I believe the following things:
1. Craig Bohl is a very good coach who has had big time success in his career
2. Craig Bohl was a great hire by Tom Burman. Very few people nationally thought Wyoming could pry him away from NDSU. This is not unusual at Wyoming. Most fans also thought Vic Koenning was a great hire. Laramie was buzzing about what an upgrade he would be over Dimel. And of course most of us thought the same about Joe and DC. They all seemed great on paper and they all have proven throughout their careers that they are good football coaches.
3. The Wyoming team we've seen on the field the past two weeks is young, yes, - but has also looked disorganized, slow, small, poorly prepared and completely outclassed at home by two very, very mediocre programs.
4. In many (I would say most) cases, programs are turned around in 3 years if they're going to be turned around at all, and progress is almost always shown in Year 2. Look at CSU under McElwain. They were a dumpster fire under Fairchild. Year 1, McElwain went 4-8. Year 2 they went 7-6 and were in a bowl. Year 3 they were in the discussion for a NYE bowl game and ranked in the Top 25. Some more examples:
- Rutgers went 20 years without a bowl bid. Greg Schiano made a bowl there in his third year and four consecutive after that
- When Jeff Tedford came to Cal they hadn't been better than .500 in eight years. Teford never had a losing season.
- When Paul Johnson came to Navy he went 2-10 his first season. In Year 2 they went 8-4.
- Gary Patterson's first year at TCU they went 6-6. The next year they went 10-2. The rest is history.
- Even Bill Snyder, the prototype program builder, showed yearly progress. He went from 1-10 to 5-6 to 7-4.
- Justin Fuente at Memphis had two rough first seasons, but in Year 3 went 10-3 and finished last year in the Top 25.
- P.J. Fleck at Western Michigan went 1-10 his first year but 8-5 in his second.
5. Of the 8 position coaches and coordinators under Bohl, only one has experience at a Power 5 school (Kaligis at Washington) and only two more have any experience at all at the FBS level (Stanard at a couple stops including as DC under Lubick and Mike Bath at Miami (OH).)
That means our coaches for WRs, cornerbacks, offensive line, defensive ends, special teams - as well as our offensive coordinator - had a combined zero (0) years of experience at the FBS level prior to coming to Wyoming.
6. I had no expectation that Wyoming would set the world on fire this year. I thought we'd go 6-6 if we were lucky, and 4-8 wouldn't have surprised me. I have no problem being patient for a couple years while Bohl gets his program in place. But I'm not going to just accept as a blind article of faith that what they're doing is working. Because ball don't lie...
Does this mean Bohl should be fired or that his seat is hot? Don't be stupid. We all know he's getting at least 5 years so we might as well buckle in for the ride. But even with two stud running backs, supposedly decent QB options and a somewhat experienced defensive line, as a team we have shown significant regression since last year. We just have. If you don't admit that you're lying to yourself. The last two games are some of the worst football I've ever seen played in Laramie.
For me, the honeymoon is over. And while I think and hope it COULD get better it's getting harder to really believe it - at least not with a staff with such limited experience and a program with financial resources that aren't close to the top of the league.
I hope I'm wrong. I just don't think I am.
1. Craig Bohl is a very good coach who has had big time success in his career
2. Craig Bohl was a great hire by Tom Burman. Very few people nationally thought Wyoming could pry him away from NDSU. This is not unusual at Wyoming. Most fans also thought Vic Koenning was a great hire. Laramie was buzzing about what an upgrade he would be over Dimel. And of course most of us thought the same about Joe and DC. They all seemed great on paper and they all have proven throughout their careers that they are good football coaches.
3. The Wyoming team we've seen on the field the past two weeks is young, yes, - but has also looked disorganized, slow, small, poorly prepared and completely outclassed at home by two very, very mediocre programs.
4. In many (I would say most) cases, programs are turned around in 3 years if they're going to be turned around at all, and progress is almost always shown in Year 2. Look at CSU under McElwain. They were a dumpster fire under Fairchild. Year 1, McElwain went 4-8. Year 2 they went 7-6 and were in a bowl. Year 3 they were in the discussion for a NYE bowl game and ranked in the Top 25. Some more examples:
- Rutgers went 20 years without a bowl bid. Greg Schiano made a bowl there in his third year and four consecutive after that
- When Jeff Tedford came to Cal they hadn't been better than .500 in eight years. Teford never had a losing season.
- When Paul Johnson came to Navy he went 2-10 his first season. In Year 2 they went 8-4.
- Gary Patterson's first year at TCU they went 6-6. The next year they went 10-2. The rest is history.
- Even Bill Snyder, the prototype program builder, showed yearly progress. He went from 1-10 to 5-6 to 7-4.
- Justin Fuente at Memphis had two rough first seasons, but in Year 3 went 10-3 and finished last year in the Top 25.
- P.J. Fleck at Western Michigan went 1-10 his first year but 8-5 in his second.
5. Of the 8 position coaches and coordinators under Bohl, only one has experience at a Power 5 school (Kaligis at Washington) and only two more have any experience at all at the FBS level (Stanard at a couple stops including as DC under Lubick and Mike Bath at Miami (OH).)
That means our coaches for WRs, cornerbacks, offensive line, defensive ends, special teams - as well as our offensive coordinator - had a combined zero (0) years of experience at the FBS level prior to coming to Wyoming.
6. I had no expectation that Wyoming would set the world on fire this year. I thought we'd go 6-6 if we were lucky, and 4-8 wouldn't have surprised me. I have no problem being patient for a couple years while Bohl gets his program in place. But I'm not going to just accept as a blind article of faith that what they're doing is working. Because ball don't lie...
Does this mean Bohl should be fired or that his seat is hot? Don't be stupid. We all know he's getting at least 5 years so we might as well buckle in for the ride. But even with two stud running backs, supposedly decent QB options and a somewhat experienced defensive line, as a team we have shown significant regression since last year. We just have. If you don't admit that you're lying to yourself. The last two games are some of the worst football I've ever seen played in Laramie.
For me, the honeymoon is over. And while I think and hope it COULD get better it's getting harder to really believe it - at least not with a staff with such limited experience and a program with financial resources that aren't close to the top of the league.
I hope I'm wrong. I just don't think I am.
