Merkleman said:
hilinegrizfan said:
Bobby is looking past this year and strategizing for next, and the next, and the next year. as he should be. the feelings of a senior running back on his way out of the program who chose not to play against Idaho and the cats is not his priority. nor should it be.
Having a plan and executing a plan are two different things. I believe he his a plan. I just dont know if its the right one. He is in un-chartered waters. This isnt the new Ferrari he inherited his 1st stint here that he had to just keep putting gas in to keep it going. This is more like a 95 Caddy with a good engine but needs new tires and a tune up.
Bobby now has a track record. He took over a team his 1st time around that was already established and he took over a team he was hired to build into a contender.
In the 1st instance he was able to keep a good thing going. In the 2nd he failed miserably. This current team is somewhere in the middle.
This team is likely to take another step backwards next year. Have you seen next years schedule? If similar things happen again next year that happened this year, 6 wins will be tough even with a 12 game schedule. I will give the benefit of the doubt that they dont have PSU moment next year. Tell me where the for sure wins are.
@South Dakota
North Alabama
@Oregon
Monmouth
@UC Davis
Idaho State
@Sac State
EWU
@PSU
Idaho
Weber State
@Montana State
Hauck didn't inherit a new Ferrari last time. A good team and program and certainly better than what he got this time. Last team had just lost 3 of 4, including a Cat loss, and hadn't done much recruiting, I was told.
No one has succeeded at UNLV. At least, Hauck got UNLV to a bowl game in year 4. The current coach didn't. Coaching at FBS is different than FCS. Taking the Griz back up at this point will be much easier than taking UNLV anywhere.
Hauck took the team/program to a higher level in his last stint. Playoffs and conf championship in all 7 years. Only 1 conf loss in the last 4. To 3 national championship games, and 1 more semifinal. Large increases in attendance and fundraisers. To my knowledge, all or virtually all of the top donors and potential donors are with him now. QB memberships and attendance up.
The Griz didn't take a step backward this year. While they lost one more game, by a hair, they took many steps forward. The team will step another step or 2 forward next year. Every game looks winnable to me, except Oregon.
UM just needs more horses, more strength and more experience. The qb is special. The coaches loved the team and its attitude this year. I was hearing all of this in the fall, but just heard it again recently from a friend (and big donor) who had breakfast with Hauck last week.
I am not concerned in the least about UM's RTD. I can't think of a better person to have working on that now at UM. Which is not to say that that or winning consistently in college football is easy.