A little lurking...

[PokeTransplant]

I was lurking around the old boards and found an interesting statement from an ol' poster that you may be familiar with talking to the point of Gary Barnett being the #1 on a list of possible Glenn replacements. With the Colorado fiasco still fairly fresh and the record of the Buffs equally as fresh:


1999 Colorado 7-5 5-3 3rd (North Division W, 62-28 Insight.com Bowl
2000 Colorado 3-8 3-5 4th (North Division)
2001 Colorado 10-3 7-1 1st L, 38-16 Fiesta Bowl † 9 9
2002 Colorado 9-5 7-1 1st (North Division) L, 31-28 (OT) Alamo Bowl 21 20
2003 Colorado 5-7 3-5 T-4th (North Division)
2004 Colorado 8-5 4-4 1st (North Division) W, 33-28 EV1.net Houston Bowl
2005 Colorado 7-5 5-3 1st (North Division) L, 19-10 Champs Sports Bowl
Colorado: 49-39 34-22

I am a bit torn as to my opinion of having Gary as the new HC at Wyoming. Do I think it possible? Definately. Do I think he could recruit to Laramie? No reason to think otherwise. Do I think that he may cause a bit of drama in the athletic dept? More than likely. Do I think that he could put a winner on the field in the War? YES, I DO.

That last point is a real seller to me if TB pulls the trigger and gets Barnett to come to Laramie. What's the opinion of the rest of you.......

[MrTitleist]

We could really do without the probation and baggage following Barnett.

[PokeTransplant]

I agree that the baggage following Barnett may be a bit much to handle considering what went down at CU...but, is it possible that he may have humbled a bit with his view of himself...that he may not be the messiah that he perceived himself as being at CU? If (big IF), he has put his ego aside for the sake of trying to be a better person (see After Colorado)...could he possibly put the football program back on track as far as competitiveness in the MWC?

His disdain for CSU would have to be a plus....

[MrTitleist]

If distain for CSU was a plus, we'd all qualify as coaches!

[SnipeyPoke]

I have distain for CSU, BYU, Utah and TCU sign me up!

[Wyolie Coyote]

If distain for CSU was a plus, we'd all qualify as coaches!

You mean to tell me that I don't qualify as a coach?! Well there goes my day. I hate 8 other teams in the conference, is that better?!

[McPeachy]

No doubt about it, Barnett is a solid coach. Let's all face it...we would win with him at the helm, and compete for MWC championships almost immediately.

That being said, I think he was thrown under the bus a bit at CU, although he maybe deserved it. If he was the HC at UW, he would need to tighten the reins up a bit...unlike how he allowed things to happen at CU.

[Wyolie Coyote]

McPeach- so are you advocating the hiring of Barnett? I am assuming you also wanted Reggie Theus for the bball program too!

I also think that it may not be a bad hire. If we want to make a statement and become competitive, he may just be the right choice. I would hope that he would bring in a Ted Gilmore type to groom as our next coach. We need to be looking down the road as Barnett would most likely leave after achieving success at UW. It certainly would be interesting to see the fan reaction to a Barnett hire.

[McPeachy]

I did want Reggie Theus (and I guess was outspoken enough, although it didn't work)! I know this...we would be in a different situation right now (with men's hoops) with Reggie at the helm. And by different, there would have been more W's last year, and our season ticket sales would be on the sharp rise this year. Not saying Heath can't get there...but there is no doubts about Reggie!

Oh well, onto Barnett, if the contract is "proper" for UW, then I don't see anyway it can hurt. That, and think about the press..."University of Wyoming hires Gary Barnett" all over the sports world. Press is press, good or bad, and at good 'ol UW, we don't have ANY!

[cheypoke]

I agree with you McPeach that Barnett was thrown under the bus at CU. Certainly there were some actions going on that were improper and he was responsible for; but he was trying to coach a football team at a University and community that was waging war against that team. He would be a fine hire as long as UW made it known that there was going to be sufficient oversight to ensure that the problems that occured at CU wouldnt happen here. Keep in mind a lot of what occurred at CU was due to the culture that existed in Boulder in regards to what was allowed with the team and what opportunities for trouble existed in the community. If you have a community where "any goes" is the norm, then dont be surprised when people get carried away with it.

[GetRealMan]

His biggest drawback was looking the other way when improprieties were taking place under his nose. And when everyone else was aware of them he stood by and offered the "out of the loop" excuse. I agree mostly with cheypoke that he wouldn't be a bad hire as long as he attempted to advance the perception that he will not tolerate much of the Boulder after hours sub-culture in Laramie.

He's probably the polar opposite of what we have now, no personality but a winning coach.

[WYO Bandit]

I too have mixed feelings concerning the possibility of Barnett representing the brown and gold. I am all for giving a guy a second chance and as long as he ran a clean program I think he could benefit all concerned. It would really suck though to hire the guy and find out it was business as usual for him. Hiring him would be a risk at best. Are we feeling lucky?

[Fullback41]

I agree with most everyone else. I want a winner, but not at the expense of a dirty program. Our football team should represent the people of Wyoming. We may not be the biggest but we are dedicated, tough & smart. That being said we are also a bit rowdy at times.

I want a winner, now. If Barnett is the best coach available, I'm for it, but be ready for a replacement if he starts to sink our program.

[OrediggerPoke]

I may be in the minority, but I would much rather keep Glenn than bring in Barnett. While winning is the bottom line, winning with a respected program means a lot too. IMO, I cant root for TCU, because of their head coach. Plus, if we brought in Barnett, we would never be able to land a female kicker.

[Fullback41]

Oh yeah, I would much rather win with Glenn than anyone else, but if the choice was lose with Glenn or win with Barnett, I would have to go with Barnett (or anyone else that wins).

We still have a chance to win 3 conf games, and finish bowl eligible, neither of which we did last year, I am still hanging on to that hope, I don't learn very well.