style, sustainability, etc. I lost faith very early that Babers could turn the trick and establish his system as sustainable at BGSU and history is bearing out the fear that would be the case. You can argue he was a success, I will hold that he was a failure, because I’m not looking for instant gratification, I’m looking for a team I can look forward to watching every year without having to suspend reality and intellect to believe in. I don’t know if Jinks is the man to re-establish what Clawson built but before this University goes chasing windmills again I hope it stops itself long enough to consider the broader picture.
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