[rogers3]

Having worked all of my frustration out on the ride to Portsmouth, I will comment in response to CinciFlame (who I still think despite having worked out my frustration would be happier if we just canned the guy and the AD too)

The problem I see with his record is that only once has he had the minimum 4 year cycle, and even then, he didnt get a year with all his own players. At Kansas, Mangino left him with a dumpster fire, and again, he did not have the opportunity to work with all his own players. At Buffalo, he did show the ability to improve from year to year, with 2008 being the high watermark. Liberty reached its high watermark under Coach Rocco in year three as well (2008). That said, 2014 will be year three and if that trend continues, we will see continued improvement under TG. The question lies in where we will go in year 5 which means that he would get two at minimum three more years at the helm.

BJ you really need to stop writing things that aren't true. I've never said a negative word about the AD. I think Barber had done a terrific job. I don't want TG fired. I think he deserves 3-4 years to install his own team. I'm just not as optimist and haven't drank the cool aid like some on this board. I just don't see the reason for much optimism. The fact is Gill had had one winning season in his coaching career. After the winning season, the very next year right back to a losing record.

I love how you try to play both sides. Do you have a background in rhetoric?

[CinciFlame]

I've not been inconsistent at all. I'll make it simple.
1. Gill had a losing record as a head coach. Only 1 winning season before arriving.
2. I'm not optimistic about Liberty getting over the hump (certainly won't happen this year)
3. He was hired, so every new coach deserves 3-4 years to recruit their players and install their system.
4. I'll continue to support the program and hope that I'm wrong.

Anyone who knows basic football knows we let 3 games slip right thru or fingers. All 3 games would have been huge for our program. We've got some talented players on this team. Gill didn't start with a bare cupboard.

[BJWilliams]

Yes he did regress but at worst that was a slight regression (7-5 to 5-7 regular season). Now if he had gone from 7-5 to say...3-9, THAT would be pretty significant. At best they stayed about the same, but I wouldnt call a -2 (which is pretty negligible in my view) from year 3 to year 4 all that huge of a difference.

[LUconn]

who cares who cares who cares. We all agree that he's the coach of this team and that he gets another 2 years give or take. So what is the point of arguing about his previous coaching at this point?

[VAGolf]

4

[BJWilliams]

CSU is going to be playing their 13th consecutive game when they host us. No matter what level youre talking, when you dont get a break, the grind of the season takes its toll. That said, 7-5 while disappointing is still an improvement (albeit a small one). After venting over the weekend and getting a chance to cool off, I think that Gill gets to at least try to continue the improvement in 2014 and 2015

[VAGolf]

4

[SuperJon]

Here is my biggest question: Is Coach Gill the right guy to lead our program?

I know that Coach Gill is a great leader of people. People want to follow him naturally. Not only that, but he's also a great Christian leader.

What I'm concerned about is if Coach Gill is a good enough leader for our organization. How is he as an administrative/organizational leader? Last year, within a few months, he changed offensive coordinators multiple times and he changed who called the plays multiple times. This year, while he is the Special Teams Coordinator, he has multiple people running different things inside the Special Teams. He calls the plays but he has a different guy over kicker/punter/field goals, one guy in charge of punt returns, one guy in charge of field goal blocks, another over kickoff returns, and then another over kickoffs/punts/long snapper. I've never seen someone do that before.

He can lead people, but he may need help leading the organization/program. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that type of leader. Many, many successful coaches use that model. If he can get that help, he can be the guy to lead us to the next level.

[BJWilliams]

2 D2 schools is more due to having to scramble because a game was pulled late in the going and that was the only way to fill the spot and less on the quality of the coach. we went from 6-5 to 8-3 from year 1 to year 2 under Rocco then 10-2 in year three. that said, I don't think Gill's going to be on the hot seat unless we pretty much tank and end up 6-6 or 5-7 this year. but that is only my opinion

[VAGolf]

Ummm, yeah, I'm not blaming him for having two division 2 teams on the schedule. I'm saying that winning 7 games, is not an improvement from 6 games, because there are two D2 schools on our schedule.

[VAGolf]

Also, the Rocco comparison is flat out stupid. We were TERRIBLE before Rocco got here. Gill has had a roster to work with, granted it's not his own, but he has definitely had more talent than when Rocco took over. That comparison is stupid.

[SuperJon]

Rocco had a lot of talent to work with when he got here. You get guys like Brock Smith, Zach Terrell, Mike Godsil, Wynton Jackson, etc and that's some inherited talent.

[LUconn]

Another two years???

uhh, yeah 4 years is pretty standard unless it's just an absolute debacle. Which this has not been.

[LUconn]

And honestly, we're talking like things are going down hill here but I think we just showed this team is on par, at least, with Coastal right now. They're the number 4 team in the country. Maybe we could be too if we could get a decent early OOC schedule and then we could absorb a loss like this past Saturday's. But we'll never know because instead we played Kentucky Wesleyan, etc.

[VAGolf]

4

[VAGolf]

Go ask Urban Meyer, Gus Malzahn, Joe Moglia or Mark Helfrich if they need 4 years to get a program winning.

[Purple Haize]

Also, the Rocco comparison is flat out stupid. We were TERRIBLE before Rocco got here. Gill has had a roster to work with, granted it's not his own, but he has definitely had more talent than when Rocco took over. That comparison is stupid.

The roster was more stocked for Gill than Rocco but it was by no means full.

To SJ point I think you are on the right concept but the wrong track. While agreeing that Coach Gill is the right person to lead the program is he the right guy to COACH the team? You list all the reasons he makes a great person to lead the program, but not so many about the coaching aspect. Especially in football these two can be mutually exclusive. How much football coaching do you think Bobby Bowden did? Tom Osbourne? A lot of Head Football coaches are great organizers and leaders of coaches. IMO, I think this fits Coach Gill to a T. Sometimes the biggest obstacle for a Head Coach is letting go and letting your Coordinators and Coaches do more.
I can't answer the Coaching aspect, but I do like the schemes for the most part. That's the Strategic part, which the HC is responsible for. It's the tactical part I am concerned about. I can answer the part about leading the program with a resounding YES.

[Purple Haize]

Go ask Urban Meyer, Gus Malzahn, Joe Moglia or Mark Helfrich if they need 4 years to get a program winning.

Apples to Cumquats comparison

[LUconn]

And honestly, we're talking like things are going down hill here but I think we just showed this team is on par, at least, with Coastal right now. They're the number 4 team in the country. Maybe we could be too if we could get a decent early OOC schedule and then we could absorb a loss like this past Saturday's. But we'll never know because instead we played Kentucky Wesleyan, etc.

We LOST! Almost winning means that we lost. I don't care who we play a close game against, and guess what? Neither do any of the students. We want wins. This is just absurd. The team is on par with Coastal? Are you kidding? THEY played with tenacity, THEY played with a killer instinct, THEY played like they wanted to win. We did none of those things. We aren't 6-1 after Saturday, or even 5-2, we're 3-4. We are half way through the season, and yet again, we have a losing record. ALL of our losses have happened exactly the same way.

No one doubts the talent on this team. Thus, Gill already has the players he needs. You don't consistently lose close, 4th quarter games because your roster isn't perfect. If we lose one more game this year, and then see similar results next year, I don't need any more reason.

I want national championships, not co-BigSouth awards.

I know we lost. You cant tie in college fb. After 4 quarters we had the same amount of points. I can only make a judgement by the head to head match up. We were every bit as good as them. Its not a moral victory, its just my opinion. We set ourselves up due to worthless scheduling to have our entire season of eggs placed in one coastal basket.

[BJWilliams]

The BIG difference with the three coaches in VAGolf's "Apples to cumquats (sic) comparison" is the fact that those three are FBS coaches at elite programs who can pretty much get their pick of recruit.

[Purple Haize]

And honestly, we're talking like things are going down hill here but I think we just showed this team is on par, at least, with Coastal right now. They're the number 4 team in the country. Maybe we could be too if we could get a decent early OOC schedule and then we could absorb a loss like this past Saturday's. But we'll never know because instead we played Kentucky Wesleyan, etc.

We LOST! Almost winning means that we lost. I don't care who we play a close game against, and guess what? Neither do any of the students. We want wins. This is just absurd. The team is on par with Coastal? Are you kidding? THEY played with tenacity, THEY played with a killer instinct, THEY played like they wanted to win. We did none of those things. We aren't 6-1 after Saturday, or even 5-2, we're 3-4. We are half way through the season, and yet again, we have a losing record. ALL of our losses have happened exactly the same way.

No one doubts the talent on this team. Thus, Gill already has the players he needs. You don't consistently lose close, 4th quarter games because your roster isn't perfect. If we lose one more game this year, and then see similar results next year, I don't need any more reason.

I want national championships, not co-BigSouth awards.

I know we lost. You cant tie in college fb. After 4 quarters we had the same amount of points. I can only make a judgement by the head to head match up. We were every bit as good as them. Its not a moral victory, its just my opinion. We set ourselves up due to worthless scheduling to have our entire season of eggs placed in one coastal basket.

So if we'd have beaten ODU and Kent State and lost to Coastal we would have had a crappy season?

[Kolzilla41]

Just read the article below on UVA football and I wonder if this should serve as a warning to us? Also, read the comment at the bottom about the coach and players not having faith in each other. That is what a losing culture does to a team.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/sports/col ... 4b496.html

[SuperJon]

To SJ point I think you are on the right concept but the wrong track. While agreeing that Coach Gill is the right person to lead the program is he the right guy to COACH the team? You list all the reasons he makes a great person to lead the program, but not so many about the coaching aspect. Especially in football these two can be mutually exclusive. How much football coaching do you think Bobby Bowden did? Tom Osbourne? A lot of Head Football coaches are great organizers and leaders of coaches. IMO, I think this fits Coach Gill to a T. Sometimes the biggest obstacle for a Head Coach is letting go and letting your Coordinators and Coaches do more.
I can't answer the Coaching aspect, but I do like the schemes for the most part. That's the Strategic part, which the HC is responsible for. It's the tactical part I am concerned about. I can answer the part about leading the program with a resounding YES.

I think we're saying the same thing just in different words. He's got someone in Wimbo that can run the defense. Stahm looked really good until the 4th calling Saturday's game. We need a Special Teams Coordinator (Roberts did it the past few years and did great). If we can get those things in place and Gill can trust them to actually call the game, I think we could make positive improvements.

[ProudPapa73]

Just read the article below on UVA football and I wonder if this should serve as a warning to us? Also, read the comment at the bottom about the coach and players not having faith in each other. That is what a losing culture does to a team.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/sports/col ... 4b496.html

Rotate; London to Lynchburg, Gill to Richmond, Rocco to Charlottesville.

[ProudPapa73]

To SJ point I think you are on the right concept but the wrong track. While agreeing that Coach Gill is the right person to lead the program is he the right guy to COACH the team? You list all the reasons he makes a great person to lead the program, but not so many about the coaching aspect. Especially in football these two can be mutually exclusive. How much football coaching do you think Bobby Bowden did? Tom Osbourne? A lot of Head Football coaches are great organizers and leaders of coaches. IMO, I think this fits Coach Gill to a T. Sometimes the biggest obstacle for a Head Coach is letting go and letting your Coordinators and Coaches do more.
I can't answer the Coaching aspect, but I do like the schemes for the most part. That's the Strategic part, which the HC is responsible for. It's the tactical part I am concerned about. I can answer the part about leading the program with a resounding YES.

I think we're saying the same thing just in different words. He's got someone in Wimbo that can run the defense. Stahm looked really good until the 4th calling Saturday's game. We need a Special Teams Coordinator (Roberts did it the past few years and did great). If we can get those things in place and Gill can trust them to actually call the game, I think we could make positive improvements.

Actually, on our last possession of the first half our clock management was mismanaged. Of course that warrants execution on the field as well. Had we run out the clock then there's no CC field goal to end the half...