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Bailey's
Take on the GMAC Bowl
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From the Anchor Desk
Friday, December 21, 2001
By Brian Bailey
Sports Anchor of WNCT-TV 9 |
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Hang on for a Very Different Off-season
©2001 Bonesville.net
Unbelievable
It is very difficult to write a column when you are at a total loss for
words.
I watched in horror as East Carolina once again blew
a big lead in a football game. It was really unbelievable, but then again,
would you have expected anything different from this team?
It had happened all year long. The Pirates jump out
on top, roll out to a huge lead, and then try NOT to lose. It worked a
couple of times — barely — but it failed miserably against Louisville and
Southern Miss.
I have never been, nor will I ever be, a Pirate
basher. When you work in an area as long as I have, you become a bit of a
homer. That doesn’t’ mean that you can’t be critical, but you won’t see this
sportscaster calling for anyone’s head.
With that said, changes have to come, and come
quickly.
Pirate Coach Steve Logan has to change, whether it is
in philosophies or coaches, or whatever. The headman is accountable, and
Logan has to carry the burden of this underachieving football team.
Does this mean that Logan should be fired? I say no.
But Logan has to make changes on his staff, and he has to change some of the
program’s directions.
Teams just don’t blow 30 point leads in the second
half. And when they do, it has usually been more of a fluke then anything
else. Tell me the last team to have the same type of personality that this
Pirate team has displayed this season.
With a 38-8 lead, the premium should have been on
running out the clock and keeping the football on the ground. So, after a
turnover free first half, the Pirates hook up with the Thundering Herd on
not one, but two different interception returns for touchdowns.
I realize that hindsight is 20-20, but I don’t know
if I would have thrown the football at all in the second half — until I
absolutely had to. I would have dared Marshall to put 10 or 11 men in the
box, to try and stop the run.
When I did throw, I would have thrown deep, so if the
pass was intercepted it might turn out much like a punt.
So don’t blame the Pirate secondary for everything in
this loss.
Everybody wants to know what went wrong.
Last year, with Paul Jette coaching the defensive
backs, the Pirates showed marked improvement in the secondary. Jette had
previously been the team's defensive coordinator, but he seemed to take the
demotion well as he went about the business of tutoring a young group of
cornerbacks and safeties.
After the season, Jette moved back to his old Texas
stomping grounds, taking a position on the Baylor coaching staff.
So, Jette leaves and the Pirates go to a “Swiss
cheese” look in the secondary.
Jeff Connors was an emotional leader for this team.
Who took that spot this season? Did anyone see any emotion in the second
half of the Louisville game? The Southern Miss game? The bowl game?
Have you ever seen a team with this type of
philosophy, in the NFL, the college ranks, or even Pop Warner?
How can a team be so good, and then be so bad in the
same four-hour time slot?
Changes are Needed Somewhere
What’s the answer?
It begins with Coach Logan, who has to take a long
look at not only his staff, but also his philosophies.
How about a stance where you don’t have to win the
game on the last play? How about a mentality where you don’t play to the
level of your competition? How about playing Wake Forest at home, expecting
to win, and then beating the Deacons by three touchdowns!
I am a Logan fan, but I’ve always wondered why he's
so secretive about his team. Cameras aren’t allowed at scrimmages or even
after the first 15 minutes of practice.
In fact, the team’s walk through at the GMAC Bowl was
closed, so I guess it wasn’t the cameras that caused his team to give up 64
points.
Down the line, this game may prove to be a real
positive for the Pirates. Had East Carolina hung on to win, then perhaps
some of the perplexing issues this team experienced might have shifted
gradually to the backburner.
Those issues, though, are now squarely in the
forefront screaming to be dealt with.
This is a program that has had a track record of
overachieving, a program that was ranked 9th in the nation after the 1991
football season.
In the years since that 'I Believe' season, which
happen to parallel Logan's tenure as head coach, the program has established
some strong fabric and has generally maintained a reputation for
overachieving — with an unexplainable loss thrown in every now and then to
muddy up big dreams.
But ten years later, this squad clearly
underachieved. Yet, it’s been told that expectations were too high.
Wednesday night’s loss was like so many other games
for the Pirates this year. It was really hard to take.
Changes are coming to Pirate football. There are no
easy answers, but there are lots of questions.
Hang on for a very different off-season at ECU.
Send an e-mail message to
Brian Bailey.
Click here to dig into Brian Bailey's Bonesville
archives.
02/23/2007 01:20:01 AM
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