How is hiring one of the winningest coaches in CFB being an idiot?
You might be missing a little context there. Like the part where he completely tanked his reputation in the three years since he left CFB and is now the laughing stock of the entire football community. The stories of his brief nine months in Jacksonville are already the stuff of legends, and it would be near impossible for him to walk into a living room and command any respect, even from dipshit teenagers.
The Texas assistant who is dating the stripper with the monkey is taken more seriously than Urban. The guy has fucking cemented himself as a lifetime clown. His only move now is to go into politics.
He's hardly the first college coach to flame out at the NFL level and won't be the last. If you think the off-field stuff is a deal breaker you haven't been watching college football for the last decade. Someone would take a flyer on him, they'd have some press conference where he talks about turning over a new leaf, and he would still be better than 98 81% of the coaches at this level.
I agree that Urbs has lost some luster. But he is still likely better than most. And, he had the marginal support to lose and still be one of the best out there. He will coach and win again if he wants to do so.
A lot of moral signaling going on here. Dude would bring instant credibility to our shit program. Dude is a POS, but he is winner. The winning part is more important.
I'm not surprised that you're having trouble following the argument. I don't see anybody here arguing against Urban because he's a dickhead with less moral fiber than Art Briles. Frankly, I don't think anyone here at HH gives two shits about that.
The problem is that Urban lost the respect of every single player (and most of his coaches, maybe all?) in his locker room in a matter of months. Feel free to peruse any of the trove of Urban articles that outline all of his dumbfuckery from consistently botched gameplans, cringe-worthy speeches to the team, and an almost dementia-riddled misunderstanding of who was on his team and what was happening around him.
Maybe I'm missing a big story, but I don't recall any of the other CFB legends who were NFL failures flaming out in such an epic and publicly embarrassing way. And that leads me to believe that he's not going to be able to command respect from any assistant coaches or recruits going forward, and that he won't be able to win at the college level because of that. Maybe I'm wrong and he is able to assemble a winning program. Who gives a fuck. But it has nothing to do with virtue signaling or whatever other bullshit you have it confused with.
A lot of moral signaling going on here. Dude would bring instant credibility to our shit program. Dude is a POS, but he is winner. The winning part is more important.
I'm not surprised that you're having trouble following the argument. I don't see anybody here arguing against Urban because he's a dickhead with less moral fiber than Art Briles. Frankly, I don't think anyone here at HH gives two shits about that.
The problem is that Urban lost the respect of every single player (and most of his coaches, maybe all?) in his locker room in a matter of months. Feel free to peruse any of the trove of Urban articles that outline all of his dumbfuckery from consistently botched gameplans, cringe-worthy speeches to the team, and an almost dementia-riddled misunderstanding of who was on his team and what was happening around him.
Maybe I'm missing a big story, but I don't recall any of the other CFB legends who were NFL failures flaming out in such an epic and publicly embarrassing way. And that leads me to believe that he's not going to be able to command respect from any assistant coaches or recruits going forward, and that he won't be able to win at the college level because of that. Maybe I'm wrong and he is able to assemble a winning program. Who gives a fuck. But it has nothing to do with virtue signaling or whatever other bullshit you have it confused with.
Who gives a fuck about respect as long as you are winning? Winning only thing that matters in sports.
Husky fans have thought every duck coach since Bellotti was a scumbag
Except Helfrich
Good dude. Classy coach
That's spot on. Somehow people like Jimmy now that he's grey, fishing and talking on TV. But the under 40s around here have no idea how vehemently that guy was despised.
A lot of moral signaling going on here. Dude would bring instant credibility to our shit program. Dude is a POS, but he is winner. The winning part is more important.
I'm not surprised that you're having trouble following the argument. I don't see anybody here arguing against Urban because he's a dickhead with less moral fiber than Art Briles. Frankly, I don't think anyone here at HH gives two shits about that.
The problem is that Urban lost the respect of every single player (and most of his coaches, maybe all?) in his locker room in a matter of months. Feel free to peruse any of the trove of Urban articles that outline all of his dumbfuckery from consistently botched gameplans, cringe-worthy speeches to the team, and an almost dementia-riddled misunderstanding of who was on his team and what was happening around him.
Maybe I'm missing a big story, but I don't recall any of the other CFB legends who were NFL failures flaming out in such an epic and publicly embarrassing way. And that leads me to believe that he's not going to be able to command respect from any assistant coaches or recruits going forward, and that he won't be able to win at the college level because of that. Maybe I'm wrong and he is able to assemble a winning program. Who gives a fuck. But it has nothing to do with virtue signaling or whatever other bullshit you have it confused with.
I admit I haven't followed Urbs at Jack at all. Like, at. all. I had to look up his record on the Google just to participate here and saw the 2-11. That said, Saban was thought to be a major cocksucker with the Dolphins and he lost the team there. It's very easy to do with a roster full of wealthy people.
Whatever off-field shenanigans Urbs was into, no, that wouldn't apply to Saban or Superior ... both of those guys are known to keep their noses clean.
A lot of moral signaling going on here. Dude would bring instant credibility to our shit program. Dude is a POS, but he is winner. The winning part is more important.
I'm not surprised that you're having trouble following the argument. I don't see anybody here arguing against Urban because he's a dickhead with less moral fiber than Art Briles. Frankly, I don't think anyone here at HH gives two shits about that.
The problem is that Urban lost the respect of every single player (and most of his coaches, maybe all?) in his locker room in a matter of months. Feel free to peruse any of the trove of Urban articles that outline all of his dumbfuckery from consistently botched gameplans, cringe-worthy speeches to the team, and an almost dementia-riddled misunderstanding of who was on his team and what was happening around him.
Maybe I'm missing a big story, but I don't recall any of the other CFB legends who were NFL failures flaming out in such an epic and publicly embarrassing way. And that leads me to believe that he's not going to be able to command respect from any assistant coaches or recruits going forward, and that he won't be able to win at the college level because of that. Maybe I'm wrong and he is able to assemble a winning program. Who gives a fuck. But it has nothing to do with virtue signaling or whatever other bullshit you have it confused with.
I admit I haven't followed Urbs at Jack at all. Like, at. all. I had to look up his record on the Google just to participate here and saw the 2-11. That said, Saban was thought to be a major cocksucker with the Dolphins and he lost the team there. It's very easy to do with a roster full of wealthy people.
Whatever off-field shenanigans Urbs was into, no, that wouldn't apply to Saban or Superior ... both of those guys are known to keep their noses clean.
Roster full of wealthy people?
Welcome to NIL … going to be true in college as well in short order
Urban was hated by the MAC when he was at Bowling Green
He's an extreme example but average losers hate above average winners
The Pac hated Don James
UW and some idiot fans think UW needs a coach that everyone likes because he does it the right way
So we keep hiring losers
So, Winning with bad man > losing with good man? Pole the shareholders.
You don't want to see how the sausage is made...every coach has decisions, actions, and interactions that while being uncomfortable at the time, and possibly regrettable down the line, are what's best for the program. As a college guy, he was running the show, so he had a lot of layers of cover, provided by people whose careers were hanging in the balance, to do whatever he wanted. He could fuck with whoever he wanted to with no repercussions, and no one to answer to. Alums and boosters are happy when you win, so all else is overlooked ( "He's a prick, but he's OUR prick"). When the heat turned to fire, he pulled the "I have headaches, and want to spend more tim with the fam" card, twice. He knew what was coming, and he bailed, twice.
One of the iron laws of coaching..."If you do something that reflects poorly on the program, you will no longer be a part of the program"...
In the NFL, he had someone to answer to...the guy with a big 'stashe, and a bigger checkbook.
As far as "hating" goes, I wanted to hate Chip at Oregon, but I grew to respect the hell out of what he created there, on a technical level. Same with Shaw. They created a mentality of, "this is who we are, this is what we do, try to stop it". I could do without the smirking and smugness, but it is where we are. As long as they had players, it worked.
You have got to manage people...college kids (and ADs) have no leverage (IF you are winning) so everyone toes the line. Urbs is apparently about Urbs first, second, and third, and everyone else can fuck off...It can work in college, but not with adults (NFL), and an owner. They all have ego, Urbs couldn't control his.
There is no question he has had great success on the field, but I wouldn't work for him, and wouldn't want my son to play for him. I'm not looking for a Boy Scout troop leader ($75K), but first and foremost you've got to lead, and people won't follow someone they don't trust, when they know better / have a choice. He's been exposed, spectacularly... tl/dr/my two cents...
A lot of moral signaling going on here. Dude would bring instant credibility to our shit program. Dude is a POS, but he is winner. The winning part is more important.
I'm not surprised that you're having trouble following the argument. I don't see anybody here arguing against Urban because he's a dickhead with less moral fiber than Art Briles. Frankly, I don't think anyone here at HH gives two shits about that.
The problem is that Urban lost the respect of every single player (and most of his coaches, maybe all?) in his locker room in a matter of months. Feel free to peruse any of the trove of Urban articles that outline all of his dumbfuckery from consistently botched gameplans, cringe-worthy speeches to the team, and an almost dementia-riddled misunderstanding of who was on his team and what was happening around him.
Maybe I'm missing a big story, but I don't recall any of the other CFB legends who were NFL failures flaming out in such an epic and publicly embarrassing way. And that leads me to believe that he's not going to be able to command respect from any assistant coaches or recruits going forward, and that he won't be able to win at the college level because of that. Maybe I'm wrong and he is able to assemble a winning program. Who gives a fuck. But it has nothing to do with virtue signaling or whatever other bullshit you have it confused with.
Who gives a fuck about respect as long as you are winning? Winning only thing that matters in sports.
Christ you're dense. I'm predicting that the lack of respect is what will prohibit him from winning. This isn't hard.
A lot of moral signaling going on here. Dude would bring instant credibility to our shit program. Dude is a POS, but he is winner. The winning part is more important.
I'm not surprised that you're having trouble following the argument. I don't see anybody here arguing against Urban because he's a dickhead with less moral fiber than Art Briles. Frankly, I don't think anyone here at HH gives two shits about that.
The problem is that Urban lost the respect of every single player (and most of his coaches, maybe all?) in his locker room in a matter of months. Feel free to peruse any of the trove of Urban articles that outline all of his dumbfuckery from consistently botched gameplans, cringe-worthy speeches to the team, and an almost dementia-riddled misunderstanding of who was on his team and what was happening around him.
Maybe I'm missing a big story, but I don't recall any of the other CFB legends who were NFL failures flaming out in such an epic and publicly embarrassing way. And that leads me to believe that he's not going to be able to command respect from any assistant coaches or recruits going forward, and that he won't be able to win at the college level because of that. Maybe I'm wrong and he is able to assemble a winning program. Who gives a fuck. But it has nothing to do with virtue signaling or whatever other bullshit you have it confused with.
Who gives a fuck about respect as long as you are winning? Winning only thing that matters in sports.
Christ you're dense. I'm predicting that the lack of respect is what will prohibit him from winning. This isn't hard.
A lot of moral signaling going on here. Dude would bring instant credibility to our shit program. Dude is a POS, but he is winner. The winning part is more important.
I'm not surprised that you're having trouble following the argument. I don't see anybody here arguing against Urban because he's a dickhead with less moral fiber than Art Briles. Frankly, I don't think anyone here at HH gives two shits about that.
The problem is that Urban lost the respect of every single player (and most of his coaches, maybe all?) in his locker room in a matter of months. Feel free to peruse any of the trove of Urban articles that outline all of his dumbfuckery from consistently botched gameplans, cringe-worthy speeches to the team, and an almost dementia-riddled misunderstanding of who was on his team and what was happening around him.
Maybe I'm missing a big story, but I don't recall any of the other CFB legends who were NFL failures flaming out in such an epic and publicly embarrassing way. And that leads me to believe that he's not going to be able to command respect from any assistant coaches or recruits going forward, and that he won't be able to win at the college level because of that. Maybe I'm wrong and he is able to assemble a winning program. Who gives a fuck. But it has nothing to do with virtue signaling or whatever other bullshit you have it confused with.
Who gives a fuck about respect as long as you are winning? Winning only thing that matters in sports.
Christ you're dense. I'm predicting that the lack of respect is what will prohibit him from winning. This isn't hard.
A lot of moral signaling going on here. Dude would bring instant credibility to our shit program. Dude is a POS, but he is winner. The winning part is more important.
I'm not surprised that you're having trouble following the argument. I don't see anybody here arguing against Urban because he's a dickhead with less moral fiber than Art Briles. Frankly, I don't think anyone here at HH gives two shits about that.
The problem is that Urban lost the respect of every single player (and most of his coaches, maybe all?) in his locker room in a matter of months. Feel free to peruse any of the trove of Urban articles that outline all of his dumbfuckery from consistently botched gameplans, cringe-worthy speeches to the team, and an almost dementia-riddled misunderstanding of who was on his team and what was happening around him.
Maybe I'm missing a big story, but I don't recall any of the other CFB legends who were NFL failures flaming out in such an epic and publicly embarrassing way. And that leads me to believe that he's not going to be able to command respect from any assistant coaches or recruits going forward, and that he won't be able to win at the college level because of that. Maybe I'm wrong and he is able to assemble a winning program. Who gives a fuck. But it has nothing to do with virtue signaling or whatever other bullshit you have it confused with.
Who gives a fuck about respect as long as you are winning? Winning only thing that matters in sports.
Christ you're dense. I'm predicting that the lack of respect is what will prohibit him from winning. This isn't hard.
Urban was hated by the MAC when he was at Bowling Green
He's an extreme example but average losers hate above average winners
The Pac hated Don James
UW and some idiot fans think UW needs a coach that everyone likes because he does it the right way
So we keep hiring losers
So, Winning with bad man > losing with good man? Pole the shareholders.
Already done
Tequilla loved Emmett and Turner and Ty
Case closed
Who’s the idiot again?
You want to take the gloves off Race? You want to get down in a pissing match? Let's do it. Let's roll.
I'm getting completely fed up with your hate, negativity, and throwing people under the bus.
Quite frankly Race, I'm very, VERY happy that I don't know you. I'm quite happy that I don't lead what appears to be such a pathetic life that is faced with looking for the negativity in every situation. You need to go find something to smile at. Last I checked, it's summertime. The weather in Seattle seems to be pretty damn good right now - why don't you go check that out.
You are pretty damn wrong about things. You may think that the amount of time that you keep spewing your views that that you've now heard it enough times that you are right. Doesn't make you right.
You talk about 12-47 like that happened out of the blue sky. I've never seen you once suggest that the process of the downfall of this program began well before Emmert arrived.
You want facts? You want truth? Here's your truth.
Emmert came to the UW prior to the GLORIOUS 1-10 season under Gilby. The year before that (2003) Gilby managed to do enough to get us to 6-6, but that included the debacle at Cal where we gave up 700 yards (or thereabouts). It was an indifferent team that pretty much was at best mediocre. We lost 5 of our last 8, including the blowout to Cal, the blowout to UCLA, and a home loss to NEVADA. Yep, the program was heading in the right direction.
The 2002 season under Slick was another sterling season example that is most remembered for the "Northwest Championship." That was great. But it hid the fact that going into the "Northwest Championship" we were a 4-5 football team that was pretty much a joke at 1-4 in the conference. In both 2002 and 2003, we finished the season with a 4-4 conference record.
These weren't good football teams. The trend was heading downhill.
Emmert comes on board and immediately gets sadled with the Gilby 1-10 debacle.
Prior to Emmert coming on board, Babs jumps ship after a decade of mis-management, including allowing the stadium to begin the erosion process.
Throughout 2003, we're faced with Slick leaving and the subsequent lawsuit(s), Dr. Feelgood, and a whole mess with the softball program and Teresa Wilson.
Now keep in mind the following: ALL THIS HAPPENED BEFORE EMMERT WAS ANYWHERE NEAR BEING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON.
Things were not in great shape. I think just about everybody knew that.
A search committee is formed to replace Babs. The BOR, upper campus, and the big donor supporters of the school are sick of the egg showing up on their face. They are sick of the country club that Babs ran and the loose way she ran the department - particularly in light of what went on with Slick. They wanted someone prim, proper, and who they could count on would not sully the University name. ENTER TODD TURNER.
Now, this pretty much gets you up to the point where Emmert was hired. Did he have to sign off on the hiring of Turner? Most likely. But whatever.
At this point, Emmert isn't responsible for the on-field performance of the football program. There is a coach in place. It's not Emmert's job to oversee the football program or any other program in the athletic department. That job belongs to Todd Turner. It's Emmert's job to monitor the job performance of Todd Turner.
So 1-10 happens. Gilby is canned by Turner (rightfully so). Yes, the program went 1-10. But the actions of those charged with overseeing the program were correct. Turner fired the coach for poor performance. If I'm in Emmert's shoes, I can't complain.
Coaching search takes place and Turner has his heart set on Tyrone Willingham. It's Turner's hire. It's not Emmert's hire. Surely Emmert had to sign off on the hire. That's fine. You want to throw some blame on him for not having the foresight to negate the hire. That's fine. But the hire isn't Emmert's responsibility. It's Turner's responsibility. It's Emmert's responsibility to hold Turner accountable for the hire (which he did 3 years later when it was obvious that Tyrone wasn't the answer).
So Tyrone goes 2-9 the first year after a 1-10 year. Not great. Warning signs start going off, particularly with some poor performance to close games. But it's the first year of the regime and really hard to get too critical.
The next year the program goes 5-7 and has 2 significant events. The first significant event is the loss of the QB to injury. I think many could argue that without the loss of Isaiah that year, we go 6-6. The second event that was significant was the "suddenly senior" day and the unexplicable loss to Stanford with the most emotionless football team anybody had ever seen. Again, there's not enough there to fire Tyrone at that point. There are warning signs. There is ground to pretty much tell Tyrone that the following year is an action year where something needs to happen. He's on a short leash at this point in my opinion.
The following year we lose games in ways that are unexplainable. Blow a huge loss to Arizona - a game we should have never lost. The most ridiculous ending to an Apple Cup I've ever seen where a guy was open by 20 yards coming out of a timeout. Blowing a pair of 21 point leads to Hawai'i. It was pretty obvious at this point that things weren't working. Coaching change was in order. Perhaps an AD change was also in order. The coaching change was blocked and complicated. The AD's head fell - and rightfully so due to some other issues that he had and such a terrible hire of a head coach.
Prior to the decision to fire Tyrone after 2007, it's really hard to argue with ANYTHING that Emmert had done with respect to the football program.
I will say that bringing Tyrone back for 2008 was a disasterous mistake. It should have never happened. You want to throw 0-12 on Emmert - I'm all for it. I think if you caught Emmert in a reflective, truthful moment, he would tell you in hindsight that he should have made the move and that it wasn't worth the carnage of 0-12.
Throw Emmert under the bus for 2008. That's his responsibility. 2004-2007? Not so much. By all means, please, please tell me where he has responsibility for 2004 and 2007 other than the fact that he's the University President. Please tell me what specific actions that he did to undermine the program. You aren't going to find them - they aren't there.
Your criticism of Emmert is ridiculous. Your criticism of Woodward is just downright comical.
Where has Woodward screwed this program? He has only been responsible for this program in the summer of 2008 in a full-time role. Are you going to hold him to the fire for being the interim AD for the first half of 2008? How is he responsible for anything from 2004-2007 when he wasn't even involved with the Athletic Department? Talk about conspiracy theories. This may be one of the greatest conspiracy theories I've ever seen.
I don't like losing. I don't like what I've seen the last 5 years. It's made me sick to my stomach many times over. But unlike you, I can at least take a step back and realize that the genesis of this problem began well before Mark Emmert became President of the University of Washington.
If I spent my time being a "mindless Race Bannon minion," then I'd be convinced that the only logical explanation for our failures have been Mark Emmert and Scott Woodward.
Quite frankly, that opinion is one of the most idiotic insanely stupid opinions that I've ever seen in my life.
I don't defend the "wrong targets." There is blame to be thrown Emmert's way. I readily acknowledge that. But it isn't his full blame. Babs deserves blame. Gerberding deserves blame. McCormick deserves some blame. Slick deserves some blame. Gilby deserves some blame. Turner deserves some blame. Tyrone deserves some blame. Of the names I've listed, only 3 of those names have any timeline that extends into any portion of Emmert's tenure. That's less than half of those names.
Quite frankly Race, you are a world class donkey. When I hear people bitch and moan about the people in the State of Washington - you are a crystal example of why people bitch about the State of Washington. When I hear people that bitch about the fans of the University of Washington and what their complaints are, you represent what those complaints are.
In my opinion, you are not good for the University of Washington. You aren't helping the program. You aren't helping the University. You are entirely self-serving and a pompous, egotistical jerk.
You are barking up the wrong tree if you are going after me. I'm not naive enough to shove my head so far up my arse to ignore what I am seeing. I don't think that there is anybody that knows me that would say that I wouldn't call a spade a spade.
All that paying for and attending games longer than I've been alive has done for you is given you a perceived ability to go be a bitter old man. Congrats on that.
Thanks for showing those of us in a younger generation how not to act in 20-30 years when we are in your shoes.
How is hiring one of the winningest coaches in CFB being an idiot?
You might be missing a little context there. Like the part where he completely tanked his reputation in the three years since he left CFB and is now the laughing stock of the entire football community. The stories of his brief nine months in Jacksonville are already the stuff of legends, and it would be near impossible for him to walk into a living room and command any respect, even from dipshit teenagers.
The Texas assistant who is dating the stripper with the monkey is taken more seriously than Urban. The guy has fucking cemented himself as a lifetime clown. His only move now is to go into politics.
He's hardly the first college coach to flame out at the NFL level and won't be the last. If you think the off-field stuff is a deal breaker you haven't been watching college football for the last decade. Someone would take a flyer on him, they'd have some press conference where he talks about turning over a new leaf, and he would still be better than 98% of the coaches at this level.
Something tells me you haven't read up on exactly what he's been doing in Jax and just how epic his unraveling has been. If I thought this was your run of the mill "off the field baggage" I'd agree, give him another shot.
It’s bad. It will be forgotten. He’s a proven winner. You are fooling yourself if you think teams won’t hire him. The SEC teams and Texas don’t give a shit about that stuff.
The kind of idiot you'd want to drink a beer with as opposed to the idiot bragging about his long gone intramural prowess
You just don't understand the business world like Teqh does. When you build PowerPoint decks (I like to call them decks because it makes it sound like a high schooler couldn't make them) like he does you just understand college football organizations and how they should be run.
Many here just misinterpret what he says and don't get the nuances of his arguments. He is more than qualified to be our AD.
Comments
The problem is that Urban lost the respect of every single player (and most of his coaches, maybe all?) in his locker room in a matter of months. Feel free to peruse any of the trove of Urban articles that outline all of his dumbfuckery from consistently botched gameplans, cringe-worthy speeches to the team, and an almost dementia-riddled misunderstanding of who was on his team and what was happening around him.
Maybe I'm missing a big story, but I don't recall any of the other CFB legends who were NFL failures flaming out in such an epic and publicly embarrassing way. And that leads me to believe that he's not going to be able to command respect from any assistant coaches or recruits going forward, and that he won't be able to win at the college level because of that. Maybe I'm wrong and he is able to assemble a winning program. Who gives a fuck. But it has nothing to do with virtue signaling or whatever other bullshit you have it confused with.
But when he's tanned, rested and ready to go, I can't think of anyone better.
Whatever off-field shenanigans Urbs was into, no, that wouldn't apply to Saban or Superior ... both of those guys are known to keep their noses clean.
Welcome to NIL … going to be true in college as well in short order
Good job guys
You want to take the gloves off Race? You want to get down in a pissing match? Let's do it. Let's roll.
I'm getting completely fed up with your hate, negativity, and throwing people under the bus.
Quite frankly Race, I'm very, VERY happy that I don't know you. I'm quite happy that I don't lead what appears to be such a pathetic life that is faced with looking for the negativity in every situation. You need to go find something to smile at. Last I checked, it's summertime. The weather in Seattle seems to be pretty damn good right now - why don't you go check that out.
You are pretty damn wrong about things. You may think that the amount of time that you keep spewing your views that that you've now heard it enough times that you are right. Doesn't make you right.
You talk about 12-47 like that happened out of the blue sky. I've never seen you once suggest that the process of the downfall of this program began well before Emmert arrived.
You want facts? You want truth? Here's your truth.
Emmert came to the UW prior to the GLORIOUS 1-10 season under Gilby. The year before that (2003) Gilby managed to do enough to get us to 6-6, but that included the debacle at Cal where we gave up 700 yards (or thereabouts). It was an indifferent team that pretty much was at best mediocre. We lost 5 of our last 8, including the blowout to Cal, the blowout to UCLA, and a home loss to NEVADA. Yep, the program was heading in the right direction.
The 2002 season under Slick was another sterling season example that is most remembered for the "Northwest Championship." That was great. But it hid the fact that going into the "Northwest Championship" we were a 4-5 football team that was pretty much a joke at 1-4 in the conference. In both 2002 and 2003, we finished the season with a 4-4 conference record.
These weren't good football teams. The trend was heading downhill.
Emmert comes on board and immediately gets sadled with the Gilby 1-10 debacle.
Prior to Emmert coming on board, Babs jumps ship after a decade of mis-management, including allowing the stadium to begin the erosion process.
Throughout 2003, we're faced with Slick leaving and the subsequent lawsuit(s), Dr. Feelgood, and a whole mess with the softball program and Teresa Wilson.
Now keep in mind the following: ALL THIS HAPPENED BEFORE EMMERT WAS ANYWHERE NEAR BEING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON.
Things were not in great shape. I think just about everybody knew that.
A search committee is formed to replace Babs. The BOR, upper campus, and the big donor supporters of the school are sick of the egg showing up on their face. They are sick of the country club that Babs ran and the loose way she ran the department - particularly in light of what went on with Slick. They wanted someone prim, proper, and who they could count on would not sully the University name. ENTER TODD TURNER.
Now, this pretty much gets you up to the point where Emmert was hired. Did he have to sign off on the hiring of Turner? Most likely. But whatever.
At this point, Emmert isn't responsible for the on-field performance of the football program. There is a coach in place. It's not Emmert's job to oversee the football program or any other program in the athletic department. That job belongs to Todd Turner. It's Emmert's job to monitor the job performance of Todd Turner.
So 1-10 happens. Gilby is canned by Turner (rightfully so). Yes, the program went 1-10. But the actions of those charged with overseeing the program were correct. Turner fired the coach for poor performance. If I'm in Emmert's shoes, I can't complain.
Coaching search takes place and Turner has his heart set on Tyrone Willingham. It's Turner's hire. It's not Emmert's hire. Surely Emmert had to sign off on the hire. That's fine. You want to throw some blame on him for not having the foresight to negate the hire. That's fine. But the hire isn't Emmert's responsibility. It's Turner's responsibility. It's Emmert's responsibility to hold Turner accountable for the hire (which he did 3 years later when it was obvious that Tyrone wasn't the answer).
So Tyrone goes 2-9 the first year after a 1-10 year. Not great. Warning signs start going off, particularly with some poor performance to close games. But it's the first year of the regime and really hard to get too critical.
The next year the program goes 5-7 and has 2 significant events. The first significant event is the loss of the QB to injury. I think many could argue that without the loss of Isaiah that year, we go 6-6. The second event that was significant was the "suddenly senior" day and the unexplicable loss to Stanford with the most emotionless football team anybody had ever seen. Again, there's not enough there to fire Tyrone at that point. There are warning signs. There is ground to pretty much tell Tyrone that the following year is an action year where something needs to happen. He's on a short leash at this point in my opinion.
The following year we lose games in ways that are unexplainable. Blow a huge loss to Arizona - a game we should have never lost. The most ridiculous ending to an Apple Cup I've ever seen where a guy was open by 20 yards coming out of a timeout. Blowing a pair of 21 point leads to Hawai'i. It was pretty obvious at this point that things weren't working. Coaching change was in order. Perhaps an AD change was also in order. The coaching change was blocked and complicated. The AD's head fell - and rightfully so due to some other issues that he had and such a terrible hire of a head coach.
Prior to the decision to fire Tyrone after 2007, it's really hard to argue with ANYTHING that Emmert had done with respect to the football program.
I will say that bringing Tyrone back for 2008 was a disasterous mistake. It should have never happened. You want to throw 0-12 on Emmert - I'm all for it. I think if you caught Emmert in a reflective, truthful moment, he would tell you in hindsight that he should have made the move and that it wasn't worth the carnage of 0-12.
Throw Emmert under the bus for 2008. That's his responsibility. 2004-2007? Not so much. By all means, please, please tell me where he has responsibility for 2004 and 2007 other than the fact that he's the University President. Please tell me what specific actions that he did to undermine the program. You aren't going to find them - they aren't there.
Your criticism of Emmert is ridiculous. Your criticism of Woodward is just downright comical.
Where has Woodward screwed this program? He has only been responsible for this program in the summer of 2008 in a full-time role. Are you going to hold him to the fire for being the interim AD for the first half of 2008? How is he responsible for anything from 2004-2007 when he wasn't even involved with the Athletic Department? Talk about conspiracy theories. This may be one of the greatest conspiracy theories I've ever seen.
I don't like losing. I don't like what I've seen the last 5 years. It's made me sick to my stomach many times over. But unlike you, I can at least take a step back and realize that the genesis of this problem began well before Mark Emmert became President of the University of Washington.
If I spent my time being a "mindless Race Bannon minion," then I'd be convinced that the only logical explanation for our failures have been Mark Emmert and Scott Woodward.
Quite frankly, that opinion is one of the most idiotic insanely stupid opinions that I've ever seen in my life.
I don't defend the "wrong targets." There is blame to be thrown Emmert's way. I readily acknowledge that. But it isn't his full blame. Babs deserves blame. Gerberding deserves blame. McCormick deserves some blame. Slick deserves some blame. Gilby deserves some blame. Turner deserves some blame. Tyrone deserves some blame. Of the names I've listed, only 3 of those names have any timeline that extends into any portion of Emmert's tenure. That's less than half of those names.
Quite frankly Race, you are a world class donkey. When I hear people bitch and moan about the people in the State of Washington - you are a crystal example of why people bitch about the State of Washington. When I hear people that bitch about the fans of the University of Washington and what their complaints are, you represent what those complaints are.
In my opinion, you are not good for the University of Washington. You aren't helping the program. You aren't helping the University. You are entirely self-serving and a pompous, egotistical jerk.
You are barking up the wrong tree if you are going after me. I'm not naive enough to shove my head so far up my arse to ignore what I am seeing. I don't think that there is anybody that knows me that would say that I wouldn't call a spade a spade.
All that paying for and attending games longer than I've been alive has done for you is given you a perceived ability to go be a bitter old man. Congrats on that.
Thanks for showing those of us in a younger generation how not to act in 20-30 years when we are in your shoes.
Many here just misinterpret what he says and don't get the nuances of his arguments. He is more than qualified to be our AD.