OT: D1

[Fightingscot82]

They fired Brian Kelly because they found out he was 1-5 vs IUP.

😁

Now THAT's funny

[Fightingscot82]

This is all trickle down impact of the current model that values the CFP over everything. I discussed this years ago and everyone disagreed. And we're all to blame. We got conditioned by the sports media conglomerates to "want" the model of college football that we have today. Well... We got it.

Here's the reality... It's hard to win 8 games in major college football when you are dealing with the unpredictable nature of 18-23 year olds. It's hard to be consistent year over year when the external factors that exist in your players personal lives can be extremely influential on their mental state, their readiness to compete, their work ethic or desire to improve, etc. We act like this is professional football (and sure, it partly now is), but the stark reality is that there are so many uncontrollables at this level of athletics and within this age group that you cannot possibly "be in the national conversation" every single year.

Every school sees the payout of simply making the CFP. And they all want the financial reward for just getting to the party. That's why they are all so quick to pull the trigger. LSU can fire Brian Kelly today, but in their mind, they may win two playoff games next and make all of that money back from the CFP payout structure tomorrow. I hate what this has turned into, but this is the world that the media drove us to desire as fans, and it's the model that we have now.

Going 9-3 or 8-4 and playing in the Outback Bowl or the Gator Bowl, or whatever, used to be viewed as a successful season. You play in those games now and you are a second rate citizen. It's insane what this has become.

I actually think its the opposite. The bowl game setup allowed a lot of coaches to sell mediocre and decent seasons as a success - but also ushered in the FCS paid beat down to pad resumes for bowl eligibility and BCS points.

I think the collective freak out some booster groups are having is that they're learning that style points (i.e. poll rankings) do absolutely nothing to get you a championship anymore. You've gotta win your schedule and hopefully get into the tournament. Championships are now determined by what happens on the field, not what Paul Finebaum believes.

The best part though is that in 5-10 years NONE of these programs will have won a national championship and these big money donors will still be out a lot of money.

[Ship69]

I don’t think you’ll find many Brian Kelly fans here, or anywhere else for that matter. I’m not even sure his dog likes him, but taking all that away, what was already out of hand has somehow found a way to dig below rock bottom. This is the quote from athletic director Scott Woodward that stood out to me: “We had high hopes that he would lead us to multiple SEC and national championships during his time in Baton Rouge.” Here’s another beauty: “As a proud alum, and as the current caretaker of our athletics programs, I will not compromise in our pursuit of excellence and we will not lower our standards. I continue to believe that LSU is the best football program in America…”

How unrealistic. Who’s going to live up to those expectations? It’s like the other P4 schools aren’t annually trying to do the same thing. My point is the odds of winning even one are astronomical to begin with. Yes, there are examples of a few coaches in recent years that have won multiple, but that list includes Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Dabo Sweeney. All of those were during a different era of college football as well. It’s even harder to win multiple now. Nobody won more than Saban and he saw the writing on the wall and got out. By the way, Kelly won exactly 0 national championships at the FBS level before coming to LSU. I guess all he needed was the “best football program in America” to get him over the top. What arrogance.

Coaching is damned hard at every level. For the very lucky few, they make millions at it and if they don’t win at least they get paid I suppose but what a waste of money. Curt Cignetti probably has the best job in the country because they’re paying him a king’s ransom just to be in the national conversation. I’m sure there’s pressure, but at least you don’t see quotes like that coming out of Bloomington.

Good post. I actually was a fan of Kelly in 2014 when he made a couple of questionable coaching moves that allowed Northwestern to upset Notre Dame in a game I attended at South Bend. The really absurd thing is that they dismissed a coach who actually had won a championship before hiring Kelly.

[IUP24]

I actually think its the opposite. The bowl game setup allowed a lot of coaches to sell mediocre and decent seasons as a success - but also ushered in the FCS paid beat down to pad resumes for bowl eligibility and BCS points.

I think the collective freak out some booster groups are having is that they're learning that style points (i.e. poll rankings) do absolutely nothing to get you a championship anymore. You've gotta win your schedule and hopefully get into the tournament. Championships are now determined by what happens on the field, not what Paul Finebaum believes.

The best part though is that in 5-10 years NONE of these programs will have won a national championship and these big money donors will still be out a lot of money.

Agreed. But I think my point is mostly that winning 8-9 games IS a good season. And that's not how it's viewed now. It's hard to win 8-9 games if you are a P4 team and schedule a remotely respectable non-conference schedule.

I don't disagree with what you are saying. I just think we've moved the goalposts on what remotely constitutes any metric of success. It's just playoff or bust now, and teams simply can't make it every single year.

[Ship69]

Agreed. But I think my point is mostly that winning 8-9 games IS a good season. And that's not how it's viewed now. It's hard to win 8-9 games if you are a P4 team and schedule a remotely respectable non-conference schedule.

I don't disagree with what you are saying. I just think we've moved the goalposts on what remotely constitutes any metric of success. It's just playoff or bust now, and teams simply can't make it every single year.

Yeah, I play chess a lot and one key thing to remember when you're playing that game is not to play selfish chess. By that I mean don't get so wrapped up in your own strategy that you fail to see the other guy has a plan as well. P4 football fans often seem to think just because their coach is recruiting some good players and the school is spending a ton of money on football that this somehow guarantees them a top 10 season or a national championship. Thing is, a lot of other schools are doing the same thing, and there's only going to be one national champion. Odds are very high that the champion won't be your team. With the 12-team playoff and players being paid openly, it's only going to get more difficult to dominate. I'd consider any 9- or 10-win season with a trip to the playoff as a successful season, but at some of these schools that will get the coach fired.

[IUP24]

Yeah, I play chess a lot and one key thing to remember when you're playing that game is not to play selfish chess. By that I mean don't get so wrapped up in your own strategy that you fail to see the other guy has a plan as well. P4 football fans often seem to think just because their coach is recruiting some good players and the school is spending a ton of money on football that this somehow guarantees them a top 10 season or a national championship. Thing is, a lot of other schools are doing the same thing, and there's only going to be one national champion. Odds are very high that the champion won't be your team. With the 12-team playoff and players being paid openly, it's only going to get more difficult to dominate. I'd consider any 9- or 10-win season with a trip to the playoff as a successful season, but at some of these schools that will get the coach fired.

I guess my position is that if you win 8-9 games and don't make the playoff, it's still a good year. Sure, if you open the year as a top 5 team and you have a ton of expectation and finish 8-4 then it's probably viewed differently. I wish we didn't live in the sphere of "playoff or bust." As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's hard to win football games at this level. And it's also hard to repeat performances (as a team) year over year.

Schedules aren't balanced. 18-23 year olds are mostly unpredictable. There's a ton of external factors at play.

Most teams should look at an 8 win season and say, "You know what, that's a good year." We just don't evaluate it that way anymore as fans because the only thing we're told that matters is the CFP. Well documented here that I'm a Pitt fan and season ticket holder. 2021 was an incredible year. They went 10-2, won the ACC, and went to the Peach Bowl. It was an extremely fun season and a great ride. The most enjoyable 3-4 months of watching them in my entire life. It was a great year. It wasn't a failure because they didn't make the playoff - but there are people out there who will tell you that they failed because they didn't make the 4-team playoff that year... I suppose the measure of success is different for every program and fanbase, and I do respect that and understand it. But I think the issue is that most programs and fanbases just don't have an objectively realistic view of who they are and that everyone else is trying to win too.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

LSU and BK have apparently agreed on a $27m buyout. He actually gave them a nice discount. That's about half what he was owed.


What a time to be Lane Kiffin and James Franklin (and their agents).

[IUPNation]

Now THAT's funny

But it’s true!

Frank owned him until that last game.

It would have been great to see Curt add to that at Real Indiana (IUP) and Fake Indiana.

[IUPNation]

LSU and BK have apparently agreed on a $27m buyout. He actually gave them a nice discount. That's about half what he was owed.


What a time to be Lane Kiffin and James Franklin (and their agents).

Nobody in the SEC is hiring Big Game James.

[IUP24]

LSU and BK have apparently agreed on a $27m buyout. He actually gave them a nice discount. That's about half what he was owed.


What a time to be Lane Kiffin and James Franklin (and their agents).

Lane Kiffin shouldn't leave Ole Miss. He can manipulate a raise to make the same as those other jobs would pay. The bottom line is that he established what he wanted to establish at Ole Miss and he has a level of success that he's reached. Nobody can convince me that in the current climate that Florida is a better job than Ole Miss. It's about where you can best establish your culture and win. Since Urban Meyer left Gainesville, that's been just a good program (just with a lot of support), but nothing near great. I'll acknowledge that they've had a couple nice years. LSU is a better job than Florida, but that's a meatgrinder. There's no guarantee that you can win there at any higher of a clip than what you are doing now with Ole Miss.

There's so much volatility with both of those spots. You are essentially never not on the hot seat. A guy like Kiffin would be dumb to go there.

I don't know what he's going to do, but his best decision would be to remain at Ole Miss, use the openings as an opportunity to get a big raise, and continue doing his thing.

[IUPNation]

Lane Kiffin shouldn't leave Ole Miss. He can manipulate a raise to make the same as those other jobs would pay. The bottom line is that he established what he wanted to establish at Ole Miss and he has a level of success that he's reached. Nobody can convince me that in the current climate that Florida is a better job than Ole Miss. It's about where you can best establish your culture and win. Since Urban Meyer left Gainesville, that's been just a good program (just with a lot of support), but nothing near great. I'll acknowledge that they've had a couple nice years. LSU is a better job than Florida, but that's a meatgrinder. There's no guarantee that you can win there at any higher of a clip than what you are doing now with Ole Miss.

There's so much volatility with both of those spots. You are essentially never not on the hot seat. A guy like Kiffin would be dumb to go there.

I don't know what he's going to do, but his best decision would be to remain at Ole Miss, use the openings as an opportunity to get a big raise, and continue doing his thing.

Ole Miss is chomping to be elite so yeah he is better to stay and build than take on a new job…

[Ship69]

I guess my position is that if you win 8-9 games and don't make the playoff, it's still a good year. Sure, if you open the year as a top 5 team and you have a ton of expectation and finish 8-4 then it's probably viewed differently. I wish we didn't live in the sphere of "playoff or bust." As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's hard to win football games at this level. And it's also hard to repeat performances (as a team) year over year.

Schedules aren't balanced. 18-23 year olds are mostly unpredictable. There's a ton of external factors at play.

Most teams should look at an 8 win season and say, "You know what, that's a good year." We just don't evaluate it that way anymore as fans because the only thing we're told that matters is the CFP. Well documented here that I'm a Pitt fan and season ticket holder. 2021 was an incredible year. They went 10-2, won the ACC, and went to the Peach Bowl. It was an extremely fun season and a great ride. The most enjoyable 3-4 months of watching them in my entire life. It was a great year. It wasn't a failure because they didn't make the playoff - but there are people out there who will tell you that they failed because they didn't make the 4-team playoff that year... I suppose the measure of success is different for every program and fanbase, and I do respect that and understand it. But I think the issue is that most programs and fanbases just don't have an objectively realistic view of who they are and that everyone else is trying to win too.

I follow Northwestern (went to grad school there) and one of the greatest sports thrills of my life, probably second only to the Cubs World Series win, was NU's B1G championship and trip to the Rose Bowl in 1995, The 10-2 record broke a 24-year period of abject futility that featured one coach who had a 1-31-1 record and many other humiliations. Since they didn't win the Rose Bowl, the season probably would have been considered a failure at many football factories, but it was a thrill for Cat fans. The next season with another B1G championship and a 9-3 record was fun as well. A bonus when following a second-tier teams is watching fans of other schools explode when you pull the occasional upset on them. Riding a shuttle bus to the parking lots with Michigan fans after Northwestern had beaten them for the second year in a row was a treat. Reading a Maryland fan's statement in a letters column last season that the Terps should never lose to Northwestern, I felt compelled to point out that Northwestern was 4-1 against Maryland since the Terps entered the B1G, and that included a 43-3 beatdown on one occasion. Years of following the Cubs, Northwestern, and other teams that don't always reach the heights have taught me the world doesn't begin and end with a sports contest.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I follow Northwestern (went to grad school there) and one of the greatest sports thrills of my life, probably second only to the Cubs World Series win, was NU's B1G championship and trip to the Rose Bowl in 1995, The 10-2 record broke a 24-year period of abject futility that featured one coach who had a 1-31-1 record and many other humiliations. Since they didn't win the Rose Bowl, the season probably would have been considered a failure at many football factories, but it was a thrill for Cat fans. The next season with another B1G championship and a 9-3 record was fun as well. A bonus when following a second-tier teams is watching fans of other schools explode when you pull the occasional upset on them. Riding a shuttle bus to the parking lots with Michigan fans after Northwestern had beaten them for the second year in a row was a treat. Reading a Maryland fan's statement in a letters column last season that the Terps should never lose to Northwestern, I felt compelled to point out that Northwestern was 4-1 against Maryland since the Terps entered the B1G, and that included a 43-3 beatdown on one occasion. Years of following the Cubs, Northwestern, and other teams that don't always reach the heights have taught me the world doesn't being and end with a sports contest.

Maryland is the great mystery in college football.

[Fightingscot82]

Maryland is the great mystery in college football.

That and how has UNLV not become the NIL capital???

[Ship69]

Maryland is the great mystery in college football.

Yeah, it is. They've had decent support at times and they live in an area that is fairly good for football recruiting. Penn State has made a lot of hay in the Delmarva area over the years. They just don't seem to be able to get the right combination of coach and recruiter.