GrayEagle

Gee, I don't know ogs. We're all so perfect over here but we could see if we could squeeze in a less-than-perfect fan. (sarcasm) The Bible says, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Are any rocks coming your way? I didn't think so.

I know that the MGR has said that Chuck Neinas will likely be the catalyst for generating new coach possibilities. However, here are the FBS records of nine coaches mentioned by various posters: Jeff Bower 18 Years in the FBS; all at Southern Miss FBS Record 119-83 (.589) Number of Losing Seasons: 2 Terry Bowden 6 Years in the FBS; all at Auburn FBS Record 47-17 (.734) Number of Losing Seasons: 1 Tommy Bowden 12 Years in the FBS; Tulane and Clemson FBS Record 90-49 (.647) Number of Losing Seasons: 0 Dennis Franchione 15 Years in the FBS; New Mexico, TCU, Alabama, Texas A&M FBS Record 104-74 (.584) Number of Losing Seasons: 4 Glen Mason 21 Years in the FBS; Kent State, Kansas and Minnesota FBS Record 123-121-1 (.504) Number of Losing Seasons: 10 Jim Leavitt 13 Years in the FBS; all at South Florida FBS Record 95-57 (.625) Number of Losing Seasons: 1 Mike Leach 10 Years in the FBS; all at Texas Tech FBS Record 84-43 (.661) Number of Losing Seasons: 0 John L. Smith 18 Years in the FBS; Idaho, Utah State. Louisville, Michigan St. FBS Record 132-86 (.606) Number of Losing Seasons: 4 Steve Kragthorpe 7 Years in the FBS; Tulsa and Louisville FBS Record 44-43 (.506) Number of Losing Seasons: 3 Based on the above statistics Mason and Kragthorpe would be marginal, barely above .500. The others appear to be possibly good hires. The best record (percentage wise) belongs to Terry Bowden, currently coaching at North Alabama. The drawback could be that he has never coached outside of the state of Alabama. Next would be Mike Leach. Mike has not had a losing season in 10 years of coaching. However, he currently has a lawsuit against Tech and may not be available until that suit is settled. Currently a TV analyst (and according to one, a bad one). The next highest percentage belongs to Tommy Bowden, who hasn't had a losing season in 12 years of FBS coaching. When he left Clemson he indicated that he might be open to another coaching job. I just don't know if we are the right coaching job for him. Fourth would be Jim Leavitt. He would seem to be a good fit for us because he built the USF program from scratch. Successfully, I might add, since he had only one losing season. Would he keep Canales? John L. Smith has the next best record. He was a hot coach until he went to Michigan State where he sort of fizzled. He was great at Louisville and maybe he could recover some of his original magic at a less high-profiled university. Jeff Bower only had two losing seasons among his 18 at USM. Not spectacular but solid year in and year out. Knows many of our staff from their associations with Southern Mississippi. From what I hear though both he and his wife are reluctant to leave Hattiesburg. Can money be a motivating factor? The other high-rated coach is Dennis Franchione. He is the only one on the list who has coached and recruited in Texas. Coach Fran put TCU back on the football map and might relish the chance to prove that he can do it again at North Texas. I don't know what kind of severance, if any, that he received from A&M. Maybe he needs the money and maybe he just wants to prove himself. These are the ones most available today. The exception is Terry Bowden. There may be others who have contracts that might be added at season's end. There is usually a surprise or two when a coach search is started. There are also a half-dozen or more outstanding coaches at a lower level as well as FBS coordinators but I don't think that we should gamble with this hire; there is simply too much at stake.

You can make Blaine the quarterback now or you can make him the quarterback later. Riley's healthy streak maxes out at about five games. Teegarden is a smaller version of Riley. The other option is Dodson. None have size or experience. About the only high school QB experience left comes from Carey or Hamilton. Both are decent runners and can pass on occasion. Who knows how this season plays out at that position?

I don't know where you've been the last four years but it hasn't been reading this board. The majority have been pulling for Todd to the point of embarassment among our friends. We realize that some of his problems were inherited but many resulted from using high school coaches, failure to conform to the college game, and correct failures in a timely manner. He is unable to teach or inspire players to win. Todd is as nice a guy as I've met. Maybe he's too nice. It seems to take a hardass to get the best out of most of the players. Dodge has done some fine, make that great things for us during his tenure such as correcting the drug problem, encouraging scholarship so that no players are now lost to APR, and pushing for the new stadium. But, he cannot seem to win regardless of how hard he tries and it's time for change before we start losing fans. There is simply too much at stake to continue with a coach who wins about one out of every eight games played. That doesn't happen in the annals of the FBS. Further, more conference changes are likely soon and no one will want us with our recent history of losing. Lastly, as you are well aware, it's hard enough to get people to donate to a winner, much less a perpetual loser.

You forgot signalman.

I was thinking contract extension.

Yes, but except for Lamar, Ga State, Jax State, App State and Ga Southern are all way east. It sucks being the westernmost and only team in Texas.

Adler has the solution to Bonnie Brae if they'll listen to him. Really...I like his plan of widening and looping around the perimeter of the Mean Green Village. When Fouts becomes a parking lot/garage with a footbridge over to the new stadium that should relieve a lot of the traffic flow onto Bonnie Brae.

I still prefer CUSA and the MWC over remaining in the Belt but, if there's no chance of changing conferences for the better, I'd much prefer a 12-team Sun Belt with Arkansas State, ULM, Louisiana, UTSA, Texas State and North Texas in the West and Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Troy, South Alabama, FAU and FIU in the East over what we have now. Even if we're not a part of it, I hate to see the Sun Belt scrambling for enough teams to remain a viable conference.

I wouldn't consider firing Dodge until he sustains his sixth loss.

June 30 to be exact. Whether they'll have much respect or not will depend on whether they can retain Hawaii.

Or, stated another way, since Eric Russell left. Had Dodge kept Russell and Bleil when he came he just might have already had a contract renewal by now.

The main problem as I see it is that the rule covers the first five seasons. Those that redshirted as a freshman have only four years of eligibility remaining so it would do no good to give them another year of eligibility that they already have. Now if they'd change the rule to six years then all would be eligible. They do occasionally give a sixth year (Jason White and Ramon Flanigan come to mind) but it seems pretty rare, especially for a non-BCS school.

We couldn't have a serious discussion about anything. Everyone wants to give the cleverest, cutest and glibest (if there is such a word) response to every thread.

Based on history, you are right (except for Hayden Fry). But I've got to say that this time is different. The student fee and the stadium have changed that. We can't afford to not hire a "name" coach with the investment that is being made in facilities. There should be enough money from the student fees to make that happen. We have to attract fans and players and we have a far better chance with a coach that people have heard of. Further, we will likely have to change conferences or become the next Boise State. Maybe some of both. Unless Dodge can turn this program around this year, then I believe that we should hire a former FBS coach with a proven record. There is simply too much at stake to do otherwise.

Not sure where you were going with this. Yes, we realize that the WAC is in a death mode. If you are trying to criticize those of us that supported entry into the WAC remember most, if not all, suggested that before Boise left. We also advocated a 12 team league. I still believe that a conference composed of Boise State, Nevada, Fresno State, Hawaii, San Jose State, Idaho, Utah State, New Mexico State, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Arkansas State and North Texas would be considerably better than whatever the Sun Belt can become.

Don't forget that we have also lost our #1 U-back, Michah Mosley, for most of the year. That could be especially significant in short yardage situations.

I'm sure that Tommy's brother Terry, who is the head football coach at North Alabama, makes less. He has a better winning percentage than Tommy and was 11-2 last year, his first year back.

Maybe there could be a program by the band that incorporates the recognition of athletes of the 90s next game? There could be a medley of tunes from the 90s or a blockbuster during that decade but dedicate the music of the band and the choreography of the dancers to those lettermen being recognized. Continue a similar theme down to the 50s.

I have never believed that Mike Canales was the savior of this football program. I did believe that he was far above what we had previously and the best OC available for what we could pay. In spite of the Riley Dodge debacle, I still believe that. Chico is not infallible; no offensive coordinator is. Overall though he has produced more yardage than his opponents. He is generally unpredictable. You simply cannot expect him to run the same play in a similar situation. That's a breath of fresh air that we haven't had in at least 15 years. Had Rice not had excellent field position, especially in the first half, Canales would not be coming under fire. His offense was enough to have won this game. This game was lost by the (not so) special teams. They are responsible for field position and we simply did not have it, whether it be for the offense or the defense. There were enough dropped passes to have put another 12-18 points on the board so it's hard to say that Canales' bad decisions on the Riley dives (if it were not an option) lost us the game. As good as I think that he could be, I don't believe that it's time to even bring up his qualities as a head coach.

Got to disagree here. Like it or not, the quarterback is the premier position on any team. Nathan worked his butt off to get the starting job and has gone through more hardship and turmoil than the other two combined. JJ should get another year of eligibility plus he has another year anyway. Benny could have been a great contributor but he hadn't started yet. Nathan won't get another chance. He gave it his all and figuratively went out on his shield. IMO he deserves special recognition for his service.

Perhaps something to consider. I think that Weber has the size and quickness to make a difference but I'm not sure that Cantly has that speed. Boutwell, Dixon and McCoy should at least play a lot.

There is a kicker on the team with one of the strongest legs that I've ever seen on a high school team. He originally got my attention when he was a sophomore at Richardson Berkner High School. He had a high percentage of touchbacks on kickoffs. With a pretty stiff breeze at his back he has kicked it through the uprights on the opening kickoff of a playoff game. Why he is not handling kickoffs is a mystery to me. Even if his accuracy is questioned his leg strength is not. Kickoffs are not a matter of improper timing, snapping or holding. It's something that he's done hundreds of times. He was the fourth highest-rated kicker in the state as a senior. If I were the coach he would be kicking off until he proved to me that he couldn't do it.

I hope that when he recovers that he'll be in uniform on the sidelines. Even if he can't play I think that it would give a morale boost to the team and the fans.

Nathan is a class act and we should all be proud of his effort and the manner in which he has conducted himself. I'm sure that no one on this board wanted his career to end this way. We wish you a speedy recovery. May the best in life come to you and accept our thanks for giving it your best.