Are the Natives Growing Restless?
While the pressure has not been on Guy Morriss like it has been with Coach Fran down the road at A&M, I'm sure we are going to be hearing more of it... especially, if we keep getting blown out like we did this past weekend against Kansas.
So... what has been your thoughts on this subject?
While I have been a huge supporter of Guy Morriss, even I have recently been wondering about his future. Mainly, seeing teams such as Kansas, Colorado, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Illinois improve at a much rapid level than what we have been able to accomplish at Baylor. I have started to wonder why we haven't been able to do the same.
Now... Pros for keeping Morriss.
We have definitely improved over the past five years under Morriss. We have actually become more competitve in the Big 12. I think our recruiting has been acceptable. I think we will always be playing second-fiddle to UT and A&M. It's hard to recruit where we are at. Realize that we are trying to recruit where there are FIVE other Division I-A schools (counting North Texas) WITHIN 100 miles of Baylor. Texas has 10 Div I-A schools within the borders of the state (if I counted right). The Big 12 (South) will always be one of the best in the country. It's tough being the small school with the likes of UT and A&M and even TCU.
Morriss has the right attitude and has respect. You get the impression that he will keep improving the team while keeping the program clean. I'm not worried about NCAA violations in our future.
While we want to see improvements each year, it's easy to forget how many players we lost last year. We lost 32 Seniors, with many of those being critical skill-position players. This year's team has 17 Seniors and 71 Underclassmen... 71! Of those, 45 are either Redshirt or True Freshman... 45! With that alone, I think Morriss should be able to keep his job.
Plus, I like this new pass-happy offense. Like Jeff said... this ain't no Teaff Football.
Now... other than being impatient with the level of improvement as I mentioned above, what is the downside? I can't think of anyone I would rather have than Guy Morriss. OK... I can think of ONE. I wouldn't really care to have Bo Pelini, or some other highly-touted name from another program. I like our offense, I like the players we have (knowing they are young and will improve). I believe Guy Morriss should be brought back for at least another year.
Unless... Hmmm... UNLESS... I think the ONLY reason we should get rid of Morriss is if that ONE other person is Mike Singletary. While there are reasons not to have one of your most respected alumni as your head coach (having to fire him later)... I think Singletary would be the perfect coach for us.
Singletary has been a successful motivational speaker for years. If he can't motivate this team, no one will be able to do it. He is loved by everyone. He is a Hall-of-Famer. He now has coaching experience. He loves Baylor. He is from Texas. He would definitely be able to improve our recruiting. He has the intensity to motivate his players (remember those eyes!?!). I would say IF Morriss is let go... the ONLY answer is Singletary. Immediately sign him to a 10-year, $20 million contract with a ten-year option. Yes, why not... take a huge gamble. Like I said, if he can't get the job done, then no one can. I would love to see Singletary break Grant Teaff's tenure at Baylor. OK... now that I think of it... I can think of TWO people I would like to see. Maybe we could get Ian McCaw to beg Grant to come out of retirement. After seeing Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden on the sidelines as geriatrics, why not? Remember those bumperstickers? 'Lord, GRANT us Victory.' Haaa!
For now, I say give Guy Morriss an extension! An upset victory this weekend would do wonders for all of us Morriss supporters. HEX TEX! Sic 'em Bears!
So... what has been your thoughts on this subject?
While I have been a huge supporter of Guy Morriss, even I have recently been wondering about his future. Mainly, seeing teams such as Kansas, Colorado, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Illinois improve at a much rapid level than what we have been able to accomplish at Baylor. I have started to wonder why we haven't been able to do the same.
Now... Pros for keeping Morriss.
We have definitely improved over the past five years under Morriss. We have actually become more competitve in the Big 12. I think our recruiting has been acceptable. I think we will always be playing second-fiddle to UT and A&M. It's hard to recruit where we are at. Realize that we are trying to recruit where there are FIVE other Division I-A schools (counting North Texas) WITHIN 100 miles of Baylor. Texas has 10 Div I-A schools within the borders of the state (if I counted right). The Big 12 (South) will always be one of the best in the country. It's tough being the small school with the likes of UT and A&M and even TCU.
Morriss has the right attitude and has respect. You get the impression that he will keep improving the team while keeping the program clean. I'm not worried about NCAA violations in our future.
While we want to see improvements each year, it's easy to forget how many players we lost last year. We lost 32 Seniors, with many of those being critical skill-position players. This year's team has 17 Seniors and 71 Underclassmen... 71! Of those, 45 are either Redshirt or True Freshman... 45! With that alone, I think Morriss should be able to keep his job.
Plus, I like this new pass-happy offense. Like Jeff said... this ain't no Teaff Football.
Now... other than being impatient with the level of improvement as I mentioned above, what is the downside? I can't think of anyone I would rather have than Guy Morriss. OK... I can think of ONE. I wouldn't really care to have Bo Pelini, or some other highly-touted name from another program. I like our offense, I like the players we have (knowing they are young and will improve). I believe Guy Morriss should be brought back for at least another year.
Unless... Hmmm... UNLESS... I think the ONLY reason we should get rid of Morriss is if that ONE other person is Mike Singletary. While there are reasons not to have one of your most respected alumni as your head coach (having to fire him later)... I think Singletary would be the perfect coach for us.
Singletary has been a successful motivational speaker for years. If he can't motivate this team, no one will be able to do it. He is loved by everyone. He is a Hall-of-Famer. He now has coaching experience. He loves Baylor. He is from Texas. He would definitely be able to improve our recruiting. He has the intensity to motivate his players (remember those eyes!?!). I would say IF Morriss is let go... the ONLY answer is Singletary. Immediately sign him to a 10-year, $20 million contract with a ten-year option. Yes, why not... take a huge gamble. Like I said, if he can't get the job done, then no one can. I would love to see Singletary break Grant Teaff's tenure at Baylor. OK... now that I think of it... I can think of TWO people I would like to see. Maybe we could get Ian McCaw to beg Grant to come out of retirement. After seeing Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden on the sidelines as geriatrics, why not? Remember those bumperstickers? 'Lord, GRANT us Victory.' Haaa!
For now, I say give Guy Morriss an extension! An upset victory this weekend would do wonders for all of us Morriss supporters. HEX TEX! Sic 'em Bears!
posted by Bill Gohs at
11:36 AM
2 Comments:
My theory on head coaches starts with the idea that fans expectations are usually over the top. The whole premise of sports is that you have a winner and a loser. By design there are only so many winning programs. Unfortunately for us Baylor fans I don't see us becoming a football powerhouse anytime soon.
IMHO, the Big 12 South is one of the 2 toughest Conference Divisions or Conferences (the SEC East being the other). For the record, SEC West and Big 10 would be 3 and 4, you pick the order. Anyhow that puts us in a tough spot to begin with, and you need to adjust expectations accordingly. But always hope and cheer for the best.
For most HOT Texas Prospects, we typically are at best the 3rd choice IN STATE (behind A&M and UT), OU is so close it is just as bad. Throw in other national powerhouses and we are lucky to be 5th on most prospects Dream List. So recruiting is even tougher.
Plus Baylor Fans, can be "Fair Weather Fans", we do not have a diehard base. I had to chuckle slightly at the Lariat article reference to UK. While the coaches do have the same tenure, UK fans are much more loyal and supportive than BU fans tend to be. Even though UK was staying just ahead of Vandy, they were drawing 50-60K fans to games. Plus there were many people here that were torn because they liked the fact the UK was going to a bowl game, but they wanted Brooks gone so bad and knew that going to a bowl game meant he wasn't leaving. Most of them would have traded a loss against Georgia, for a new head coach. Now look at it all.
Then I looked at coach tenure. Prior to Morris and after Teaff, our coaches only had tenures of 2-3 yrs. Why would a player want to come to a school where there is a revolving door at the head coaches office. (BTW did you see Kevin Steele is an Asst at either Bama or LSU? They were talking about him during the game on Sat.)
I look at Teaff, then I look at the guy at Vandy. Built good programs and can attract some good athletes, and occasionally push them to achieve great things.
Whether Morris is that guy or not I don't know. I liked what he built at UK.
After witnessing what Tom Jurich has done for Louisville in 10 yrs. I am convinced it is the AD, that makes all the difference. From what I understand, Jurich keeps a short list of replacements for all his coaches ready at any time. And he has worked to build and improve facilities, and all programs.
So the bottom line is I think there needs to be a strong AD who has plan to build the program irregardless of the head coach. But our goal should be to find the right person for the job, and it should not be just about winning and losing or "the person in the job." It needs to be about pride, and character and everything that BU stands for. What is a little scary for me about Singletary, is the reasons I have heard to make him coach and that we are picking a person first, and not defining the qualities and then finding the person that best fits those.
I hope my rambling has not been totally out there. But I have tried to string my various thoughts together into something that at least made some sense.
By
Rob W, at 1:44 AM
UPDATE:
Well, it looks like there are reports all over the wire that Guy Morriss will NOT be retained for next year.
The reports cite 2 'high-ranking' officials at the university that stated Morriss will not be back. No one is commenting on the report/rumors. However, I found it interesting that Singletary has actually addressed the situation. Usually, it's a denial or at least a 'no comment.' Good article from the Dallas Morning News with the link below:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/topstories/stories/111007dnspobaylorlede.283d4e7.html
It ALMOST sounds like there may have been INformal talks, doesn't it? His quotes don't really say one way or the other. However, I get the impression there may have been some kind of discussions. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time a newspaper misquoted somebody.
I still have mixed feelings. The game this last weekend was actually a competitive game, even though the scoreboard didn't reflect it (once again). Not bad considering they are (were) the #4 team in the country. (Go ILLINI!)
Jeff, still waiting for your thoughts. :o)
By
Bill Gohs, at 9:55 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home