More Defeatism from TOB

Thanks to Atlanta Eagle for bringing to FHMAM's attention the comments from TOB in Stewart Mandel's latest mailbag on CNNSI.

"The bad part about getting to nine [wins] is now you've got to find a way to get to 10. It was a whole lot easier to get from five to eight than it is to get from eight to 10. And it's not getting any easier by joining [the ACC]. At a school like Virginia or BC, where academics come into play, it's hard enough to maintain that level of consistency. If the stars align, you can have that special year, but it's not going to happen every year ... That was as good a team as we've had [in his nine seasons]," said O'Brien.

Reading this shit just plain makes my blood boil. Yeah, it's hard to get from 8 wins to 10 when you piss away two very winnable games. It's hard to get from 8 to 10 when you run a gameplan worthy of the French Army and grab your ankles in Blacksburg (not saying we would've won that game anyway, but we definitely could've avoided being humiliated). It's hard to get from 8 to 10 when you bench your red-hot sophomore QB who just led your team to victory in one of the most hostile atmospheres in the country in favor of the previous starter who had proved utterly incompetent since returning from injury. It's hard to get from 8 to 10 when you toss away a win in Chapel Hill, and nearly toss away another at home against Wake, by waiting until way too late in the game to put said sophomore back in the game. It's hard to get from 8 to 10 with a proven incompetent, who had never held a coaching job for more than 2 years before coming to BC, as your offensive coordinator and QB coach. It's hard to get from 8 to 10 when your coaching staff and administration acts as if it doesn't really WANT to get from 8 to 10, because that would mean playing in a decent bowl game against a decent opponent and that would mean the possibility of losing and that would mean anger from the whale pants crowd. It's hard to get from 8 to 10 when you punt the ball on 4th and 3 from midfield with 8 minutes left in the game, down 2 scores, when your O-line has been beating the shit out of the opposing front 7 all day.

Seriously, I'm ready to call up Ray Henderson and hire him as the head coach right fucking now. No, he may not have a day of coaching experience, but he's got fucking heart, which is more than the current coaching staff (Willis excluded) can say.

TOB deserves a world of credit from bringing the program from the horrible mid-90s to where it is today, but he is not the guy to take the team to the next level. The time has come to thank him for his service, wish him well, and show him the door.