Comments on: Ty Willingham: Coaches Need More Time http://larrybrownsports.com/college-football/tyrone-willingham-coaches-need-more-time/4111 Brown Bag it, Baby Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:26:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: theHoundDawg http://larrybrownsports.com/college-football/tyrone-willingham-coaches-need-more-time/4111/comment-page-1#comment-373200 theHoundDawg Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:24:59 +0000 http://larrybrownsports.com/?p=4111#comment-373200 It works both ways. There have been a few head coaches come in and do incredibly well - with the talent their predecessors left, and after two or three more years, the program falls apart. The poster boy for this was of course Larry Coker, who won a National Championship with the players Butch Davis left him at Miami, only to see the program crash and burn a short time later. Not too dissimilar was the situation at UCLA, where Bob Toledo's Bruins won 20 games in a row through years two and three, only to lose control but somehow last through five .500 seasons. More than just won lost record needs to be considered in evaluating head coaches. A bad start can be acceptable if there is some degree of improvement, and there are quality personnel in the program. Winning at the beginning sometimes masks big problems that can haunt the school for years to come. I have every confidence that Rick Neuheisel is a quality guy, an excellent coach, and that he has learned from his errors. I totally discount his 4-8 first year at UCLA and see a very bright future for the program, and expect him to be at UCLA for many years, but the facts remain that despite winning years, 33–14 at Colorado and 33–16 at Washington, he was fired from each school after only four years, and he left horrible messes at both schools. It works both ways. There have been a few head coaches come in and do incredibly well – with the talent their predecessors left, and after two or three more years, the program falls apart. The poster boy for this was of course Larry Coker, who won a National Championship with the players Butch Davis left him at Miami, only to see the program crash and burn a short time later. Not too dissimilar was the situation at UCLA, where Bob Toledo’s Bruins won 20 games in a row through years two and three, only to lose control but somehow last through five .500 seasons.

More than just won lost record needs to be considered in evaluating head coaches. A bad start can be acceptable if there is some degree of improvement, and there are quality personnel in the program. Winning at the beginning sometimes masks big problems that can haunt the school for years to come.

I have every confidence that Rick Neuheisel is a quality guy, an excellent coach, and that he has learned from his errors. I totally discount his 4-8 first year at UCLA and see a very bright future for the program, and expect him to be at UCLA for many years, but the facts remain that despite winning years, 33–14 at Colorado and 33–16 at Washington, he was fired from each school after only four years, and he left horrible messes at both schools.

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