Sick of hearing that it's the fans fault for losing because they are not showing, leaving the games early, etc. Is that a bit of that a bummer, sure, it's not ideal. But that's not why coaching staffs can't get more out of their players. They are paid to specifically do that, not sit around saying woe is me. That was what Hawk and Embo did and it was downright pathetic. I have not heard any of that from HCMM, which just shows what a decent man he is, but now we hear it from CU fans for him.
When I look at coaches, I look at if they meet the primary coaching criteria for the OG Mac (who was not a great gameday coach):
"All coaching is, is taking a player where he can't take himself."
This staff has failed to do this time and time again.
Players want to play for winners. Yes, the environment helps, but for all their blind fan-support, NU, Tenn, etc. are still bad programs and have been since getting rid of their last good coaches. Their crazy fan support has not made them winners . . . just feeds more money into the university, which would be wonderful, but does not ensure winning. Coaching does . . . see Bama before Saban, OU before Stoops, Florida before Myer (of course after the Ole Ball Coach many years before), see $C before Carroll, UT before Mac Brown, Stanford before Harbaugh and Shaw, UM between Carr and Harbaugh, etc., etc. Except for Stanford, each one of those schools has crazy support with tons of $$$$ coming in. Until they got a great coach they were not very good and when good coaches left they were not very good for a while.
CU will NEVER have the same crazed support as the SEC, B1G, BIG 12, etc. CU moving to the Pac 12 was perfect for our fan base and comparative fan bases. Pac 12 fans are more fickle and have other things going on than just football. Pac 12 fans typically only show up if there is a product worth supporting. Hell, Stanford has no problem winning year in and year out with possibly the WORST fan support in P5 football. Besides Oregon (and maybe Utah, I just don't know), all of the other P12 fan bases only show if there is something good to see. It is what it is and that's the reality we need to work within. IF that will be our excuse forever, then why bother?
Good coaches change programs, not fans! Now, I would agree it is difficult to keep a good coach without support. If HCMM came in and actually did his job, he would be getting legit offers from top schools with lots of $$$$ to leave (not Vandy with an emotional connection). At that point, you have to show the coach the $$$$ and the promise. But, in the last 5 years the AD has invested a TON in the FB program and we are on the level of elite programs when it comes to facilities, academic support, school and life experience, etc. When we lose a great coach because of that I will agree that the "fans" may have cost us. As of now, the coaching inability has cost us.
When I look at coaches, I look at if they meet the primary coaching criteria for the OG Mac (who was not a great gameday coach):
"All coaching is, is taking a player where he can't take himself."
This staff has failed to do this time and time again.
Players want to play for winners. Yes, the environment helps, but for all their blind fan-support, NU, Tenn, etc. are still bad programs and have been since getting rid of their last good coaches. Their crazy fan support has not made them winners . . . just feeds more money into the university, which would be wonderful, but does not ensure winning. Coaching does . . . see Bama before Saban, OU before Stoops, Florida before Myer (of course after the Ole Ball Coach many years before), see $C before Carroll, UT before Mac Brown, Stanford before Harbaugh and Shaw, UM between Carr and Harbaugh, etc., etc. Except for Stanford, each one of those schools has crazy support with tons of $$$$ coming in. Until they got a great coach they were not very good and when good coaches left they were not very good for a while.
CU will NEVER have the same crazed support as the SEC, B1G, BIG 12, etc. CU moving to the Pac 12 was perfect for our fan base and comparative fan bases. Pac 12 fans are more fickle and have other things going on than just football. Pac 12 fans typically only show up if there is a product worth supporting. Hell, Stanford has no problem winning year in and year out with possibly the WORST fan support in P5 football. Besides Oregon (and maybe Utah, I just don't know), all of the other P12 fan bases only show if there is something good to see. It is what it is and that's the reality we need to work within. IF that will be our excuse forever, then why bother?
Good coaches change programs, not fans! Now, I would agree it is difficult to keep a good coach without support. If HCMM came in and actually did his job, he would be getting legit offers from top schools with lots of $$$$ to leave (not Vandy with an emotional connection). At that point, you have to show the coach the $$$$ and the promise. But, in the last 5 years the AD has invested a TON in the FB program and we are on the level of elite programs when it comes to facilities, academic support, school and life experience, etc. When we lose a great coach because of that I will agree that the "fans" may have cost us. As of now, the coaching inability has cost us.
