I realize I'm contributing to the mess by creating a new thread but I've seen a handful of posts started today by posters saying the Griz need an overhaul, NDSU has opened their eyes, NDSU is the road map, Delaney and staff aren't like NDSU, look at NDSU, NDSU, NDSU, NDSU, NDSU.
Do you guys realize what it takes to build a program like that?
1. The Grizzly coaching staff, players, and athletic department cannot wake up tomorrow and say, "Hey, we want to be like NDSU now." And suddenly the Griz will be an undefeated team.
2. The team can't just jettison everyone and bring in immediate replacements that will make the Griz an undefeated team.
3. Dominant teams take a long time to build because it's a system, a culture, and a top to bottom understanding of each player and how every little bit of the team works.
Have any of you gone back and seen how long it took Craig Bohl to get NDSU to where it is today? Go back and look. NDSU moved up into a sub-par conference (Great West) and were ineligible for their first 4 years. They went 8-3, 7-4, 10-1, 10-1. Then they move to the Missouri Valley Conference. Their next three years they go 6-5, 3-8, 9-5. Then after that they catch fire 14-1, 14-1, and currently 13-0.
It took Bohl and NDSU 7 years to become the dominant program they are today.
Look at Hauck's Grizzlies. It took him 3-4 years to get the program to it's in-conference dominance and a few more years after that to establish a more dominant post-season team.
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Now snap back to the 2013 Grizzlies. They doubled their win total from 2012, 5 wins to 10 wins. They halved their losses, 6 to 3. Yeah they had some games where the D was beat up badly, or the offense didn't look good. They had close games, they had lucky wins. But they're improving. They've got a ton of questions to answer and gaps to fill, yeah, but thinking all is lost and this team needs to be nuked and rebuilt (to me) is just silly.
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Finally. What's to say the next dominant team isn't being built before our eyes? Criag Bohl a year before NDSU made a deep playoff run had a 3-8 team. There's a lot of bumps and bruises on the path to building a dominant program.
Ease off the ledge Griz Nation. Yes improvements are needed, I'm sure the 2009 NDSU Bison saw needed improvements too. It's about re-building the program, re-installing the culture of dominance, and bringing that up through the ranks. This stuff doesn't happen overnight.
We've seen some GREAT improvement and progression from 2012. I, for one, am hoping this trend of improving success continues.
Go Griz