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Regarding Stitt

Stop_HammerTime69

Well-known member
Being one hundred percent honest, I have no idea where I stand on Stitt anymore.

Most of my optimism from earlier this year came from believing that we would do what the Griz have done 72 times before: beat the damn cats. That did not happen. The Griz looked like they took random kids from Willard and dressed them up as the players. That was not the Montana team we saw after Jensen took over. It was very clear throughout the season that we had far more talent than Montana State. Somehow, we made a 4-6 Montana State team look like Washington or Alabama. For the second year in a row. This was quite frankly us handing the Bobcats a win.

Then came the worst part of this. The Griz were not a part of the playoffs for the second year in a row. As has been discussed ad nauseam here, this season saw a crazy playoff bubble. Montana was still apart of that bubble. Most years, 7-4 gets a team into the playoff. What separates great teams from good teams is not the sheer level of talent or how well they can dominate or keep up on offense or defense. It's when it comes down to a fumble, a penalty, or a in/out of bounds call, they come out ahead. Similarly, when things come down to a toss-up, power programs are the ones that come out on top. Montana is supposed to be a power program. But this weekend they are not.

We got knocked off our feet in Bozeman. Then we got kicked while we were down.

For a lack of better phrasing, this has been kinda shitty. While I want stability, the contract's up. I'll recognize that we have not suffered a losing season under Stitt. But for a program like Montana, those seasons should include wins over rivals and the postseason. I do not want for Montana to go through another attempt at rebuild, to cast their lot in the wind when schools like Tennessee, Nebraska, and Florida have done the same. There is not a coach in the country who could walk into Missoula and win the title for us next season.

I might describe this as Montana football being stuck between a rock and a hard place, with no obvious way out. But frankly, no. That implies that our demise would be fairly quick. No, what we are going to witness is one of two things. The first, if we retain Stitt, is winning seasons, but laughter from Bozeman and, starting next season, Moscow. We will get a Thanksgiving home game the years without crazy bubble scenarios, but never a seed. We would see the brand of Montana slowly erode like a pebble at the bottom of a river. The other is to join a massive coaching carousel against schools with far more resources and maybe find the second coming of Don Read, but more likely find a Jim MacElwain or Mike Riley. In the words of Lindsay Graham, "it's like being shot or poisoned."
 
Yep that's it right there. There is no easy decision, no 100% bet. I guess if I'm Haslam I'd ask Stitt 'Ok, what are we changing?'.
 
mcg said:
Yep that's it right there. There is no easy decision, no 100% bet. I guess if I'm Haslam I'd ask Stitt 'Ok, what are we changing?'.

And that answer should be "DC".
 
daGrizJ said:
mcg said:
Yep that's it right there. There is no easy decision, no 100% bet. I guess if I'm Haslam I'd ask Stitt 'Ok, what are we changing?'.

And that answer should be "DC".

Watching the tackling that we saw all season, absolutely. It seemed that there was a basic lack of fundamentals, even in the games we won.

Another thing: hire an offensive coordinator. Kliff Kingsbury (similar offensive style, fantastic OC at Texas A&M) is probably about to go on the market (not a chance in hell we get him though). But in all seriousness, I appreciate his wanting to still have a hands-on duty in play calling, but I get the feeling that he needs some help on that side of the ball.
 
daGrizJ said:
mcg said:
Yep that's it right there. There is no easy decision, no 100% bet. I guess if I'm Haslam I'd ask Stitt 'Ok, what are we changing?'.

And that answer should be "DC".

And the play calling, the attitude and killer instinct of the staff and players..
 
Stop_HammerTime69 said:
daGrizJ said:
mcg said:
Yep that's it right there. There is no easy decision, no 100% bet. I guess if I'm Haslam I'd ask Stitt 'Ok, what are we changing?'.

And that answer should be "DC".

Watching the tackling that we saw all season, absolutely. It seemed that there was a basic lack of fundamentals, even in the games we won.

Another thing: hire an offensive coordinator. Kliff Kingsbury (similar offensive style, fantastic OC at Texas A&M) is probably about to go on the market (not a chance in hell we get him though). But in all seriousness, I appreciate his wanting to still have a hands-on duty in play calling, but I get the feeling that he needs some help on that side of the ball.

Maybe. I think the O went about as far as possible after losing Phillips and playing a RS Freshman. In fact Stitt has not had a full season with one QB yet. That's just some bad luck IMO.

I have been very supportive of Semore, but, damn, when you have 1st and forever twice, and allow a 70 yrd TD run and a 1st down after 35 yards because you called an all out blitz both times instead of laying back and filling gaps, changes need to be made.
 
Stop_HammerTime69 said:
We would see the brand of Montana slowly erode like a pebble at the bottom of a river.

Nicely worded there. Sounds like something you might stumble across in the Tao Te Ching! :clap:
 
margie41 said:
Maybe Haslem should go along with Stitt and his silly green cap

Hey thanks Margie. Many have brought up a myriad of reasons to send Stitt packing, but few have brought up the "silly green cap", which of course is another great reason for sending Stitt on his way.
 
Stop_HammerTime69 said:
Being one hundred percent honest, I have no idea where I stand on Stitt anymore.

Most of my optimism from earlier this year came from believing that we would do what the Griz have done 72 times before: beat the damn cats. That did not happen. The Griz looked like they took random kids from Willard and dressed them up as the players. That was not the Montana team we saw after Jensen took over. It was very clear throughout the season that we had far more talent than Montana State. Somehow, we made a 4-6 Montana State team look like Washington or Alabama. For the second year in a row. This was quite frankly us handing the Bobcats a win.

Then came the worst part of this. The Griz were not a part of the playoffs for the second year in a row. As has been discussed ad nauseam here, this season saw a crazy playoff bubble. Montana was still apart of that bubble. Most years, 7-4 gets a team into the playoff. What separates great teams from good teams is not the sheer level of talent or how well they can dominate or keep up on offense or defense. It's when it comes down to a fumble, a penalty, or a in/out of bounds call, they come out ahead. Similarly, when things come down to a toss-up, power programs are the ones that come out on top. Montana is supposed to be a power program. But this weekend they are not.

We got knocked off our feet in Bozeman. Then we got kicked while we were down.

For a lack of better phrasing, this has been kinda shitty. While I want stability, the contract's up. I'll recognize that we have not suffered a losing season under Stitt. But for a program like Montana, those seasons should include wins over rivals and the postseason. I do not want for Montana to go through another attempt at rebuild, to cast their lot in the wind when schools like Tennessee, Nebraska, and Florida have done the same. There is not a coach in the country who could walk into Missoula and win the title for us next season.

I might describe this as Montana football being stuck between a rock and a hard place, with no obvious way out. But frankly, no. That implies that our demise would be fairly quick. No, what we are going to witness is one of two things. The first, if we retain Stitt, is winning seasons, but laughter from Bozeman and, starting next season, Moscow. We will get a Thanksgiving home game the years without crazy bubble scenarios, but never a seed. We would see the brand of Montana slowly erode like a pebble at the bottom of a river. The other is to join a massive coaching carousel against schools with far more resources and maybe find the second coming of Don Read, but more likely find a Jim MacElwain or Mike Riley. In the words of Lindsay Graham, "it's like being shot or poisoned."

..nice writing structure but totally disagree..James Madison first year coach took them to the treasure..
I think the right hire would utilize the talent that is already there..sometimes in business if its
not working you need to change course!..this is where the Griz are..yes we need to make the right
hire not a re-start.
 
grizghost said:
..nice writing structure but totally disagree..James Madison first year coach took them to the treasure..
I think the right hire would utilize the talent that is already there..sometimes in business if its
not working you need to change course!..this is where the Griz are..yes we need to make the right
hire not a re-start.
Or push the Hillary red reset button.....
 
To a large degree you get what you pay for. JMU’s coach makes almost double in base salary. The problem with the BOR is that they think they can hire a great coach with so little. In the world of college football, money talks. Stitt is a great example of this. Mediocre salary with mediocre results. Not saying pay Stitt more, I’m saying we are getting what we pay for with the quality of the HC.
 
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