Fire Hopson
- Thread starter norfolkeagle
- Start date
Tell me who you want to replace him with and if we can afford him? I think Hop has another year on his contract and I don't think we can afford to pay out a year of his contract and pay another HC.
This is a really young team, at least on offense and I think most didn't expect much. However, this team probably should be 6-2 at this point. I think if we'd had Griggs at QB for the season, we'd be 6-2. Now he's gone. I hope the freshman continues to start. He's better than Abraham, just less experienced.
This is a really young team, at least on offense and I think most didn't expect much. However, this team probably should be 6-2 at this point. I think if we'd had Griggs at QB for the season, we'd be 6-2. Now he's gone. I hope the freshman continues to start. He's better than Abraham, just less experienced.
Who knows. We have now developed into an "average" team playing in a bad conference. I guess not playing the App State game has worked out to be a positive for us. What distresses me is that we are in a phase now where the rest of the crowd is slowly improving while we are backing up, speaking on a year to year basis.
Maybe even 7-1. This is why he should be fired. Same crap last year. We can see who the best QB is and he cannot or just refuses to play the best (by playing favorites)....costing USM wins. An absolute shame bc he has the defense playing lights out. Play the right QB the last 2 years and we would be singing his praises.
No doubt about it. We're in a no win situation.
#1 Recruiting: The power 5 teams around us suck up every really good player in our area and where we once could grab one or two players that slipped under the radar, that's not the case now. We compete with UAB, Troy and S. Alabama for the Alabama players, La Tech, Tulane, ULL and UL Monroe for the Louisiana players and of course as always, the Mississippi players will choose MSU and Ole Piss or another SEC program before they choose USM. At one point, USM was considered a "big time" program over these non-SEC teams.
#2 Location: We'll never get into another conference, even the American won't select us because of our lack of TV market. In our own conference teams like UAB, Charlotte, FIA, FAU, MTSU and ODU are ahead of us in the pecking order due to their TV markets. So, we're stuck in arguably the worst D-1 conference.
#3 Winning Big: We haven't done much of that lately. In fact USM has only had 15 of 104 seasons in our entire history when we won 9 or more games. And, we have not been able to overcome the disastrous Ellis Johnson year. USM hasn't been the same program since that 0-12 year. Winning big MIGHT move us into contention for a spot in the American should they need to expand, but it would still be a long shot. I mean look at Tulane. They are one of the worst football programs in D-1 year after year after year, yet because of their location, they ended up in the American while we continue to sit in the squalor of CrapUSA.
#4 Attendance: I know attendance has fallen across the country, but we've never been able to draw consistent crowds. Even when we were winning with Bower and Fedora, we averaged less than 25,000 most years. As I sat in the stadium today for the Marshall game, it was depressing to see maybe 12-13,000 in the stands. I know the crowd was announced at 20,000, but that's bullshit. The student section was EMPTY as was that entire side of the stadium. A truly pathetic sight. But if we were winning and packing in 35,000 a game, the American might take that into account. But most likely that wouldn't make much difference either.
So, in my opinion, we're what we are and we'll be where we are for a long, long time. I'm just hopeful that somehow, our basketball program can turn it around and get back to becoming a consistent winner and maybe make some NCAA tournaments. I think that's the only way USM can become a viable D-1 sports school. No knock on our fine baseball program. I love it, it's just that it will never generate the revenue football and basketball can and it doesn't resonate with the average sports fan.
If we want to be completely honest with, and about ourselves, there is probably no other conference that would want us. The Southland might want us. And as I said, being completely honest, what could we offer a conference that would be a major positive? Baseball is only thing that I can see at the moment. But even there, other schools are catching and passing us in the facilities area.
I tell you what I want. I want this administration to not offer someone that is unproven a 4 year deal. And furthermore, when you have quality coaches sitting in your lap then make them an offer to stay. It's a concept that everyone in business should know. It takes money to make money. Make the investment in someone that is qualified and knows what they are doing. Hopson clearly does not have the knowledge to get us there. We are stuck because of a stupid decision.
