Football Identity Crisis

[carbonpoke]

there sure is a large gap of opinions on this board about how we should run this program. luckily, none of us have any real say (myself included), or responsibility of actions in support of this program. There may be some posters here that are boosters or cowboy joe club members, but really we are just fans.

whether you support this coaching staff or not, the state of this program is not going to be a single hire fix. Maybe, but highly unlikely. Wyoming has lost its brand.

When roach was here as A.D. and coach, followed by tiller, our program had somewhat of an identity to the national public; which grew through the early 90's. Our identity was solidified with "wide receiver U" in the wide-open WAC. the late 90's we lost that identity but started to reach out to our more traditional and older fundemental of "cowboy tough".

then the dark ages and plague hit our program in the 2000's. dimel and that other douch. glenn came in and had breske with him. With the defensive recruits they were able to still have the cowboy tough mentality through about 2006-2007. however, the glenn era saw a steady decline in offensive and defensive production. going into 2009, we had been through 12 years of program decline. 12 years. don't ever forget that people. glenn was well loved, and raised alot of money for the war renovation. he put people in the seats even though we were the bottom feeder of the mwc many years. even though he had some wins over sec foes, and the acc, his wins over those teams were against the bottom feeder. Maybe we shouldn't schedule the top teams OOC, we should stick with games that are a record match for us.... really don't know.

there was a post about synder at kansas state making a two year turn around. but remember that synder had already done it at the same school 10 years earlier. He already had resources and networking in place. Just like shyatt, just like roach.

when u look at the state we were in 2009; it was either a complete rebuild (which we took), or in my eyes try to bring back a coach, or assistant that knew our traditions. Its important to have a brand in football... look around college football.

Oregon=the fastest scoring offense in college football (recruiting that type of player in oregon is easy) plus the uniforms
Notre Dame=storied traditional football
Alabama=prototypical professional styled defense and offensive sets, players virtually a lock for nfl
Penn State= IDENTITY CRISIS lol
tcu=they have an identity, but the drug crisis and dirty play have them on the decline
boise=independent football team, strong coaching staff that will take risks in recruiting and will schedule anybody

my point is, and it carries over to csu as well... wyoming doesn't sell well right now. When lubick was at csu, they had identity. I don't know if christensen is going to create one. Our defense is not cowboy tough... calling it like it is. NOT COWBOY TOUGH.

We are on are way back to receiver U... but i don't think we will get a balitnikoff winner. Recruiting for us has to find a selling point. Right now we are selling brett smith, but he will be gone in two years. not sure if making a head coaching change is the right call, bringing in the right coach for wyoming is difficult. there has to be a ton of passion to the program and state, and a knowledge of what had made this program strong in the first place. Brandon was a solid hire... just not sure if we can find a defensive guru that bleeds brown and gold.

Shyatt hiring was a slam dunk. I still think christensen is a solid Manager. He doesn't hang on to failing employees... he is a little hot headed and isn't a P.R. guy, but he had a hell of a task given to him. Completely rebuilding a trainwreck. I like his ties to northwest recruiting. he has some pieces in place, and others that are a work in progress... but he is learning.

it sucks for us on saturdays, we want to brag about wyoming football in the same sense as any other fanbase. when wyoming comes out of this funk, all of us will be able to claim that we are true fans, not bandwagon. but there sure is fire under our asses right now. we all have a right to opinion, but its foolish to hammer somebody else in a public internet forum due to diffence of opinion. what else can we do though, other than vent. none of us have that responsibility to make changes.

but we definetly need something to cheer for. we need a style that our kid's emulate. we need carry-over in the offseason that allows us to breath confidence. we need that picture of a wyoming linebacker staring fear-beams through his facemask. I want a team that doesn't back down from anybody. we need some fearlessness. we need the 300 Spartans. i wanna see a team that was so tore apart through practice, so mentally decimated through struggle and challenge, that by the time the coach starts letting them believe in themselves again, they are programed to never back down. let the dogs eat on game day. no poop taking, no dancing, just humble perfection through aggression.

[laxwyo]

Well said homeslice, well said! Prepare for someone to take one line out if your post and call you a sunny day pussy

[cowboyz]

What are you carbon, some kind of sunny day pussy!!!

Just kidding, I don't really know what it means, but I like anything laxwyo posts because we get to see his gif.

Good post. As you covered so much ground, I don't agree with everything, but I love your thoughts, passion and last paragraph.

[BeaverPoke]

Our identity could very well be wide reciever U again, maybe QB-U?

I would love nothing more than to have a fierce linebacker who stares down the QB and does that ultimate staredown.
When was the last time we had a hard nosed mean f-word LB?
Not a knock against Ghalli at all, but someone that would get all sorts of bloody throughout the game and eat QBs up for lunch?

Ward Dobbs?

[laxwyo]

We had badass LBs when we were 3-4. LBs are more open to make plays in3-4

[Wyovanian]

there sure is a large gap of opinions on this board about how we should run this program. luckily, none of us have any real say (myself included), or responsibility of actions in support of this program. There may be some posters here that are boosters or cowboy joe club members, but really we are just fans.

whether you support this coaching staff or not, the state of this program is not going to be a single hire fix. Maybe, but highly unlikely. Wyoming has lost its brand.

When roach was here as A.D. and coach, followed by tiller, our program had somewhat of an identity to the national public; which grew through the early 90's. Our identity was solidified with "wide receiver U" in the wide-open WAC. the late 90's we lost that identity but started to reach out to our more traditional and older fundemental of "cowboy tough".

then the dark ages and plague hit our program in the 2000's. dimel and that other douch. glenn came in and had breske with him. With the defensive recruits they were able to still have the cowboy tough mentality through about 2006-2007. however, the glenn era saw a steady decline in offensive and defensive production. going into 2009, we had been through 12 years of program decline. 12 years. don't ever forget that people. glenn was well loved, and raised alot of money for the war renovation. he put people in the seats even though we were the bottom feeder of the mwc many years. even though he had some wins over sec foes, and the acc, his wins over those teams were against the bottom feeder. Maybe we shouldn't schedule the top teams OOC, we should stick with games that are a record match for us.... really don't know.

there was a post about synder at kansas state making a two year turn around. but remember that synder had already done it at the same school 10 years earlier. He already had resources and networking in place. Just like shyatt, just like roach.

when u look at the state we were in 2009; it was either a complete rebuild (which we took), or in my eyes try to bring back a coach, or assistant that knew our traditions. Its important to have a brand in football... look around college football.

Oregon=the fastest scoring offense in college football (recruiting that type of player in oregon is easy) plus the uniforms
Notre Dame=storied traditional football
Alabama=prototypical professional styled defense and offensive sets, players virtually a lock for nfl
Penn State= IDENTITY CRISIS lol
tcu=they have an identity, but the drug crisis and dirty play have them on the decline
boise=independent football team, strong coaching staff that will take risks in recruiting and will schedule anybody

my point is, and it carries over to csu as well... wyoming doesn't sell well right now. When lubick was at csu, they had identity. I don't know if christensen is going to create one. Our defense is not cowboy tough... calling it like it is. NOT COWBOY TOUGH.

We are on are way back to receiver U... but i don't think we will get a balitnikoff winner. Recruiting for us has to find a selling point. Right now we are selling brett smith, but he will be gone in two years. not sure if making a head coaching change is the right call, bringing in the right coach for wyoming is difficult. there has to be a ton of passion to the program and state, and a knowledge of what had made this program strong in the first place. Brandon was a solid hire... just not sure if we can find a defensive guru that bleeds brown and gold.

Shyatt hiring was a slam dunk. I still think christensen is a solid Manager. He doesn't hang on to failing employees... he is a little hot headed and isn't a P.R. guy, but he had a hell of a task given to him. Completely rebuilding a trainwreck. I like his ties to northwest recruiting. he has some pieces in place, and others that are a work in progress... but he is learning.

it sucks for us on saturdays, we want to brag about wyoming football in the same sense as any other fanbase. when wyoming comes out of this funk, all of us will be able to claim that we are true fans, not bandwagon. but there sure is fire under our asses right now. we all have a right to opinion, but its foolish to hammer somebody else in a public internet forum due to diffence of opinion. what else can we do though, other than vent. none of us have that responsibility to make changes.

but we definetly need something to cheer for. we need a style that our kid's emulate. we need carry-over in the offseason that allows us to breath confidence. we need that picture of a wyoming linebacker staring fear-beams through his facemask. I want a team that doesn't back down from anybody. we need some fearlessness. we need the 300 Spartans. i wanna see a team that was so tore apart through practice, so mentally decimated through struggle and challenge, that by the time the coach starts letting them believe in themselves again, they are programed to never back down. let the dogs eat on game day. no poop taking, no dancing, just humble perfection through aggression.

Not going to call you a "sunny day pussy", but I will take exception to the heart of your argument- that DC is a solid manager. He may well be that, but that's not his role and title- he is the chief executive of his management staff, and the leader of the players. He is ultimately responsible for production and record. His ability to identify deficits and direct, guide, and motivate to the necessary remedies is seriously questionable given his seeming inability to improve or correct the same deficits of production that have plagued him for four seasons, his disdain for empathetic relations with supporters, and his loss of composure combined with a lack of situational awareness (f-bombing and name-calling AFA players and staff on Military Appreciation Day?) point to someone of less than executive caliber. If one wants to re-establish and build a brand, the right executive is the place to begin, and that begins with someone who is clearly qualified, not someone-learning-the- basics-as-they-go.

Does DC bring something to the program? Unequivocally yes. Does that something equate to excellence in head-coaching? At very, very best- "the jury's still out", at worst- an obvious and glaring "not so much".

[carbonpoke]

wyovanian

your right, and by the way... love your posts on the mwc board! i dig how you fire up the masses on there.

im not trying to argue that he doesn't have pitfalls. its the problem with hiring coordinators to be head coaches. they can learn to be an executive officer, but usually the first 5 years is a trial by fire. they always have problems giving up their old responsibilities. responsibilities of a head coach should include... hiring manager, accountability officer, on the field calls/timeouts/taking a safety to end your season to byu, p.r. spokesman, and motivator.

hes not great at those for sure.... but look at the flip side. hes still building a ton of talent who believe he is the man for the job. when you fire a head coach... get ready to start over, and let the attrition begin. what we as fans need understand, that firing the coach is not the answer... making the coach understand and grow is the real key.

christensen is a smart guy, and he's got recruiting accumen, and he's been a key to at least starting to get this team a "little" bit of identity. notice how i said a "little"... meaning very little, but hes got us something building

the defense responsibilities he owes this team... he may not be able to personally deliver. But, he has the power to hire somebody that does. I don't think tormey is the answer... at all. I don't think a defense coordinator should ever be in the press box calling down plays. Offensive coordinator yes.... but never the d-coordinator. defense is all about motivation, not looking at matchups and trying to out-scheme the opposition.

[Wyovanian]

wyovanian

your right, and by the way... love your posts on the mwc board! i dig how you fire up the masses on there.

im not trying to argue that he doesn't have pitfalls. its the problem with hiring coordinators to be head coaches. they can learn to be an executive officer, but usually the first 5 years is a trial by fire. they always have problems giving up their old responsibilities. responsibilities of a head coach should include... hiring manager, accountability officer, on the field calls/timeouts/taking a safety to end your season to byu, p.r. spokesman, and motivator.

hes not great at those for sure.... but look at the flip side. hes still building a ton of talent who believe he is the man for the job. when you fire a head coach... get ready to start over, and let the attrition begin. what we as fans need understand, that firing the coach is not the answer... making the coach understand and grow is the real key.

christensen is a smart guy, and he's got recruiting accumen, and he's been a key to at least starting to get this team a "little" bit of identity. notice how i said a "little"... meaning very little, but hes got us something building

the defense responsibilities he owes this team... he may not be able to personally deliver. But, he has the power to hire somebody that does. I don't think tormey is the answer... at all. I don't think a defense coordinator should ever be in the press box calling down plays. Offensive coordinator yes.... but never the d-coordinator. defense is all about motivation, not looking at matchups and trying to out-scheme the opposition.

Thanks, it's not too hard to stir the pot over there. Lots of caustic and borderline personalities on that board. It's as simple as throwing a match into a powder magazine sometimes...

As for DC, I'm pretty well resigned to the fact he's got another season. And, since I'm kinda perceptive, I also know that, short of getting caught banging a male cheerleader on a pool table and losing badly to CSU, he's probably got at least two.

However, I think we need to wait and see what the attrition rate is over the next six-eight months. From what I'm hearing, Wyo fans may be in for a big gut punch in January. That being said- if attrition exceeds the average, if donations and season tickets fall below the normal drop following a bad season, then it might be time to lawyer up and have that talk with DC, and here's why- he's o-fer on defensive coordinators, he's done very little to improve the o-line, the running game sucks, and his public image could only get lower if he started killing puppies in pre-game warm-ups. There's an old saying in business- good times mask flaws, its' the hard times that reveal character and competence. So far, in the hard times, which force us to look more closely at the good ones, and all the ugliness masked by the glowing memories of wins and post-season play, DC has displayed a pretty serious lack of the qualities, the unteachable qualities, that distinguish the executive from the accidentalist. I'd love to look back at this next Halloween and solicit recipes for crow, trust me. Until then, I'll sit back and observe with scattered commentary, occasionally deliver jolts of reality to the Kool-Aid-sipping, rose-tinted lens crowd, and will be a staunch and unswerving supporter of the players, the program, and the school.