Random Football Rant
Yesterday, longtime Florida State Defensive Coordinator Mickey Andrews finally put himself out of his own misery and announced he would retire after this season. This decision couldn't come soon enough, since FSU's defense is ranked 109th out of 120 teams...in other words, there's only 11 teams WORSE than we are on defense right now.
This creates an opening for next year, which poses a problem. Bobby Bowden only has one more year that he could possibly be head coach before FSU will have to pay Jimbo Fisher $5 mil. if they decide to keep Bobby. There is virtually no way that will happen, which means Bobby either retires this year, or next year. So, since Jimbo Fisher will apparently inherit the team after one more season, there is a question of who gets to pick the new Defensive Coordinator.
Normally the head coach gets to hire his coordinators, but if Bobby hired a new one, anyone interested in the job would have to realize they'd only have one year to prove themselves before Jimbo could replace them with whoever he wants. Who would take a job in that climate? Or, since Jimbo will be the coach after next season, FSU could let him choose the new Defensie Coordinator with the expectation that his choice would stay when Jimbo is elevated to Head Coach.
Today, Bobby Bowden announced he plans to select the next Defensive Coordinator. He might let Jimbo have some input, but he's still making the selection.
This makes me so angry I want to throw things. For starters, Bobby should be out at season's end. Our team is terrible, he's completely oblivious and saying things like how we're a few big plays away from being undefeated, and the boosters have lost faith in him. But he apparently intends to coach to the bitter end of his contract and continue to blindly believe that next year we'll magically have a good team even if all evidence points to Bobby and his handpicked staff having run the program into the ground.
But even if he wanted to coach one more year (something I wish the administration would strongly discourage), why the hell does he get to pick the Defensive Coordinator who will only coach under him for one dadgum year? When will he start acknowledging that starting in 2011 this is Jimbo Fisher's team, and his era is over?
There have been rumblings on the internets that Bobby intends to appoint Chuck Amato to the Defensive Coordinator position for 1 year. Amato was a former defensive assistant at FSU before he left to become head coach of NC State, where he was horrible. Now he's back with some bullshit title like "Executive Head Coach (who also pretends to coach linebackers)." Given how bad our defense is, I don't want anyone currently affiliated with the defensive coaching staff to even be in the running. In fact, I'd like to see virtually all of them replaced when Andrews leaves, hopefully with the input of the new DC.
But if Bobby appoints Amato to DC, nothing will change. The team will still suck. And all of us who care about FSU football will be sitting here twiddling our thumbs for another wasted year waiting for him to finally retire or die so that we can start rebuilding.
We have a fantastic quarterback in Christian Ponder, something that has been completely lost in this waste of a season. Ponder has the potential to be Heisman-worthy next year, if he could get the defensive support he needs to win games. By all but announcing his intention to stay next year, Bobby is probably dooming Ponder to the trash heap of wasted potential behind an inadequate defense. In all likelihood even the best Defensive Coordinator on the market wouldn't be able to turn around this shitty defense enough to help Ponder make a run at major glory next year, but at least we'd have a fighting chance and wouldn't be stuck in defenseless shootouts against the likes of USF, Georgia Tech, and N.C. State.
I wish someone in the Athletic Department or administration of FSU would FINALLY draw a line with Bowden. It's time, because this is unacceptable. If he stays next year and hand selects a Defensive Coordinator, I will not renew my season tickets or give another dime to the school until he's gone.
13 comments:
I have a solution - Willie Martinez from UGA is all yours.
Here's how bad our D is...Willie would be an improvement. Vast improvement.
Ummmm no he wouldn't and that shows how much your anger is clouding your judgment.
Yes. The defense is horrible. No excusing it.
But before we blame everything on the defense, recognize the fact that the offense turned the ball over 6 times Saturday night.
And USF was not a shootout. The defense held them to 17 total points and only 3 in the entire second half. The offense on the other hand turned the ball over 3 times in the opponents 20. The defense did not lose that game.
The problem is neither side of the ball is consistent. Defense will have a good game and the offense will play like they are in high school. The defense will have a bad game and the offense will be forced into a shoot out.
Now whether that inconsistency is due to the age of the players, bad scheming or the apparent discord in the coaching staff, I don't know. But that's what has to be fixed.
And retire or die? Pretty harsh.
Correction. 5 turnovers. Of which 4 were Ponder interceptions.
Our defense has had one good, solid game. One. It was against BYU, and even though we gave up big plays, we also made big defensive plays. I watched the entire game, and the stats on paper might look better than our D actually looked for much of the game. We just thankfully forced turnovers when it counted.
Find me another game other than BYU where our defense has played well. Not passable, not "didn't lose the game for us," just...a solid defensive effort. We couldn't stop Miami. We had a shootout against NC State where thankfully we got the ball last. We had a shootout against Ga Tech where we didn't even make them punt the entire game. You can say we didn't have a shootout against USF but the defense completely folded on the two big first half plays for touchdowns that put USF up. OK, so we held them to a field goal in the second half? Great. Except that keeping them out of the endzone in the second half doesn't mean much because they were already ahead by 2 TDs so they were playing out the clock. Yes, our offense sucked in that game too but let's not pretend the defense was good or even average. There's a reason we were ranked 109th going into the Clemson game. (Lord knows where we are at now.)
(Meanwhile, I remember someone arguing with me after the Miami game that I didn't know what I was talking about when I said our defense was terrible and our secondary was atrocious. Now who could that have been?)
Do you disagree that Bobby should be gone after this year? Do you disagree he shouldn't be appointing a defensive coordinator if he truly is only staying one more year? You didn't respond to my original post on those points at all. You say I'm clouded by anger...are you clouded by fondness for the lovable coach on the decline? Because I've posted about Bobby Bowden here many times over the years with fondness and admiration. I loved him like most alumni do. But much like William O. Douglas trying to stay on the Supreme Court after he had a stroke, I also recognize that Bobby can't hack it anymore and he's hurting a program that I love more than him by refusing to see that it's time to hang it up. If it's a battle of loyalty to Bobby Bowden or FSU, my alma mater wins.
I will admit that I was wrong about our defense after the Miami game. What clouded my judgment then was the obvious talent and the fact that we made big plays in that game. Remember it was the defense scoring touchdowns that kept us in the game. I thought we could build on that and I was obviously wrong.
But you are dead wrong about the USF game. Sorry. Exactly what more can you expect a defense to do when they hold a team to 17 points? Pitch a shut out? Yes, they gave up the two early plays and shut down the team for the next three quarters. Meanwhile the offense was playing like they were back in pop warner. To say the defense didn't play well in that game because they gave up two touchdowns is insane. There isn't a coach in this country who is asked if he would take two scores a game wouldn't say "hell yes!"
As far as my judgment being clouded because of my fondness for Bobby. Maybe. Maybe because I've actually been through this before. It hasn't always been manna from heaven at Florida State.
Should he stay? I said several weeks ago that it was time. But what I saw at the Georgia Tech game changed my mind. Despite the obvious poor outcome, with the exception of a few jackasses, the entire stadium was behind him.
Let the man have one more year.
We were both at that USF game and I obviously came away with a different impression. It was infuriating to me that we gave up 2 easy long TDs to a freshman QB in only his second game. I find that simply inexcusable. The defense we used to put on the field would have eaten him for breakfast, and instead this defense allowed him to make us look stupid.
Do you think Bobby should get final say on the new defensive coordinator even though he will only be head coach for 1 more year?
Maybe the whole stadium was behind him for Ga Tech, but the next game was homecoming, and FSU saw its lowest attendance in decades. I doubt the mood at Doak these days is that supportive. We're going to be lucky to make a bowl game this year, and that should be shameful to this school. I will not join others who make excuses for it, either.
Of course he gets a say! Either he's head coach or he isn't!
And I'm not making excuses. Yes, we were both at the same game and it's pretty obvious that we came away with different impressions. I do understand that the two of the three fumbles happened at the other end of the field where it's difficult to see.
Do you also blame the defense for Saturday's loss?
And it's really simple. if the choice is retire or die or Bobby, I'll take Bobby.
Oh right, I couldn't see. That must be it. Way to keep the discussion respectful.
I asked if Bobby should get FINAL say on a defensive coordinator. Not should he get a say, but should he have the ultimate determination when he's only going to be the head coach for one more year? Don't you think if Jimbo is going to have to work with this person after 2010, he should have primary responsibility for picking someone? Or should we just put in a lame duck placeholder DC and accept 2010 will be a lost season?
Obviously I blame both sides of the ball for Saturday's loss. We gave up almost 500 yards to Clemson, but we also had 4 interceptions. Despite your frequent insistance, I am not a fucking moron. But hey, maybe we improved a tiny bit since our defense is now only 106'th out of 120 teams.
By the way, they've announced that Christian Ponder is out for the Wake Forest game due to a dislocated shoulder. So let's see how the FSU fan base reacts to a team that will almost certainly not make a bowl game this year and will have a losing season for the first time in 33 years.
Either he's the head coach or he isn't. The head coach gets final say on his coordinators. There's not a head coach in the country that would accept any less.
And I'm honestly not trying to be disrespectful but if you continue to insist that it was the defense's fault we lost the USF game, then I'm not sure where else to go.
As far as the fans not showing up? There's an old saying about that. "A friend in need etc etc".
I never said defense was the only reason we lost the USF game. I said the defense was terrible and gave up the 2 big plays in the first half that left us playing catchup for the rest of the game. Obviously we had 4 turnovers that prevented us from overcoming those 2 scores. Much like this week's Clemson game, both sides of the ball get the blame for the loss. I simply disagree with you that the defense was not awful in the USF game. We were playing a lousy team starting a freshman QB and should have beaten them handily. Do you disagree with that, or shall we blame my poor eyesight and limited understanding of football again?
A team the the next week was in the Top 25! And yes he's a freshman but he's also a freshman we recruited because he was one of the best talents in the nation. And by the way, in the second half we ran his ass all over the backfield and he did nothing. So let's not pretend this guy came out and beat our brains out.
Yes, we should have beaten USF handily but to say the defense played terrible especially when they adjusted at half time and the offense obviously did not is just plain wrong.
They gave up two scores and if memory serves, the field goal came after the offense turned the ball over in our own territory and the defense had to make a stand.
The defense did not lose that game. By that logic, it's the defense's fault for game that ends in a loss.
The field goal came with 3 or 4 minutes left in the game after our third fumble inside the 20. It was insurance points. I remember it well because that was the point when I got up and left out of complete disgust.
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