There is not a single MAC program that currently looks at 8-4 as a low level acceptance level. And I would say to you, by far our best chance to getting to that level is to keep Chuck at coach and let him keep building. If he has a great season, at that point he might be able to up the recruiting level. Not like Heywood who got out of Oxford as soon as he could.
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Keep building??? How many years do you want to give him? Not sure there is any head coach in any sport that still has a job that is still building in year 9.
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To be fair, Haywood couldn’t get out of Oxford fast enough… but if a coach is able to pull off that turnaround job, get 10 wins, and a conference title, and then bolts, I’ll take having a coach leave every 2 years.
Edit: That 2010 season also showed the importance of having quality assistant coaches.
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@DICK, are you really comparing Chuck to Bo, Bill Mallory and Dick Crum? I’m curious, what would it take for you to finally have enough of Chuck?
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I am not expecting Chuck to be fired, Dick, but I sure would like Sayler to give him an ultimatum about replacing the OC, and finding a way for a better game plan suited to our player personnel (especially QB), and better game management. (at a minimum).
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Chuck went 2-1 in 2020. That’s the only time he’s had a winning percentage over .600 in a season. So when you casually toss out 6-4 or 7-3 know those seasons are better than anything Chuck has accomplished in a full season in 8 tries. Let alone 9 or 10 wins.
It’s incredible we don’t think there are dozens and dozens of guys we could hire that could get us to 6-6 each year. Stockholm Syndrome has fully set in.
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Went back and quickly looked at our schedule and results for 1969-72. We went 7-3 (.700 winning percentage) all 4 years and did not win the MAC in any…at the same time during that timeframe we beat UC 3 of the 4 years, dominated our regional rivals Dayton and Xavier, and also beat Maryland and South Carolina.
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The fans aren’t happy about it, but the coaching staff and leadership are…
No they don’t.
Re Gabbert entering the portal, I’m with Red Sea…this is bad loss for the program.
I heard at least one D1 coach has told players once they enter the portal, they are not allowed to return…even if they don’t get selected by another team. Curious how many other coaches have this policy.
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It’s actually pretty common for teams to have a wildcat/running QB who comes in for specific situations and is able to be effective. It’s tough to stop even if you know it’s coming and if defenses sell out to stop the run, that can open things up in the passing game. Gus Ragland threw 29 passes in 2015 playing exclusively as a wildcat QB and he completed 70% of them.
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Here we go again, Dick. I was in school during the same period you were. 7-3 seasons represented a 70% win percentage - and we had three in a row. Comparing that to today’s 6-6 .500 season isn’t nearly the convincing argument you think it is.
During the five or six seasons leading up to the three glory years we were beating the OOC likes of Tulane, Pacific, Maryland, South Carolina and Cincinnati (the Bearcats a number of times). And our coaching staff wasn’t stagnant during that time period. The Cradle was giving birth. Bo left for Michigan and was replaced by Bill Mallory, who left for Colorado. . Mallory started the magical run and was replaced by Dick Crum, who finished it and left for North Carolina. Tom Reed replaced Crum, had success and left for NC State.
During the current nine-year run, we haven’t hit a .700 win percentage even a single time.
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…As I recall, if you go back and re-read The Cradle of Coach’s book, Bill Mallory talks about the frustration with not winning the MAC those years…a powerhouse Toledo stood in the way but we had other MAC losses. At the same time, as noted,we were very competitive OOC and if today’s bowl proliferation was in place we would have gone bowling every year in the 60’s, every year but one in the 70’s, 5 times in the 80’s, and 8 of 10 in the 90’s w Randy Walker.
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Probably more than would admit so….I don’t blame them….
Excuse me Idiot but one does not need to denigrate Gabbert to “boost” Smith or Humphreys. Miami’s record books clearly show where Gabbert ranks alltime (top 10 in every passing category). He was better than you give him credit for.
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I don’t expect Aveon to become the 2nd best QB in Miami history. I was mainly taking issue with posters who claim they know as “the truth” that we won’t win a championship with him at QB.
I will add this-- a qaurterback with both running and passing skills is a coveted commodity in college football (and the NFL). If Aveon can improve his accuracy in the off season, who knows what his upside might be. He won five games for us this year when he wasn’t expected to see much action. Don’t count him out.
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Not really Dick…I did not check Toledo yet, but OU had one “down” transition year, and still beat us…
But they are the same or better than Miami in MAC since 2016…and we’ll never know what Chuck would do with OU’s OOC schedule.
He struggled with Bob Morris…
PS pretty sure you’ll see that Toledo is right there as well, with one down year.
Since 2016, MAC wins:
Toledo - 35
Ohio - 34
Miami - 33
The overall wins look better for OU and Toledo, of course, and OHIO has us head to head I’m sure…can’t remember if we even played Toledo.
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And if we bring in the next Big Ben we’ll be set too. Hypotheticals are fun.
The most immediate issue is implementing an offensive system that isn’t awful. As long as the system is status quo it won’t matter who plays QB—we’ll never win as much as we want to.
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Those were the Toledo years when we were facing future CFL Hall of Fame QB Chuck Ealey. Almost beat them once….lost 14-13. He was the Warren Moon or Doug Flutie of his era…the first Black QB to win the Grey Cup.
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Sorenson made Gabberts numbers look better = FACT
Gabbert 1-3 this year = fact
Never said he was not a great QB
Carryon UnCoolPapa
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I really like dual threat quarterbacks. This may draw a chuckle, but Aveon reminds me of Anthony Richardson at Florida.
Richardson often scares Gator fans when he throws, but he’s electrifying with his ability to beat you as a runner on any given play. In Gainesville, they’re trying to decide how much NIL money it will take to keep him for another year.
I realize it’s a different level of competition, but don’t discount the benefit of a QB who can run like Aveon can.
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