[4everfsu]

Also if Jerry had not released him, where do you think LU football would be today?

[Sly Fox]

He's coaching high school football right now in South Florida at last check.

As for where we would be, that's type of speculation I try not to clutter my already overwhelmed mind.

[Stevev]

Where is coach Morgan Hout now?
Also if Jerry had not released him, where do you think LU football would be today?

There was a nice Morgan Hout thread that was done up back in January in the "Old Folks Home" of this site but I found it too late to respond. If we would have kept Morgan Hout LU in my opinion would be competing for the playoffs every year as long as he was the man. Sam R's best years were with Morgan Houts recruits and when they left It didn't take Sam R long to eventually screw things up. I don't even want to talk about the Karcher era. I believe the other thread stated, and I believe that it was Baldspot, stated that the start of LU's downfall in football was when Morgan Hout was let go. I believe that to be an very accurate statment indeed based on what I know. I would like to know what everyone else thinks.

[Libertine]

Where's Morgan Hout?

I don't care! Live in the now!

Take this thread over to the Old Folks Home where it belongs! You older guys obsess about how great it was back in the day when you had to wade through a foot of orange clay to eat in that phone booth of a cafeteria and catch a bus to watch the team play in the dump that City Stadium used to be! What's worse is you start up these conversations in the stands at today's games -- and don't say you don't because I've heard you! It's completely disrespectful to the guys who are busting their butts for this program today! What's done is done and who's gone is gone and none of it's going to change b/c you're feeling kinda wistful! Let's move the *&#% on!

And, yes, I'm ticked off!

[PAmedic]

LIB- I'm not clear on where you stand on this issue- could you be a bit more direct, please?


GO (2006) FLAMES!

[Flamesfanva]

[Baldspot]

I was glad when they let him go but in retrospect I think it was a mistake.

[4everfsu]

Libertine
First of all, I was not there when Morgan was, second of all you have never heard me talking about this in the stand at LU games as the only game I had attended was homecoming last year, the first game since I graduated. Second this was opened as a football question so that is why I opened it here. I take it that talk about Sam Gado should also be over on the old folks section since he is no longer at LU. I don't see you calling any one out who posted info about him here.
So whatever is eating you, I am sure a Doctor would conclude you will live. Get over it!
BTW there was no cafeteria when I attended.

[PAmedic]

as one who WAS at LU when Coach Hout was at the helm- we were all excited when Rut was hired, though at the time there was speculation Tom Landry was coming to the mt.

nearly 2 decades later- well, ya never know.

But I can tell you that there is more excitement surrounding THIS team and THIS coach then I have EVER seen connected with LU FB, rivals the ladies Sweet 16 run.

I see LIBS point- being connected to the team this would get old- but thats what we are. "OLD HAGS" and prone to living in the 80s. You oughta see my wardrobe- Springsteen would be proud (Think cover of "Born in the USA")

but I digress

[thesportscritic]

medic why don't you go ahead and post that wardrobe back in the days on the board

[Stevev]

I was glad when they let him go but in retrospect I think it was a mistake.

The quote above is 100% accurate. I too was happy for the change from Morgan Hout to Sam R. since their was a lot of 1A talk, with the new stadium and scheduling improvements. But after 6 years under Sam and I realized that LU made a big mistake in getting rid of Morgan Hout.

[A.G.]

I was glad when they let him go but in retrospect I think it was a mistake.

The quote above is 100% accurate. I too was happy for the change from Morgan Hout to Sam R. since their was a lot of 1A talk, with the new stadium and scheduling improvements. But after 6 years under Sam and I realized that LU made a big mistake in getting rid of Morgan Hout.

Geesh. I pray to God that the same things we are saying about Rocco and Karcher won't be said 15 years from now. Under Karcher, it was even put in the school's STRATEGIC PLAN to go I-A and he DID implement a vastly improved schedule.

[Stevev]

But Karcher didn't properly equip the team to compete against that increase in competition

[bigsmooth]

easy libertine...fsu was just asking a question. i think everyone here wants nothing but success for the flames, and no one is being disrespectful, but to become unglued is a bit over the top.

[SuperJon]

Everyone keeps focusing on the past and how things used to be. That's why he got ticked off. This a new coaching staff, a new athletic director, new everything. He was probably right about putting it in a different forum, just like most of the Gado stuff is in a different forum.

[jimflamesfan]

I think we're actually talking about the football past because we're excited about the football future...and we haven't had a lot between the end of baseball and the beginning of football.

It'll all be good in a month

[A.G.]

Actually, 25 days and a couple of hours

[4everfsu]

According to the definition of this board, Anything and everything about Liberty Flames football. I would think that anything & everything has to do with past history of LU football as well as its future. Where would most students and alumni go to read about LU football, past and present? On this board or the old folks board? I don't see students coming back this school year going to the old folks board to find and read about LU past football. I would not if I was a student.

SJ you said earlier "Everyone keeps focusing on the past and how things used to be. "

If you had notice on this board, I have been asking questions about LU football future, what teams did you want to see scheduled, LU moving to 1-A, etc.

[thesportscritic]

that is what this board is about the past for football and the present and the future of LU football. 4everfsu don't let one angry poster get to you.

[4everfsu]

Thanks sportscritic

[LU'90KJ]

I played for Morgan Hout for 3 years and for Coach Rutigliano for 1 year and I am not sure why everyone thinks the Morgan Hout era was so great. I believe Coach Rutigliano biggest mistake was in putting together his staff. I do not belive LU recruited very well in Coach Rutigliano's time and as you all know 95% of the recruiting is done by the assistants. Coach Rutigliano was an unbelievable x's and o's coach but they did not do their job in recruiting in my opinion.

[Stevev]

I agree with that statement. He seemed to rely on a few key individuals even on some of his better teams but there always some postions that were very weak. I heard from a reliable source that some of his better recruits had academic problems or got hurt. Seems like he was a good gameday stratagest but just didn't have enough horses to be a consistent playoff contender.

[bigsmooth]

there was nothing wrong with fsu's question. he was not disrespecting coach rocco, the new players, or anything like that. i think some people on this board need to be a bit more respectful to LU's past in everything, and understand where the old and semi-old hags have been, and the youngsters should be very thankful for what you have now. the bottom line is we all are here on this board to support LU athletics, because we love our school, and this thread certainly belongs on the football board, because morgan hout was a part of the building of liberty football.

[Stevev]

We need to respect the past and present. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

[Libertine]

I got so hot over this topic that I deliberately did not come back to this thread for several days for fear of getting myself banned from the board. In retrospect, I really should have brought the noise level down -- and I apologize for that -- but I make no apologies for being upset in the first place. Yes, I believe that Morgan Hout talk and Robbie Justino talk and Sam Gado talk all belong on the Old Folks board. They're all still a part of the football program but they're all part of football past.
More than that, however, while I respect what guys in the past have done and worked through for this university and our program, I get sick and tired of hearing things like, "If we had hired/not fired this guy back in 19-whatever, we'd be dominating right now." As if, that one guy was the only factor involved.
Since Morgan Hout is the topic at hand, let's discuss. How about the fact that we were fully funded at the D2 level (35 schollies) but were never fully-funded (63 schollies) at the I-AA level until the Karcher era? How about the fact that the financial difficulties the university faced in the early 90's stripped the recruiting budget to nearly nothing, again, until the Karcher era? How about the fact that D2's moving up typically do well in their first 2-3 years at the I-AA level before falling back to earth (ie., Gardner-Webb)?
You know, maybe you're right. Maybe the school should have hired this guy or kept that guy back in the day. Maybe the school did do somebody wrong. Lord knows, it wouldn't be the first time. But the bottom line for me is, we have a guy. Rocco is here and he's working as hard as he can to build this program into something we can all be proud of. He's got the support of the team, the administration and, I hope, most of the fanbase. I read this board, I know that there are players that read this board and, obviously, there are fans that read this board. I had opportunities to go elsewhere after last season and I can say that I am proud to be here in this place at this time. That's why it's so infuriating to read statements like if we had kept some other coach we'd be competing for the playoffs every year. It's discouraging b/c it completely sells short the effort that's going into this program now. Going into a new era of LU football, we're working very hard trying to build as much momentum as possible and "Yeah, but if this guy were still here..." statements are just a kick in the face from people we count on for support.
Again, I apologize for blowing up too hot too fast, but I make no apologies for defending this coach, his staff and our team.



I'm 31 so I don't know where I fall in the "Old Hag" hierarchy but let all be fair warned, I am hip-deep in the Liberty Kool-Aid right now.