(11-29-2015 12:46 AM)Buho00 Wrote:  

I don't think he's made the program less relevant. NFL Sundays are full of Rice mentions these days, or at least it's common to see Rice players contributing, most of them Bailiff recruits. 3-1 record in bowl games, it is what it is. A conference title. A new facility being built. I complained about DB to a friend of mine today and he said he thought Bailiff was the best coach Rice has ever had. Minor bowl appearances do matter. But what he's accomplished doesn't change that he didn't do a good job this season. It's fair to say that this was a re-building year, considering we're the youngest team out there, but Rice should be at the point where even our freshmen should beat UTSA or compete with La Tech. Now I fear a slump of a couple of seasons, if we don't find a QB. Unless we hire a big name or an exciting young coach who stays many years at Rice, I wouldn't expect a big impact in attendance. DB didn't put us in C-USA, but he isn't a coach who can get us out either, apparently. We'll see what JK decides, I'd be surprised if he's not retained. At this point, I'd be surprised if we made a bowl game next season. So I expect a new coach in the near future anyway, just not for next season.

Some frustrating patterns in this game. This entire season our offense has sputtered and the run game has regressed. Jowan had his best drive of the season in our final score. Driphus was never healthy enough to be a true dual-threat, but the scheme limited him to being less dynamic than he could be. On the other hand, today we saw some success from the option, finally. And the defense showed some potential. Overall, Driphus had a good career at Rice, so did Luke Turner. We'll be better next season. Our 31 freshmen will be bigger and for the most part, better. Our senior class will be bigger IIRC, and better than this one. Hope some kind of change is made, even if it's a new scheme, or new assistants.

How do you figure we will be better next year and also a surprise to make a bowl?

(11-29-2015 12:50 AM)wiessguy Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:22 AM)RiceOwl53 Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:17 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:04 AM)FresnoTXOwl Wrote:  

(11-28-2015 10:29 PM)Antarius Wrote:  Thank god this season is over.

After calling for Bailiffs head for 6 odd years, its been a long and tiresome journey. Sadly, what I expected when we hired him and for the last six years has come true, and our program is now as or more irrelevant than we were a decade ago. Combined with the CFB landscape moving and UH seeming to rise to some semblance of relevance, this might be the fateful death by a thousand cuts.

next year will likely be as bad or worse with major turnover with several seniors and our QB (with no picked or practiced replacement).

I am tired. Bailiff and his mediocre football and bandwagon have beaten me down. So so tired.

Get over yourself already. I want Bailiff gone, but we won a conference title two years ago and made bowl games the last 3 years. Stop acting like David Bailiff ruined your life for six years. He deserves to be gone now, but your hyperbole is more tiresome than Bailiff himself.

No one cares about those. That was clear from the empty stadium today and Zero press coverage.

The last 6 years has been a slow continuous slide into further irrelevance. And your citing of bowl games as a counter example shows how insidious and subtle the slide was.

Point is, I'm tired. Not sure this much investment in something this misguided is worth it anymore

So you're saying my career at Rice was pointless, no...detrimental to the football program? Maybe I should have gone somewhere else that would appreciate a bowl win and a conference championship in back to back years. Good God...yes this season was awful and there needs to be changes. But going to three straight bowl games and winning conference in 3 years isn't a downgrade.

If you got your way and Bailiff was gone tomorrow would you rather say to prospects "we haven't been to a bowl game since 2008 and haven't won conference in God knows how long" or that we had a down year but have a recent history of making bowl games and even a conference championship in our back pocket. C'mon man.

Owl53, I think the frustration is more of where the program has lapsed since the SWC and not necessarily what you and your team mates accomplished during your time, which is tremendous. The problems here are far larger than Bailiff, and JK will need to make changes to address the bigger issues - regardless of whether or not Bailiff stays.

First, more needs to be done to reach out and engage alumni (both former players and non players). There are lots of former players in all sports within easy driving distance and they never come to games - even though they can get in free. Add to that a good deal of local alumni that don't come to games and you get an empty HRS. Rice knows who these people are and more targeted engagement with this core of potential fans needs to happen.

Second, someone needs to figure out how to get more students into the stands. I've chatted with younger alumni who never went to a football game in their 4 years at Rice. This astounded me. If we can't get students to be interested, we won't have engaged alumni. I know the athletic dept understands this, but we need to solve this problem.

Thank you for that. And I agree there is a problem. But most of the solutions are unrealistic. The old adage "you get what you pay for" is very applicable. It's laughable to me when people suggest an unnamed coach to come in and change everything.

I'd come to the games but unfortunately am about 8 hours away and don't have the monetary funds to fly that often.

And about the the students were interested one game I was there. The conference championship. It seems if we win and are playing for something, they show up. But that's the story of any team. How many students are at a Kansas or UCF game? If you win, people will come. But that has been the problem this year.

(11-29-2015 12:50 AM)wiessguy Wrote:  First, more needs to be done to reach out and engage alumni

For the last few years I've tried to get my old friends in Houston to come to the games with me. They just sort of laugh and buy season tickets to the Texans. I have no idea what the answer is.

(11-29-2015 01:03 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:50 AM)wiessguy Wrote:  First, more needs to be done to reach out and engage alumni

For the last few years I've tried to get my old friends in Houston to come to the games with me. They just sort of laugh and buy season tickets to the Texans. I have no idea what the answer is.

I'm in the same boat. And after my friend told me (at the Texas game watch party) that we looked like we did in 2007, I haven't been able to get them out to other games in person either. I got a few to come to homecoming and looked like an idiot - they weren't happy about wasting their time and let me know that.

And I'm to the point of not trying anymore. And I'm pretty much done agitating here.

Considering the amount of time and money spent to fly down 4+ times a year between 2011 and 2014 to watch football and the days spent at the stadium this year - to quote Oasis' Little by Little - "why am I really here..."

But hey - 3 straight bowls. 4 bowl eligible seasons in a row. Rock on.

(11-29-2015 12:56 AM)At Ease Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:46 AM)Buho00 Wrote:  

I don't think he's made the program less relevant. NFL Sundays are full of Rice mentions these days, or at least it's common to see Rice players contributing, most of them Bailiff recruits. 3-1 record in bowl games, it is what it is. A conference title. A new facility being built. I complained about DB to a friend of mine today and he said he thought Bailiff was the best coach Rice has ever had. Minor bowl appearances do matter. But what he's accomplished doesn't change that he didn't do a good job this season. It's fair to say that this was a re-building year, considering we're the youngest team out there, but Rice should be at the point where even our freshmen should beat UTSA or compete with La Tech. Now I fear a slump of a couple of seasons, if we don't find a QB. Unless we hire a big name or an exciting young coach who stays many years at Rice, I wouldn't expect a big impact in attendance. DB didn't put us in C-USA, but he isn't a coach who can get us out either, apparently. We'll see what JK decides, I'd be surprised if he's not retained. At this point, I'd be surprised if we made a bowl game next season. So I expect a new coach in the near future anyway, just not for next season.

Some frustrating patterns in this game. This entire season our offense has sputtered and the run game has regressed. Jowan had his best drive of the season in our final score. Driphus was never healthy enough to be a true dual-threat, but the scheme limited him to being less dynamic than he could be. On the other hand, today we saw some success from the option, finally. And the defense showed some potential. Overall, Driphus had a good career at Rice, so did Luke Turner. We'll be better next season. Our 31 freshmen will be bigger and for the most part, better. Our senior class will be bigger IIRC, and better than this one. Hope some kind of change is made, even if it's a new scheme, or new assistants.

How do you figure we will be better next year and also a surprise to make a bowl?

Having a decent qb will be a big step in the right direction. Not sure what happened with Driphus, but that was a train wreck this year. Changing the D coordinator also, have to think Thurmond will "retire" this year, possibly someone on the offensive side too. This should appease the masses, and changes can be made. But for gods sake, change something! We just kept coming out and running the same ole garbage this year, on both sides of the ball.

(11-29-2015 12:48 AM)Antarius Wrote:  Rice owl 53- if you think 8-4 and a bowl changes the big picture of where we are and where we need to be, you missed my point completely. The problem is so much deeper than wins and losses and being in one of 80 bowl games.

And this has nothing to do with what you did as a player - the problem is levels above that.For example, if someone called the final year of Enron a corporate shitshow - that doesn't mean that everyone working at Enron was complicit in the demise or didn't work hard. It just means the Top and a handful of those with influence drove the ship aground.

You and others are welcome to post all you want going forward. My days of dissent are over. Several others like me Seem to be at this point too. So enjoy the dissent free zone or whatever it becomes.

Maybe some day you'll see that fans are Being driven away and interest in the program is declining; unless young alums step up we will have none left in a few decades. Or maybe not - but I can tell you this season and the last several with Bailiff and no end in sight has lost a handful of young alums and we may lose more fans. You can either tell me why we are horrible fans or whatever or listen and see that people genuinely don't care. Your pick - either works for me

Good luck and Godspeed.

I'm not saying dissent is bad. Because we do need a change somehow, somewhere. The problem is deeper. If people want "Rice to be Rice" it will be like this. A few good years with a bad one for rebuilding. Should we have had a better season? Yes. But it's part of the process. We can't recruit juco like La Tech, WKU, or USM can. That would alleviate a lot of problems.

Look at what Beamer has accomplished at Va Tech. 23 straight years of bowls. You're telling me you wouldn't like that for Rice one day? No matter if it was off a 10-2 season or a 6-6 and everywhere in between.

(11-29-2015 12:48 AM)Antarius Wrote:  Rice owl 53- if you think 8-4 and a bowl changes the big picture of where we are and where we need to be, you missed my point completely. The problem is so much deeper than wins and losses and being in one of 80 bowl games.

And this has nothing to do with what you did as a player - the problem is levels above that.For example, if someone called the final year of Enron a corporate shitshow - that doesn't mean that everyone working at Enron was complicit in the demise or didn't work hard. It just means the Top and a handful of those with influence drove the ship aground.

You and others are welcome to post all you want going forward. My days of dissent are over. Several others like me Seem to be at this point too. So enjoy the dissent free zone or whatever it becomes.

Maybe some day you'll see that fans are Being driven away and interest in the program is declining; unless young alums step up we will have none left in a few decades. Or maybe not - but I can tell you this season and the last several with Bailiff and no end in sight has lost a handful of young alums and we may lose more fans. You can either tell me why we are horrible fans or whatever or listen and see that people genuinely don't care. Your pick - either works for me

Good luck and Godspeed.

Nice self-indulgent post. Why not ask Rice owl 53 to apologize to you for not winning a conference championship with enough style points? I guess he and the rest of us who aren't willing to admit that a conference championship was a terrible year are just not as smart as you.

Good luck and good riddance.

(11-29-2015 01:20 AM)FresnoTXOwl Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:48 AM)Antarius Wrote:  Rice owl 53- if you think 8-4 and a bowl changes the big picture of where we are and where we need to be, you missed my point completely. The problem is so much deeper than wins and losses and being in one of 80 bowl games.

And this has nothing to do with what you did as a player - the problem is levels above that.For example, if someone called the final year of Enron a corporate shitshow - that doesn't mean that everyone working at Enron was complicit in the demise or didn't work hard. It just means the Top and a handful of those with influence drove the ship aground.

You and others are welcome to post all you want going forward. My days of dissent are over. Several others like me Seem to be at this point too. So enjoy the dissent free zone or whatever it becomes.

Maybe some day you'll see that fans are Being driven away and interest in the program is declining; unless young alums step up we will have none left in a few decades. Or maybe not - but I can tell you this season and the last several with Bailiff and no end in sight has lost a handful of young alums and we may lose more fans. You can either tell me why we are horrible fans or whatever or listen and see that people genuinely don't care. Your pick - either works for me

Good luck and Godspeed.

Nice self-indulgent post. Why not ask Rice owl 53 to apologize to you for not winning a conference championship with enough style points? I guess he and the rest of us who aren't willing to admit that a conference championship was a terrible year are just not as smart as you.

Good luck and good riddance.

You just aren't getting it. If the championship was as big a deal as you make it seem - why was the stadium completely empty today? Surely a program with success won't be completely undone by a few subpar games?

This isn't about what I think - look at what everyone or the lack thereof thinks. Or don't. It's that whole lead to the water thing all over again. Whatever makes you happy

The riddance is gone. Enjoy, or don't, whatever makes you happy.

(11-29-2015 12:56 AM)At Ease Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:46 AM)Buho00 Wrote:  

I don't think he's made the program less relevant. NFL Sundays are full of Rice mentions these days, or at least it's common to see Rice players contributing, most of them Bailiff recruits. 3-1 record in bowl games, it is what it is. A conference title. A new facility being built. I complained about DB to a friend of mine today and he said he thought Bailiff was the best coach Rice has ever had. Minor bowl appearances do matter. But what he's accomplished doesn't change that he didn't do a good job this season. It's fair to say that this was a re-building year, considering we're the youngest team out there, but Rice should be at the point where even our freshmen should beat UTSA or compete with La Tech. Now I fear a slump of a couple of seasons, if we don't find a QB. Unless we hire a big name or an exciting young coach who stays many years at Rice, I wouldn't expect a big impact in attendance. DB didn't put us in C-USA, but he isn't a coach who can get us out either, apparently. We'll see what JK decides, I'd be surprised if he's not retained. At this point, I'd be surprised if we made a bowl game next season. So I expect a new coach in the near future anyway, just not for next season.

Some frustrating patterns in this game. This entire season our offense has sputtered and the run game has regressed. Jowan had his best drive of the season in our final score. Driphus was never healthy enough to be a true dual-threat, but the scheme limited him to being less dynamic than he could be. On the other hand, today we saw some success from the option, finally. And the defense showed some potential. Overall, Driphus had a good career at Rice, so did Luke Turner. We'll be better next season. Our 31 freshmen will be bigger and for the most part, better. Our senior class will be bigger IIRC, and better than this one. Hope some kind of change is made, even if it's a new scheme, or new assistants.

How do you figure we will be better next year and also a surprise to make a bowl?

The schedule seems tougher next season. And Driphus bailed the team out twice in games we sort of stole this season. Guess I'm worried about the QB position but think we'll be better elsewhere. If we find a decent QB it shouldn't be hard to make a bowl.

Did anybody see the Luke Turner post-game video? Showed how much Coach Bailiff meant to him. It was moving.

(11-29-2015 01:11 AM)tramile12 Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:56 AM)At Ease Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:46 AM)Buho00 Wrote:  

I don't think he's made the program less relevant. NFL Sundays are full of Rice mentions these days, or at least it's common to see Rice players contributing, most of them Bailiff recruits. 3-1 record in bowl games, it is what it is. A conference title. A new facility being built. I complained about DB to a friend of mine today and he said he thought Bailiff was the best coach Rice has ever had. Minor bowl appearances do matter. But what he's accomplished doesn't change that he didn't do a good job this season. It's fair to say that this was a re-building year, considering we're the youngest team out there, but Rice should be at the point where even our freshmen should beat UTSA or compete with La Tech. Now I fear a slump of a couple of seasons, if we don't find a QB. Unless we hire a big name or an exciting young coach who stays many years at Rice, I wouldn't expect a big impact in attendance. DB didn't put us in C-USA, but he isn't a coach who can get us out either, apparently. We'll see what JK decides, I'd be surprised if he's not retained. At this point, I'd be surprised if we made a bowl game next season. So I expect a new coach in the near future anyway, just not for next season.

Some frustrating patterns in this game. This entire season our offense has sputtered and the run game has regressed. Jowan had his best drive of the season in our final score. Driphus was never healthy enough to be a true dual-threat, but the scheme limited him to being less dynamic than he could be. On the other hand, today we saw some success from the option, finally. And the defense showed some potential. Overall, Driphus had a good career at Rice, so did Luke Turner. We'll be better next season. Our 31 freshmen will be bigger and for the most part, better. Our senior class will be bigger IIRC, and better than this one. Hope some kind of change is made, even if it's a new scheme, or new assistants.

How do you figure we will be better next year and also a surprise to make a bowl?

Having a decent qb will be a big step in the right direction. Not sure what happened with Driphus, but that was a train wreck this year. Changing the D coordinator also, have to think Thurmond will "retire" this year, possibly someone on the offensive side too. This should appease the masses, and changes can be made. But for gods sake, change something! We just kept coming out and running the same ole garbage this year, on both sides of the ball.

1) Somewhat disagree about the QB part. As poor as Driphus performed this year, I have no reason to suspect that any QB currently on our roster will be better next year. My prediction is that we will miss Driphus terribly next year (along with some others that graduated today, but don't play QB). I will be very pleasantly surprised if the QB position is an upgrade over the last two years. I expect something closer to the disaster that was the 2009 QB debacle, when we were breaking in very unexperienced QBs post-Chase.

2) Agreed, changes are needed and Bailiff should be gone. We cannot afford seasons where we scrap out four wins against the worst teams in FBS, plus one win against one of the worst teams in FCS. That is not a "down" year in C-USA 3.0. The down year was last year's 7-5 effort. Firing the coordinators will not do anything, unless the university decides to get its head out of its collective ass and shell out money for better coordinators. You get what you pay for and what we have right now is not good at all. If Bailiff is retained, but assistants are fired and there is no increase in salary pool for replacements, the university is setting him up to fail in his "prove it" year and would be better off just buying him out now.

3) Our schedule next year is tougher than this year's. Stanford and Baylor are already guaranteed blowout losses, no questions asked. Army is a road game next year. We'll play LaTech / USM on the road next year, the latter of which will undoubtedly be the division favorite. We'll play MTSU from the East (which will return its starting QB), as well as two others that are TBD as far as I know.

Given my opinions above, I just don't see a scenario where Bailiff produces a job saving performance next year. Although my definition of a job saving performance likely differs vastly from that of others on here.

(11-29-2015 12:50 AM)wiessguy Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:22 AM)RiceOwl53 Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:17 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:04 AM)FresnoTXOwl Wrote:  

(11-28-2015 10:29 PM)Antarius Wrote:  Thank god this season is over.

After calling for Bailiffs head for 6 odd years, its been a long and tiresome journey. Sadly, what I expected when we hired him and for the last six years has come true, and our program is now as or more irrelevant than we were a decade ago. Combined with the CFB landscape moving and UH seeming to rise to some semblance of relevance, this might be the fateful death by a thousand cuts.

next year will likely be as bad or worse with major turnover with several seniors and our QB (with no picked or practiced replacement).

I am tired. Bailiff and his mediocre football and bandwagon have beaten me down. So so tired.

Get over yourself already. I want Bailiff gone, but we won a conference title two years ago and made bowl games the last 3 years. Stop acting like David Bailiff ruined your life for six years. He deserves to be gone now, but your hyperbole is more tiresome than Bailiff himself.

No one cares about those. That was clear from the empty stadium today and Zero press coverage.

The last 6 years has been a slow continuous slide into further irrelevance. And your citing of bowl games as a counter example shows how insidious and subtle the slide was.

Point is, I'm tired. Not sure this much investment in something this misguided is worth it anymore

So you're saying my career at Rice was pointless, no...detrimental to the football program? Maybe I should have gone somewhere else that would appreciate a bowl win and a conference championship in back to back years. Good God...yes this season was awful and there needs to be changes. But going to three straight bowl games and winning conference in 3 years isn't a downgrade.

If you got your way and Bailiff was gone tomorrow would you rather say to prospects "we haven't been to a bowl game since 2008 and haven't won conference in God knows how long" or that we had a down year but have a recent history of making bowl games and even a conference championship in our back pocket. C'mon man.

Owl53, I think the frustration is more of where the program has lapsed since the SWC and not necessarily what you and your team mates accomplished during your time, which is tremendous. The problems here are far larger than Bailiff, and JK will need to make changes to address the bigger issues - regardless of whether or not Bailiff stays.

First, more needs to be done to reach out and engage alumni (both former players and non players). There are lots of former players in all sports within easy driving distance and they never come to games - even though they can get in free. Add to that a good deal of local alumni that don't come to games and you get an empty HRS. Rice knows who these people are and more targeted engagement with this core of potential fans needs to happen.

Second, someone needs to figure out how to get more students into the stands. I've chatted with younger alumni who never went to a football game in their 4 years at Rice. This astounded me. If we can't get students to be interested, we won't have engaged alumni. I know the athletic dept understands this, but we need to solve this problem.

While it would be nice to have more students in the stands that is the least of our worries. If 50% of the undergrads showed up we would still only have 2500 more. Most programs have around 10-15% undergrad attendance so that would put us at 250-300.

The other point is that at this point in time the current students aren't the ones donating to the Owl Club or athletic program in general. Not a knock against them but unlike UH where the students are paying above the normal fees to finance TDECU stadium. We need to attract the alums/fans that have been turned off (and whose checkbooks have closed), alums/fans who haven't been FB fans in their time on campus or the surrounding Houston area, and of course new casual fans.

That was a pretty empty student section in Austin TG night.

I think the headline for the Gopher game story sums it up nicely for us as well:

Gophers football ends for 2015, mercifully

Now at least we don't have things like this (further down in the article) to aggravate the situation even more:

We found out last week, in documents released by the university, that women's basketball coach Marlene Stollings billed the school $1,984 for hairstyling, wardrobe and shoes. God knows Tracy could use an expensive-looking haircut and a wardrobe makeover. The poor guy is walking around in a wind-breaker and sweatpants and sporting a Julius Caesar on acid hairdo.

And maybe he has a loyal dog or, I don't know, an Angus heifer that he'd like to have by his side in Minnesota. We also found out that the university paid $2,298.85 to transport the pup of men's basketball coach Richard Pitino from Florida to Minnesota. Non-stop, of course. For that kind of dough, the transportation company no doubt spread rose petals when the pooch needed to relieve itself on the trip north.

Early prediction for next year: With Bailiff, 3-9; with the right new coach, maybe 6-6.

(11-29-2015 07:16 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Early prediction for next year: With Bailiff, 3-9; with the right new coach, maybe 6-6.

If you feel this way, firing him is the only option.

(11-29-2015 01:25 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 01:20 AM)FresnoTXOwl Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 12:48 AM)Antarius Wrote:  Rice owl 53- if you think 8-4 and a bowl changes the big picture of where we are and where we need to be, you missed my point completely. The problem is so much deeper than wins and losses and being in one of 80 bowl games.

And this has nothing to do with what you did as a player - the problem is levels above that.For example, if someone called the final year of Enron a corporate shitshow - that doesn't mean that everyone working at Enron was complicit in the demise or didn't work hard. It just means the Top and a handful of those with influence drove the ship aground.

You and others are welcome to post all you want going forward. My days of dissent are over. Several others like me Seem to be at this point too. So enjoy the dissent free zone or whatever it becomes.

Maybe some day you'll see that fans are Being driven away and interest in the program is declining; unless young alums step up we will have none left in a few decades. Or maybe not - but I can tell you this season and the last several with Bailiff and no end in sight has lost a handful of young alums and we may lose more fans. You can either tell me why we are horrible fans or whatever or listen and see that people genuinely don't care. Your pick - either works for me

Good luck and Godspeed.

Nice self-indulgent post. Why not ask Rice owl 53 to apologize to you for not winning a conference championship with enough style points? I guess he and the rest of us who aren't willing to admit that a conference championship was a terrible year are just not as smart as you.

Good luck and good riddance.

You just aren't getting it. If the championship was as big a deal as you make it seem - why was the stadium completely empty today? Surely a program with success won't be completely undone by a few subpar games?

This isn't about what I think - look at what everyone or the lack thereof thinks. Or don't. It's that whole lead to the water thing all over again. Whatever makes you happy

The riddance is gone. Enjoy, or don't, whatever makes you happy.

The championship was a big deal - student support was fantastic despite absolutely abysmal weather conditions. I think that is proof it was a big deal.

The problem wasn't that the game and results weren't a big deal, the problem was that it was supposed to be the first step in the right direction, and immediately following that first step, we stumbled against Mississippi State and then followed that up with a relatively mediocre season.

There is no reason to diminish the accomplishment of winning a conference championship because it didn't immediately turn the program around - no single action will be able to accomplish that. If we beat the #1 team in the country we still have to follow that up with other wins to build a program and sustained interest. But if we did beat a #1 and then immediately faltered, I wouldn't say that beating the #1 team wasn't a big deal or was meaningless. Would you?

In short, a single game can both be a big deal and important but not move the needle if we fail to continue to produce that success.

(11-29-2015 07:16 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Early prediction for next year: With Bailiff, 3-9; with the right new coach, maybe 6-6.

I agree with that assessment and projection. If DB returns, the results will be even worse than this year given our schedule and returning roster (including a totally inexperienced QB). I'd say 3-9 at best. With a new coach, new philosophy and new energy, it's conceivable we could get to .500 (or another 5 - 7 season), but that would be acceptable as Year 1 in a rebuilding effort.

(11-29-2015 12:50 AM)wiessguy Wrote:  .....
First, more needs to be done to reach out and engage alumni (both former players and non players). There are lots of former players in all sports within easy driving distance and they never come to games - even though they can get in free. Add to that a good deal of local alumni that don't come to games and you get an empty HRS. Rice knows who these people are and more targeted engagement with this core of potential fans needs to happen.

Second, someone needs to figure out how to get more students into the stands. I've chatted with younger alumni who never went to a football game in their 4 years at Rice. This astounded me. If we can't get students to be interested, we won't have engaged alumni. I know the athletic dept understands this, but we need to solve this problem.

Kids who are really interested in their school's football don't go to Rice. They go to Texas, or ATM. If they cannot get into those schools they go to UH, SFA, TTU, OU, or Texas State. When I was a freshman in 1972, I watched as a lot of my fellow freshman sat in the stands crying, literally, about their newly-adopted Rice Owls who were looking pretty terrible on the field. Those kids came to Rice, probably because mom and dad made them, instead of following the herd to some football factory school. Now days, those kids just find something else to do. They could well be sitting in someone's apartment watching their other adopted team on TV, or actually going to that game instead of the Owl game. My son isn't a Rice student, but he has been an Owl fan since 2006. Many Saturdays find him at our home watching Rice on TV. It doesn't hurt that his mom washes his clothes and sends him back with food. Sometimes, such as when Rice plays at UNT, he has me driving us there. He goes to another school and supports their team as well, but there are still times when he and a bunch of his friends leave their game early and go do something else.

Come on guys, the 3-9 predictions are crazy. We return 9 starters on both offense and defense? We have PVAM, Army, and UNT, UTEP and UTSA at home for sure. Throw in possibly Charlotte again, and I'll assume one of the Florida schools? 4-8 or 5-7 again is about our bottom with the status quo.

I'll assume also that after three straight years of the same coaching staff, we'll make some coaching changes at the very minimum. I've thrown out his name before, but isn't Tony Levine still just sitting at his house down the street from Bailiff still collecting his UH check? He'd be a nice upgrade as a DC.

(11-29-2015 09:32 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 07:16 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Early prediction for next year: With Bailiff, 3-9; with the right new coach, maybe 6-6.

I agree with that assessment and projection. If DB returns, the results will be even worse than this year given our schedule and returning roster (including a totally inexperienced QB). I'd say 3-9 at best. With a new coach, new philosophy and new energy, it's conceivable we could get to .500 (or another 5 - 7 season), but that would be acceptable as Year 1 in a rebuilding effort.

Walt, I predict this will change. What you are implying is, that if Bailiff stays, and he goes 6-6 next year that will be as good a job as you would believe we would get out of a new coaching hire. Therefore, by this argument, and your statement above, if Bailiff stays and goes 6-6 next year you will think he's done a good job, 3 wins better than your expectations, and as good as or better than your expectations for the expensive new hire we may still get.

In the event that JK keeps DB, is this really what you want to be on record as saying? You sure 3-9 is the best he can do next year with this team?

(11-29-2015 10:09 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Come on guys, the 3-9 predictions are crazy. We return 9 starters on both offense and defense? We have PVAM, Army, and UNT, UTEP and UTSA at home for sure. Throw in possibly Charlotte again, and I'll assume one of the Florida schools? 4-8 or 5-7 again is about our bottom with the status quo.

I'll assume also that after three straight years of the same coaching staff, we'll make some coaching changes at the very minimum. I've thrown out his name before, but isn't Tony Levine still just sitting at his house down the street from Bailiff still collecting his UH check? He'd be a nice upgrade as a DC.

Sure, I can see that record, frankly. So, let's say we go 5-7 again...does Bailiff keep his job? Bringing in new coordinators could help, but what coordinator is going to want to come into this situation, knowing that they could be sidling up to a coach that is on the hot seat for 2016?

(11-29-2015 10:22 AM)Rick Gerlach Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 09:32 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 07:16 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Early prediction for next year: With Bailiff, 3-9; with the right new coach, maybe 6-6.

I agree with that assessment and projection. If DB returns, the results will be even worse than this year given our schedule and returning roster (including a totally inexperienced QB). I'd say 3-9 at best. With a new coach, new philosophy and new energy, it's conceivable we could get to .500 (or another 5 - 7 season), but that would be acceptable as Year 1 in a rebuilding effort.

Walt, I predict this will change. What you are implying is, that if Bailiff stays, and he goes 6-6 next year that will be as good a job as you would believe we would get out of a new coaching hire. Therefore, by this argument, and your statement above, if Bailiff stays and goes 6-6 next year you will think he's done a good job, 3 wins better than your expectations, and as good as or better than your expectations for the expensive new hire we may still get.

In the event that JK keeps DB, is this really what you want to be on record as saying? You sure 3-9 is the best he can do next year with this team?

No, Rick, did you bother to read my post? I said that if DB stays, 3-9 would be my likely projection for next season. I don't think there is a prayer of a chance we go 6-6 with Bailiff as coach next season.