Crossfire with McPhaul - 1/8/2014

[Randolph Duke]

Good read. IMO Patterson rolled the dice by hiring Strong. I do not think Patterson was under the belief that Strong too was going to roll the dice and bring the majority of his staff with him. Bot men appear to be two pea's in a pod. Even if you do not agree with their decisions, you have admire their confidence.

I would have had Patterson address the faithful early on and offer a set of metrics to evaluate his performance by (make timely and substantive decisions, come out early with information regarding new facilities, hold each coach accountable for the academic performance of their athletes. begin a campaign to endow every athletic scholarship, etc.) Nothing that could really come back to bite him immediately, but to set a direction for his stewardship of the program.Something to let the fans feel they had reason to get behind him as a leader.

For Coach Strong, i would have had him list the accomplishments of his tenure at Louisville and to also list his goals for the program (keeping in mind the old adage - if you give a date, don't give a number and if you give a number - don't give a date). Most people don't even have a clue about the improvement in APR at Louisville under Charlie Strong. They need to get out early and show the fans they are leaders and while we may not agree with every decision, but sometime leadership means making the risky call (Roll Left, 4th and 5). I'd have him say we should expect risky calls because we intend to be ready to deliver on those opportunities.

Sadly, we don't seem to have anyone inside Bellmont who understands how to help the leaders be seen as leaders by the fanbase. If we had a decent media team, the whole Saban thing would have been swept aside by now and we would be looking forward, not backward. We would have something to focus on to make us look forward.

Someone needs to be found who can take some pressure off Coach Strong, deal with issues like Red's idiocy, help him deal with the fanbase so he has the breathing room to do his job. My biggest concern isn't that Coach Strong makes mistakes. Of course he will. We want him to grow as a coach and often that means making mistakes. Hell, if he was playing it safe, I'd be more p!ssed than if he screwed up. He needs someone to deal with the distractions and to give him both time and space to get things right. It's just that our media people are so disgustingly incompetent, I'm not sure Coach Strong will get the support he needs.

 

[Darrell McPhaul]

So the claim is there was a contract to Saban before Patterson was hired?

Yes, there was.

 

[BBQ time]

Yes, there was.

Did Saban say no before the offer to strong?

 

[JMagana]

You guys realize that we are the 10% of fans that actually get into the nitty gritty of the football program. The other 90% of the sheep just know wins and losses. The administration doesnt care about us (no matter how valid are input is) they care about the other 90% because all they understand is wins and losses and dont cause trouble (till it hits the fan last 4 years with Mack)... not the coach, not the assistants, not the AD. All they understand is wins and losses.

Reminds me of all things Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.

 

[Randolph Duke]

You guys realize that we are the 10% of fans that actually get into the nitty gritty of the football program. The other 90% of the sheep just know wins and losses. The administration doesnt care about us (no matter how valid are input is) they care about the other 90% because all they understand is wins and losses and dont cause trouble (till it hits the fan last 4 years with Mack)... not the coach, not the assistants, not the AD. All they understand is wins and losses.
Reminds me of all things Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.

But the impressions of the 90% are largely influenced by the media and the media knows they will be publicly called out by the 10%. Manziel isn't nearly what he has been made out to be, but the press knows what the 10% wants to hear so that is what the other 90% read and believe. Perception is reality. If we beat up on the press and mock them, they lose credibility and it opens up a path for someone more insightful. Especially in a twitter influenced world.

 

[Baron Von Tejas]

Honestly, I think CS is a young Nick Saban. I knew NS was not coming when he signed that contract extension. Hopefully CS won't have too much of a learning curve with the Big Xii offenses.

 

[JMagana]

But the impressions of the 90% are largely influenced by the media and the media knows they will be publicly called out by the 10%. Manziel isn't nearly what he has been made out to be, but the press knows what the 10% wants to hear so that is what the other 90% read and believe. Perception is reality. If we beat up on the press and mock them, they lose credibility and it opens up a path for someone more insightful. Especially in a twitter influenced world.

Its definitely easier to stir things up that's for sure.

 

[whatthewhat]

But the impressions of the 90% are largely influenced by the media and the media knows they will be publicly called out by the 10%. Manziel isn't nearly what he has been made out to be, but the press knows what the 10% wants to hear so that is what the other 90% read and believe. Perception is reality. If we beat up on the press and mock them, they lose credibility and it opens up a path for someone more insightful. Especially in a twitter influenced world.

I'm so glad you said this. Social media blows for a million reasons, but in terms of increasing transparency? It's an amazing tool.

Also, poor Johnny is determined to quit college and go pro when he may very well go the way of Tebow, and then have nothing to fall back on. Pitiful. In that vein, I love how CS talks about developing young men, and not just on the football field.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Great Crossfire, McPhaul. Nice job.

 

[Juan]

McPhaul: How far along was Red with Gruden?

There is a rumor out there tonite that, purportedly originating from Gruden's son, that Chucky is headed to the Redskins.

 

[RunningHorn]

Becoming more and more clear that the Friends of Bevo and Big Cigars and Red McCombs are being left out of the loop...and I love it!!!

You're going to have to get new sources Darrell.

 

[GARCH]

I would rather have CS than Saban for sure. I don't think patterson bunted at all, in fact I think saban might have failed here at ut and been a debacle. CS will bring us into a new era

 

[Juan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I'm told Jay Gruden and the Redskins are currently working out the final details to make him the team's new head coach.</p>— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) <a href="

https://twitter.com/JeffDarlington/statuses/421277735181639680">January 9, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[betogonzalez]

Jay Gruden is Jon's brother.

 

[xeno]

Screw it. We hired Mighty Mouse...admit it!

 

[Juan]

Another nice pic --

 

[seahawkhorn]

Another nice pic --

Good stuff. Enjoy all the photos

 

[Hornlaw]

Suddes was not retained.