Theres a young, hip coach at FIU who consistently recruits "better" than Grandpa S.  By your standard, they should be tearing up the Sun Belt…or at least be significantly better than we are.  Neither is true.  Their best player is a fluke that chose FIU because his infant son preferred the design of the FIU hat.  Howard is younger than both Paterno and Bowden, and I think the kids are smart enough to know that NONE of these three men actually do any of the coaching.  I'll paraphrase Bowden - I'm the CEO, you don't see the CEO down in the mail room or micromanaging departments, my job is to make sure the departments are working well, not run them myself.

Howard stays until he is done. Period.  After that we build him a statue, name the stadium after him, and talk fondly about how great we were…because god knows it wont be easy after he is gone.  If we had a young coach to start this team we would be short two bowl wins, a conference championship, and any momentum towards a stadium. 

Baller07 said

They didn't say it was a fantasy program.  Just when comparing FIU today to FAU, with no other options.  I don't agree with most of their points either.  But I am biased towards FAU.  They are truly independent, unbiased opinions.

I know they didn't say it was a "fantasy program", but apparently they have these high opinions of FIU that are based on nothing factual (therefore, fantasy like).

* Up-and-coming team: FIU has never had a winning season since their inception,they have never won a conference title, never won a bowl game, never been invited to a bowl game. FIU's current overall record 23-66. They are on track to do worse than they did last year.

* Young Staff: This is true now; however, most them will be fired at the end of this season or next.

* On-Campus Stadium:  By the time these kids see real playing time, FAU will have one too…with a marching band.

* Moving into an BCS conference: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Sorry, i couldn't help but laugh.

* Progressive Philosophies: Is it considered progressive when your team does worse than the year before?

I'm not FIU fan and I hate them as much as any of you do, but IF they ever did move to a BCS conference they may get their butts handed to them for a few years but being in a BCS conference means better recruits. Look at USF they weren't a great football team, they got lucky got an invite to the Big East and their recruiting has reflected the move to a BCS conference and they've been ranked as high as # 2 in the nation. So all it takes to get good in a BCS conference is for recruits to know they actually have a shot at playing in a championship game

SeminOWL2006 said

Theres a young, hip coach at FIU who consistently recruits "better" than Grandpa S.  By your standard, they should be tearing up the Sun Belt…or at least be significantly better than we are.  Neither is true.  Their best player is a fluke that chose FIU because his infant son preferred the design of the FIU hat.  Howard is younger than both Paterno and Bowden, and I think the kids are smart enough to know that NONE of these three men actually do any of the coaching.  I'll paraphrase Bowden - I'm the CEO, you don't see the CEO down in the mail room or micromanaging departments, my job is to make sure the departments are working well, not run them myself.

Howard stays until he is done. Period.  After that we build him a statue, name the stadium after him, and talk fondly about how great we were…because god knows it wont be easy after he is gone.  If we had a young coach to start this team we would be short two bowl wins, a conference championship, and any momentum towards a stadium.

I hold no ill feelings nor do I mean to disrespect HS.  I have his picture on the wall in my house and will always keep it there in his honor for as long as I live.  But to SeminOWL’s analogy of the CEO, how many companies hand their CEO the reins to the company for as long as they wish.  The shareholders would revolt when their investment fails to provide an adequate return.  As a shareholder (‘98/’05 alumnus and season seat holder) I feel my company is no longer lead by the right CEO.

Owlando said

Baller07 said

They didn't say it was a fantasy program.  Just when comparing FIU today to FAU, with no other options.  I don't agree with most of their points either.  But I am biased towards FAU.  They are truly independent, unbiased opinions.

I know they didn't say it was a "fantasy program", but apparently they have these high opinions of FIU that are based on nothing factual (therefore, fantasy like).

* Up-and-coming team: FIU has never had a winning season since their inception,they have never won a conference title, never won a bowl game, never been invited to a bowl game. FIU's current overall record 23-66. They are on track to do worse than they did last year.

* Young Staff: This is true now; however, most them will be fired at the end of this season or next.

* On-Campus Stadium:  By the time these kids see real playing time, FAU will have one too…with a marching band.

* Moving into an BCS conference: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Sorry, i couldn't help but laugh.

* Progressive Philosophies: Is it considered progressive when your team does worse than the year before?

Like I said, I don't agree with all their points, but these are the perceptions of the kids who are playing high school football.  It's a very small sample-size, and an informal survey, but regardless, those are their opinions, right or wrong.

Jab979 said

I'm not FIU fan and I hate them as much as any of you do, but IF they ever did move to a BCS conference they may get their butts handed to them for a few years but being in a BCS conference means better recruits. Look at USF they weren't a great football team, they got lucky got an invite to the Big East and their recruiting has reflected the move to a BCS conference and they've been ranked as high as # 2 in the nation. So all it takes to get good in a BCS conference is for recruits to know they actually have a shot at playing in a championship game

Yeh we have talk about this a lot…you could put WKU in the SEC and they would be considered a pretty good team in less than a decade (maybe not winning much in the SEC, but they would be beating their OOC opponents).

FIU has the advantage of being in a good market, which Troy does not.  For this reason I doubt that Troy will ever make it to a BCS conference.  Same with Boise State.  You can go undefeated every year and it won't matter, it is market that matters.  UCF, FAU, North Texas (Dallas market), FIU all have the campus size and market base that would make them desirable to BCS conferences…but I'm not holding my breath for any BCS expansion anytime soon.

Once again will I voice my support for an end to the two-tier FBS system, an end to human polls to decide rankings, an end to rankings in the preseason or first 3 weeks, a centralized NCAA scheduling system, and every conference receiving an autobid to a Major (ex-BCS) bowl, with at-large based on rankings.

Heck we could even remove conferences all together, let each team play 13 games and they get to choose 6 teams they want to play regularly (rivals), and then the other 7 are chosen somewhat randomly but weighted by distance (more likely to play teams that are closer to you).  Every team gets no less than 6 home games and no more than 7.  Then let the computers figure out who is the best.

FAU Sample Schedule
Vanderbilt
@ Troy (rival)
Florida
@ Middle Tennessee (rival)
@ USF (rival)
Tulane
@Miami
UCF (rival)
East Carolina
@Southern Alabama
Louisiana (rival)
@SMU
FIU (rival)

Baller07 said

SeminOWL2006 said

Theres a young, hip coach at FIU who consistently recruits "better" than Grandpa S.  By your standard, they should be tearing up the Sun Belt…or at least be significantly better than we are.  Neither is true.  Their best player is a fluke that chose FIU because his infant son preferred the design of the FIU hat.  Howard is younger than both Paterno and Bowden, and I think the kids are smart enough to know that NONE of these three men actually do any of the coaching.  I'll paraphrase Bowden - I'm the CEO, you don't see the CEO down in the mail room or micromanaging departments, my job is to make sure the departments are working well, not run them myself.

Howard stays until he is done. Period.  After that we build him a statue, name the stadium after him, and talk fondly about how great we were…because god knows it wont be easy after he is gone.  If we had a young coach to start this team we would be short two bowl wins, a conference championship, and any momentum towards a stadium.

Thats fair enough, but 1 shareholder disagreeing with the CEO is not enough to remove him….and most of us shareholders think that CEO is doing a good job, its his department heads that need fixing/

I hold no ill feelings nor do I mean to disrespect HS.  I have his picture on the wall in my house and will always keep it there in his honor for as long as I live.  But to SeminOWL’s analogy of the CEO, how many companies hand their CEO the reins to the company for as long as they wish.  The shareholders would revolt when their investment fails to provide an adequate return.  As a shareholder (‘98/’05 alumnus and season seat holder) I feel my company is no longer lead by the right CEO.

Owlando said

Baller07 said

They didn't say it was a fantasy program.  Just when comparing FIU today to FAU, with no other options.  I don't agree with most of their points either.  But I am biased towards FAU.  They are truly independent, unbiased opinions.

I know they didn't say it was a "fantasy program", but apparently they have these high opinions of FIU that are based on nothing factual (therefore, fantasy like).

* Up-and-coming team: FIU has never had a winning season since their inception,they have never won a conference title, never won a bowl game, never been invited to a bowl game. FIU's current overall record 23-66. They are on track to do worse than they did last year.

* Young Staff: This is true now; however, most them will be fired at the end of this season or next.

* On-Campus Stadium:  By the time these kids see real playing time, FAU will have one too…with a marching band.

* Moving into an BCS conference: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Sorry, i couldn't help but laugh.

* Progressive Philosophies: Is it considered progressive when your team does worse than the year before?

Like I said, I don't agree with all their points, but these are the perceptions of the kids who are playing high school football.  It's a very small sample-size, and an informal survey, but regardless, those are their opinions, right or wrong.

I have to stand up for Baller07 here. I understand what he's trying to relay.

We see FAU (and Schnellenberger) one way because we know the history and make excuses for our lack of resources while high school players are throwing their hands up in defense and saying, "Hey man, all I'm saying is that in a state with the Big Three all I know about FAU is that you play in a high school stadium for an older guy that mumbled a lot when he talked to me. I'm sure you've done great things but everybody's saying they're 'up-and-coming' and I'm just looking for the biggest thing I can be involved in. FIU's coach is a young guy with a lot of passion and they just built a new stadium. I don't know anything about their wins/losses but right now they look better to me."

Not everyone thinks like us… with "us" being, I dunno, what's the mean age around the Owl's Next you think? 25ish? Think like 17 year olds. What do they want? How do they see what we have?

Recruits are committing to UCF for example because of all their shiny things and the size of their student body. It has nothing to do with their conference affiliation, the team's win/loss record, number of nationally televised games, etc. Get a recruit on campus, show him all the shiny stuff they built and bam, he'll verbal there on the spot. To a 17-year-old, new means progress. Big means progress.

owlcountry said

I have to stand up for Baller07 here. I understand what he's trying to relay.

We see FAU (and Schnellenberger) one way because we know the history and make excuses for our lack of resources while high school players are throwing their hands up in defense and saying, "Hey man, all I'm saying is that in a state with the Big Three all I know about FAU is that you play in a high school stadium for an older guy that mumbled a lot when he talked to me. I'm sure you've done great things but everybody's saying they're 'up-and-coming' and I'm just looking for the biggest thing I can be involved in. FIU's coach is a young guy with a lot of passion and they just built a new stadium. I don't know anything about their wins/losses but right now they look better to me."

Not everyone thinks like us… with "us" being, I dunno, what's the mean age around the Owl's Next you think? 25ish? Think like 17 year olds. What do they want? How do they see what we have?

Recruits are committing to UCF for example because of all their shiny things and the size of their student body. It has nothing to do with their conference affiliation, the team's win/loss record, number of nationally televised games, etc. Get a recruit on campus, show him all the shiny stuff they built and bam, he'll verbal there on the spot. To a 17-year-old, new means progress. Big means progress.

I agree 100%. I have said it in other threads and I will mention it here again, if FAU doesn't get the stadium up and in a hurry (looks like it is a go now) FIU will pass FAU by in the very near future. Unfortunate, but true.

GO OWLS!!!

Well said owlcounty.  Thanks.