Tap The Brakes Folks

[stebo]

Man, you would think that the end of the world was coming. Can we please get some clarity on the reasons why Coach Dodge was such a breath of fresh air. Many on this board said - "I would take losses over these boring DD wins as long as the attempt to win was at least there"... "There are 5 plays in the DD playbook and RF can count them all on one hand"... "DD does nothing but belittle our administration and talk down to our alumni and school by calling us M'Fers"... "Why can't we just have a coach that takes the blame and doesn't blame it on how terrible the situation is at NT and how hard it is to recruit here" - etc etc etc...

Dodge is not winning but he is certainly a breath of fresh air, even with the losses. The fans were going nuts during that first quarter in Houston. The stands are full, the season ticket sales are at an all time high, we are at least attempting to win games and that gives up the big play a lot. We need defense, bad. We lost Saturday because of terrible defense. The O was in a position that they could never keep up with the points being given up and that just completely killed any bit of momentum that we had.

It is not the end of the world... DD had a bunker mentality that placed the fans against one another and the players against the fans. We had to buy out his contract to the tune of a half million bucks and deal with Mac making the whole ordeal into a publicity stunt. Dodge came in and brought back hope. We need to be thankful that he took this job - the cupboard was completely bare when he got here. We have to have faith in his abilities and remember the real reason why a change was needed. It was never about hiring Coach Dodge - it was ALWAYS about getting rid of Dickey. Dodge was affordable and brought a lot of young energy. Give him some more time and TRY to remember how much pain DD caused all of us. Be thankful that we are rid of Dickey because I honestly will take these losses with Dodge over the few wins that we had with Dickey... at least Dodge is trying to win these games, even if he isn't being succesful just yet.

Edited September 30, 2008 by stebo

[JesseMartin]

One thing I've been pondering, and your comments just reminded me of, is:

How do we know the last 1 1/3 seasons wouldn't have been worse under Dickey? I never had any of the issues with him that some of you had, but every time somebody says, "At least under Dickey, XYZ blah blah blah." Considering things had been dropping off anyway, isn't it possible that the DD era hit a plateau, while other schools were getting better (or at least, for some, approaching parity)?

Just a thought...the point is, we don't know how things would be with Dickey, but 05-06 may have been indicators. We may actually be doing better now (even in scores and record since Aug 07) than we would have under him. We'll never know, but that's neither here nor there...we have Dodge now, so let's hope for the best for now and winning seasons once his first class are seniors (again, I'm more patient than most of you).

[shaft]

Dickey had to go because he wasted the team's bowl momentum and all signs pointed to him not being able to get the team out of the slump.

With Dodge the hope is he can build his way out of the slump. Dodge came in with 4-years to get the team winning.

-Year 1: pass

-Year 2: 3-9

-Year 3: 6-6

-Year 4: Bowl

If Dodge can't reach these benchmarks he should go. So give the guy a chance, his 3 wins for this season should all be conference games.

[stebo]

I think that is a fair assessment... I would say that 2 wins this year would be sufficient. Going 0-fer would be unacceptable but it is very possible. There was a ton of turmoil in the off season, we really lost a lot of guys. I was scared to open this page every day this Spring, it seemed like it was just one thing after another. I believe that Coach Dodge can make this team a winner. I love his passion, I love his attitude, I love the way that he handled the whole racism scandal last year. There seem to be some bitter minds that feel that Dodge's decision to go with youth over veterans was out of vengeance and not just building this team. Some of these responses have come from some of our BEST fans, fans that I know bleed green - literally... I just hope that we can keep the perspective that Dodge was brought in to heal this type of division that Dickey built up. The black uniforms were like a funeral and we have GOT to move on... he is gone, the youth movement must be embraced and we must let these players know that we support them - and that we support their coach. United we stand, divided we fall, and all that stuff.....

[Travis]

Man, you would think that the end of the world was coming. Can we please get some clarity on the reasons why Coach Dodge was such a breath of fresh air. Many on this board said - "I would take losses over these boring DD wins as long as the attempt to win was at least there"... "There are 5 plays in the DD playbook and RF can count them all on one hand"... "DD does nothing but belittle our administration and talk down to our alumni and school by calling us M'Fers"... "Why can't we just have a coach that takes the blame and doesn't blame it on how terrible the situation is at NT and how hard it is to recruit here" - etc etc etc...

Dodge is not winning but he is certainly a breath of fresh air, even with the losses. The fans were going nuts during that first quarter in Houston. The stands are full, the season ticket sales are at an all time high, we are at least attempting to win games and that gives up the big play a lot. We need defense, bad. We lost Saturday because of terrible defense. The O was in a position that they could never keep up with the points being given up and that just completely killed any bit of momentum that we had.

It is not the end of the world... DD had a bunker mentality that placed the fans against one another and the players against the fans. We had to buy out his contract to the tune of a half million bucks and deal with Mac making the whole ordeal into a publicity stunt. Dodge came in and brought back hope. We need to be thankful that he took this job - the cupboard was completely bare when he got here. We have to have faith in his abilities and remember the real reason why a change was needed. It was never about hiring Coach Dodge - it was ALWAYS about getting rid of Dickey. Dodge was affordable and brought a lot of young energy. Give him some more time and TRY to remember how much pain DD caused all of us. Be thankful that we are rid of Dickey because I honestly will take these losses with Dodge over the few wins that we had with Dickey... at least Dodge is trying to win these games, even if he isn't being succesful just yet.

This is the first perpective that actually has made me lighten up a bit. Thanks.

[Quoner]

DD had a bunker mentality that placed the fans against one another and the players against the fans. We had to buy out his contract to the tune of a half million bucks and deal with Mac making the whole ordeal into a publicity stunt. Dodge came in and brought back hope. We need to be thankful that he took this job - the cupboard was completely bare when he got here. We have to have faith in his abilities and remember the real reason why a change was needed. It was never about hiring Coach Dodge - it was ALWAYS about getting rid of Dickey. Dodge was affordable and brought a lot of young energy. Give him some more time and TRY to remember how much pain DD caused all of us. Be thankful that we are rid of Dickey because I honestly will take these losses with Dodge over the few wins that we had with Dickey... at least Dodge is trying to win these games, even if he isn't being succesful just yet.

Did you read the board today? I for one have been loving the unity vibe that has been a hallmark of this season. Maybe the fans are against each other because most of them seem too stupid to find a middle ground in a debate or process the facts around them. You have to be camp sunshine or camp rain cloud - there is no middle ground allowed.

As for the Dickey bashing, which game this season did we try to win for two halves?

Also, I hear the distant cackle of a mad scientist taking stock of the cupboard even as we speak...

[Censored by Laurie]

Also, I hear the distant cackle of a mad scientist taking stock of the cupboard even as we speak...

I aided our own Emmett Brown in this task...

Rue...thats the word I wanted...rue.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Dickey had to go because he wasted the team's bowl momentum and all signs pointed to him not being able to get the team out of the slump.

With Dodge the hope is he can build his way out of the slump. Dodge came in with 4-years to get the team winning.

-Year 1: pass

-Year 2: 3-9

-Year 3: 6-6

-Year 4: Bowl

If Dodge can't reach these benchmarks he should go. So give the guy a chance, his 3 wins for this season should all be conference games.

There is also the issue "how you lose".... allowing 40+ points is not good especially when they are blow outs..especially to teams that are not considered elite. . Losses and wins aren't everything.

[shaft]

There is also the issue "how you lose".... allowing 40+ points is not good especially when they are blow outs..especially to teams that are not considered elite. . Losses and wins aren't everything.

Nope. Its called rebuilding, I don't care how we get there as long as we get there. You can worry about how things look after the team has been re-established, but at this point in the rebuilding process the only thing that matters is conference wins. Give the guy a chance to meet his performance measures, before we worry about how he did it.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

It is the height of absurdity to say imply that Darrell Dickey didn't try to win here. Just ridiculous. He did more here than any other coach who ever walked the sidelines of Fouts in the modren era. He brought multiple conference titles and a four year bowl run.

How anyone can try in any fashion to say he didn't try to win is beyond the pale. The guy won more with less to work with off the field than any other coach in D-I college football in that same time period.

Quit trying to make excuses for Dodge by bringing up Dickey. Dodge hasn't done jack here yet, and until he does, it's a hollow argument to stick him up against a guy who had us winning more than most of us had seen in our lifetime.

Dodge needs to man up. And, everyone who blindly supports him needs to understand that he may be too arrogant to do so. And, if he is, it's a huge problem for our school's football program.