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App State fired their coach, why can't we??

LanderPoke

LanderPoke

Well-known member
He went something like 40-25 in five seasons and gets canned. We coddle along losers. We are losers. TOM BURMAN is a loser.
 
Michigan fired their OC today. They just beat Ohio St.. But their offense struggled all season. Will Sawvel make any changes? Our offense was awful, even by our low standards. Something tells me no.
 
Two weeks ago I would have totally agreed with pulling the trigger. However, after further review, I’ve kind of changed my impulses and think they deserve at least one true recruiting class and season before jumping the gun. The past two weeks this team showed what we all thought they had in their arsenal, and that was largely because the coaches put them in the best situations to win those games. Also, we consistently compared this team to last year’s 9 win team and if you really look at the two seasons closely, the results could have been mirror images of each other if a few calls, bounces, or plays go a different way. For example, last year, we had 4 games that luck and fortunate bounces worked in our favor. App State- blocked FG for touchdown. First in program history! Fresno- dominated the first half, then went scoreless in the second only to hold off a hot second half by the bulldogs. New Mexico game, again had to hold off a lobo team that was storming back in the 4th quarter. Finally, the bowl game. A squeaker in the end with very little offense to be excited about the whole game. All 4 games were one possession away from defeat, which would have made their record 5-7.
Now, this year we had 5 games that were very winnable, but they just weren’t able to get over the hump. Maybe some were due to poor clock management, personnel questions, or weird play calls, but really they were right there. Idaho tried to hand us the game and the offense couldn’t produce. Lesson learned was the transfer RB was a bust, receivers were still young, and QB was questionable. SDSU, SJSU, USU, and Boise were all one possession away from a win but changes to personnel and some play calls prevented them from getting over that hump.
I think the coaches were hoping that Evan’s arm would cover for his other weaknesses, but it didn’t work. They finally made a change, it worked, and in the end had to call on him again and he and the team fought to finish on a high note. Difference in record could have been 7-5.
Although the season seemed to be very frustrating for us fans, clearly the locker room is still in tact and players believe in their coaches. Basically, the two seasons weren’t all that different, other than last year they found a way to be on the right side of the win column in those games. That said, if the same patterns of untimely errors in clock management, personnel on the field, or flea flickers ran repeatedly without success after the first one, then we may have a problem. I’ve decided to go into this offseason with optimism and am willing to be patient with the coaches if they can hold everyone together that they need to and add recruits that will help build up an offense that’s waiting to explode. If the players believe, that’s what matters. I’m actually impressed with how they ignored a lot of the negative noise as this year went on. That has to be a credit to the coaches IMHO. Guess we all have to see as we wait for next year!
 
Cowboy20 said:
Two weeks ago I would have totally agreed with pulling the trigger. However, after further review, I’ve kind of changed my impulses and think they deserve at least one true recruiting class and season before jumping the gun. The past two weeks this team showed what we all thought they had in their arsenal, and that was largely because the coaches put them in the best situations to win those games. Also, we consistently compared this team to last year’s 9 win team and if you really look at the two seasons closely, the results could have been mirror images of each other if a few calls, bounces, or plays go a different way. For example, last year, we had 4 games that luck and fortunate bounces worked in our favor. App State- blocked FG for touchdown. First in program history! Fresno- dominated the first half, then went scoreless in the second only to hold off a hot second half by the bulldogs. New Mexico game, again had to hold off a lobo team that was storming back in the 4th quarter. Finally, the bowl game. A squeaker in the end with very little offense to be excited about the whole game. All 4 games were one possession away from defeat, which would have made their record 5-7.
Now, this year we had 5 games that were very winnable, but they just weren’t able to get over the hump. Maybe some were due to poor clock management, personnel questions, or weird play calls, but really they were right there. Idaho tried to hand us the game and the offense couldn’t produce. Lesson learned was the transfer RB was a bust, receivers were still young, and QB was questionable. SDSU, SJSU, USU, and Boise were all one possession away from a win but changes to personnel and some play calls prevented them from getting over that hump.
I think the coaches were hoping that Evan’s arm would cover for his other weaknesses, but it didn’t work. They finally made a change, it worked, and in the end had to call on him again and he and the team fought to finish on a high note. Difference in record could have been 7-5.
Although the season seemed to be very frustrating for us fans, clearly the locker room is still in tact and players believe in their coaches. Basically, the two seasons weren’t all that different, other than last year they found a way to be on the right side of the win column in those games. That said, if the same patterns of untimely errors in clock management, personnel on the field, or flea flickers ran repeatedly without success after the first one, then we may have a problem. I’ve decided to go into this offseason with optimism and am willing to be patient with the coaches if they can hold everyone together that they need to and add recruits that will help build up an offense that’s waiting to explode. If the players believe, that’s what matters. I’m actually impressed with how they ignored a lot of the negative noise as this year went on. That has to be a credit to the coaches IMHO. Guess we all have to see as we wait for next year!
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This notion that this season mirrors last season is utter nonsense. Last year, we won 6 games by more than 1 score, including the New Mexico game. And we lost a heartbreaker to Air force. This year, we were on the receiving end of a call against Air Force on a punt that I've never seen before. We easily could have lost that game. Frankly, we could have lost them all. The complete incompetence of this coaching staff was on display in the SDS game when Svoboda, who had just thrown a pick six, throws the exact same pass on the next possession and it ends up almost as another pick 6! And they still kept him in the game.
Then, when the offense starts to look a little bit better with Anderson, they put Svoboda back in the Utah St. game just in time to throw a pick.
And the defense this year was the worst it has been since early Bohl. We got gashed up the middle over and over again. Csewe had 160 yard rushing in the first quarter alone. That would make even Dave Christensen blush.
The most damning thing I can say about this coach is from his own mouth. He kept playing Svoboda, he said, because if he benched him, he would hit the portal. This is idiotic on so many levels that he should have been fired the next day for gross incompetence.
 
bladerunnr said:
Michigan fired their OC today. They just beat Ohio St.. But their offense struggled all season. Will Sawvel make any changes? Our offense was awful, even by our low standards. Something tells me no.
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He was mostly responsible for the O by naming a starter a year ago.
 
bladerunnr said:
This notion that this season mirrors last season is utter nonsense. Last year, we won 6 games by more than 1 score, including the New Mexico game. And we lost a heartbreaker to Air force. This year, we were on the receiving end of a call against Air Force on a punt that I've never seen before. We easily could have lost that game. Frankly, we could have lost them all. The complete incompetence of this coaching staff was on display in the SDS game when Svoboda, who had just thrown a pick six, throws the exact same pass on the next possession and it ends up almost as another pick 6! And they still kept him in the game.
Then, when the offense starts to look a little bit better with Anderson, they put Svoboda back in the Utah St. game just in time to throw a pick.
And the defense this year was the worst it has been since early Bohl. We got gashed up the middle over and over again. Csewe had 160 yard rushing in the first quarter alone. That would make even Dave Christensen blush.
The most damning thing I can say about this coach is from his own mouth. He kept playing Svoboda, he said, because if he benched him, he would hit the portal. This is idiotic on so many levels that he should have been fired the next day for gross incompetence.
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We had two dominant wins against Hawaii and Nevada and a decent win against the FCS team Portland state. Every other game could have went the other way fairly easily. Most Bohl teams were a bounce away from losing the game. The difference is Bohl minimized a lot of mistakes. Sticking with Svoboda was a gigantic mistake and was #1 factor in losing 4 games. #2 was having a rookie DC to go with rookie HC. I thought the D would be a better oiled machine that could take it. Wrong about that. Wasn't Dickert a rookie DC and did really well while Bohl was a seasoned HC and DC
 
Until we get a new AD we are stuck with Sawvel. Even if Sawvel is let go , I would not want Burman picking his replacement.
 
laxwyo said:
We had two dominant wins against Hawaii and Nevada and a decent win against the FCS team Portland state. Every other game could have went the other way fairly easily. Most Bohl teams were a bounce away from losing the game. The difference is Bohl minimized a lot of mistakes. Sticking with Svoboda was a gigantic mistake and was #1 factor in losing 4 games. #2 was having a rookie DC to go with rookie HC. I thought the D would be a better oiled machine that could take it. Wrong about that. Wasn't Dickert a rookie DC and did really well while Bohl was a seasoned HC and DC
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We had 1st and goal from the csewe 3 yard line in the 4th qtr and didn't score. We still won by 9. We were never in danger of losing that game. We had a 3 score lead against NM and they scored 2X late to make it a 9 point game. We had a 17 point lead against Fresno st. and we went into a prevent offense in the second half. The App. state and Texas Tech games were the only games that were true 50-50 games.
And our success last year was far more than minimizing mistakes. This year, we were embarrassed at ASU and North Texas. We were terrible in every phase of the game. SJS kept giving us the ball and we couldn't score. Our rush defense was awful. Clock management was puzzling. And I don't care who the qb is, running the offense out of the shotgun, even from the goal line, is utterly stupid. How many times did a bad snap cost us a lot of yards?
And finally, if you acknowledge that playing Svoboda so far into the season was "gigantic mistake", why should the coaching staff get a pass for that? It wasn't even a close call. Sawvel and his OC should be out the door for that decision alone.
 
bladerunnr said:
We had 1st and goal from the csewe 3 yard line in the 4th qtr and didn't score. We still won by 9. We were never in danger of losing that game. We had a 3 score lead against NM and they scored 2X late to make it a 9 point game. We had a 17 point lead against Fresno st. and we went into a prevent offense in the second half. The App. state and Texas Tech games were the only games that were true 50-50 games.
And our success last year was far more than minimizing mistakes. This year, we were embarrassed at ASU and North Texas. We were terrible in every phase of the game. SJS kept giving us the ball and we couldn't score. Our rush defense was awful. Clock management was puzzling. And I don't care who the qb is, running the offense out of the shotgun, even from the goal line, is utterly stupid. How many times did a bad snap cost us a lot of yards?
And finally, if you acknowledge that playing Svoboda so far into the season was "gigantic mistake", why should the coaching staff get a pass for that? It wasn't even a close call. Sawvel and his OC should be out the door for that decision alone.
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dude, it was 10-7 with like 8 minutes to go in 3rd in CSU game and we scored a TD on a short field after an INT. Then they threw INT next possession and we scored on a short field again. They punt, we throw a pick and they score a TD with 11 minutes to go in 4th. We then punt on next possession and they drive it down the field and fumble on our 24. Don't act like we dominated that game. They were us this year last year. Too many mistakes.

UNM 12-9 at half. 15-9 when they throw a pick and Waylee takes it to the house next play. They get a FG to make it 22-12. Asante takes a 66 yd pass to the house. We had one TD drive that was more than 1 play. They're down 6 when we tack on the 3 extra pts at the end. We fumble a snap and we could lose the game.

We had Waylee most of last year as well.

No one is arguing that this years team is better than last year. But to act like last year's team was some dominant force who put their teams away is silly. We're always a play or two away from losing games. That was literally Bohls MO.

I don't fault coaches for playing Svoboda. I fault them for playing him after we were 0-4. Hell, we could have won 4 extra games with Svoboda with a little more luck or Svoboda not throwing pick 6s. Oh man, the rookie HC and DC had a bad game against potential Big12 champion with their top 2 offensive weapons out? Not that surprising.
 
I've been on the "Fire Sawvel" train most of the season (anyone on Reddit can attest to that), but....

A) This team did not fall apart or implode under him as the season went on. They kept grinding and ended up with a few gritty wins, including a hell of a statement win against Wazzu and almost upsetting now #10 BSU, to close out the season. Even Bohl-led teams fractured at the end of some seasons, with rumored locker room issues and disconnects between players and coaches. This one didn't...it fought, it won, and it celebrated with their coach afterwards in the locker room. That says a lot tbh.

B) After watching eNSD and his presser for it...Sawvel seems to have a solid approach to recruiting, blending Bohl's outlook with some ideals of his own and he seems to be cooking. This mirrors what I've heard Minnesota fans say about him (that he's a decent recruiter and well-liked by players).

The Jay Johnson hire was a potential disaster, anyone with a greater awareness of CFB knew it, and that played out the first 2/3 of the year. I think Sawvel panicked a bit with that hire. But, the offense worked a LOT better with the right QB (Anderson), so...man, I don't know. I think it's early enough in most of these kids' careers that a scheme/system change shouldn't be too hard for guys to pick up, so I'd be on board with canning JJ if (emphasis on if) someone better is available. That would soften my stance towards Sawvel a bit.

A. Bohl gets a little bit of leeway from me. The defense improved a bit as the season went on, but also people forget that he was in charge of our strongest positional group for years...and worked directly under Hazelton, Dickert, Sawvel, and of course his father. He sent guys to the NFL and that's not easy to do from a small G5 school. I still stand by the opinion that it wasn't a bad promotion/hire and it doesn't reflect poorly on Sawvel, and I think he deserves another year.

One thing people are also overlooking is that this season's schedule turned out to be a LOT harder than it was on paper at the beginning of the season, and it's been one of the harder ones we've had in a while. ASU in particular is faaaar better than anyone thought they would be.

And while I definitely think Sawvel shoulders the blame for keeping Svoboda in for so long...I can also maybe see why. We watched Peasley have a HORRENDOUS outing against Illinois, and he ended up not being half bad, eh? But yea, I would hope Sawvel learned that sometimes it's just not there and you gotta act sooner.

He also definitely needs to learn better clock management, but I think that comes with experience that you don't really get as a coordinator.

So idk...sitting and thinking about it, without the emotion of being in the middle of the season and without the immediate frustration of a game...I'm kinda 50/50 on it all now. We have a solid recruiting class, the coaches have a solid outlook/plan for roster management, the bad man is gone (Svoboda, at least gone from QB), and the team clearly likes, believes in, and is willing to fight for this staff. The offense also clearly works with the right QB at hand, and the defense ended up improving from where it started.

Next year's schedule...at least OoC...is easier, he'll have a full set of his own guys, and he's got some experience under his belt. I'd be thrilled at firing Johnson (again, if someone better is available), but I'm not quite sure canning Sawvel and burning it all down is the play anymore.

Idk. This is why I'm not an AD, and niether are any of you. Lol. I would NOT want to have to weigh all this, as well as what we haven't gotten into...contracts and other staff and such.

I will say that even the most ardent of Sawvel defenders cannot deny that he CANNOT have another bad season. Regardless of the reasons excuses, situation, whatever. Doesn't matter. He HAS to have a winning season next year, or he needs to be gone. Even if the specifics can't be laid at his feet, you have to have a reboot at that point or there becomes issues with donors, atttendance, recruits, etc. and things tailspin quickly. Perception is everything.
 
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I see that BYU Jr is hiring away Bronco from UNM. And Utah is taking their offensive coordinator. Kind of crazy to have your staff gutted after a 5-7 season, but that still bites for the Lobos.
 
DamThatRiver22 said:
I've been on the "Fire Sawvel" train most of the season (anyone on Reddit can attest to that), but....

A) This team did not fall apart or implode under him as the season went on. They kept grinding and ended up with a few gritty wins, including a hell of a statement win against Wazzu and almost upsetting now #10 BSU, to close out the season. Even Bohl-led teams fractured at the end of some seasons, with rumored locker room issues and disconnects between players and coaches. This one didn't...it fought, it won, and it celebrated with their coach afterwards in the locker room. That says a lot tbh.

B) After watching eNSD and his presser for it...Sawvel seems to have a solid approach to recruiting, blending Bohl's outlook with some ideals of his own and he seems to be cooking. This mirrors what I've heard Minnesota fans say about him (that he's a decent recruiter and well-liked by players).

The Jay Johnson hire was a potential disaster, anyone with a greater awareness of CFB knew it, and that played out the first 2/3 of the year. I think Sawvel panicked a bit with that hire. But, the offense worked a LOT better with the right QB (Anderson), so...man, I don't know. I think it's early enough in most of these kids' careers that a scheme/system change shouldn't be too hard for guys to pick up, so I'd be on board with canning JJ if (emphasis on if) someone better is available. That would soften my stance towards Sawvel a bit.

A. Bohl gets a little bit of leeway from me. The defense improved a bit as the season went on, but also people forget that he was in charge of our strongest positional group for years...and worked directly under Hazelton, Dickert, Sawvel, and of course his father. He sent guys to the NFL and that's not easy to do from a small G5 school. I still stand by the opinion that it wasn't a bad promotion/hire and it doesn't reflect poorly on Sawvel, and I think he deserves another year.

One thing people are also overlooking is that this season's schedule turned out to be a LOT harder than it was on paper at the beginning of the season, and it's been one of the harder ones we've had in a while. ASU in particular is faaaar better than anyone thought they would be.

And while I definitely think Sawvel shoulders the blame for keeping Svoboda in for so long...I can also maybe see why. We watched Peasley have a HORRENDOUS outing against Illinois, and he ended up not being half bad, eh? But yea, I would hope Sawvel learned that sometimes it's just not there and you gotta act sooner.

He also definitely needs to learn better clock management, but I think that comes with experience that you don't really get as a coordinator.

So idk...sitting and thinking about it, without the emotion of being in the middle of the season and without the immediate frustration of a game...I'm kinda 50/50 on it all now. We have a solid recruiting class, the coaches have a solid outlook/plan for roster management, the bad man is gone (Svoboda, at least gone from QB), and the team clearly likes, believes in, and is willing to fight for this staff. The offense also clearly works with the right QB at hand, and the defense ended up improving from where it started.

Next year's schedule...at least OoC...is easier, he'll have a full set of his own guys, and he's got some experience under his belt. I'd be thrilled at firing Johnson (again, if someone better is available), but I'm not quite sure canning Sawvel and burning it all down is the play anymore.

Idk. This is why I'm not an AD, and niether are any of you. Lol. I would NOT want to have to weigh all this, as well as what we haven't gotten into...contracts and other staff and such.

I will say that even the most ardent of Sawvel defenders cannot deny that he CANNOT have another bad season. Regardless of the reasons excuses, situation, whatever. Doesn't matter. He HAS to have a winning season next year, or he needs to be gone. Even if the specifics can't be laid at his feet, you have to have a reboot at that point or there becomes issues with donors, atttendance, recruits, etc. and things tailspin quickly. Perception is everything.
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I agree with nearly all of this. The locker room in Pullman showed me that Sawvel is definitely well liked. Getting rid of him would be an easy call after this disaster of a season, but I'm ok with him getting another year to get his shit together.

I'm on the fence about Johnson. His offensive philosophies are pretty dang good. I think he struggled badly getting the personnel to work with what he wanted to do, which is a dangerous thing to do as a coordinator. If he's able to swallow his pride and work with what he's got I think he could do a good job.

Aaron Bohl did some good things, but I'm not sold on him as a coordinator at all. I do think it was a good hire. Had his name been different no one would have blinked an eye at him getting the DC job. That being said, defense is more than just 3rd down stops. We got eaten alive throughout the season in both the running game and the passing game. We did have some injury issues, but giving up 400 yards of rushing to New Mexico is absolutely inexcusable.

The nonconference schedule is a BIT better next year, but Utah and Colorado are pretty damn good programs. We're going to need to see a hell of a lot more success in those games than we did in Phoenix and Denton to make me feel like Sawvel and company deserve to continue running the show.
 
Bryoming said:
I agree with nearly all of this. The locker room in Pullman showed me that Sawvel is definitely well liked. Getting rid of him would be an easy call after this disaster of a season, but I'm ok with him getting another year to get his shit together.

I'm on the fence about Johnson. His offensive philosophies are pretty dang good. I think he struggled badly getting the personnel to work with what he wanted to do, which is a dangerous thing to do as a coordinator. If he's able to swallow his pride and work with what he's got I think he could do a good job.

Aaron Bohl did some good things, but I'm not sold on him as a coordinator at all. I do think it was a good hire. Had his name been different no one would have blinked an eye at him getting the DC job. That being said, defense is more than just 3rd down stops. We got eaten alive throughout the season in both the running game and the passing game. We did have some injury issues, but giving up 400 yards of rushing to New Mexico is absolutely inexcusable.

The nonconference schedule is a BIT better next year, but Utah and Colorado are pretty damn good programs. We're going to need to see a hell of a lot more success in those games than we did in Phoenix and Denton to make me feel like Sawvel and company deserve to continue running the show.
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I knew it (he's not that bad) would happen, lol.

You're wrong on junior. 3.5 years as a position coach is insufficient experience to be a dc regardless of nepotism.
 
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The main thing Sawvel has going for him is it is cost prohibitive to fire him. I still believe the team under-performed and much of the blame lies with his poor personnel decisions on players and assistant coaches. .
 
I still think he's bad and that we should have let him go...but I agree with about all of this discussion. I thought the season would end in an epic conflagration of failure. While the season was really really forgettable...it did show some signs even if you have to squint to see them.
 
I can't say that I have any faith in this staff what-so-ever. They made bad decisions all the way to the end. There is absolutely no shot they can develop Wyoming into a successful football program.

I strongly believe, as I have since the ASU game, that any season with Sawvel as head coach is just a wasted season for Wyoming football.

Frankly, I am blown away that serious fans are even remotely OK with Sawvel remaining as head coach. I just don't get it. Is there anyone that truly believes he can get us back to an 8 or 9 win season next year? Or even a winning record? If so, can you please explain to me what makes you think that?
 
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