Brief comment on yesterday's game and then on to my point. It was a bad decision (by Greg) that was badly executed (by Greg). Once Bert made the choice to kick (allowing us to get our terrible D off the field), Greg never should've given him the choice to reconsider. And once he gave them the choice, he never should've called the TO so late that it gave them a practice kick. But that's 'imperfect' Greg.
On the other hand, Greg is also giving us our second bowl in a row, after 10 years in the wilderness. It's also Greg that has now twice built/re-built this program to the point of respectability (notwithstanding yesterday's bad decision). And It's also because of Greg that we went toe-to-toe with a pretty good, very physical, legitimately top-25ish Ill team in late November. That's Greg in a nutshell, and we'd all do ourselves a favor to make peace with the fact that he's a pretty good coach who no doubt has his flaws.
And perhaps the most frustrating of those flaws is his inability to handle success and good fortune. Whether it be the Cincy debacle after the Louisville masterpiece, getting blown out by a terrible Syr team in 09 and a lousy UConn team in 11 -- after putting the team in position to win the league, or yesterday giving Ill a second chance to decide how they wanted to try to win the game, after Ill let Greg get his terrible D off the field, Greg is like an Olympic diver that just needs to land a cannonball to win the gold, and does a belly-flop.
With all of that, I think Greg is the best guy for the job -- for now. Let him steer the ship until the dust settles on NIL/free-agency/revenue sharing, and until the dust settles on RU's academic and athletic leadership. And if Greg backslides at some point -- like Locksley at Md, who unlike Greg has a whale in Kevin Plank who's bought him an array of athletes -- then reconsider. Here's to hoping Greg someday learns how to handle success and good fortune.
On the other hand, Greg is also giving us our second bowl in a row, after 10 years in the wilderness. It's also Greg that has now twice built/re-built this program to the point of respectability (notwithstanding yesterday's bad decision). And It's also because of Greg that we went toe-to-toe with a pretty good, very physical, legitimately top-25ish Ill team in late November. That's Greg in a nutshell, and we'd all do ourselves a favor to make peace with the fact that he's a pretty good coach who no doubt has his flaws.
And perhaps the most frustrating of those flaws is his inability to handle success and good fortune. Whether it be the Cincy debacle after the Louisville masterpiece, getting blown out by a terrible Syr team in 09 and a lousy UConn team in 11 -- after putting the team in position to win the league, or yesterday giving Ill a second chance to decide how they wanted to try to win the game, after Ill let Greg get his terrible D off the field, Greg is like an Olympic diver that just needs to land a cannonball to win the gold, and does a belly-flop.
With all of that, I think Greg is the best guy for the job -- for now. Let him steer the ship until the dust settles on NIL/free-agency/revenue sharing, and until the dust settles on RU's academic and athletic leadership. And if Greg backslides at some point -- like Locksley at Md, who unlike Greg has a whale in Kevin Plank who's bought him an array of athletes -- then reconsider. Here's to hoping Greg someday learns how to handle success and good fortune.
