Hey, I coach a football team.

My photo
My favorite word is growth.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Beavers Hit Rock Bottom

*This was an email from a devoted Beaver fan voicing their opinion*  Again, I encourage anyone from Beaver Nation to email me @ firemikeriley@gmail.com  I will post your email for discussion via twitter or this blog.

               As I sit here tonight and reflect on the dismal Beaver start to the 2011 season, I am in awe over the support that some Beaver fans still have for Mike Riley.  His mediocrity knows no bounds.  In 10 short years we have gone from contenders for the national title, ranked in the top 5 in the nation in every pre-season poll, to quite possible the worst team in the PAC12.  The entire responsibility rests on the shoulders of Mike Riley and Bob DeCarlis.   Mike Riley is not a Division I coach, never was and never will be.

At this point we are 1-5 and with the record of the continual deterioration of the program that started with the loss to the Oregon Ducks in the civil war of 2009.  Well actually, I believe the beginning of the end was when Mike Riley was rehired.  I was a 14 year season ticket holder to Oregon State
Football the last season that Dennis Erickson coached and donated thousands of dollars a year to the school, just to get my parking pass behind the scoreboard, then I bought tickets, food, drinks, tee shirts, hats and many beaver logo paraphernalia for tailgating.  I loved OSU Beaver football, and I still do.   When Mike Riley was rehired as head coach, I quit it all.  I got a call that spring from the Beaver ticket office asking why I didn't renew my season tickets, my response "when you get rid of Mike Riley, I will be back as a Beaver season ticket holder".  I still hold to my word today.  Today, I didn't even spend the few dollars it would have taken to get FCS channel on the dish network to watch the game, I listened to it on the radio, the way my father used to during the dismal days of the 70's and 80's.  The days of the "Giant Killers".  When, by some miraculous alignment of the stars, the only game we would win all season was to someone ranked in the top 10 in the nation, and Beaver fans would celebrate like it was their last day on earth.

In 2009, I attended the MAACO Bowl in Las Vegas and showed my support for my Beavers team that had just barely missed their first shot at the Rose Bowl in 42 years.  I bravely walked into the stadium, bundled up in all my beaver gear, in 30 degree weather with a 50 mph wind blowing, just to sit there and freeze while the Beavers were dismantled by a mediocre BYU team from the opening kickoff.  It was disgraceful. When I arrived back at my hotel room, there were video's on the news of the Beavers whooping it up and partying in Las Vegas like they were on vacation, apparently unaware that thousands of Beaver hopefuls had come to support them in their disappointing bid in the MAACO bowl.  Disappointing that we were there and not the Rose Bowl?  Yes.  But thousands of fans made the trip on their own dime, the Beaver team didn't show.  Complete and utter disgrace and embarrassment in the total lack of coaching.

Back to the point at hand.  Let’s look at the track record of Mike Riley and the list of excuses he and the OSU fans of old use to protect the man. Let’s face it Riley on the verge of taking OSU to a Rose Bowl is gone, in its place is one of the worst teams in the nation. This is one fan that is tired of the excuses.
Excuse #1: We are young - So is Auburn, so were the Ducks last year, their coaching staff figured out how to deal with it successfully, any team with success deals with this.  
Excuse #2: We can't recruit to Corvallis - how is Boise, Stillwater or East Lansing any better?
Excuse #3: We don't have huge donors, Dennis Erickson didn't need them either, Dennis went from $13 million per year in donations to $51 million in just 2 short years, you have to be building a winning football program to get donations.  
Excuse #4: Could OSU really get a good coach? 5 years ago nobody had ever heard of Chip Kelly, Brian Kelly, Gene Chizik or Chris Peterson. You see, great programs start with great leaders that have a grand, winning vision and lead the program to success.  No one at OSU from Mike Riley on up have either great leadership or even a sniff of a vision at creating a winning tradition.

The worst thing EVER done for OSU Beaver football was giving coach Mike Riley the contract that he now has, which now runs until the 2019 season with a large contract buyout clause.   I want to reiterate that I am an avid Beaver fan, always have been and always will be.  But like any drug addict or alcoholic, a person or organization with an addiction has to hit rock bottom before they admit they have a problem and seek help to change their ways.  Bob DeCarlos is an addict, he is addicted to Mike Riley, as long as Riley keeps going to a bowl game every few years, the old guard at OSU is happy and makes his job easy.  Well Bob, your addiction is now catching up to you.  Mike Riley can only make you look and feel good for so long, he is your addiction and you’re heading toward rock bottom.  If it takes a 1-11 season to make the beaver faithful see the error in your ways, then this is one Beaver fan that is rooting for losses, because I don't want to go through another 28 losing seasons.  OSU fans and Bob D, please wake up, learn from history and hire a real coach, before we become the Beavers of yesteryear.

No comments:

Post a Comment