I’m glad we will never go back to the days when Manny was here. OL is Mario’s baby and we will spend the money to make sure it’s good. And clearly they are good coaches and recruiters
But I just kinda shrug at the idea that you can’t question them
You gotta be a special kind of moron to watch what we've watched for 3 years, and watched Mario at Oregon, and just have absolutely ZERO hesitation that this won't turn out perfectly.
I thought Mario was the best man for the job by miles 3 years ago, and I'm still firmly in that corner. But even as much as the team has improved in 3 years, and make no mistake, it absolutely has, for someone to give total carte blanche to a coach who has, as of yet, not won anything of significance, is a level of slurper that should be scientically studied.
At the end of the day, the only job of the football coach is to win football games. That's literally it. There are obviously a billion things that go into winning and losing, but you are judged on your ability to win football games as a football coach. So we're all on here everyday talking every nuance of the program, but at the end of the day, the only thing to truly discuss about Mario when the rubber meets the road are the 3 seasons worth of Saturdays he's compiled here. Not at Oregon, we don't care about that anymore. Here.
Year 1 was an unmitigated disaster, OK. I don't judge a coach after a season, good or bad. If you'd have been sucked into a black hole after Year 1 of tenures you'd think Larry Coker was Vince Lombardi and Nick Saban was Mark Onofrio.
Year 2 was better, by a decent margin. But that pesky forgot take a knee thing he'll never live down. Oops. So the confidence level is still high, but has to take a little ding. Only winning 7 in year 2 ain't great, but we're building, right?
Year 3 was better, by again another decent margin. Now 10 games. Best season in a very long time. That's not insignificant. There's real, tangible progress there. But we still had a 21-0 lead in a game that puts us into the playoff, bar none, and the defense was so ******* pathetic, we blew it. That's on Mario, because winning and losing football games here is all that matters. He's the coach. So while the confidence level has to remain high, because we have progressed significantly, you simply cannot say the man shouldn't even be questioned because, through 3 years, he ain't won a ******* thing. Yet.
I'm so happy we get actual ball in a couple weeks. Last year was the most important year we've had in over a decade. Well guess what you acquire when you have a modicum of success? More pressure. Some narratives were squashed last year, some were not. You got another shot at it now, with what many are saying is as talented a roster as this program has seen in some time. Go win something significant. Double-digit games. Charlotte. The playoffs. It's time.
