But the board despises him. Why? I agree he shouldn’t have gotten the job in the first place, but now that he’s here, is his presence really what’s holding the program back from taking the next step? The special teams were very good this year. The strikers were certainly not a weakness. Could he be replaced with a more experienced coach? Of course. But how many stud coaches you think are lining up to come here and coach specialists and 3 kids on defense? We had 1 FG blocked, 0 punts, had 1 kick returned for a TD, punt coverage was excellent all year, his 2 kids are all-Americans (it’s surely their talent that deserves most of that credit, but you still have to keep kids sharp and locked in). I just don’t see the “If we can get rid of Patke, we’ll turn a corner” school of thought. I don’t know the guy personally, maybe he’s pretty sharp and the kids play hard for him.