No, I am not speaking of Marcus McCauley, his picture is up because of his award nomination this past week (of which I do not feel he deserves this season). I spent the last four days in Salt Lake City, Utah and I apologize for not being able to write about the Dogs while I spent my time up North. Apparently I missed quite a bit with respect to Bulldog football. While I was gone McCauley was named a semi-finalist for the Thorpe award. Kyle Young was suspended for what I would guess will be the remainder of the season, and Pat Hill pulled another fast one by naming Tom Brandstater our starter once again. I will get back to this decision in a minute. First of all the Kyle Young news is terrible as he is supposedly our team leader on the offensive line. Truthfully I don't much care about Young not being able to play. To me that means an underclassman is going to be able to get some experience which will only help this team going into next season. Secondly our QB will not have to squat down so low any more because Young is the reason these guys have to get so low to receive the ball.
Now let me move onto the problem I have with the QB situation. I cannot for the life of me understand a coach playing favorites as badly as Pat Hill has this season. I have no faith in Pat Hill and am firmly now a believer that he needs to leave. I do not support him, his decisions, or his role as a team leader. He has lied to the public this season as he stated he never wants to move back and forth on the QB position but has anyway. It took him five games to give Sean Norton a chance and in return he gave him one and a half games to prove himself against a top 10 LSU team and a top 15 Boise team. This Fresno State offense would not perform against Sister Mary's Catholic College. Pat Hill does not get that the problem is not in the QB position, it is in the damn offensive system. I realize many of you readers will be upset with my decision here, but I no longer support Pat Hill. I have no faith in him and have grown tired of his nonsense as a coach. It's great to dream big but we have to handle the situation we are placed in first and foremost and that situation is the Western Athletic Conference. First there has to be the goal to win your division, then to move on beyond that. We have a shot at going 1-11 this season, and yet next year I have a feeling Hill will have the same unrealistic goal of a BCS game.
Pat Hill has been a good coach for nine years (good not great). He has led the Dogs to wins over teams we should beat year after year. He has instilled a great academic program that has allowed a much higher percentage of the Dogs to graduate college and make something better of their lives. Hill should be commended for these accomplishments without a doubt. However, football wise I see nothing left in him. He cannot do anymore for this team and there is no way on earth the players have any faith in him. Saturday New Mexico State is going to throw early and often and they will score 40 points without a doubt. Do you think the Bulldogs can score 40 points with the most unrealistic offense of our time? We have more position talent this season than we ever have, yet we lose game after game. You cannot force a system onto players, you adapt your system to the players. Our players cannot run the pro set this year, they just cannot do it. It has been shown during our seven game losing streak and it will continue to be shown for the rest of the season. Hill can act giddy because he is going to start Brandstater, but there will be no difference in our offense if we have 3rd and 8 or 3rd and 9 series after series. I hate to say it but I have no faith in this team Saturday and it has nothing to do with our players. I love the players on this team and feel like they are a great group who deserves better. Hill just hasn't given them what they deserve and it is about time Hill lives up to the consequences of his piss poor job of coaching in 2006. Just think, 1.3 million dollars to win one game. No wonder the Budget at Fresno State is in the tank, they heavily overpay for the worst possible results.
But what can truly be done about this situation? The entire city of Fresno seems to realize our offense is not going to get any better under the current system. My proposal is to have Boeh step in and tell Hill to make a change. I know Boeh is not the coach, but when the one positive of a college with respect to sports goes into the toilet sometimes changes need to be made. Boeh has to see the offense is as horrific as ever and must know something has to be done. We all know Hill, Hagan, and Brown will be back next year so something else needs to be changed. It isn't the players, the scheme is awful. It's obvious the players are scared of Hill or they would say something or try to get things changed. So who is in a position to step in and say something? The only person that comes to mind is Boeh. The Dogs will be losing money here soon as I cannot imagine there being more than 30,000 at the game this weekend. If we lose look for maybe 25,000 the week after. There just is nothing to be excited about anymore and I throw that on Pat Hill. You may not agree with me but he is the coach and this year I definitely feel like he deserves all of the blame for the demise of the Fresno State Bulldogs.
Blogger Note - The Blog has gone over 100,000 views and I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has viewed this blog and read it over the past two years. It's great to know so many people care about the state of the Bulldogs. By the way tune into ESPN tonight at 4:30 Pacific Standard Time. If you want to watch a team who has rebuilt the way you should check out 8-0 Rutgers against Louisville. That is how it should be done, and I can only hope the Dogs can get back on track with respect to the football program.
6 comments:
I have been going to Fresno State Football games as long as PH has been Head Coach. I've gone on road trips to see the 'Dogs in places like Seattle, Boise, Reno and L.A. Yet I have no more patience with the stubborness of Pat Hill. Year in and year out he refuses to make changes and openly admits it during interviews. Well, that's just a recipe for disaster. After the downward spiral of last season he was interviewed and asked after what happened at the end of this season what changes would be made. He said "we're not gonna change anything." I just had a bad feeling that that response would like to a season like this.
The CSU game was the last game I attended this season. After the Utah State debacle I gave up on this team and the season. They play like they are in slow motion and don't want to win much less be out on the field. I will not be present for the last two games because the season was lost a long time ago and the team is not fun to watch. There are problems with coaching, offense, defense and special teams.
As stubborn as PH is, I doubt he'll make any changes and if that's the case then it's time for him to move on. I, for one, will not be going to any games next year much less watching them on tv. Not if PH is gonna set us up for more futility next season by not making changes.
You know if you told me this opinion five weeks ago I would have been upset with you, but I have to say that Pat Hill has taken something we all love (Fresno State Football) and turned it into a joke. He will not change, and the only person that seems to think this is a good idea is Hill himself. We as fans all know what is wrong, we can all predict the plays five minutes before the Dogs run them yet he will not change the way he coaches. It does not work anymore and he is draining so many fans. I just wish he would realize that his way is not the only way.
Sad! This Blog was my first stop every night. But, I will no longer visit a site hosted by someone's who can't be loyal to a coach having his first down year. Your idea of Dog loyalty is just too different from mine. Good Bye.
NSC, those who tell the truth are often demonized. "Barkelnic" is simply representative of those who would prefer to "shoot the messenger," rather than fix the problem.
The truth is, we are not having "one down year." We are in the midst of a 1-11 slide, and we have yet to win the WAC under Hill. Fresno State is regularly beaten by "lessor" teams, and the "greater" teams we beat usually turn out ot be pretenders instead of contenders.
In my opinion, Pat Hill is a fine program builder, but not a great coach. Moreover, he is squandering the very capital he has helped earned: Our reputation. This is not one down year.
Steve Burnes
nsc is right on. we all can see that a one win and 11 losses in the past twelve games is not exactly a top tier football program even in the weak WAC. Hill is not being loyal to his fans or his players by not preparing his team to compete every week. He is only loyal to those loser coordinator coaches that he has on both sides of the ball. Right now Fresno St. football is the laughingstock of college football . Hill depends too much on emotion rather than preperation and game time adjustments. A very poor disciplined team. I don't think the players can communicate with Hill or his staff any longer.
Barkelnic I am sorry you feel that way about the blog. However, you are dead wrong if you feel like this is going to only be one down year. Take a look at the team we have and the future of this team. You really believe with this type of coaching that the Bulldogs are going to be any better next season or the one following that? To me it is laughable to think a predictable offense and horrific defense will get the Dogs anywhere. I am sorry I stand by my comments that the team has the talent but the coaching has gone awry.
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