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Must be pretty stressful at Minny. Yikes went all in with the head shaving top of that dome pretty shiny.

He's LEX LUTHOR!!! He's trying to take over the world!!

He looks like a talking *****. That seems about right to me

Tempted to make some jokes here, but no.

I'm really curious, in a nosy kind of way, what the true story is how his woman made him shave his head like that. I do respect that he carried off his end of the bet though.

Nice deep tan. Aged 4 years. Burn the candle at both ends like that will age you quick.

Bald = more aerodynamic for all the boat rowing.

Disappointed as I am/was in Fleck leaving, what really more was them to accomplish here? A BCS Bowl win would be huge, but not guaranteed. (I guess he could've won us a couple more bowls, couple more MAC Championships, wins over legit P5 schools, beat NIU at NIU -----> I guess those are thing Lester will have to accomplish!)

(07-26-2017 05:29 PM)Dirty Ernie Wrote:  I do respect that he carried off his end of the bet though.

Bet? What bet?

I think "Establishing" ourselves a "Power G5" would be it. It's a lot to ask out of any coach -- but for him at that point it wouldn't, as it'd be expected -- and in the process, obviously beating @NIU + going to another BCS Bowl, and at some point winning one (if he stuck to the 10yr deal with WMU)... that would be it. But nothing exact -- just Clearly Establishing ourselves as Consistent G5 Power.

Too much to ask out of Lester, so we can't expect that. But what we Can at least expect is being a MAC West power consistently. Hopefully during this re-loading year we don't take too much a hit.

Fulfilling that 10 year deal would be insane. No one in their right mind believed he'd be here that long. (I was hoping/thinking he'd stick around 1 more year but knew obviously if we went 13-1 or even just only won the MAC, there'd be a high chance he'd be gone.) But yes, for sure, that would be an accomplishment fans would want: A true East Coast Boise St. As you said, not sure if that's really an accomplishment an individual like a young head coach would see as an accomplishment.

I'd definitely be happy if we sustained the success Northern Illinois had following their BCS Bowl. I think this past season was the first time since they haven't played in the MAC Championship / won the West. Obviously while they never sustained the extreme high we and NIU did, even Central was able to hold a level of success with Jones and Kelly. Not unreasonable to think we can't sustain that. I'm just afraid we'll experience a sudden and total drop to failure like Bowling Green St did.

(07-26-2017 10:20 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Fulfilling that 10 year deal would be insane. No one in their right mind believed he'd be here that long. (I was hoping/thinking he'd stick around 1 more year but knew obviously if we went 13-1 or even just only won the MAC, there'd be a high chance he'd be gone.) But yes, for sure, that would be an accomplishment fans would want: A true East Coast Boise St. As you said, not sure if that's really an accomplishment an individual like a young head coach would see as an accomplishment.

I'd definitely be happy if we sustained the success Northern Illinois had following their BCS Bowl. I think this past season was the first time since they haven't played in the MAC Championship / won the West. Obviously while they never sustained the extreme high we and NIU did, even Central was able to hold a level of success with Jones and Kelly. Not unreasonable to think we can't sustain that. I'm just afraid we'll experience a sudden and total drop to failure like Bowling Green St did.

Now that the dust has settled and everyone is over being pi$$ed at how he left you have to look at the transaction from his perspective a little closer... He was at his PEAK after last years MAC championship and invite to the Cotton Bowl. WMU was as high as #14 I believe in the AP. He has one of the best if not THE best wide receiver in the game and a signal caller that ran an offense predicated on time of possession and ball control.

Looking past the end of the year... the graduation fallout... the outlook into the following season you have to admit that PJ probably felt like the iron was at its hottest. His opportunities would diminish if the following season didn't add up to the current season. Losing your entire wide receiver corps... your veteran QB (WITH NO REAL EXPERIENCED BACKUP) and one of your top OL players... not to mention a host of positional players. He likely knew the writing on the wall with his phenom freshman Kicker and he likely ALSO knew that the work he put in on the current class would transfer to Minnesota... Seems like an easy decision to me.

Business of it alone, it would have been stupid for him (if he already planned on moving onwards and upwards within a few years) to stick around past last season. With his camera attention loving new wife by his side, I am sure that he had full support at home for whatever he wanted to do... if that was to move to a bigger city with brighter lights and more attention from the national stage.

I love the position PJ put our program in going into this season. I love the decision of KB to bring back Lester to pick up the torch and I love the coaches Lester has surrounded himself with. Recruiting dipped a touch this year due to circumstances with the previous regime raiding our coffers, but Lester has brought our recruiting back into previous expectations going forward into 2018 and beyond. PJ was a flash that burned bright while he was here... he ignited a fan base starving for something to root for at Waldo... He made Bronco Football the thing to do in Kalamazoo. He's now gone... and at this point I wish him the very best.

Now #LETSRIDE! GO BRONCOS! WE WILL REIGN!

(07-27-2017 08:32 AM)flushtheherd Wrote:  

(07-26-2017 10:20 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Fulfilling that 10 year deal would be insane. No one in their right mind believed he'd be here that long. (I was hoping/thinking he'd stick around 1 more year but knew obviously if we went 13-1 or even just only won the MAC, there'd be a high chance he'd be gone.) But yes, for sure, that would be an accomplishment fans would want: A true East Coast Boise St. As you said, not sure if that's really an accomplishment an individual like a young head coach would see as an accomplishment.

I'd definitely be happy if we sustained the success Northern Illinois had following their BCS Bowl. I think this past season was the first time since they haven't played in the MAC Championship / won the West. Obviously while they never sustained the extreme high we and NIU did, even Central was able to hold a level of success with Jones and Kelly. Not unreasonable to think we can't sustain that. I'm just afraid we'll experience a sudden and total drop to failure like Bowling Green St did.

Now that the dust has settled and everyone is over being pi$$ed at how he left you have to look at the transaction from his perspective a little closer... He was at his PEAK after last years MAC championship and invite to the Cotton Bowl. WMU was as high as #14 I believe in the AP. He has one of the best if not THE best wide receiver in the game and a signal caller that ran an offense predicated on time of possession and ball control.

Looking past the end of the year... the graduation fallout... the outlook into the following season you have to admit that PJ probably felt like the iron was at its hottest. His opportunities would diminish if the following season didn't add up to the current season. Losing your entire wide receiver corps... your veteran QB (WITH NO REAL EXPERIENCED BACKUP) and one of your top OL players... not to mention a host of positional players. He likely knew the writing on the wall with his phenom freshman Kicker and he likely ALSO knew that the work he put in on the current class would transfer to Minnesota... Seems like an easy decision to me.

Business of it alone, it would have been stupid for him (if he already planned on moving onwards and upwards within a few years) to stick around past last season. With his camera attention loving new wife by his side, I am sure that he had full support at home for whatever he wanted to do... if that was to move to a bigger city with brighter lights and more attention from the national stage.

I love the position PJ put our program in going into this season. I love the decision of KB to bring back Lester to pick up the torch and I love the coaches Lester has surrounded himself with. Recruiting dipped a touch this year due to circumstances with the previous regime raiding our coffers, but Lester has brought our recruiting back into previous expectations going forward into 2018 and beyond. PJ was a flash that burned bright while he was here... he ignited a fan base starving for something to root for at Waldo... He made Bronco Football the thing to do in Kalamazoo. He's now gone... and at this point I wish him the very best.

Now #LETSRIDE! GO BRONCOS! WE WILL REIGN!

Boom! Perfectly said.

Quote:Fulfilling that 10 year deal would be insane. No one in their right mind believed he'd be here that long.

Nobody would believe he'd be offered a 10 year deal worth millions a year -- that's Pretty Insane, is it not? But, thanks to Minnesotas' players shenanigans, Minnesota crashed our party. But you're right -- to expect the Full 10 years, no. However, IMO, because it'd be a 10 year deal, getting 6-7 years out of it wouldn't be insane at all. Especially since he's a young coach and he was having tons of success, IF establishing us as the Boise of the Midwest (a consistent G5 Power), he could end up jumping into a P5 power that lapsed or something, and not have to revamp a Minnesota-like team (so it wouldn't be completely "holding him back" if doing all that here; still some advancement).

Quote:the outlook into the following season you have to admit that PJ probably felt like the iron was at its hottest.

Very true. But my point is that Minnesota had an opening more last minute, In January -- due to the player shenanigans giving Minnesota a more understandable reason to rid their coach despite a 9-4 season with a bowl win -- which would compete with a 10yr contract. Fleck's young. He wouldn't mind staying and dominating in the MAC when no good offers came up, and it takes a lot to impress him (pats himself on back).

But as you point out -- the iron was at its hottest in terms of when to leave after just 3-4 years for any coach impressing folks at a G5 -- but also, that Lucky Minnesota offer last-minute... they're 9-4! Not 4-9! That's what Really made it hot, plus Minn looking to invest in their program. A all-around combo-factor of "hotness". Yes, he should have gone, obviously.

All my point was -- if not for the Minnesota offer, he would have stayed for that 10yr deal, and it being so long of one, he'd stay several extra years than normal. A chance to Establish ourselves as a G5 Power. And IF so, his resume would be hotter than in January of this year. But it's by no means a given that he would make us an Established G5 Power to do so, but it'd certainly be expected & possible.

I'm Not whining, I'm just pointing out what we would have Expected IF he stayed -- and what we should expect now with Lester. IF Lester, say, this year has us do well re-loading, and then the next year get to a BCS bowl -- then I'd say the expectations would be the same as Fleck would be, if the Minn debacle didn't happen and Fleck stayed for a 10yr contract (ie 6+ years).

(07-27-2017 11:51 AM)toddjnsn Wrote:  ......

For sure. On paper it's much easier to build a 9-4 Minnesota team into a playoff* team then it is, say, a 5-7 Minnesota team. Maybe a year or so of 9-4 and then into the playoff* in 2019, and BOOM - suddenly a Notre Dame or Florida or Georgia or Oregon come knocking with HUGE $$$$$.

Also, I too, watched as other coaches were hired away: Houston's, Western Kentucky's (to name a couple) and the days went by, and that Dave Doreen didn't even coach in NIU's Orange Bowl, and then Fleck coached in the Cotton Bowl, and I thought it was a done deal: he'd be back. He truly did love Kalamazoo and WMU.

Then Minnesota announced they had fired their coach, and I looked and I saw Minnesota's record, and I thought 'Fleck would've left earlier if he was leaving.'

Nope.

But yah, I truly think Lester was a great hire. The problem is, these MAC teams hire coordinators and crap who've been at the Power 5 their whole career. They come to the MAC and think it'll be a cakewalk, and then don't understand why they get beat every year by the top teams in the Conference. Lester, with his experience in the MAC, knows what it takes to win the MAC. That's one of the reasons I liked the Fleck hire from Day 1. Experience in the MAC. Obviously not everyone who has experience in the MAC would be a great hire (see Kent St's coach), but I'd rather gamble on that then hire someone like a Dan Enos or Jack Harbaugh.

Our Power 5-like O and D lines and our 3-headed monster of Bogan, Bellamy, and Franklin return. No one really scares me on our schedule outside of USC and Toledo. We are lucky we don't get Miami of Ohio and Ohio, the believed-East powers. The QB situation concerns me, but that happens every couple years to every team. 9-3 isn't unreasonable at all.



* It's not really a playoff

Quote:For sure. On paper it's much easier to build a 9-4 Minnesota team into a playoff* team then it is, say, a 5-7 Minnesota team.

That's my Point. That is what made it happen. Minnesota's controversies allowed him to go there despite our Yuge offer -- and yes, he should have. ONLY because of that. NO WAY would a B1G on their way up hire him, as no Good Offers came his way (bites yes, but, more like nibbles). BUT, it was more Minnesota's controversy having to let their HC go, not ours that reeled him in.

Quote:Maybe a year or so of 9-4 and then into the playoff* in 2019, and BOOM - suddenly a Notre Dame or Florida or Georgia or Oregon come knocking with HUGE $$$$$.

Whoah, tho. See, chances of that is a Stretch. In a year or so? No. BUT, hitting the ground running to be a B1G "East" power? Yeah. You're working with what you got, so if you don't get totally over the hump, you want to err on the side of being at a B1G than MAC. Yes. Something to put on the wall, etc. Good reasons for that, all things even being close to equal. But no, I wouldn't say that he has a bigger chance of making the Playoffs around the corner than us going to a(nother) BCS Bowl around the corner and establishing ourselves as a Boise. Both would get into ND. Again, it's about where you err on the side of. If in the end, you stumble a bit from "stardom" -- Hey, I coached a B1G. You still have chips on the table.

But I'll say this -- he wouldn't do it for Indiana or Syracuse. As you point out, it's Minn @9-4. When you have the baton to take at a high-note --- you take it. And that he understandably did.

Quote:Dave Doreen didn't even coach in NIU's Orange Bowl

Thing is, we offered a better offer, as far as "job security + money" is concerned. Dave Doreen, if he had what WE offered Fleck VS NC State -- he'd still be coaching NIU right now. :) $3m a year for 10 years is what we did for Fleck. He couldn't get close to that at NC State!

Quote:I thought it was a done deal: he'd be back.

Because everyone was pretty much hired/fired. BUT, it was Minnesota's controversey + Huge $$ (for Minn & being B1G + $$ to spend in general on the program) -- with a 9-4 record -- that got him going. He didn't run to a 6-6 B1G for $2m a year for 4 years. That'd be STUPID, with our offer and OUR trend going. And he didn't. He WOULD be back -- but, as I said, the Minn thing, understandably, crashed our party.

Quote:No one really scares me on our schedule outside of USC and Toledo.

I'd add @MSU. Yeah, there's last year. But they could have beat OSU and went for 2 instead of tie. Anyway, they were a mess, and despite that, better than record indicated (and more beatable than one would have assumed if you weren't UM/OSU). They will be better, but how much? Dunno. They could fold, they could rise. In the early season, they are Not going to do what they did last time, mentally. So it will be a Lion's Den. We went to a Cotton Bowl -- while NIU had a better chance in a down season to make a bowl last year by qualifications. Oh, they're p!ssed.

@USC, @Toledo, @MSU, @EMU -- our toughest ones. Combine @EMU with CMU and Idaho -- combined within, to not get a loss, it's on the level of @Toledo or @MSU, in and of itself, easy.

9-3 isn't super-crazy, no. If we had our whole coaching staff there, or Lester was, say, our OC last year -- and our QB coming in played backup some, etc -- yeah, Less worried, that's for sure. But it's a Transition + Tougher Schedule. 8-4 if we're good, without bad luck... 9-3 if so, with positive luck. 7-5 if we're not good, or good with bad luck.

When coaches have other opportunities they assess everything, including the offers they have, the situation where they are, the prospects and talent they have on their current roster, and whether better opportunities might present themselves if they don't take the offer they have today. Fleck knew his QB was leaving, and so we're three NFL caliber players. He also had been testing the waters all season, and the season before, in terms of P5 coaching opportunities, and I think he was disappointed that few programs seemed interested in him. My suspicion is that he got nervous he wouldn't have P5 offers from schools beyond the real third tier schools after the 2017-18 season, unless he had another incredible year at WMU. He looked at our schedule, and saw USC and MSU to start, and knew the MAC games were going to be tough too with a new QB, all new receivers, and having to replace one of the best offensive linemen in the schools history.

If things were different, and fleck had the same team coming back this year that he did last year, with a comparable schedule, he might have stayed. It would not surprise me if Fleck people reached out to Minnesota, thus prompting them to dump their coach, who had actually done a great job, but for the BS with the players at the end of the season.

I certainly enjoyed the last few seasons, and was ticked how it came to a close. But I am very excited to move forward. Lester wouldn't have been my first choice, but I really like the guy and he is very easy to support. I am confident, moreover, that KB knows a lot more than I do about who should be our coach.

Here is to a tremendous season for the Broncos (and a terrible season for the gophers)!!

Can we get this thread back on track. PJs "shave bet" is a clever disguise for his rapidly vanishing locks...until the rogain kicks in.