CJL

[USFreak]

A few years back I noted the only way you put this program back on solid ground is bring CJL back (if he'd even come back).  He famously declared himself as the "most powerful man in the building" and Castor and Woolard ran his ass to the woodshed.  Woolard is long gone, Castor is now gone (although she casts a long shadow).  

CJL did a lot of **** wrong.  Glaser and I interviewed him off and on back in the day and he was no media darling.  He was an old school football coach that demanded (and got) a lot from his players and was terrible once he stepped off the turf.  He pissed off administrators, media types, donors - you name it.  Guy couldn't win a conference championship because he was entirely predictable.  Better DC than head coach, but in terms of player pickups and development.  Unrivaled.  He listened, had a nose for talent, and got crazy results.  I remember watching Grothe play a 7 on 7 tournament and saying "that's our next QB" to Glaser.  Guy was undersized but overhearted.  Leavitt thrived with those guys.  He'd win the big one and lay a 14-inch turd against Connecticut the following week.  

I'll post this goofball-diatribe again because USF has a longitude and latitude platted firmly on the cursed Indian burial ground.  You can bring in all the short-term Skip Holtz, Taggarts, Strongs you want.  If they win they move on and if they lose they eventually get canned.  The AAC might as well be the Big West.  They want to coach here about as much as you want to pay a seat license fee to go watch sub-par football on a Saturday night with 14,000 fans.

At the time I had access enough to the "story" of Leavitt's canning that it seemed more setup than reality.  Brad, Glaser, Auman, McMurphy (who wanted his head) and certainly others seem to have a lot of the same backchannel info.  Good on McMurphy for catching a few deep balls after the Tribune.  Who knows what to believe?  Castor and Woolard simply pulled the choke chain and bam...Jim's back to being a linebackers coach....for a Super Bowl runner-up (3 pts).  CU, Oregon...that's higher cotton than a bovine-themed directional school with a f--king pirate ship in their north endzone.

Listen, I get that you can't always "come home again" (looking at you Bobby Petrino) but this program is on ice.  It is in the purgatory of college football - no on-campus stadium, a parade of coaches looking to retool their resume.  It needs some controversy and a solid dose of excitement.  That 49-0 drubbing was NOT a fluke.  They'll get two touchdowns (and possibly a field goal) at GT next week but they'll get beat pretty soundly.  The season dropped off a cliff last year and that is not just coaching.  That is the player group.  There may be a star or two buried in that pile but it isn't like what you remember.  Not at all.  Name the great players of this program and most of them come from the Leavitt era.  Taggart was the closest thing we had to a spark in the past 10 years.   

So yeah, Leavitt...he'd probably never come back and I'm sure I'll take a boatload of **** for even the mention of his name but if you guys love empty stadiums and December 20th bowls in Frisco, TX and (gasp) Tampa, FL....carry on.

 

 

[NewEnglandBull]

“That’s an awfully powerful post. “

[Vivadiscordia]

To be fair, this game was packed, but unfortunately, this game did not warrant it whatsoever. 

Edited August 31, 2019 by Vivadiscordia

[puc86]

11 minutes ago, USFreak said:

A few years back I noted the only way you put this program back on solid ground is bring CJL back (if he'd even come back).  He famously declared himself as the "most powerful man in the building" and Castor and Woolard ran his ass to the woodshed.  Woolard is long gone, Castor is now gone (although she casts a long shadow).  

CJL did a lot of **** wrong.  Glaser and I interviewed him off and on back in the day and he was no media darling.  He was an old school football coach that demanded (and got) a lot from his players and was terrible once he stepped off the turf.  He pissed off administrators, media types, donors - you name it.  Guy couldn't win a conference championship because he was entirely predictable.  Better DC than head coach, but in terms of player pickups and development.  Unrivaled.  He listened, had a nose for talent, and got crazy results.  I remember watching Grothe play a 7 on 7 tournament and saying "that's our next QB" to Glaser.  Guy was undersized but overhearted.  Leavitt thrived with those guys.  He'd win the big one and lay a 14-inch turd against Connecticut the following week.  

I'll post this goofball-diatribe again because USF has a longitude and latitude platted firmly on the cursed Indian burial ground.  You can bring in all the short-term Skip Holtz, Taggarts, Strongs you want.  If they win they move on and if they lose they eventually get canned.  The AAC might as well be the Big West.  They want to coach here about as much as you want to pay a seat license fee to go watch sub-par football on a Saturday night with 14,000 fans.

At the time I had access enough to the "story" of Leavitt's canning that it seemed more setup than reality.  Brad, Glaser, Auman, McMurphy (who wanted his head) and certainly others seem to have a lot of the same backchannel info.  Good on McMurphy for catching a few deep balls after the Tribune.  Who knows what to believe?  Castor and Woolard simply pulled the choke chain and bam...Jim's back to being a linebackers coach....for a Super Bowl runner-up (3 pts).  CU, Oregon...that's higher cotton than a bovine-themed directional school with a f--king pirate ship in their north endzone.

Listen, I get that you can't always "come home again" (looking at you Bobby Petrino) but this program is on ice.  It is in the purgatory of college football - no on-campus stadium, a parade of coaches looking to retool their resume.  It needs some controversy and a solid dose of excitement.  That 49-0 drubbing was NOT a fluke.  They'll get two touchdowns (and possibly a field goal) at GT next week but they'll get beat pretty soundly.  The season dropped off a cliff last year and that is not just coaching.  That is the player group.  There may be a star or two buried in that pile but it isn't like what you remember.  Not at all.  Name the great players of this program and most of them come from the Leavitt era.  Taggart was the closest thing we had to a spark in the past 10 years.   

So yeah, Leavitt...he'd probably never come back and I'm sure I'll take a boatload of **** for even the mention of his name but if you guys love empty stadiums and December 20th bowls in Frisco, TX and (gasp) Tampa, FL....carry on.

 

 

Welcome brother. Replace Betty with Judy and you nailed it. People will respond with their whataboutism but I’m still waiting for anyone to do better even here in the minors.

[USFreak]

2 minutes ago, Vivadiscordia said:

To be fair, this game was packed, but unfortunately, this game did not warrant it whatsoever. 

The West Virginia game was packed.  The Louisville game was packed.

A stadium full of Wisconsin fans and a shuttered upper deck is a long way from "packed".

 

 

[Vivadiscordia]

Just now, USFreak said:

The West Virginia game was packed.  The Louisville game was packed.

A stadium full of Wisconsin fans and a shuttered upper deck is a long way from "packed".

 

 

We can't keep on using the past as a bar for success. We aren't there anymore, whether we like it or not. Success is relative. This game was failure, but the turnout was not. 

[Brad]

Good to see you @USFreak

[USFreak]

2 minutes ago, puc86 said:

Welcome brother. Replace Betty with Judy and you nailed it. People will respond with their whataboutism but I’m still waiting for anyone to do better even here in the minors.

Ah ****.   The blowback of posting at midnight and why I was never a true journalist.

Genshaft.  Castor can move on to sainthood.  Apologies for soiling her name. 

[puc86]

3 minutes ago, Vivadiscordia said:

We can't keep on using the past as a bar for success. We aren't there anymore, whether we like it or not. Success is relative. This game was failure, but the turnout was not. 

Would a single win be too high of a bar? Because at current that feels a bit high. Score a point? Pass the 50?

[Vivadiscordia]

3 minutes ago, puc86 said:

Would a single win be too high of a bar? Because at current that feels a bit high. Score a point? Pass the 50?

Against Wisconsin? Against the best RB on the country? Then yes, too high of a bar. We aren't Big East anymore, whether we like it or not. This is AAC, and if we lose against SMU, then it's time to replace Strong. If we can't perform against GT, then all concerns are valid. 

Edited August 31, 2019 by Vivadiscordia