WMU is experiencing something almost every G5 program experiences when a successful coach moves on to another program
Cincinnati experienced it when Dantonio, Kelly and Jones all left in ways similar to the sleezy way Fleck bolted WMU (that does not make it right, but that is college football today).
Kelly and Jones also did that to CMU and, apparently, Enos tried to get some recruits to follow him to Arkansas when he quit (although there isn't much room for D2/D3 level recruits at an SEC program).
A new coach, means new systems and new culture, regardless of who takes over. And it usually takes time to adjust.
Fleck and the Broncos had the "Perfect Season" with just about every lucky break going their way last fall, including the schedule. Nothing to apologize for. NU and UI weren't "Meh" programs when scheduled. Cubit had similar "easy" schedules with strong talent and couldn't produce a MAC contender, let alone champion. Fleck did. Deal with it and STFU if you don't like it. The Dude is gone and "MAC Champion 2016" will forever be in Waldo Stadium. I pleased about both!
I have full confidence in Lester and staff. Anyone who did not believe there would be hic-ups to start the season is naive. Two of the first three games were against legit, outstanding, bowl champions from last year. My only beef is the fact we missed an opportunity to beat an arrogant and unethical MSU program, but that goes back to the transition and the after effect of the previous week's game on the west coast in 100+ degree temperatures. Do not underestimate how that travel, and those conditions, drain a team. Anyone who does business on the west coast, knows how the travel alone can impact you when you return (but Lester shoulda taken the personal foul penalty and thrown more to RBs WIDE OPEN in the flat...dang!).
This Bronco team will get a little better every game. However, it ain't gonna be like last season, and should not be expected to. The USC game gave us a sugar high for expectations, but also let us see what our kids are capable of.
WMU will beat CMU and will be playing meaningful games in November. We have a lot of fun football - and tailgates with hot brats and cold beers - in front of us.
Savor it. Go Broncos!
Nobody expects another 13-0 season.
I think most people (myself included) predicted somewhere in the range of 8-9 win season.
Games won aside, we're all intelligent enough to understand what transition looks like. The issues I saw against Idaho (and to some degree, Michigan St.) are beyond "transitional" IMO.
Players didn't look ready to play. The play calling has been spotty at best. We are lacking the energy that we saw the last few seasons.
None of that in which I mentioned above should be affected by a transition and/or new coaching staff.
I'm not saying I don't believe in Lester yet, but this coaching staff has a lot to show me still. I am concerned about what I saw. You don't have to agree with that assessment but don't insult and belittle the rest of us for being concerned about a program that we care about deeply. Our expectations shouldn't change in that regard.
"Deal with it and STFU if you don't like it"... really?
No.
Has little to do with the coach moving on, and a lot to do with poor recruiting and development at various positions.
If we keep Thomas and Little at QB the depth issue is solved. Same with Kaleb Perry. Recruiting at WR was spotty at best. Right now two true freshmen are have moved onto the two deep.
Poor recruiting, lol...
Leave it to you to use the ONE variable that was indisputably very good over the last several seasons.
For sure there is transition, or adjustment for any new coaching staff, but there are things that can be done to mitigate some of those things. Hiring coaches from the prior staff is one way. I am not sure what, if any, effort was made to get Pinkham on the new staff, but the guy did a good job last few years, and was familiar with the returning players. It may be that he refused to stay on the staff when he didnt get the HC job. I'm not sure he wouldnt have been a good HC either. Keeping as many things the same as what the old coaches were doing (the same prescription for success) is another way to mitigate the "transition" issues.
When Butch Jones came to CMU he didnt rock the boat. he kept things as similar as possible, because it was working so well. When Enos came to CMU he was so smart he changed things, because the Michigan State way was better. And he was right; it was way better for WMU and other CMU opponents. I know I will get criticism for saying so, but if I was Lester I would have kept the RTB slogan. I would have eliminated it from the uniforms, but I would have emphasized the principle that we are all on the same team with the same objectives and goals, and need to all work together, in sync, on and off the field, and all need to be rowing the boat in the same direction together. It worked, and it doesnt matter that it was Flecks idea, or that people laughed at it.
This is a team that developed together, and played together, and the majority of our two deep is back, every bit as talented as they were last year, but with a ton more experience. They should not be playing poorly, and yet they have. I expect they will get better; but i must admit, I thought they would be a lot better than what I have seen the last two games. Time will tell; just as it did with our last coaching staff. It is fair to judge though; after each game, then after the season is over.
"Every bit as talented as last year"
Uhhhhhh NO
(09-18-2017 10:04 AM)Chipdip2 Wrote: [ -> ]Has little to do with the coach moving on, and a lot to do with poor recruiting and development at various positions.
I can support potential player development concerns and lack of playing time during end-game situations.
However, I fail to see how the roster loaded with 3-star and above talent shows "poor" recruiting. Unbalanced, perhaps. If that is the defining characteristic of "poor", I can see your point.
In every way, shape, and form...we are a far more talented team today than we were before Fleck took over. As you said yesterday...we just need time to gel.
(09-18-2017 10:04 AM)Chipdip2 Wrote: [ -> ]Has little to do with the coach moving on, and a lot to do with poor recruiting and development at various positions.
If we keep Thomas and Little at QB the depth issue is solved. Same with Kaleb Perry. Recruiting at WR was spotty at best. Right now two true freshmen are have moved onto the two deep.
While I can't speak to the others, Kaleb Perry left WMU for some serious personal reasons at home. It had nothing to do with WMU or its coaching staff at the time.
Maybe the others fall into the same category, maybe they don't.
Bottom-line is the previous staff delivered the first MAC Championship in 30 years to WMU and the new staff has inherited a program in better shape, overall, than its predecessors did.
That does not mean the program is in perfect shape. Absolutely not. But there appears to be enough to work with to remain a serious contender for the MAC West title. And to move on from the fact the previous staff - that abruptly and rightfully replaced Bill "Lost-5-In-A-Row-To-CMU" Cubit - is l-o-n-g gone.
In Lester We Trust!
Go Broncos!
The only ones who keep bringing Fleck up to the forefront of the conversation are the same ones being critical to those of us showing concern about these last two games. As far as I'm concerned, the two are unrelated. I've moved on from Fleck, but it's clear others haven't.
(09-18-2017 11:36 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote: [ -> ]The only ones who keep bringing Fleck up to the forefront of the conversation are the same ones being critical to those of us showing concern about these last two games. As far as I'm concerned, the two are unrelated. I've moved on from Fleck, but it's clear others haven't.
Touche!
Gaining our sea legs against non-conference competition and figuring out how to use the existing tools in the the garage should be the priority for this new coaching staff. I see that happening.
There is no pre-season in college football.
(09-18-2017 09:53 AM)GullLake Wrote: [ -> ]WMU is experiencing something almost every G5 program experiences when a successful coach moves on to another program
Cincinnati experienced it when Dantonio, Kelly and Jones all left in ways similar to the sleezy way Fleck bolted WMU (that does not make it right, but that is college football today).
Kelly and Jones also did that to CMU and, apparently, Enos tried to get some recruits to follow him to Arkansas when he quit (although there isn't much room for D2/D3 level recruits at an SEC program).
A new coach, means new systems and new culture, regardless of who takes over. And it usually takes time to adjust.
Fleck and the Broncos had the "Perfect Season" with just about every lucky break going their way last fall, including the schedule. Nothing to apologize for. NU and UI weren't "Meh" programs when scheduled. Cubit had similar "easy" schedules with strong talent and couldn't produce a MAC contender, let alone champion. Fleck did. Deal with it and STFU if you don't like it. The Dude is gone and "MAC Champion 2016" will forever be in Waldo Stadium. I pleased about both!
I have full confidence in Lester and staff. Anyone who did not believe there would be hic-ups to start the season is naive. Two of the first three games were against legit, outstanding, bowl champions from last year. My only beef is the fact we missed an opportunity to beat an arrogant and unethical MSU program, but that goes back to the transition and the after effect of the previous week's game on the west coast in 100+ degree temperatures. Do not underestimate how that travel, and those conditions, drain a team. Anyone who does business on the west coast, knows how the travel alone can impact you when you return (but Lester shoulda taken the personal foul penalty and thrown more to RBs WIDE OPEN in the flat...dang!).
This Bronco team will get a little better every game. However, it ain't gonna be like last season, and should not be expected to. The USC game gave us a sugar high for expectations, but also let us see what our kids are capable of.
WMU will beat CMU and will be playing meaningful games in November. We have a lot of fun football - and tailgates with hot brats and cold beers - in front of us.
Savor it. Go Broncos!
(09-18-2017 11:36 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote: [ -> ]The only ones who keep bringing Fleck up to the forefront of the conversation are the same ones being critical to those of us showing concern about these last two games. As far as I'm concerned, the two are unrelated. I've moved on from Fleck, but it's clear others haven't.
Its clear that there are some out there who still want to get in some "see... I was right" jabs about PJ with regard to some of the issues THIS team is having (PJ left the cupboard bare... PJ didn't do enough to build up the talent before he left... blah blah blah). If winning the MACC and going to the Cotton Bowl last year mean I have to suffer through a rough stretch to start this year... then so be it! Doesn't mean I have to keep my opinions about what I see on the field to myself...
Lester again has added after every game the same consistent message that this team is still trying to find its identity, especially on offense. The defense will continue to play faster as they get more comfortable with the scheme and that will help as the offense continues to improve at its own pace. I see Lester giving these kids the space to find their own identity within the scheme without adding the pressure to be perfect. He wants the team to play FAST and in order to play FAST you have to be operating on instinct. These kids are starting to get it... less thinking and more reacting on both sides...
The only PJ in this program is peanut butter and jelly...
I agree that the defense looks a step slow at times, though they haven't played poorly overall. That was part of why I wanted Pinkham kept on, although there's no real proof that was an option.
(09-18-2017 10:50 PM)wmubroncopilot Wrote: [ -> ]I agree that the defense looks a step slow at times, though they haven't played poorly overall. That was part of why I wanted Pinkham kept on, although there's no real proof that was an option.
He applied for the HC job, but obviously did not get it. Probably didn't want to stay on after that.
(09-18-2017 11:10 PM)ColinApocalypse Wrote: [ -> ] (09-18-2017 10:50 PM)wmubroncopilot Wrote: [ -> ]I agree that the defense looks a step slow at times, though they haven't played poorly overall. That was part of why I wanted Pinkham kept on, although there's no real proof that was an option.
He applied for the HC job, but obviously did not get it. Probably didn't want to stay on after that.
bingo
Yeah, Pinkham was so highly coveted he ended up at UMass. Giving up 33 a game to 4 G5s and IAAs.
Quote:He applied for the HC job, but obviously did not get it. Probably didn't want to stay on after that.
Yeah, I think that's obvious -- as he talked with Lester a lot after the HC decision. He probably would have stayed if they were going to hire within (like NIU would do) -- but getting an outsider coming in, with all upper management coaches changed up... I can see why one would prefer to coach somewhere else.
Quote:Yeah, Pinkham was so highly coveted he ended up at UMass. Giving up 33 a game to 4 G5s and IAAs.
Yeah, but it's his first year + dealing with UMass players. In two years, we'll really see how good or bad he is as a DC.
I think the real reason our defense looked pretty good last year is because our offense had the ball for 3/4 of the game. I was never really very impressed with the schemes that pinkham ran.
