The bowl season is in full swing and the big bowls are just ahead. Besides a few retirees, 19 coaches have already lost their job while others have moved up the program ladder.
I live in Cincinnati and I’m a season ticket holder for UC Bearcat football. No doubt about it, Bearcat football has risen to never-imaginable heights.
UC Coach Brian Kelly receives his share of accolades – and deserve ably so. With a very good two-year record of (22-5), his name has been consistently linked to many of the top open positions.
Over the past two seasons I’ve learned that Brian Kelly can coach, Brian Kelly is a good PR guy for the program, and Brian Kelly is committed to excellence. On the other hand, I still have two important questions that have yet to be answered: Can he recruit and can the team be successful with his recruits?
Coach Kelly’s coaching style and scheme has been successful with the upperclassmen recruited to UC by previous-coach Mark Dantonio (now at Michigan State). I say this because much of a college team’s success lies in the combination of player skills and the coaching schemes.
Similar stories are not new to college football teams. Numerous examples exist of a new coach bringing a new scheme into a situation and then instant success; and many of those examples then turn south over time because they couldn’t recruit as well as the fired predecessor or the quality recruits didn’t fit into the scheme.
This post isn’t about Brian Kelly, but one that’s using his situation as an example. We fans like to think that our successful team will continue to be successful through the rest of time, but realistically, that won’t be so. After all, coaches come and go, as do recruits, schemes, administrative support, and fan support.
A Frank Angle 