Is the goal of the OHIO football team to win a MACC?  And, is 9 years a reasonable amount of time to give a staff to do that?  So, if the goal is to win a MACC game and 9 years is long enough, a change in staff MAY be needed sooner rather than later.

On the other hand is the goal to win a few East Division titles and some bowl games? Then, I guess I couldn't be happier and we MAY want to stick with this staff forever come hell or high water!

I'm just wondering what the clearly defined Goal(s) of OUr football team is/are year in and year out?

Blame who'd you like. But you can play games that no one can win but yourself, by yourself.

How can Frank Solich make you happy Monroe, et al? What game does he change his approach, his quarterback, to avoid your criticism? How can he beat your argument?

The least intelligent arguments in sports are the what-if scenarios: "What if that flag wasn't thrown" or "What if that ball wasn't dropped"?

You can't change any one moment in a game without re-shuffling the deck there after (ie You can't say that any one play could've been different and then all subsequent events would unfold precisely as they did before the change. You're talking about a probability that might as well be 1/infinity.) You can't cherry pick the past to shape the future.

Again, how can Frank Solich make you happy?

He is the same man day in and day out. He trusts his coordinators. He trusts he quarteback, and the other guys he puts out on the field to perform as they've planned.

Frank Solich managed the game and his players within 95% certaintity of what a person who has followed his career would expect.

I place the blame on Tettleton as he did not play within any acceptable deviation of what you'd expect with respect to his Bobcat career. (A mobile, impassioned leader)

If you're saying what Frank is doing from day to day is not "good enough" for our program long term, I ask again, what is your maximum yield over the last 8 years? With what efficiency has Frank produced that product? And can you look yourself in the mirror and say, "Yeah, it totally would've been better if we hired (blank), or fired Frank (insert date) and hired (blank)"?

But to Monroe (or anyone else), for you to think a person like Frank (or anyone else in life) is not only going to randomly do something outside of his standard deviation, but also EXPECT that outlier to occur, you're a fool.

 

I rarely post over here on the football side, as basketball is more of my thing.  I read through some threads here and there, and found this one interesting enough to comment on.

I agree with Monroe (hence the earthquake).  The OC has to go.  I have no idea what his name is, but the play calling is terrible.  When you're primarily running the read option, the threat of the QB running the ball has to be present.  It's not, and hasn't been this entire season.  Now, this is either due to 1.) the staff not wanting TT to run the ball, in fear of possible injury or 2.) TT doesn't want to run because he's afraid of injury.  Outisde of watching the games, I don't follow closely enough to have any idea if it's 1 or 2.  But the last 3 teams we have played just have the D-end crash down on Beau (or Boykin) because they know TT isn't going to keep the ball ever.  The end result is 3-4 YPC and a plethora of terrible looking punts.

Outside of that, the lines on both side of the ball cannot control the line of scrimmage.  When you lose the trenches, you lose many games.

Yay basketball.

I agree with all of the above.  These last four losses, individually and collectively, have been profoundly disappointing and embarrassing.  What a shame!  This team appeared to be
capable of so much more.
Let's look at it this way.  We'll agree, I believe, that a major reason for which most of these
young men are on the OU campus for four or five years is to play football.  Let's also agree
that this means winning football.
Let's say that each of the season's 12 games "takes" four hours.  That is a total of 48 hours--
two (2) days--of game time; not 48 consecutive hours, but 48 hours total.  Is it too much to
ask that each player give his maximum concentration and effort to playing winning football
during each of those 48 hours?  I think not.  What do you think?

Monroe, I read your posts. The overwhelming majority make my skin crawl.  

Lets break down the logic of this issue:

1. Do you believe this team is capable of beating Kent State based on Frank Solich's average coaching approach?
a. Yes (Continue to 2)

b. No (Fire Frank Solich)

2. Do you believe Frank Solich's game plan was representative of his average approach throughout his career?

a. Yes (Continue to 3)
b. No (Blame Coach)

3. Do you believe Frank Solich's average approach is enough to win a MAC Championship?

a. Yes (Continue to 4)
b. No (Fire Frank Solich)

4. Do you believe there is a faster way to win a MAC Championship other than altering the methodology of a 69 year old man after a lifetime's worth of on the job training (which cannot be changed as a result of genetic and environmental factors)?

a. Yes (Fire Frank Solich)
b. No (Seek alternate explanation to loss other than Frank Solich)

Monroe I'm not an apologist. It's not even humane to be a proponent of someone's work and then chastise them when they do EXACTLY what you would expect of them. (Is that not the gameplan we all watched?)

I would have no problem with you wanting to fire Frank. We could discuss. But if you want to keep Frank, your complaints about Frank Solich being Frank Solich are just nails on my chalkboard.

For you to continue offer solutions that would require the total renaissance of a 69 year old man reveals just how feeble your mind is.

You offer solutions but none of them are realistic. Frank's not the guy to question/ take over the control of other coaches jobs once he's entrusted them with the duties. That's because he TRUSTS them.

I cherish consistency because you can plan accordingly. And Frank Solich is about as consistent as them come. He performs exactly as advertised. 

Like I said, Frank game-plans as if his pawns are pawns, rooks are rooks, and kings are kings. When your king suddenly refuses to move, it makes the game incredibly difficult to play. 
 

 

P.S. Monroe,

As for your comments about vigorous intellectual debate, I wouldn't even mop my floor with the dirty rag you call logic.

As a recovering chess player, I kind of like this analogy. 

This.  It drives me nuts.  We may never know the reason TT doesn't run but it's not happening.  Either the game plan has to change or change the QB. 

At least NIU and Toledo are putting on a good show.

My 2 cents:

I've been as disappointed as anyone watching this team the last few weeks. But really, we're talking about one down year with a team that has had some legitimate injury woes and not overwhelming talent. (I don't equate this late-season tailspin to last year because that team was twice as banged-up. This season's collapse has been less excusable.)

Yet I take the long view here. Solich took over the MAC's worst program and has taken us to what, five bowls? Three MAC East titles? I sure as heck am not going to turn into a Nebraska fan and call for his head after his first bad season.

Let's all turn the page to basketball and enjoy what's going on there. Then we'll see how next season goes. If Frank has really "lost" the team, and it plays like it has this month over the course of an entire season, then it might be easier to suggest this is on the coaches. For now, I figure it's one season's team losing its way -- in what, yes, has been nightmarish fashion -- and not an indictment of Frank Solich.

How much does this university owe to this man? Name me one person who has raised the school's visibility level more over the past decade. The closest would be John Groce, but he was here four years and is now gone.

I don't think it's fair for all of us sitting in our basements to try to assign blame, and I also think it's much too soon to say this program is ruined.

In Frank I trust.

You're spot on. A down year or sub-par talent is bound to happen. Perhaps we are not quite as talented as in previous years...I suspect that might be the case.

However, the one thing that is completely INEXCUSABLE is the LACK OF EFFORT. There were players that quit on the field yesterday...lots of them. Dare I say MOST of them. Anyone else that was at the game saw this.

I'm not sure who to blame...senior leadership? coaching? recruiting of low character? I suspect the truth lies somewhere in between. But to not be giving 100% effort is infuriating. Something needs to be done, and Frank is in the best position to do something about it.