This might be an unpopular take, but I disagree slightly. The University stepped up big time. There are many examples…his salary…the coaching staff budget….additional staff members (Highsmith, analysts, quality control, recruiting department, etc.)…increased University budgets….private jets transporting coaches instead of flying commercial…etc. There are many examples of the University’s renewed commitment.
Mario then delivered probably the worst season I have ever seen and that includes Lou Saban and Coker teams. The reason we are being forced to overpay is to compensate for last season. That’s on Mario, not the administration. Yet, some of us want the money brokers to fix things by throwing more cash at the problem. That is the fiscally irresponsible thing to do. Throw good money after a bad product?
Mario needs to fix the product before being rewarded with more money. I can understand why some boosters will say…”nah…I’m going to pay market rate, not overpay.” That’s better than not contributing any money at all. Fixing the product means winning 8 games and not having a losing record. Last year’s performance would give an investor pause before investing again, let alone increasing their contribution.
I like Mario. I want him to succeed. In a world with no limitations and no consequences, we would throw obscene amounts of money at players. But that isn’t reality and Mario made this bed. The onus is on him to dig us out of this mess. He needs to show the fans, boosters, administration and the college football world that his program is on the rise and not fledgling. You do that by winning football games. You win football games and the money will start flowing, again.
Excellent post!
Too many posters excused our historically ***** season with excuses such as:
1. Our roster sucks.
2. Gattis sucks, it’s his fault that our offense is buns.
3. We had a ton of injuries.
4. Mario will get it all fixed through recruiting.
5. The locker room is full of selfish players and coaches that don’t care.
The problem with all of this is that Mario already had a bad rep in relation to QB’s and WR’s, and his pre-historic style of football.
So what does he decide to do in his 1st year as CEO?
1. He hires the king of the village idiots as OC instead of a guy like Brady, Briles, Candle, etc., after spending what seemed like an eternity to make the hire.
2. He does the same with all of his other hires (except the Oregon transplants), and proceeds to hire all of his coaches separately, without allowing his OC and DC to bring in their own guys.
3. He comes up with the “how you do anything, is how you do everything” line, and then proceeds to make bad decision after bad decision, and looks like a deer caught in headlights the entire season on the sidelines, making bad decision after bad decision. Not exactly the way to lead by example.
4. He brings with him from Oregon the same trainer that oversaw his previous 2 squads that had numerous key injuries during his last 2 seasons there. Then the same thing happens in his first season here, but to an even more egregious level. Does he fire The Mustache? Of course not.
5. He fails to fire Gattis early on in the season to stop the bleeding, and maybe salvage the season. In fact, he doesn’t even fire Gattis right after the season, but waits a good while before finally letting him go. In the process he gets TVD destroyed, and fails to field a scheme that favors our roster’s strengths.
6. He talks about “accountability”, while consistently throwing kids under the bus, while failing to hold his hand picked staff accountable.
7. He tries to make it seem like the abomination of a season that we were subjected to was “necessary” in order to be able to build for the future.
We end up fielding our worst offense against P5 teams since way back in the 60’s and early 70’s, and a likewise awful defense. This was a historically bad performance on all levels.
It’s clear that he now does not have the funds to pull in the top guys consistently. That well seems to have dried up after the end of the last recruiting cycle. He will now have to prove it on the field and win 9 games minimum this season. Another ***** season, and this underwhelming recruiting class will look great compared to the next one.
Mario, please let your coordinators do their thing this season. Don’t stick your nose in any scheming. The fanbase is pleading with you. Swallow your ego, and let the chefs cook.
Even if I wanted to do so, I don’t know if I can accomplish that feat.
