66- No way can you put the ETSU football program on the same level as James Madison. ETSU is way behind.

Oliver has not had two years to turn the program around. He was hired with approx one week left to recruit. He brought 3 good players. One was all league freshman that went pro. The other two have been productive players. Started the season with an impressive record against good teams and won a very good mid major tournment.

From that point he and his staff faced a major defection, injuries and the uncoachable play of the Brewer Brewers. Somehow Oliver and his staff was able to keep the Bucs competitive in all but one game with only 6 or 7 avaible players.

This year Bucs recruited much needed size and on paper, 3 solid freshman. BUCs have only 3 players with D1 experience, mix that with all the newcomers and you have a group of inexperienced players who have never played together. Unfortunately the injury bug has again wrecked havoc on the team. There were times against Furman, an experienced team, a team that was the unanimous pick to win the conference, the Bucs had 3 freshman, a tranfer D2 and a starter in the game. Absolutely no match for Furman. No way a coach or his staff can make up for key injuries and lack of experience against a team like Furman.

As far as hiring coaches, some on the board have posted about hiring high quality coaches and winning championships. Some have brought up the political basketball fiasco.I posted before Oliver was hired that ETSU would suffer consequences for several years. I have posted that the ETSU basketball and football programs are not the desirable jobs they were 3 yrs ago. ETSU doesn't have the money, the facilities or the conference affiliation to entice high level, experienced coaches and highly rated players. ETSU is simply a mid level program trying to figure out how to stay revelent in today's ever changing College Athletics.

(01-08-2023 08:11 PM)BucDoctor Wrote:  You folks seem to think that there were coaches beating the door down to take over a program who had kneecapped its coach and players by not defending their First Amendment rights.

Yep, standing in line...I'm surprised that Carter could find a coach at all and stated so back then. Just call me prophet.

1a. There were PLENTY of applications for the head hoops coach position when Shay left. Were any of them someone who one might consider a "top 100" (whatever that means) coach in the U.S.? Not likely, but I don't know that. Top 150? Actually, I'd bet that's somewhat likely. But sooo many coaches are carrying varioius forms of baggage now.
1b. A 5-yr. contract is somewhat standard these days - altho I would agree that that shouldn't be determinative. Give a new coach a 3-yr. contract, but you're not gonna attract the same number/quality of applicants. Just sayin'.
And yet again, I'm not defending Oliver; just still too early to throw him out. IMHO.

2. We now have Sander in charge, backed by Noland. As far as we can tell............Sander has never steered us wrong. I think we can still say the mantra "In Sander We Trust" - at least until that's proven wrong. He can read the tea leaves as well as anybody we could hope for. In fact, I'd say Oliver is somewhat scared -- performance anxiety. I think it shows; he seems more nervous and concerned this year than last. He may be on a short leash as we discuss this - meaning they'll take a hard look after the season. Strictly a guess - as if they weren't gonna do that anyway.

3. I find it funny how much Carter bashing has been going on on this board since things blew up (again). I sure wasn't involved, as my opinion of him wasn't very high, but some of you need to look in the mirror in regards to how highly you praised him when he was named AD. Not naming any names - just sayin'.
[And we *still* don't know if another shoe is going to drop regarding the softball fiasco. I think it's almost got to - unless there's a settlement gonna be worked out. And Carter's termination details hint at legal consequences, as I recall. Things *could* get worse before they get better.]

(01-08-2023 08:11 PM)BucDoctor Wrote:  

(01-08-2023 07:56 PM)Buced_Up Wrote:  Yes, and Carter's hires will continue to haunt us. Much like the Mullins era i'm afraid

You folks seem to think that there were coaches beating the door down to take over a program who had kneecapped its coach and players by not defending their First Amendment rights.

Then the Legislators made it clear that they didn't have much respect for that Amendment.

The community jumped on the band wagon and supporters made their positions clear.

It was a circus.

Yep, standing in line...I'm surprised that Carter could find a coach at all and stated so back then. Just call me prophet.

Of course you know — there are those who disagree with your framing of all that. No need to beat that dead horse anymore. We’ll never know the inner workings of Shay and his players with all that. But, there is no doubt that they all knew there would be blowback, perhaps what they were seeking for attention. However, ETSU as an institution was left holding the bag and its reputation damaged in that it was caught between a rock and a hard place. Those who did their protest are long gone. ETSU is still there and still trying to recover. I stand with ETSU and contend that ETSU got screwed over by the politics of those individuals who were being paid by and supposedly ambassadors of the institution

(01-09-2023 12:38 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  

(01-08-2023 08:11 PM)BucDoctor Wrote:  You folks seem to think that there were coaches beating the door down to take over a program who had kneecapped its coach and players by not defending their First Amendment rights.

Yep, standing in line...I'm surprised that Carter could find a coach at all and stated so back then. Just call me prophet.

1a. There were PLENTY of applications for the head hoops coach position when Shay left. Were any of them someone who one might consider a "top 100" (whatever that means) coach in the U.S.? Not likely, but I don't know that. Top 150? Actually, I'd bet that's somewhat likely. But sooo many coaches are carrying varioius forms of baggage now.
1b. A 5-yr. contract is somewhat standard these days - altho I would agree that that shouldn't be determinative. Give a new coach a 3-yr. contract, but you're not gonna attract the same number/quality of applicants. Just sayin'.
And yet again, I'm not defending Oliver; just still too early to throw him out. IMHO.

2. We now have Sander in charge, backed by Noland. As far as we can tell............Sander has never steered us wrong. I think we can still say the mantra "In Sander We Trust" - at least until that's proven wrong. He can read the tea leaves as well as anybody we could hope for. In fact, I'd say Oliver is somewhat scared -- performance anxiety. I think it shows; he seems more nervous and concerned this year than last. He may be on a short leash as we discuss this - meaning they'll take a hard look after the season. Strictly a guess - as if they weren't gonna do that anyway.

3. I find it funny how much Carter bashing has been going on on this board since things blew up (again). I sure wasn't involved, as my opinion of him wasn't very high, but some of you need to look in the mirror in regards to how highly you praised him when he was named AD. Not naming any names - just sayin'.
[And we *still* don't know if another shoe is going to drop regarding the softball fiasco. I think it's almost got to - unless there's a settlement gonna be worked out. And Carter's termination details hint at legal consequences, as I recall. Things *could* get worse before they get better.]

Speaking of Sander and Nolan; they were sitting together as I was leaving Saturday’s game and appeared to be in deep discussion!

(01-09-2023 01:59 PM)seagrove10 Wrote:  Speaking of Sander and Nolan; they were sitting together as I was leaving Saturday’s game and appeared to be in deep discussion!

ETSUFan1 noted the same thing after the WCU game. Well.............they *do* tend to sit together, but the point is not lost. The tenor of the discussions seems a bit less lighthearted than it used to be. Can somebody just plant a bug on one of their chairs?

(01-09-2023 03:51 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  

(01-09-2023 01:59 PM)seagrove10 Wrote:  Speaking of Sander and Nolan; they were sitting together as I was leaving Saturday’s game and appeared to be in deep discussion!

ETSUFan1 noted the same thing after the WCU game. Well.............they *do* tend to sit together, but the point is not lost. The tenor of the discussions seems a bit less lighthearted than it used to be. Can somebody just plant a bug on one of their chairs?

They know precisely what they’re looking at, and my guess, they see UGLY. It comes down to money — daah. Who will buy Oliver’s contract if the season ends on this note? And, from whence the money cometh to hire a good coach? Noland will not rob academics to do it.

(01-09-2023 04:23 PM)Buc66 Wrote:  

(01-09-2023 03:51 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  

(01-09-2023 01:59 PM)seagrove10 Wrote:  Speaking of Sander and Nolan; they were sitting together as I was leaving Saturday’s game and appeared to be in deep discussion!

ETSUFan1 noted the same thing after the WCU game. Well.............they *do* tend to sit together, but the point is not lost. The tenor of the discussions seems a bit less lighthearted than it used to be. Can somebody just plant a bug on one of their chairs?

They know precisely what they’re looking at, and my guess, they see UGLY. It comes down to money — daah. Who will buy Oliver’s contract if the season ends on this note? And, from whence the money cometh to hire a good coach? Noland will not rob academics to do it.

It would have to be a generous donor. Sander has found donors before.