Well this season has been a cold slap in the face to just about everyone with the program. The biggest slap was reserved for Mcgee who now knows everything he thought he knew about building a program was wrong. Now we'll see if he can become the coach we were told he could be. Other musings....
-His contention we had everything we needed to win a conference was wrong. We need to break ground on the facilities that we CAN now. Like yesterday. Not so much that it's critical to operation but recruits need to see tangible evidence that we ARE in fact committed.
-We had maybe half a dozen true D1 players that started the season. I mean guys that could compete every play. By today we were playing guys across the board that were overmatched play after play. We need depth in the worst way and we're going to have to shake the juco tree for as many grown men as possible. We don't have time to wait for guys to grow up.
-Defense. We were an affront to the very word. I suspect the current defensive staff is not long for the southside. If not, well, we know that Mcgee won't be either.
-Culture starts in practice. You win the game by winning the play. You win the play by winning at your position. The culture has to be deconstructed down to it's most basic level then reconstituted. It's the only way these guys are ever going to learn the basics of winning.
Now we will find out a lot about ourselves as fans and as a program.
+1. McGee's biggest fault so far was that he thought he could waltz into CUSA and win 10 games per year. Now he's reached a similar point that CMD did when he realized he was fighting to keep a job vs using UAB as a stepping stone. Can he produce? After next year, I think we'll know.
I've sen no sign that McGee was planning to use UAB as a stepping stone, at least nit as obvious as Davis
Great post, and I agree with all of it especially about getting moving quickly on the new facility upgrades. The "shut it down" crowd are going to be coming out of the woodwork after the season we had (both on the field and in the stands). Not to mention, since Alabama is likely knocked out of the championship race (barring some catastrophe), they will be looking for a dog to kick.
I hope this was a kick to the ribs for McGee and that he himself has a reality check. He isn't going to get results by just talking. He's going to have to dig in and coach fundamentals, hit the recruiting trail hard, and assemble a competent staff that may or may not have guys you are friends with or have some history with. He's going to have to work extra hard to try to reconnect the fan base and get folks back to Legion Field.
The one thing I think we've seen with this season is that even the loyals are starting to waiver in their support. That's a dangerous, dangerous precedent and if McGee is going to succeed, he is going to have to reign that in.
Forget McGee, forget the fan base, forget the players. The simple reality is that UAB cannot compete in Div I football with their current facilities. Even new Div I programs have better facilities to include an OCS. UAB is seriously behind the 8-ball and it is hard for me to make demands of a coach when he isn't playing on a level playing field. Hell, McGee ain't even on the field.
(11-30-2013 11:00 PM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote: [ -> ]Forget McGee, forget the fan base, forget the players. The simple reality is that UAB cannot compete in Div I football with their current facilities. Even new Div I programs have better facilities to include an OCS. UAB is seriously behind the 8-ball and it is hard for me to make demands of a coach when he isn't playing on a level playing field. Hell, McGee ain't even on the field.
Except he said all he needed was 100 yards of green grass.
Today many of the longtime Season Ticket holders sitting in my section were no-shows. No one wants to say it but McGee looks like a bust. No way to denying apathy has reached a new low.
Right now I think we'd have a better record with one of his woeful predecessors running the program.
Someone cue up the Elvis music "A little Less Conversation A Little More Action Please".
(11-30-2013 11:05 PM)Smaug Wrote: [ -> ] (11-30-2013 11:00 PM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote: [ -> ]Forget McGee, forget the fan base, forget the players. The simple reality is that UAB cannot compete in Div I football with their current facilities. Even new Div I programs have better facilities to include an OCS. UAB is seriously behind the 8-ball and it is hard for me to make demands of a coach when he isn't playing on a level playing field. Hell, McGee ain't even on the field.
Except he said all he needed was 100 yards of green grass.
Well there's our problem! We've been playing on carpet. Wish he had been more specific
(11-30-2013 11:05 PM)Smaug Wrote: [ -> ] (11-30-2013 11:00 PM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote: [ -> ]Forget McGee, forget the fan base, forget the players. The simple reality is that UAB cannot compete in Div I football with their current facilities. Even new Div I programs have better facilities to include an OCS. UAB is seriously behind the 8-ball and it is hard for me to make demands of a coach when he isn't playing on a level playing field. Hell, McGee ain't even on the field.
Except he said all he needed was 100 yards of green grass.
I understand what he said and he was obviously wrong.
And let me say I am not defending McGee coaching because it has been less than okay. But even the next coach is going to have issues competing in CUSA with UAB current facilities.
(11-30-2013 11:38 PM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote: [ -> ]And let me say I am not defending McGee coaching because it has been less than okay. But even the next coach is going to have issues competing in CUSA with UAB current facilities.
I would love to see a coach with a monstrous ego and a desire to prove this wrong come in and turn things around for UAB. I agree with you that facilities are a huge factor for us, but you have to wonder just how much we could improve with a guy like Gus Malzan for example leading the program.
I agree that we can't go undefeated with our facilities...but let's not act like we can't win 4 games with the players and facilities we have.
I'm not asking to get to a BCS game...the problem, as I see it, is that we woefully underperformed for what we do have
We lost 3 games on the last snap of the ball this year.
(11-30-2013 11:54 PM)LairDweller Wrote: [ -> ]I agree that we can't go undefeated with our facilities...but let's not act like we can't win 4 games with the players and facilities we have.
I'm not asking to get to a BCS game...the problem, as I see it, is that we woefully underperformed for what we do have
+1 We have no idea what UAB could do in FBS with a competent football coach. We've never had one.
(12-01-2013 12:01 AM)Smaug Wrote: [ -> ]We lost 3 games on the last snap of the ball this year.
True, but for me the frustration isn't so much about what happened in those games as much as what happened in the 6 games we allowed the opponent to score 50+ points.
Games we let slip away always frustrate me more than games we got our clock cleaned.
In one, the other guy was just better than you. In the other, there's one or two plays, if you'd just made 'em...
(12-01-2013 12:10 AM)Smaug Wrote: [ -> ]Games we let slip away always frustrate me more than games we got our clock cleaned.
In one, the other guy was just better than you. In the other, there's one or two plays, if you'd just made 'em...
Don't get me wrong. I hate losing any, but I'd rather be able to point to one or two mistakes that resulted in a loss than to watch the opponent goofing off on the sideline for 3 quarters because the game was well within hand in the 1st quarter.
Having said that, there's also a big difference in getting blown out by a legit Top 25 team and getting blown out by mediocre CUSA teams. Case in point, the loss to LSU was not nearly as upsetting as the loss to UTSA.
Not me.
Games you got crushed are easy to shrug off. Easier, anyway.
Games you lost on the last play keep you up at night.
(12-01-2013 12:02 AM)BlazerGreen Wrote: [ -> ] (11-30-2013 11:54 PM)LairDweller Wrote: [ -> ]I agree that we can't go undefeated with our facilities...but let's not act like we can't win 4 games with the players and facilities we have.
I'm not asking to get to a BCS game...the problem, as I see it, is that we woefully underperformed for what we do have
+1 We have no idea what UAB could do in FBS with a competent football coach. We've never had one.
But even a competent coach will need decent facilities in today's college football environment.
(12-01-2013 12:28 AM)Smaug Wrote: [ -> ]Not me.
Games you got crushed are easy to shrug off. Easier, anyway.
Games you lost on the last play keep you up at night.
THIS...as in the 3-0 USM loss...
However - THIS year, we have been curb stomped in half our games... then the issue becomes a 'body of work' deal for the season, and this year's body is D.O.A., and stinking up the place...