Irish

Why yes, I think that's exactly what he should do. Did you watch any games this season?

It doesn't appear like anything soaked in - Bubba was nothing if not consistent throughout the season.

Although perhaps poorly worded, that was an actual question. Does anyone have any insight into anyone - friends, donors, coaches etc. who can talk to Bubba about what went on last season? It seems like the AD is missing in action. My guess is that he is the same shucky-darn, work harder, day by day guy in real life and is hard to get to do some serious evaluation of what went right and wrong. Any chance of change? I know he will always be the guy who punts on the opponents 35 yard line, but the other stuff really bit us this year. Given the challenges of roster building with the portal next year is crucial to our program. We have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Another mediocre or worse season could dig us a serious hole.

I have no doubt the players took some lessons from last year. What are the odds of Bubba "learning from last year"? Simple Question.

Waiting for the Giveth part.

Agreed - but I see absolutely no indication that Bubba has learned anything. At this stage of his coaching career there is absolutely no excuse for managing games like a Junior High Math teacher who was talked into coaching 7th grade football.

And done wonders for fan support and attendance - we have been so close to building enthusiasm for Football and seem to shoot ourselves in the foot every time.

Problem solved - I'll have Bubba shaped up by fall.

Next year's topic - clock management - be afraid, be very afraid.

I think a lot of the frustration here is that we know that there is no friend, fan, assistant coach, or athletic department personnel that will tell Bubba what he needs to know in a manner that will soak in. We will get the same Game Manager Bubba next year as we had this year. The guy is clueless.

Agreed - but this is Bubba's 12 year as a head coach and God knows how many as an assistant at the College level. He showed absolutely no signs of figuring this out during the season when it cost us greatly. This shouldn't be rocket science. What is it going to take to wake him up?

The sad part is that you could make this comment in a different thread and no one would be able to figure which of the games this year you are referring to. Bubba has absolutely done some good things for this program and has improved both the talent and atmosphere. The problem is that some things like game management need a serious change and Bubba is allergic to serious change - We saw some real bad game decisions and clock management earlier in the season and here we are after the last game of the season talking about this exact same thing after another brutal loss. Agreed Bubba isn't going anywhere soon but we really need an adult in the house to have a talk with him - Chaves seems awol so I'm guessing it won't get done. My frustration is that we'll see the exact same Sideline Bubba next year.

I agree that we have some good players and recruits. My problem is that Bubba has learned exactly zero lessons this season.

Good news - we can play with anyone this season. Bad news - when we play against anyone we have Bubba as game manager.

Exactly this

Sums us up in one sentence.

Not adjusting is just what we do.

I believe "shotgun" trumps dibs any day.

You make good points - however there is another factor that needs to be considered. Bubba is perhaps the worst game coach in all of DI football. This right now is highly visible to fans. It has cost us a chance to beat the Blundering Herd and a playoff spot. And not just the 4th down crazyness - other things like having to burn time-outs after half-time or quarter breaks. I have been to every home game and watching the crowds and enthusiasm for the program deflate is disheartening (although the crowd that stayed last week did their best). This seriously affects fundraising (the drop in attendance alone is significant). Bumping up coaches pay or better facilities will not change this. Right now I'm not sure there is any adult in the program that can get through his hidebound thick noggin. At this stage of his very average career we can expect more of the same from him - year after year. So far no one has come up with any way to get Bubba to think outside his very limited box. So, yes - soft expectations if we let Bubba be Bubba for any length of time. Not saying fire him but a come to Jesus meeting is certainly in order.

Actually a mistranslation - Aramaic doesn't often use vowels in writing so the word for Camel - “kamelon” and rope - “kamilon - are both spelled gml. It refers to a large rope passing through the eye of a needle.

Both - 3-5 explains todays attendance, this game explains future attendance.

The first half of this game should answer all questions about diminishing fan interest.

One ugly half of football - tough to watch

Not disagreeing, but do you see any serious push for change from either direction here? I'm pretty sure next year we will get another dose of Bubba Ball.

Good point - the problem is that Bubba is almost pathologically resistant to change - hell, it took him 5 years to get rid of Rudy. And our AD (who I once thought would do a great job) seems to be content to let program after program implode. Not sure where any change is coming from.