SilverEagle

I found this in a Colorado Springs on line publication. AFA Sports December 16, 2006 Opinion: Coach loyal to the end MILO F. BRYANT Gazette Sports columnist Fisher DeBerry could have been the Air Force football coach next season. The decision to depart belonged to him. In that respect, DeBerry left on his own terms. But, understand, the man who turned Air Force into a program worthy of national respect could have had one last fling on what he called a “good ride.” A source close to the athletic program said DeBerry could have kept his job but not offensive coordinator Chuck Petersen or defensive coordinator Richard Bell. Since 1984, DeBerry hadn’t fired an assistant. He wasn’t going to start this week. And in that respect, DeBerry was forced to resign. Athletic director Hans Mueh tiptoed around the issue Friday. “I said, ‘Fisher, we need to talk, we need to make some major changes,’” Mueh said. “And he said, ‘Yes we do.’ So then when we met we started this dialogue back and forth and had one meeting, then had another meeting and then he went off and said I need to think about this some more and then came back and said, ‘I’m retiring.’” The same tenacity and obstinate determination that took DeBerry to 169 victories and 17 winning seasons ultimately made his decision. DeBerry was too faithful to his coordinators. Strong bonds sometimes force resignations. DeBerry wasn’t the first victim of an allegiance. He won’t be the last. But that’s what happens in sports. However, in most cases, at most universities, it happens sooner. The only real surprise is that Mueh had the gumption to force DeBerry’s hand by insisting that Peterson and Bell be let go. “There comes a time in every man’s life when you have to look at the big picture,” DeBerry said Friday. “After 27 exciting and wonderful years here at the academy and 44 years of coaching, I am announcing my retirement from active coaching.” DeBerry’s total body of work has been great for academy sports. Few can dispute that. Academy brass should rename the stadium in honor of the coach. DeBerry should be afforded the deference given to all departing academy nobility. But make no mistake about Friday’s words. His words and his retirement were the ultimate result of winning and losing. We live in a society that wants to know what you are doing for me now. DeBerry didn’t want to do what others in the athletic department felt was needed to win more games. For some reason, DeBerry thought the status quo, as it pertains to his schemes, was acceptable. The Falcons finished their third consecutive losing season with a Dec. 2 loss to Texas Christian University. Something should have changed after the 2004 season and wholesale changes should have happened after 2005. That change should have been in adaptive philosophy, not necessarily in personnel. If a team doesn’t have the athletes to efficiently run its schemes, first, blame must be placed on the coach for not recruiting the right players. Then, the coach needs to adapt his schemes to the players he has. But the Falcons kept using the same schemes, and for some unknown reason expected results to improve. “ Everybody seems to be really keying on our offensive plays,” senior offensive lineman Curtis Grantham said soon after the TCU game. “Maybe mixing it up here and there could be the difference. Defenses are all starting to play us the same.” That’s because they had figured out how to stop Air Force. Contrary to DeBerry’s beliefs, few called for him to throw 40 or 50 passes a game. But it’s easy to see that quarterback Shaun Carney isn’t as good a runner as several past Air Force quarterbacks. It’s even easier to see that the size disparity between the Falcons’ offensive lines and the opponents’ defensive lines has grown through the years. The Falcons do not possess an offensive line built for plowing opponents. A great running quarterback and a mulish offensive line — more than anything else — determine the success of the option offense. The Falcons had neither. They did and still do have a quarterback, in Carney, who can pass extremely well. “You got to be willing to maybe change what you do a little bit,” former Air Force quarterback Beau Morgan said Friday. “I was shocked early in the season when I didn’t really see them throwing the ball at all. . . . I’m thinking, you got a quarterback and the best thing he does is throw the football. Why not adjust your system a little bit? You don’t always have to run the option every other play. Hand it to the fullback on first and 10. “So, things like that, where you’re not willing to change, it just catches up with you because there are other teams with good players and smart coaches, and they’ll figure you out.” That refusal to adapt caught DeBerry and held tight. If DeBerry had a willingness to change at any point during the past three seasons or in the past few days, he still would be an integral part of the football program. The head coach. Columnist Milo F. Bryant can be reached at 636-0252 or milo.bryant@gazette.com. Check out Milo’s blog, The Extra Milo, at http://milobryant.blogspot.com/ The comments about Peterson concern me a lot.

Okay, I need to understand this. They hired an OC from the Air Force Academy? Haven't they primarily been a wishbone offense for the last, oh.....thirty years? I thought we were getting excited about having a multiple set offense, and they go and hire a coach raised in the wishbone offense?

No, shouting and waving your arms coach.

I'm sure you'll get around to me......sometime.

Utah has four, and we only have one?!?!

....and that's worse than some of the things they call us now?

.....that would be a Wednesday.

If coaches are such a loyal group, then why did Kraigthorp go through the trouble of hiring "lefty" away from us, and then firing him a few years later. I remember some people being excited about our current OL coach, because he coached at Army, and wrote a book about coaching the OL. If Kraigthorp no longer wants "lefty", then TD needs to step back and think about that.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/16373267.htm

There couldn't be a better example for Todd Dodge use when he starts his education process (make that re-education process) with his new team, than this football game. This game has it all.....and then some. Boise showed up confident, believing in their abilities, believing in their coaching staff, and believing that, regardless of the situation, they were never out of the game. I couldn't believe my eyes when I watched that 4 & 18 on the last drive. And I couldn't believe the absolute, balls, huevos, or whatever term you want to use, that the coaching staff had on them when they decided to go for the win after the overtime TD. The banquet, spring practice, and spring game can't get here soon enough. If I had the money, I would take out a full page ad in the DRC and just say this. TO THE PEOPLE OF DENTON. THE FIESTA BOWL WIN THAT MOST OF THE NATION WITNESSED MONDAY NIGHT IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN AN UNSELFISH COMMUNITY GETS BEHIND IT'S HOME TOWN COLLEGE TEAM. IT'S TIME FOR THE CITY OF DENTON AND ALL OF DENTON COUNTY TO STEP UP!

.....and guess who this pissed-off OU team plays next.

Well, here is one thing to consider. If RV had fired DD like he wanted to do back in 01, would we have been as excited about his replacement as we are now? I don't adhere to those old adages of "things work out for the best", or "God has a plan for us". I usually regard those statements as trite and unimaginative. One could argue however...........

I'm excited about the excitement. I think GrayEagle mentioned it on another thread, that this is the most excited the Mean Green Nation has been since Hayden Fry was hired. I tend to agree.

Interesting article. I've always been a bit ambivalent about this "remove my support if I don't like the coach" approach. I've always been a person that felt that North Texas Football was my program. And if the current coaching staff was not running it to my satisfaction, then show up and loudly let them know about it. Now, it's another thing entirely to increase your financial support when a coach more to you liking is hired. Not showing up was just feeding into our image as disinterested/fair-weather fans.

He injured his knee against Arkansas (game #4 in 2003), and was out for the rest of the year. It's taken the NCAA all this time to finally grant him the redshirt year. It's up to him to come back in 07. I haven't heard that he is going to, but I certainly hope that he does.

NOW YOU'RE TALKING! I'll donate $100.00 to that project.

Great idea! What about the flying part?

First of all. I think this is a wonderful idea/concept. Decades ago, North Texas used to own an Eagle (or was it a hawk), and someone with the spirit organization used to handle it/bring it to the games. I noticed that the Eagle that they used is a Bald Eagle. I don't even want to think about what sort of federal rules/regulations/paperwork etc. we would have to go through in order to get permission to do the same thing. Whoever wanted to make this happen would have to understand that they would basically be on their own as far as being in charge of the care of the bird, and it's home. Because FFR can tell you just how responsible (not!) the current spirit groups are regarding our current (and more durable) spirit icons. FFR also told me that they once checked into this. And not only is there strict federals regs. regarding Bald Eagle, but you also must have a "falconer's license" to handle the bird, and that takes 7 years.

What a rude question.

I would use the word spineless. They caved in to the University on the issue of producing a NT-exes hat. So, their real name should be "The North Texas Exes as governed by the whims and policies of the University and it's unimaginative minions."

Ask them yourself. http://www.unt.onlinecommunity.com/ I'd be interested in knowing if you get a straight answer.

I totally agree with this. I believe that TD (or one of the assistants) will not have a very hard time finding people to play WR in thier offense.

Monday, Jan 1st, 10:30AM start time. Nebraska vs Auburn. My wife tells me that she been hearing on the news that Cotton Bowl tickets have been a pretty hard sell to Nebraska fans, who don't see Dallas as a fun destination.

I would be willing to bet that if some monied alum called up RV and said "put an interlocking NT on the helmet", RV would make another "executive decision" just like he did with the scripted North Texas.

This all sounds very final and all, but I don't believe that when RV took over, the scripted North Texas was not part of the branding and official word marks. He just made his own decision about it, and put the scripted North Texas on the helmets.