Quote:I have not paid a lot of attention to the whole P.J. thing, but the way he bolted on the O.C. job with NIU was completely low class.
It was. BUT, to be fair -- he wasn't ready for it. Going to low-end P5 Rutgers to be a WR coach over being OC for a good-level G5? It wasn't a step Up. It'd be hard to believe a WR coach at a mid-level Big East place is going to bring really any more $$ than OC at an upper-tier mid-major -- and it's not better on a resume. I honestly think he's all about himself BUT was actually making a better decision for himself AND NIU. He wasn't even ready to be HC last year. He was never an OC or DC coordinator ANYWHERE (except for a day with NIU; doesn't count)!
Quote:I know the MAC is down but crazy impressive turnaround... they lost to a mid range FCS team last year
Oh, Nicholls State -- they were a LOW LOW level FCS team last year. They ended up improving to roughly mid-range that year... the year before that, all they had was a win against a D2 team. It was SO odd that we only lost to Michigan State by 13 on our 1st game, but then everything fell apart, including that one. Our only win was against UMass, where UMass went for 2 for the win (not the tie), and their receiver dropped an easy pass -- so we won by default.
We were improving at the end of the year -- being a tough fight for the bottom-end of the MAC, but yes -- it's Surprising that we (WMU) turned it around so much.
Quote:.a lame slogan last year, but not so much in 2014. PJ has this program headed in the right direction. I had this as an automatic win for our final game.....not anymore. Recruiting, positive MOJO are alive and well in Kalamazoo.
It was only lame because we were 1-11. Any pumped-up attitude or new slogan will look completely stupid when you can't win any games. But what did PJ Fleck do when everyone was laughing at him? He just rowed the boat. Oh, the irony. :)
Coaching, corralling, and making the most out of a team, IMO, is a game of checkers, not chess. He sets an example on how it's much about attitude when you have decent recruits.
WMU is for real this year -- but I still think it's our transition year. We're just lucky the MAC itself is in transition, too, so we'll now be going bowling at (what I predict) of 7-5.
The NIU game is going to be tough. I predict a loss to NIU, and @CMU (we never win there; but CMU just lost Rawls their RB for the season apparently), and wins against EMU & @Miami.
It wouldn't shock me if WMU beat NIU, but NIU I think is going to have their ducks in the row by season's end in that final game. I think it will be a true test for Carey as a HC -- to see how good he is. It's not a gimmie-game for ANY MAC team -- even if the MAC were better this year.