catamount man
November 12th, 2006, 07:15 AM
THANK...YOU...KEITH...JARRETT!!! The cold, hard truth unfortunately!:bow:
CITIZEN-TIMES.com
It’s going to take a lot of work to pull Catamounts out of the muck
Keith Jarrett
November 12, 2006 12:15 am
CULLOWHEE — It was a dark and stormy night at Whitmire Stadium.
And while the skies cleared in the second half after a driving rainstorm early in the Appalachian State game Saturday, it’s going to take a lot more than weather changes to remove the black cloud hanging over the Western Carolina football team.
Eight straight losses that will become nine after WCU drowns in The Swamp at Florida next week only begins to tell the story of a program in a sorry state.
Injuries and suspensions and players leaving the program have all contributed to a 2-8 record that includes the first winless season in Southern Conference play since WCU joined the league 30 years ago.
The Cats have been equal opportunity awful — in nine games against I-AA competition, the offense has produced just 10 touchdowns, and four of those were fourth-quarter, lost-cause passes thrown by a backup quarterback. In those nine games, the defense has given up 33 touchdowns.
But perhaps more difficult to overcome than an anemic offense and generous defense is an administration that has provided players little chance to succeed and has alumni wondering why they should provide financial and emotional support to continued ineptitude.
Athletic director Chip Smith — with the blessing of chancellor John Bardo — made what now appears to be a monumental blunder in giving a three-year contract extension to coach Kent Briggs one game into this season.
That came one month after Smith said he would not make a decision on Briggs’ future until after the season and that Briggs’ progress toward building a winning program would be part of the evaluation process.
The Cats have gone 1-8 since the news was announced and have been outscored 254-117.
Now the program has a coach with a 21-32 record in five seasons, 12-25 in the Southern Conference and is locked into paying more than $332,000 in total salary through 2009.
Briggs is a nice guy who loves Cullowhee and his university, and he has a lot of friends and supporters who want him to succeed.
But sometimes nice guys finish last, and so do the Catamounts.
Briggs has one winning season (5-4) and four losing records, and the current state of the program shows no evidence of heading in the right direction.
Next season’s schedule opens with games at Alabama, at Eastern Kentucky and at Georgia and closes with Appalachian State and Furman.
Anybody see a win in there?
A recent emphasis on helping athletics produced more than $15 million in improvements in Cullowhee, and the facilities do look significantly better.
But football pays the bills, and right now that $332,000 stands out like cash tossed into the wind.
Briggs has eight assistant coaches, and five of them make $40,000 or less, three at $33,000 or below.
The cliché “you get what you pay for” comes to mind.
Four football coaches, including Briggs, are required to teach classes instead of concentrating on football full-time.
It’s hard to be competitive under ridiculous conditions.
Smith’s explanation for public consumption in giving the extension at such a strange time was to provide continuity for the program.
The guess here is most Cats’ fans have grown tired of the continuity they have watched for more than 20 years.
The question about whether Briggs can win football games has apparently two answers — one by on-field performance, and the other a premature commitment to perpetuate a long-term problem.
The question now is the competence of an administration that is supposed to provide answers.
This is the opinion of senior writer Keith Jarrett, who can be reached at 232-5867 or [email protected].
CITIZEN-TIMES.com
It’s going to take a lot of work to pull Catamounts out of the muck
Keith Jarrett
November 12, 2006 12:15 am
CULLOWHEE — It was a dark and stormy night at Whitmire Stadium.
And while the skies cleared in the second half after a driving rainstorm early in the Appalachian State game Saturday, it’s going to take a lot more than weather changes to remove the black cloud hanging over the Western Carolina football team.
Eight straight losses that will become nine after WCU drowns in The Swamp at Florida next week only begins to tell the story of a program in a sorry state.
Injuries and suspensions and players leaving the program have all contributed to a 2-8 record that includes the first winless season in Southern Conference play since WCU joined the league 30 years ago.
The Cats have been equal opportunity awful — in nine games against I-AA competition, the offense has produced just 10 touchdowns, and four of those were fourth-quarter, lost-cause passes thrown by a backup quarterback. In those nine games, the defense has given up 33 touchdowns.
But perhaps more difficult to overcome than an anemic offense and generous defense is an administration that has provided players little chance to succeed and has alumni wondering why they should provide financial and emotional support to continued ineptitude.
Athletic director Chip Smith — with the blessing of chancellor John Bardo — made what now appears to be a monumental blunder in giving a three-year contract extension to coach Kent Briggs one game into this season.
That came one month after Smith said he would not make a decision on Briggs’ future until after the season and that Briggs’ progress toward building a winning program would be part of the evaluation process.
The Cats have gone 1-8 since the news was announced and have been outscored 254-117.
Now the program has a coach with a 21-32 record in five seasons, 12-25 in the Southern Conference and is locked into paying more than $332,000 in total salary through 2009.
Briggs is a nice guy who loves Cullowhee and his university, and he has a lot of friends and supporters who want him to succeed.
But sometimes nice guys finish last, and so do the Catamounts.
Briggs has one winning season (5-4) and four losing records, and the current state of the program shows no evidence of heading in the right direction.
Next season’s schedule opens with games at Alabama, at Eastern Kentucky and at Georgia and closes with Appalachian State and Furman.
Anybody see a win in there?
A recent emphasis on helping athletics produced more than $15 million in improvements in Cullowhee, and the facilities do look significantly better.
But football pays the bills, and right now that $332,000 stands out like cash tossed into the wind.
Briggs has eight assistant coaches, and five of them make $40,000 or less, three at $33,000 or below.
The cliché “you get what you pay for” comes to mind.
Four football coaches, including Briggs, are required to teach classes instead of concentrating on football full-time.
It’s hard to be competitive under ridiculous conditions.
Smith’s explanation for public consumption in giving the extension at such a strange time was to provide continuity for the program.
The guess here is most Cats’ fans have grown tired of the continuity they have watched for more than 20 years.
The question about whether Briggs can win football games has apparently two answers — one by on-field performance, and the other a premature commitment to perpetuate a long-term problem.
The question now is the competence of an administration that is supposed to provide answers.
This is the opinion of senior writer Keith Jarrett, who can be reached at 232-5867 or [email protected].