Worst Seat In The House: Winning matters
Last updated 1/31/2019 at 12:49pm
The annual what have you done for me lately portion of professional football has come and gone as numerous coaches have been fired and the latest and greatest offensive or defensive coordinator is being pursued and interviewed. Oh and some of the recently fired coaches are getting interviewed as well. Any person that has experience as a head man will be considered no matter how bad things were at his previous job.
Owners and general managers believe that their team is much different and that guy can turn things around. And maybe they can, as long as they have the right personnel in place good things can happen. These guys have experience and sometimes a change of scenery or locker rooms may be the thing that could bring a winning attitude and victories in bunches.
There are some coaches that can win for a year or two but can’t seem to win consistently and will be let go because they didn’t make the playoffs and the players are disgruntled. The coach may be upset for not getting another chance but they can always fall back on a big payout to get him through the next season off the field. Of course, many of those guys will be getting big paychecks from Fox, CBS, NBC or ESPN to be an analyst or color commentator.
In the NFL you never want to have a losing tradition. You want to be competitive and put people in the seats and sell jerseys to the fan base.
Colleges have also let a few football coaches go after the season as well. Recruiting is a tough business and for teams to be successful getting good talent and coaching and teaching them how to improve is not easy. I’ve said it before but there is a reason that some coaches ask for at least a five year contract for big bucks. We’ve seen these coaches turn programs around in three or four years impressing the big colleges for an even bigger payday but with a lot more pressure.
It’s exciting the day the new coach is signed on as well as the new recruits that will hopefully bring victories to the hungry alums. I’m not sure how many times that a coach has had success at one school only to hit a brick wall at the next one. It would be interesting to know if the coach wonders if he would have been better off staying with the previous team and coach until he becomes the athletic director and gets inducted into that school’s hall of fame.
It doesn’t always happen but when it does it is memorable. This past week the UCLA Bruins fired Head Coach Steve Alford after the team lost four games in a row the final one to Liberty which should not be considered a powerhouse team. But the Bruins lost by 15 at home to the Flames. No doubt that this year’s Bruin team is underachieving so someone has to take the blame and Alford is gone even though he had a lot of success in the Pac 12 and NCAA tournament.
Some losses are tolerable but not when you lose to the likes of Belmont and Liberty. Oh well, don’t feel sorry for him because he knew what he was signing up for.
Finally, it is with great sadness when I tell you that the Eastern Washington Eagles were beaten by North Dakota State in the FCS championship game in Frisco, Texas. It has been an unbelievable run in the tournament. The Eagles finish the season 12-3 and the runner up in NCAA FCS. There are not a lot of teams that could have endured losing an All-American QB and 7 or so defensive players.
I’m extremely proud of this team and the coaching staff that kept these guys believing that with hard work and passion and pride they could compete with anyone.
I know that the Eagles are extremely disappointed with finishing the season with a loss but they lost to a 15-0 defending champion. There will be a time when some team knocks off the Bison in the championship game. Why not EWU?
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