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701Grizfan
Well-known member
701Grizfan
Well-known member
The Cats are simply better n the trenches. That gets shored up and the program will be good enough. Have a great offseason everybody it’s been a fun ride
Very well said
I thought we played pretty well yesterday. The OL included. They started slow and had some costly lapses, but overall I thought they did a good job of giving Ah Yat a clean pocket. Ah Yat played tough, Gillman was an absolute beast, he reminds me of Derrick Henry.
Special teams quietly got worked. Seemed like the cats were always getting decent returns. A bit surprising.
Seems like the every time we play the cats they come out of the gates firing and we end up in a hole trying to climb out. Pretty disappointing. There’s zero doubt anymore, the cats have taken the state….under Bobby and Haslams watch.
I thought we played pretty well yesterday. The OL included. They started slow and had some costly lapses, but overall I thought they did a good job of giving Ah Yat a clean pocket. Ah Yat played tough, Gillman was an absolute beast, he reminds me of Derrick Henry.
Special teams quietly got worked. Seemed like the cats were always getting decent returns. A bit surprising.
Seems like the every time we play the cats they come out of the gates firing and we end up in a hole trying to climb out. Pretty disappointing. There’s zero doubt anymore, the cats have taken the state….under Bobby and Haslams watch.
retiredpopo
Well-known member
good article.
StumptownGriz
Well-known member
13-2 both losses to the rival. If that doesnt light a fire under this program, fanbase, boosters and University than I dont know what will. 2026 is do or die for Griz football in my humble opinion. Time to circle the fucking wagons.
701Grizfan
Well-known member
You got that right Stump! 100% dead on.
StumptownGriz
Well-known member
I might add that contrary to what Brints post says. Given what these programs, coaches and now what the players make we as a fan base have the right to get the pitchforks and torches out and apply some pressure. Im not ready to clean house quite yet but this is absolutely unacceptable.
701Grizfan
Well-known member
Griz are on a trajectory with their instate rival to be UND while the Cats are on a path to being NDSU when it comes to who owns the state long term.
GrizGuy
Well-known member
I posted this on your substack, and thought I’d leave it here, too. With an addendum.
Brint, thank you for encouraging people to tamp down the hysteria following this loss. It might feel good to vent, but it won’t serve any useful purposes, especially when the targets of that will be student/athletes and coaches’ families, and none of them deserve that.
While I was running this morning, I was affected by my emotions of the game and season. My pace was slower and my running was a bit labored. It gave me more time to think.
I was thinking of asking a Q for the GFP: How are you talking to your kids about this loss and what are you showing them about difficult times?
I think those questions are still worth talking about and I would love to hear you guys kick that around.
While running and thinking (I went out for an hour, so I had a little time), I decided that the Bobcat win is a sign of how the page has fully turned, and probably did so a few years ago. I don’t expect to have another “The Streak,” but I feel like times have changed in FCS, and I am not so sure our program has changed with them. And two losses in a season to that program speaks volumes about where the Grizzlies are vs the rest of the FCS.
I don’t think the school would be served by a wholesale firing of the staff, tbh. I DO think if we’re really going to tout “the pride and tradition,” that it would be nice to approach it as succession planning. And our University is led by a man with the business acumen to do that.
Will that happen? I decided that it’s very unlikely because that’s not how head coaches become available to hire.
What’s more, I recall that at the outset of the season what I was really thinking was that NEXT season would be the one where the offense would have lofty expectations due to the maturation of the qb and hopefully an O line. I think the fantastic qb play and explosive offense lured me into lofty expectations a tad early.
I think the O actually over delivered this season.
The defense? Not so much. And I think that gets me to the point about times changing. I don’t think our defense has changed, and I think it needs to. This puts me squarely in Schmidt’s camp regarding the 3-3-5.
The simple fact is our defense hasn’t consistently played well enough against the top FCS teams. For a very long time.
What needs to happen? Should we fire the head coach or his staff?
I’m not so sure. And it doesn’t take long to arrive at why.
The fact is, this program played in a national championship recently, and had a deep playoff run this year. The team has missed the playoffs recently, too. But it’s not like the whole product is bad.
The head coach had demonstrated that he can change. We like to talk about “Bobby Ball,” but I don’t think we’ve seen it to the extent we did in Hauck 1.0. Plus the offense has clearly changed, and so has the approach to the offense overall.
If I’m the AD, I don’t think there are grounds to dismiss a guy for cause.
I DO think that the level of success and inability to get over the hump against the best teams warrants a discussion about expectations for the defense, and the program. And I think it would be a good idea to allow the current contract to expire, and go into the final year of the contract refusing to have a discussion about the future until the end of the season. That might risk a few recruits who want to play for certain people, but it also allows you free reign to let the world talk about the potential job opening and see who makes waves and shows they really want it.
It also allows the coach to exit gracefully.
That’s where I am at this morning after. Those feelings might change.
Hopefully the way I behave is something I will be proud to reflect on in the future.
I know the Internet is not a place known for thoughtful discussion, much less eGriz, where I limit my time, and am not afraid to pop in and drop a truth bomb now and then, especially when someone acting like an ahole richly deserves it.
But I am trying to be measured and rational and I think that the future of the program deserves that, whether or not my particular landing spot is where things go.
Go Griz!
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StumptownGriz
Well-known member
Exactly right. This is a hard to pill to swallow for much of the legacy fan base but its time to take a hard look in the mirror and that starts with coach Hauck. That game on ABC combined with Montana kids leading the way (many of them from Missoula) for the Cats and the announcers making that point multiple times combined with the failed in state recruiting strategy from this staff. That game has done unfathomable and irreparable damage to the Griz program for years to come. Enough with the excuses. Enough with the sugar coating. Enough with the participation trophy attitude. Period.
Saw some on FB and Twitter - haven’t seen much here
Ut-Grizfan
Well-known member
We've won 1 Big Sky Football title and just 4 Basketball titles under Haslam, with our resources it's inexcusable. I say it's time for new leadership at the top with the vision for success and growth.
HikeGlacier
Well-known member
You’re fooling yourself if you think being down 20 to 3 had anything to do with injuries. Multiple times during the first quarter. Brock kept saying the Griz should be running the football because of the defense the cats were playing. Yet they continued to throw the ball. On numerous occasions, the announcers mentioned the size difference between the cats offensive line and the GRiZ defensive line. I believe they said the cats average 300 pounds and the Griz defensive line average 250. Did the injuries cause the continued poor snaps? Until we weed out sugarcoaters like you and Hoops we’re gonna continue to be the second rate program in the state.
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Stop_HammerTime69
Well-known member
Yeah it was abundantly clear to every sane Griz fan that the players put the team back in the position to win the game. They made the big plays. They did what they were asked. It is everyone else that let them down
And even that wasn’t the case, you never go after the players.
It pains me to agree with you. UM AD has 5 brawl wins since his appointment in 2012, cat AD has 8 wins since his appointment in 2016. Then there’s the fund raising disparity which favors msu since 2016. One athletic department appears to operate under an exclusivity model which caters toward a few big $ boosters, the other department has an inclusive “come one, come all, let’s do this together” mentality. Not getting political, but the msu model is reminiscent of the fund raising strategy employed by Jim Messina (UM alum) during his time working for the Obama campaign and administration…..small donations by many common folks can exceed the value of larger donations from a few whales. If you’re not fostering a relationship with your common fans, how will you fund athletics when your whales age out?
SkyGriz0602
Well-known member
I think we just have to accept that as of right now MSU has way more financial support than the Griz do. They are better set up for long term success than we are. We are a smaller school, with less popular degrees, and a disinterested AD who wishes he was working for a larger school but has to stay with us because nobody else wants him. Our alumni base does not have the funding to keep up with MSU. MSU has beat us year after year in not only in state recruiting but some out of state recruiting as well. They consistently pull in multiple Texas players that make major impacts on the team. Also as long as we keep running the fucking 3-3-5 we are never going to get over the hump. Our defense is too small in the trenches and not deep enough. I wouldn't be surprised to see us lose recruits now. Unless Mr. Washington ponies up a ton more money for the program and Bobby decides to run a normal defense that's easier to recruit for the future does not look good.
SkyGriz0602
Well-known member
Kent needs to go. He doesn't have what it takes to get our athletics to the next level. We are quickly losing ground in multiple sports. Soccer is about to fall off a cliff and basketball is embarrassing.
griznative24
Well-known member
Wasn't at the point of existential fandom yet but damn thats an interesting question
