I think you just described every college coach, basketball or football, that is at an FBS program. Think about it...your talking what...300 people? Those guys, even the ones that flame out have risen to where they are due to some pretty fringe personality traits. If you find yourself running a college football program at the FBS level...you probably have had amazing success everywhere else in your career. You have gotten where you are in a hyper-competitive landscape that requires a level of irrational confidence that almost nobody has.LawPoke wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 3:09 pmMaybe. If it was the only time he was cold and prickly, I'd say you were right. Based on other experience, I think he is conceited and has an ego that are off-putting. Pair that experience with the fact that I think he is driving our football program into the ground and I can't give him the benefit of any doubt and think his arrogance is wholly unearned.Cornpoke wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 1:13 pmMany players and coaches get in a "zone" before the game. I know I did as kicker, just to help block everything out. There are plenty of reasons not to like Bohl but that probably shouldn't be one of them.LawPoke wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 9:16 amHe is out of excuses. He lost me last season - or maybe the year before. I was walking across the parking lot. We were tailgating early. Bohl was walking from his office over to the team hotel. I had visited with him numerous times before, including introducing him to a decent recruit that ended up at CU. I wished him good luck and gave him a "Go Pokes!" and he just walked past me. Granted he likely had a lot on his mind, but he could have said something. He just walked past - stone-faced.ragtimejoe1 wrote: ↑Mon May 09, 2022 8:55 pmMeh, our "most experienced team in ncaa football" was largely a dud or mediocre at best against arguably the weakest schedule in cfb; the youth excuse is gone. He or fans can't play that card. Year 1 and maybe 2? Sure. Now? No way in hell.OrediggerPoke wrote: ↑Mon May 09, 2022 3:06 pm
If Bohl is successful next year and takes this young and inexperienced team to a bowl game, then I will be really impressed.
He better be successful in a mediocre to weak conference after having nearly a decade to build the program in his image. Nope. Bohl is out of excuses.
On the other hand, I am fairly certain that Linder has a big ego too. But he wins and is adaptable to address and implement change if such is required to help him win. He is arrogant, but he's earned the leeway to be arrogant because he backs it up.
In either case, I would caution that Wyoming is different. Our politics are very, very personal. You can't afford to be a jerk and expect to maintain loyalty. You can't afford many instances where you are in a zone and don't acknowledge others' mere existence. This is not hard. A simple head nod and smile, "Thank you" or "Go Pokes" is not hard. Again, if it was the first time, I would concede the point. The reality is that he is an arrogant, cocksure, pompous guy that gets by with a tough guy vocabulary and doesn't back it up on the scoreboard. He is needlessly defiant and stubborn. And it all irks the hell out of me.
My opinion...the difference is in the results. For example...take a winning a-hole coach and compare to a losing a-hole coach...both are a-holes, but the winning coach is a "character" who is "pushing the envelope" while the losing coach is...well...you said it.."needlessly defiant and stubborn.
The dirty little secret...according to my completely anecdotal first and second hand experiences with college coaches...is that they are all a-holes.
The problem with an unpopular coach is always due to lack of victories. Barring some sort of criminality, winning will give you complete immunity from personality critique.