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(01-28-2022 12:02 AM)WMU2013 Wrote:  BS article. Lester won a bowl game. He DESERVED a two year extension.

Unreal.

Having all his players in position and finishing at the bottom of the MAC West? That doesn’t deserve squat in my opinion.

He won a cupcake contest against a gutted Nevada team in the bowl.

Not sure if an extension was worthy, but a hate piece seems a little much.

(01-28-2022 08:48 AM)flushtheherd Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 12:02 AM)WMU2013 Wrote:  BS article. Lester won a bowl game. He DESERVED a two year extension.

Unreal.

Having all his players in position and finishing at the bottom of the MAC West? That doesn’t deserve squat in my opinion.

He won a cupcake contest against a gutted Nevada team in the bowl.

But they finished strong and it’s a trophy (WMU doesn’t have many). The bowl win has brought excitement to campus and something to get energized about for next season. The hockey game had the bowl trophy on Saturday and people loved it. The place erupted for Sean Tyler. This is what this campus community needs at this time.

Let's be honest, the 8 wins and bowl win are fool's gold. Lester's only accomplishment was the win over Pitt, which was great.

You can't go 1-4 vs. the West, finish last in the division, lose to both EMU (3rd year in a row) and CMU and expect an extension. You just can't. That's ridiculous. This was Lester's 5th year with a veteran NFL-level QB, a senior heavy team, NFL talent at WR and DE...there's no excuse for getting blown out in every game that mattered this season. Remember we almost lost to Akron as well! The team that fired their HC.

Oh, wins over NIU and Nevada? Who cares? NIU sat their QB because the game was meaningless. Nevada was without their QB, top 5 receivers, top tackler, and their HC had already left for another job.

When you actually look at context, it was yet another disappointing season.

I'm kind of dreading what next year is going to be like without Eleby, Moore, Caliendo, Fayad, Holley, etc...

(01-28-2022 09:29 AM)Cocksman Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 08:48 AM)flushtheherd Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 12:02 AM)WMU2013 Wrote:  BS article. Lester won a bowl game. He DESERVED a two year extension.

Unreal.

Having all his players in position and finishing at the bottom of the MAC West? That doesn’t deserve squat in my opinion.

He won a cupcake contest against a gutted Nevada team in the bowl.

But they finished strong and it’s a trophy (WMU doesn’t have many). The bowl win has brought excitement to campus and something to get energized about for next season. The hockey game had the bowl trophy on Saturday and people loved it. The place erupted for Sean Tyler. This is what this campus community needs at this time.

Agreed.
Very cool to hear about that at the hockey game!

A bowl victory, 8 wins and three players pursuing pro status speaks well of Bronco football.

Yes, there were some disappointing losses, but that is what happens when expectations are high.

GO BRONCOS.

It was a weird season. Highs and lows.

The way I look at it, the team's ultimate goal every year should be a MAC championship. We didn't win the MAC, or the West. Finished last in the division. That is an abject failure.

Secondary goals include 7+ wins, bowl wins, P5 wins, sending players to the NFL, etc. And in those secondary goals, Lester did very well this season.

So it all depends how you look at it.

I personally think Lester just locks up in the games that matter. He can't adjust, it's like he's nervous he's going to lose.

Strange indeed. Almost unprecedented in the MAC.

1-4 MAC West, and maybe 0-5 if NIU hadn't already clinched. Most of those losses characterized by second half collapses.

7-1 against everyone else. Including the MAC's first win over a P5/BCS conference champion since 2003 (Marshall over Kansas State).

I've also wondered what Colin said... about how we just tighten up in 'really' important games, and play looser in the others. If so, it's a mental block that needs to be addressed in the off-season. The Herald articles' win-loss percentage comparing the first halves of MAC season to the second halves are also telling.

While the Herald column is mostly on target, a few quibbles: First, another 2016/Fleck year would be awesome, but let's be honest, the stars aligned and it was probably a once-in-our-lifetime event. It's great to aim that high, but we also need to be realistic when given fair assessments of current and future coaching staffs.

Secondly, there's too much poo-pooing the bowl win. Nevada's offense was hit, but their defense was largely intact, yet our short-handed offense hung 52 on them. And schools playing bowls without key players is now becoming the norm.

(01-28-2022 09:54 AM)ColinApocalypse Wrote:  It was a weird season. Highs and lows.

The way I look at it, the team's ultimate goal every year should be a MAC championship. We didn't win the MAC, or the West. Finished last in the division. That is an abject failure.

Secondary goals include 7+ wins, bowl wins, P5 wins, sending players to the NFL, etc. And in those secondary goals, Lester did very well this season.

So it all depends how you look at it.

I personally think Lester just locks up in the games that matter. He can't adjust, it's like he's nervous he's going to lose.

Agreed, but outside of Ohio State and Alabama...who wins their division, let alone conference championship, every single year? I would agree that they should be the goal, but not the metric by which a team is measured. Very few teams can stand up to that. The expectation is to win every game. You can't be a coach and not have that attitude. However, you also know that happens very infrequently.

There were 16 division champions in all of college football. There were 10 conference champions. There were 48 teams that had 8 wins and about 30 that had bowl victories. Now that you are one of the teams with 8 wins and one of the bowl winners, you continue working toward the 16 and 10.

I agree that context matters, but so does perspective. Lamenting the fact that we couldn't get it done with the level of talent that we had, including those who are moving on to the NFL, is only possible because Lester and Co. brought in and developed the talent to that level. The last place in the division is the exception to the rule in Lester's time here.

I will agree from the outside looking in, it appears that Lester is prone to "play afraid to lose", but that is from the outside looking in and I have no real frame of reference for game planning and match-up discussions that go on behind the scenes.

Anecdotally, I will say that I felt better about in-game decisions this year than in years past (outside of whatever the Hell kicking to Plimpton over and over again was). For the majority of our "failures" this season, it was players execution of plays and not coaches calling of them. We all know that everything falls back to the HC...the buck stops there, but I saw growth in phases we've struggled in the past. Will it all get put together next season? Only time will tell.

Over the last 60 years our program is winning about half our games. (.521 winning percentage). Lester's career wining percentage is sitting at .561. He hasn't had a losing season since he got here, he has a winning record against CMU and just beat the ACC Champ and won the second bowl game in program history. Until he bottoms out like Molde in 96, Darnell in 04, or Cubit in 12 I don't see how we justify our aspirations. This extension is fine by me. We should have had a professional hiring process in 2017, but we are back where we've always been now.

(01-28-2022 11:57 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  Over the last 60 years our program is winning about half our games. (.521 winning percentage). Lester's career wining percentage is sitting at .561. He hasn't had a losing season since he got here, he has a winning record against CMU and just beat the ACC Champ and won the second bowl game in program history. Until he bottoms out like Molde in 96, Darnell in 04, or Cubit in 12 I don't see how we justify our aspirations. This extension is fine by me. We should have had a professional hiring process in 2017, but we are back where we've always been now.

They interviewed multiple P5 assistants, including two from the Big Ten and at least one head coach. Don’t comment on the hiring process that you know nothing about.

(01-28-2022 06:01 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 11:57 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  Over the last 60 years our program is winning about half our games. (.521 winning percentage). Lester's career wining percentage is sitting at .561. He hasn't had a losing season since he got here, he has a winning record against CMU and just beat the ACC Champ and won the second bowl game in program history. Until he bottoms out like Molde in 96, Darnell in 04, or Cubit in 12 I don't see how we justify our aspirations. This extension is fine by me. We should have had a professional hiring process in 2017, but we are back where we've always been now.

They interviewed multiple P5 assistants, including two from the Big Ten and at least one head coach. Don’t comment on the hiring process that you know nothing about.

Yeah very professionally done. Tyrone Wheatley and a guy who just helped Purdue to a 2-10 season who nobody else would’ve hired. I guess compared to the basketball search it looks like an nfl process.

The 2017 coaching search was a joke and we are still paying for it.

(01-30-2022 10:07 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 06:01 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 11:57 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  Over the last 60 years our program is winning about half our games. (.521 winning percentage). Lester's career wining percentage is sitting at .561. He hasn't had a losing season since he got here, he has a winning record against CMU and just beat the ACC Champ and won the second bowl game in program history. Until he bottoms out like Molde in 96, Darnell in 04, or Cubit in 12 I don't see how we justify our aspirations. This extension is fine by me. We should have had a professional hiring process in 2017, but we are back where we've always been now.

They interviewed multiple P5 assistants, including two from the Big Ten and at least one head coach. Don’t comment on the hiring process that you know nothing about.

Yeah very professionally done. Tyrone Wheatley and a guy who just helped Purdue to a 2-10 season who nobody else would’ve hired. I guess compared to the basketball search it looks like an nfl process.

The 2017 coaching search was a joke and we are still paying for it.

Since you seem to know everything... tell me how their interview in 2017 went with Matt McPherson. Tell us all how KB's conversations went with Cristobal and Les Miles who both thought we were paying $3m for the job. Tell us how Lester's interview went. You don't know ****

(01-30-2022 01:09 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  

(01-30-2022 10:07 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 06:01 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 11:57 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  Over the last 60 years our program is winning about half our games. (.521 winning percentage). Lester's career wining percentage is sitting at .561. He hasn't had a losing season since he got here, he has a winning record against CMU and just beat the ACC Champ and won the second bowl game in program history. Until he bottoms out like Molde in 96, Darnell in 04, or Cubit in 12 I don't see how we justify our aspirations. This extension is fine by me. We should have had a professional hiring process in 2017, but we are back where we've always been now.

They interviewed multiple P5 assistants, including two from the Big Ten and at least one head coach. Don’t comment on the hiring process that you know nothing about.

Yeah very professionally done. Tyrone Wheatley and a guy who just helped Purdue to a 2-10 season who nobody else would’ve hired. I guess compared to the basketball search it looks like an nfl process.

The 2017 coaching search was a joke and we are still paying for it.

Since you seem to know everything... tell me how their interview in 2017 went with Matt McPherson. Tell us all how KB's conversations went with Cristobal and Les Miles who both thought we were paying $3m for the job. Tell us how Lester's interview went. You don't know ****

I know we hired someone who wasn't qualified to be a HC and wouldn't have gotten a look from anyone else and now we're pretty much stuck back in a loop of mediocrity. I know that there's a massive space between a Mario Cristobal and a Tim Lester filled with other potential candidates, but our athletic director opted for the comfortable hire because coaching searches are hard work.

Never claimed to be an insider, I'd be embarrassed if I was that close to what's been happening here under KB post Fleck. I wouldn't be bragging about being an insider.

Lester's new contract continues his recent $200,000 pay cut. He is getting $600,000/year. Buyout is only $500,000 and decreases each year.

We officially have an offensive coordinator. Comes from a D3 school but was very successful there.

Also, TL was gonna join Narduzzi's staff at Pitt. This nonsense he would've been out of a job had we not hired him needs to stop.

(01-31-2022 07:24 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  

(01-30-2022 01:09 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  

(01-30-2022 10:07 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 06:01 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 11:57 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  Over the last 60 years our program is winning about half our games. (.521 winning percentage). Lester's career wining percentage is sitting at .561. He hasn't had a losing season since he got here, he has a winning record against CMU and just beat the ACC Champ and won the second bowl game in program history. Until he bottoms out like Molde in 96, Darnell in 04, or Cubit in 12 I don't see how we justify our aspirations. This extension is fine by me. We should have had a professional hiring process in 2017, but we are back where we've always been now.

They interviewed multiple P5 assistants, including two from the Big Ten and at least one head coach. Don’t comment on the hiring process that you know nothing about.

Yeah very professionally done. Tyrone Wheatley and a guy who just helped Purdue to a 2-10 season who nobody else would’ve hired. I guess compared to the basketball search it looks like an nfl process.

The 2017 coaching search was a joke and we are still paying for it.

Since you seem to know everything... tell me how their interview in 2017 went with Matt McPherson. Tell us all how KB's conversations went with Cristobal and Les Miles who both thought we were paying $3m for the job. Tell us how Lester's interview went. You don't know ****

I know we hired someone who wasn't qualified to be a HC and wouldn't have gotten a look from anyone else and now we're pretty much stuck back in a loop of mediocrity. I know that there's a massive space between a Mario Cristobal and a Tim Lester filled with other potential candidates, but our athletic director opted for the comfortable hire because coaching searches are hard work.

Never claimed to be an insider, I'd be embarrassed if I was that close to what's been happening here under KB post Fleck. I wouldn't be bragging about being an insider.

Look, obviously you can disagree with the hire, but saying they didn’t want to do hard work is a lowblow. Lester was the star hero QB here who wanted to lead us to Detroit and that was the obvious basis of the decision.

People who fantasize about Philly J need to remember he didn’t manifest himself in the job, the athletic leadership took a big bet on him and it paid off. There was nothing easy about it. I bet said leadership staff works a heck of a lot harder than all of us cranks here, and I know the coaches do (pointlessly killing themselves in my mind, but whatever).

(01-31-2022 12:37 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  We officially have an offensive coordinator. Comes from a D3 school but was very successful there.

Also, TL was gonna join Narduzzi's staff at Pitt. This nonsense he would've been out of a job had we not hired him needs to stop.

Pretty certain everyone saying "nobody else would hire him" means they would not hire him as a head coach, not that he would literally have been out of work.

(01-31-2022 07:24 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  

(01-30-2022 01:09 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  

(01-30-2022 10:07 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 06:01 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 11:57 AM)Liam9903 Wrote:  Over the last 60 years our program is winning about half our games. (.521 winning percentage). Lester's career wining percentage is sitting at .561. He hasn't had a losing season since he got here, he has a winning record against CMU and just beat the ACC Champ and won the second bowl game in program history. Until he bottoms out like Molde in 96, Darnell in 04, or Cubit in 12 I don't see how we justify our aspirations. This extension is fine by me. We should have had a professional hiring process in 2017, but we are back where we've always been now.

They interviewed multiple P5 assistants, including two from the Big Ten and at least one head coach. Don’t comment on the hiring process that you know nothing about.

Yeah very professionally done. Tyrone Wheatley and a guy who just helped Purdue to a 2-10 season who nobody else would’ve hired. I guess compared to the basketball search it looks like an nfl process.

The 2017 coaching search was a joke and we are still paying for it.

Since you seem to know everything... tell me how their interview in 2017 went with Matt McPherson. Tell us all how KB's conversations went with Cristobal and Les Miles who both thought we were paying $3m for the job. Tell us how Lester's interview went. You don't know ****

I know we hired someone who wasn't qualified to be a HC and wouldn't have gotten a look from anyone else and now we're pretty much stuck back in a loop of mediocrity. I know that there's a massive space between a Mario Cristobal and a Tim Lester filled with other potential candidates, but our athletic director opted for the comfortable hire because coaching searches are hard work.

Never claimed to be an insider, I'd be embarrassed if I was that close to what's been happening here under KB post Fleck. I wouldn't be bragging about being an insider.

No reason to be embarrassed when you know they put in the work, interviewed multiple candidates and felt like Tim was ready for his shot. The cheapest form of argument is criticizing imperfect real-time decisions with your own "pie-in-the-sky" hindsight decision making.

OT but Harbaugh to the Vikings?

PJ to Ann Arbor?