Re: Coach O\'Leary sighting
BeeBad, no, you are looking at only one aspect of Bowden. You cannot draw a conclusion from that one aspect.
First, Bowden proved his abilities at every school where he has coached. Even though Bowden has lost some top assistants in the recent past, he has lost assistants throughout his career, both at West Virginia and FSU.
Bowden continued to win over a long period of time at various schools after changing assistants.
In the case of Friegden and O'Leary, you do not have the case where O'Leary excelled without Friegden, so your example does not apply. Had O'Leary excelled prior to Frieden's appearance or after he had gone, you could make a strong case for his abilities as a head coach.
I hope O'Leary gets another chance in college somewhere in the near future. If he does, I will follow his progress with curiosity to see how he performs and would be hoping he would succeed. I do not think his mistake on his resume should hold him back in getting another job.
Since Ralph has proven himself as an offensive genius, I do believe some of the ADs would be a little leery of O'Leary's record, but I do think some ADs would probably give him a chance.
He did prove he was not afraid to take a program that was down, roll up his sleeves, and hit it head on. He also was the catalyst in the additions to our present stadium. He was also a good recruiter. He also proved he was not afraid to buck the system to protect his players.
I would imagine he could possibly recruit even better at a school that did not have the academic limitations of a GT.
Probably the biggest problem with Bowden and Paterno are their age. It is a fact you lose enthusiasm and the ability to think quickly as you age.
Enthusiasm is contagious and spreads to the players on the team. The lack of same also spreads to the team.
I would guess Bowden has lost some of those games because he could not think of the proper moves to make at the right time during some of those games. After the games, he probably sat back and reflected on them and could see where he should have done differently.
If he was in his prime, he might have made better decisions more quickly, which might have produced wins instead of losses.
Now there is no question that good assistants are extremely valuable.
You also forgot Fulmer at Tennessee losing his offensive coordinator to Ole Miss. Tennessee has not been as productive since then.
Bobby Dodd was a good coach, but his records were enhanced when he had Frank Broyles as his offensive coordinator and Ray Graves as his defensive coordinator. His production suffered some after those coordinators left for head coaching jobs.
Father Time
BeeBad, no, you are looking at only one aspect of Bowden. You cannot draw a conclusion from that one aspect.
First, Bowden proved his abilities at every school where he has coached. Even though Bowden has lost some top assistants in the recent past, he has lost assistants throughout his career, both at West Virginia and FSU.
Bowden continued to win over a long period of time at various schools after changing assistants.
In the case of Friegden and O'Leary, you do not have the case where O'Leary excelled without Friegden, so your example does not apply. Had O'Leary excelled prior to Frieden's appearance or after he had gone, you could make a strong case for his abilities as a head coach.
I hope O'Leary gets another chance in college somewhere in the near future. If he does, I will follow his progress with curiosity to see how he performs and would be hoping he would succeed. I do not think his mistake on his resume should hold him back in getting another job.
Since Ralph has proven himself as an offensive genius, I do believe some of the ADs would be a little leery of O'Leary's record, but I do think some ADs would probably give him a chance.
He did prove he was not afraid to take a program that was down, roll up his sleeves, and hit it head on. He also was the catalyst in the additions to our present stadium. He was also a good recruiter. He also proved he was not afraid to buck the system to protect his players.
I would imagine he could possibly recruit even better at a school that did not have the academic limitations of a GT.
Probably the biggest problem with Bowden and Paterno are their age. It is a fact you lose enthusiasm and the ability to think quickly as you age.
Enthusiasm is contagious and spreads to the players on the team. The lack of same also spreads to the team.
I would guess Bowden has lost some of those games because he could not think of the proper moves to make at the right time during some of those games. After the games, he probably sat back and reflected on them and could see where he should have done differently.
If he was in his prime, he might have made better decisions more quickly, which might have produced wins instead of losses.
Now there is no question that good assistants are extremely valuable.
You also forgot Fulmer at Tennessee losing his offensive coordinator to Ole Miss. Tennessee has not been as productive since then.
Bobby Dodd was a good coach, but his records were enhanced when he had Frank Broyles as his offensive coordinator and Ray Graves as his defensive coordinator. His production suffered some after those coordinators left for head coaching jobs.
Father Time
