[dakotafalcon4]

I have tried to think about putting together a post like this for a while and kept talking myself out of it. I think, “posters won’t listen” or “they don’t really care”, but after another stingily painful loss I feel I just want to share my thoughts and see what you all think.

For the record - I am a Liberty Alumnus, I hold season tickets to the Flames. I have invested interest. Before coming to LU I spent my first year at Virginia Tech, through some medical reasons and my now wife being at Liberty at the time, I transferred to Liberty. For that, I also hold season tickets to the Hokies.

I understand the mission of LU and especially the platform that athletics gives. I understand that there is no better avenue for a school to gain exposure than athletic success. We all can agree that the highest emphasis is placed on the athletic programs at Liberty and pretty much every reasonable resource is provided.

It is in that last sentence that I think we find our shortcoming. The shortcoming is not that we lose close games or when we have a big stage we blow it, but rather it I think is that there is actually an entitlement mentality with or around our football program. This first became clear to me when I was driving in the car and I heard the radio commercial prompting people to buy season tickets, “Your 3 time defending Big South Champion!” it proclaimed. I thought, “Man that is sweet, 3x Championsh, oh wait, when have they made the playoffs? Is a three way tie championship something really to be excited over? ” But it is in that mindset of thinking we have accomplished a lot that I think we are holding ourselves back.

Every season begins in honesty on the question of, “is this the year that the football team actually wins the games it is supposed to so that it can play in the playoffs? Ever since the conference expanded and there was an automatic birth, this has been the goal. Not a three way tie.

The players and coaches in my opinion act like they have earned the right to be looked at like a top FCS team, or as we all now a future FBS team.

I am all for the move to the FBS and I am all for believing you can win any game, but it would be nice if there was some reality behind the bravado.

[Purple Haize]

I think yu may be on to something. We have wanted to be a 'football' school forever and have upgraded the facilities and resources to achieve that goal. But a good question is 'What have they done to deserve the amount of resources?' Other programs on campus have been more successful with fewer comparative resources. I guess it is not difficult to assume it is an 'entitlement mentality'
Having said that, this is why I feel that the new staff is the right staff to change that mentality. It's why the loss Saturday was so big IMO. That could have been a culture changing moment. Winning a close game, on the road with a quality opponent that was predicted to run (pass) us off the field. But we didn't. Now we won't have a chance unless we make the play offs and win a game. But that isn't a given. But I do think HCTG brings a different mentality then previous staff's and why I THINK he will be able to change that culture.

[dakotafalcon4]

Okay, I will admit that I am not as close with the new staff as I was with Rocco's. So that is good to hear about their different mentality.

[SumItUp]

Dressing up is overrated.

[flameslinger]

I think all of the co-championships being called championships, and the satisfaction of hanging big points on inferior teams, and playing multiple "little sisters of the poor" at home are as hollow to coach Gill and the players as they are to us at this point. If you listened to coach after the game, I really do feel like we are very close to turning that corner we all want. Is this the game where we put our stake in the ground and become a serious contender that can rise to the big game? Maybe so...now let's talk about what needs to happen to make our offense as nasty as our defense...

[TDDance234]

Until we win the big game - we're going to have that monkey on our back. It's always in the back of our minds. We don't have a culture of winning because we haven't won.

Every big game for the last 10 years, we've failed.

That's the issue behind the football program.

[Bigsouthking]

The real issue with the Football Program is -- its an event where like most 1-AA schools, its an opportunity to have homecomings & reunions & feel good about big new stadium, but at LU its not not about winning, oh yeah its about winning a few games but its not about winning big!!! and it probably never will be.

LU football is about hiring has been coaches, Sam Rutigliano, Karcher, Gill.... the one coach that was good walked away.

But in the meant time the bells and whistles of the stadium that sits beautifully on 460 so everyone can see is what its all about. So dont get mad or let it bother you anyone, just enjoy the beauty of what you have.

[Purple Haize]

I think the jury is out on Gill. And how many Play-Offs did Rocco actually get us to?

[michaeleyou]

The real issue with the Football Program is -- its an event where like most 1-AA schools, its an opportunity to have homecomings & reunions & feel good about big new stadium, but at LU its not not about winning, oh yeah its about winning a few games but its not about winning big!!! and it probably never will be.

LU football is about hiring has been coaches, Sam Rutigliano, Karcher, Gill.... the one coach that was good walked away.

But in the meant time the bells and whistles of the stadium that sits beautifully on 460 so everyone can see is what its all about. So dont get mad or let it bother you anyone, just enjoy the beauty of what you have.

What a bunch of bunk!

[SumItUp]

The real issue with the Football Program is -- its an event where like most 1-AA schools, its an opportunity to have homecomings & reunions & feel good about big new stadium, but at LU its not not about winning, oh yeah its about winning a few games but its not about winning big!!! and it probably never will be.

LU football is about hiring has been coaches, Sam Rutigliano, Karcher, Gill.... the one coach that was good walked away.

But in the meant time the bells and whistles of the stadium that sits beautifully on 460 so everyone can see is what its all about. So dont get mad or let it bother you anyone, just enjoy the beauty of what you have.

What a bunch of bunk!

I agree with you michaeleyou.

[jimflamesfan]

The real issue with the Football Program is -- its an event where like most 1-AA schools, its an opportunity to have homecomings & reunions & feel good about big new stadium, but at LU its not not about winning, oh yeah its about winning a few games but its not about winning big!!! and it probably never will be.

LU football is about hiring has been coaches, Sam Rutigliano, Karcher, Gill.... the one coach that was good walked away.

But in the meant time the bells and whistles of the stadium that sits beautifully on 460 so everyone can see is what its all about. So dont get mad or let it bother you anyone, just enjoy the beauty of what you have.

What a bunch of bunk. Karcher wasn't a has-been when he was hired.

In the Spirit of Purple,

-Jeff Meyer

[Purple Haize]

The real issue with the Football Program is -- its an event where like most 1-AA schools, its an opportunity to have homecomings & reunions & feel good about big new stadium, but at LU its not not about winning, oh yeah its about winning a few games but its not about winning big!!! and it probably never will be.

LU football is about hiring has been coaches, Sam Rutigliano, Karcher, Gill.... the one coach that was good walked away.

But in the meant time the bells and whistles of the stadium that sits beautifully on 460 so everyone can see is what its all about. So dont get mad or let it bother you anyone, just enjoy the beauty of what you have.

What a bunch of bunk. Karcher wasn't a has-been when he was hired.

In the Spirit of Purple,

-Jeff Meyer

I don't see him trying to get his job back at LU. Marcher comments are free reign here

[LUconn]

You guys seem to get the program's mentality confused with marketing and the desire to sell tickets.

[Purple Haize]

You guys seem to get the program's mentality confused with marketing and the desire to sell tickets.

Not really. I can understand it for those reasons, but I can see how someone can say it might have crept into the program's mentality over the years.

[Bigsouthking]

You guys should go to wiki and type in Turner Gill/Dale Layer and check out their coaching records. That will get you fired up for rest of the seasons to come.


And Purple Haize-- Rocco couldn't beat Stoney Brook but he can beat Turner Gill!!

[Purple Haize]

You guys should go to wiki and type in Turner Gill/Dale Layer and check out their coaching records. That will get you fired up for rest of the seasons to come.


And Purple Haize-- Rocco couldn't beat Stoney Brook but he can beat Turner Gill!!

We've had the Gill coaching debate before but thanks for

[Flamesfanva]

To be co-champions, but yet place champions on the stadium is a little disingenuous to me anyway. The Big South is a joke if three teams can claim the title of Big South Football Champions all at the same time.

[thepostman]

the one coach that was good walked away.

He helped LU during a time we needed it, but ultimately his legacy to me is someone who couldn't get us over the hump and picked up his toys and ran away when it was starting to become tough again. yeah....really good

[flameslinger]

You guys seem to get the program's mentality confused with marketing and the desire to sell tickets.

+1

Its marketing, pure and simple. Its in our DNA. Doc always found a way to make anything a little bigger than it was. Liberty "mountain"?

I have no problem with it. The guys are hungry to turn the corner and take it a step higher this year. I think we have the skill, dedication, and coach to do it. I think we run the table in the B1S. Yes, I have taken the Kool-Aid cup and drunk deeply. What can I say? I really believe it.

[adam42381]

World's Most Exciting University.

[dakotafalcon4]

To be co-champions, but yet place champions on the stadium is a little disingenuous to me anyway. The Big South is a joke if three teams can claim the title of Big South Football Champions all at the same time.

That is exactly how I feel

[From the class of 09]

Does Coastal/SB claim the championships as well?

[SuperJon]

Does Coastal/SB claim the championships as well?

Coastal actually won the tiebreaker and went to the playoffs. They deserve the title in those years.

[SumItUp]

Shared championships are going to happen when you have a small conference that is top heavy. Any given Saturday keeps it interesting. I have no problem with claiming a shared championship. We would all prefer an outright championship with a ticket to the playoffs. Maybe this is the year?

[Purple Haize]

Shared championships are going to happen when you have a small conference that is top heavy. Any given Saturday keeps it interesting. I have no problem with claiming a shared championship. We would all prefer an outright championship with a ticket to the playoffs. Maybe this is the year?

But it is disingenuous. It should say Co-Champions. See Texas Tech circa 2008