Maybe the real problem

[redsfan5590]

is the fans. Look, I think we have a great fan base. But we also have a delusional fan base.

For instance let's look at Litton. Now, last year we have Birdsong who in his first D-1 game plays decently, enough for a big win. But is injured and plays poorly during the second game. As soon as he started playing poorly (it took all of 1 game) out fans bailed on him. "He sucks! Bench him!" So we did. We went with the true freshman and all of a sudden we make Litton out to be the second coming of Pennington. And because of that, when he struggles and it turns out maybe he's not Pennington, we lash out. And people want to bench him. But really it's not that he is costing us games, it's that he hasn't lived up to being as good as the greatest quarterback to play at Marshall ever. So really who's problem is that? Chase, or the fans?

Our fans have disappointed me this year, booing the team when FAU scored (I believe). Or booing at the end of the half when taking the knee was the right move.

Or booing when we had the ball and were driving for the winning touchdown, there were fans upset and several fans left saying something like "we suck we're gonna lose I'm not watching this" literally two plays before we scored the winning touchdown.

Add that with the fact that half of our fans don't come into the stadium or stay in the parking lot after halftime to drink and I have to think, maybe this is the team our fans deserve.

 

[Rock98Dog]

That's crap. You act like the fans have to act like a woman with battered wive's syndrome. Sit there quietly, ignore the issues, don't talk about them, and take your abuse.

Here's the thing, as a fan I have been through 5 head coaches, 700 or so players, 3 conferences and 4 or 5 ADs. They're all gone, I'm still here. The program belongs to Marshall University and the fans of the program.

 

[ohio herd]

I am on my 8th coach. This is my view. I do think we need to temper high expectations with reality. We went from being the losing-est program in the 70's to the winning-est in the 90's. We built our program slowly by playing at a level we could compete on and scheduling wisely. Over time we have upgraded our facilities and now have respectable football facilities. Like others on here I want to win. I remember sitting in the cold at old Fairfield drinking warm Dr. Pepper to stay warm while we were getting beat down many years.As a student in the early 80's I saw us have our first win season. In the early 90's I watched us dominate 1-AA and then the MAC. I try to keep perspective at all times. This season is frustrating and I agree we are thin in areas many of us thought we would have some depth. I do think it is unrealistic to expect 10 wins every year. C-USA may not be the SEC but it is way better than some think. Last I looked everyone had 85 kids on scholly. I also think Doc is a good coach. I don't give him a blank check but outside of Alabama and Ohio State very few programs never have a rebuilding year. I say stick with the program. Have high expectations and desire wins. However, remember this is not a pro franchise. This team is made up of 19-20 year old student athletes. Some will get in trouble some will get homesick some will just be a head case. Players come and go but I will always be a Son of Marshall and a Herd fan. Good or bad I will always wear my Kelly Green with pride!

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

That's crap. You act like the fans have to act like a woman with battered wive's syndrome. Sit there quietly, ignore the issues, don't talk about them, and take your abuse.

Here's the thing, as a fan I have been through 5 head coaches, 700 or so players, 3 conferences and 4 or 5 ADs. They're all gone, I'm still here. The program belongs to Marshall University and the fans of the program.

Well said. It's always the fans fault. Lol! Wow!

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

Maybe our coaches need to quit saying the OL is the best group ever or our strength program broke tons of records.
Maybe the media needs to temper their reporting.
But yeah, it's the fans fault. Good Lord!

 

[GreenDuke]

Since we're counting I'm on coach 14 (15 if you count Minter ;-))) ). Take everything the breathlessly panting lapdog beat writer for the HD feeds you with a grain of salt.

 

[30Kelly]

is the fans. Look, I think we have a great fan base. But we also have a delusional fan base.

For instance let's look at Litton. Now, last year we have Birdsong who in his first D-1 game plays decently, enough for a big win. But is injured and plays poorly during the second game. As soon as he started playing poorly (it took all of 1 game) out fans bailed on him. "He sucks! Bench him!" So we did. We went with the true freshman and all of a sudden we make Litton out to be the second coming of Pennington. And because of that, when he struggles and it turns out maybe he's not Pennington, we lash out. And people want to bench him. But really it's not that he is costing us games, it's that he hasn't lived up to being as good as the greatest quarterback to play at Marshall ever. So really who's problem is that? Chase, or the fans?

Our fans have disappointed me this year, booing the team when FAU scored (I believe). Or booing at the end of the half when taking the knee was the right move.

Or booing when we had the ball and were driving for the winning touchdown, there were fans upset and several fans left saying something like "we suck we're gonna lose I'm not watching this" literally two plays before we scored the winning touchdown.

Add that with the fact that half of our fans don't come into the stadium or stay in the parking lot after halftime to drink and I have to think, maybe this is the team our fans deserve.

I'll be honest with you. I didn't get past "is the fans."

 

[herdfan1999]

Are you serious? Delusional? I don't even think you know what the word means.

We don't have a delusional fan base. In fact, look around the country at almost all 2-4 teams that have sucked it up this year and the comments will be similar. You could cut and paste the quotes from the different boards and just strike the names and nobody would no the difference. There are many G5 (and I hate to use that term) programs that would love to still have 22k after getting their asses handed to them by Akron and by North Texas.

I didn't have a problem with the booing. I booed before halftime because I think it shows a mindset and an attitude. The players know why we were booing. I can guarantee you Bobby Petrino wouldn't have taken knee with 7 seconds because he wants his team to always push. And yes, people booed when one of the worst teams in college football went 75 yards in 4 plays to start the freaking game. To be honest, at that point I was embarrassed at the team that was playing in front of our 96 squad and thought to myself that our 96 players must have been thinking, "what the hell is this?"

I've had my same seats a long time and remember going to my first game around 1975 or so. I've seen good and bad from our teams and this is bad. The fans are NOT the problem. Good grief.

 

[Rock98Dog]

I temper my expectations when it's warranted (2006 thru 2011, for example). I had tempered expectations for last year from the standpoint that you had to believe WKU was going to win the east. Going into this year I knew an east title would be tough because WKU would still be good and Middle, with Stockstill and James, can put up serious points.

With that said, I will never temper my expectations enough to where I expect to lose at home to Akron, a team that graduated 17 starters from a team that barely made a bowl last year. I will never temper them to the level where I accept a loss to a North Texas team that won one game last year and had a totally new coaching staff. I will not temper expectations to the level where I am happy about a nail biter victory over a 1-5 FAU team at home and where we are discussing the need to play well to beat the friggin Charlotte 49ers, a school that shouldn't even be playing FBS football.

 

[Russ Priddy]

I temper my expectations when it's warranted (2006 thru 2011, for example). I had tempered expectations for last year from the standpoint that you had to believe WKU was going to win the east. Going into this year I knew an east title would be tough because WKU would still be good and Middle, with Stockstill and James, can put up serious points.

With that said, I will never temper my expectations enough to where I expect to lose at home to Akron, a team that graduated 17 starters from a team that barely made a bowl last year. I will never temper them to the level where I accept a loss to a North Texas team that won one game last year and had a totally new coaching staff. I will not temper expectations to the level where I am happy about a nail biter victory over a 1-5 FAU team at home and where we are discussing the need to play well to beat the friggin Charlotte 49ers, a school that shouldn't even be playing FBS football.

Well said..

 

[Herd72]

Say what you want to - I go all the way back to the 50's in Fairfield Stadium and I have never seen a coach here that played more not to lose instead of playing to win as the current staff. In addition, no matter what the problem or what is happening in the game - there are very few adjustments on either side of the ball. I coached for 30+ years in various sports in high school and middle school (yes, I know not at the college level - so I am not allowed to criticize, yada, yada) but it is 100 percent the coaching staffs responsibility to make sure the team is ready to play when they take the field, mat, track court or whatever. Ask yourself ... were we ready to play the first series of the game? Ask yourself ... did we come out of halftime with adjustments made, fired up and ready to take over the game? Was the level of readiness due to the fans?

 

[WV_Celt]

Our expectations don't keep the offense from getting in the end zone, or the DBs from successfully covering wide outs, or Bill Legg from knowing what year it is or how to come up with a good offensive scheme.

 

[IJW]

my expectations allow for a down season but not an incompetent one. A 10 win season to one where that has us struggling to get any win against a line up of worst of BCS bottom feeders is a shock. We lost some guys, so did every other team in the country. There has to be competent players that want that opportunity to step up. If you don't have that lined up to account for people graduating, leaving or getting injured you have failed.

 

[BRZA]

Yup it's the fans..... I know I'm at least responsible for a couple bad penalties and the poor play of the secondary. Had I not "triggered" our players with critical comments we might be undefeated.

 

[HubbMU]

is the fans. Look, I think we have a great fan base. But we also have a delusional fan base.

For instance let's look at Litton. Now, last year we have Birdsong who in his first D-1 game plays decently, enough for a big win. But is injured and plays poorly during the second game. As soon as he started playing poorly (it took all of 1 game) out fans bailed on him. "He sucks! Bench him!" So we did. We went with the true freshman and all of a sudden we make Litton out to be the second coming of Pennington. And because of that, when he struggles and it turns out maybe he's not Pennington, we lash out. And people want to bench him. But really it's not that he is costing us games, it's that he hasn't lived up to being as good as the greatest quarterback to play at Marshall ever. So really who's problem is that? Chase, or the fans?

Our fans have disappointed me this year, booing the team when FAU scored (I believe). Or booing at the end of the half when taking the knee was the right move.

Or booing when we had the ball and were driving for the winning touchdown, there were fans upset and several fans left saying something like "we suck we're gonna lose I'm not watching this" literally two plays before we scored the winning touchdown.

Add that with the fact that half of our fans don't come into the stadium or stay in the parking lot after halftime to drink and I have to think, maybe this is the team our fans deserve.

When Akron housed us at our place by 30 points, any thought of blaming the fans should've gone out the f'n window. As fans, season ticket holders, Big Green 110% members, and the people who put on their Kelly Green every Saturday to come out to watch the Herd play, we can pretty much voice our opinions at this point. When the team that looked like I-AA South from the NCAA football video games gashed us four plays into the game did you expect fans to sit on their hands and watch the same ol'?

 

[AllEers6]

is the fans. Look, I think we have a great fan base. But we also have a delusional fan base.

For instance let's look at Litton. Now, last year we have Birdsong who in his first D-1 game plays decently, enough for a big win. But is injured and plays poorly during the second game. As soon as he started playing poorly (it took all of 1 game) out fans bailed on him. "He sucks! Bench him!" So we did. We went with the true freshman and all of a sudden we make Litton out to be the second coming of Pennington. And because of that, when he struggles and it turns out maybe he's not Pennington, we lash out. And people want to bench him. But really it's not that he is costing us games, it's that he hasn't lived up to being as good as the greatest quarterback to play at Marshall ever. So really who's problem is that? Chase, or the fans?

Our fans have disappointed me this year, booing the team when FAU scored (I believe). Or booing at the end of the half when taking the knee was the right move.

Or booing when we had the ball and were driving for the winning touchdown, there were fans upset and several fans left saying something like "we suck we're gonna lose I'm not watching this" literally two plays before we scored the winning touchdown.

Add that with the fact that half of our fans don't come into the stadium or stay in the parking lot after halftime to drink and I have to think, maybe this is the team our fans deserve.

This team is one of the leaders in the country in penalty yardage and one of the worst defense's in the country. The fans expect more then this from Doc. bottom line, this is a real bad football team

 

[Marine03]

The fans fault. Lmbo this is idiocy at its best. Can I also blame the fans for the REDS sucking for years now?

 

[The Real SamC]

Blame the fans has to be one of the dumbest comments ever.

I can list 100 schools that play at levels (D-II, I-AA, lowly MAC, making a token effort as a field filler in some random league, etc. ) below our level. They are there and we are here because of OUR FAN BASE.

WV is a small poor state, and growing smaller and poorer as we speak. Huntington is a dying town whose best days were when Ike was in the White House, or maybe Silent Cal. MU is a solid, middle level college for the middle class, which is grossly underfunded by the state and despised by WVU for doing the job it itself turned its back upon 4 generations ago, which is serve this small poor state. And, while MU has, in modern times, a plethora of majors, most of our alumni are school teachers with limited resources to plow money into the program.

And, yet, football remains. There is no real reason MU is where it is, and not where Morehead, or Kent State, or UT-Chattanooga, or Concord, are. Except one. THE FAN BASE.

The lesson that I get from this awful year is that there is no longer an objective source of MU pre-season material. These national guides just go on past performance and toss out a page or two about the G5 conferences without any real journalism. Chuckie is automatically negative. The rest of the H-D is just lapdogish positive. WSAZ and and WCHS/WVAH just read the scores and hold the mike while Doc and Dan say whatever, and WOWK is 100% anti-Marshall, as is the Gag-zette. We were told this was going to be a "solid" year and 9-3 or 8-4.

This team is awful. Somebody should have noticed in August.

 

[oldeherd]

Yup it's the fans..... I know I'm at least responsible for a couple bad penalties and the poor play of the secondary. Had I not "triggered" our players with critical comments we might be undefeated.

Yeah, BRZA, surely it is the fans fault when they don't yell loud enough "TURN AROUND" as an opposing receiver on a long route is about to gather in a pass while the Herd "defender" is running in stride HEAD DOWN with NO CLUE as to where the ball is . . . .Over and Over and Over again so far this season.

And, I guess it is the fans fault that we turned out in pretty decent numbers, 25,000+, and with some enthusiasm for the Akron game. To the extent that the Zips got so fired up playing before such a throng after being used to playing before 10,000-12,000 in their sparkling $65 million new stadium! Yeah, it must have been such a raucous atmosphere that propelled them to score what, 38 points, in the second quarter on the way to 65, or 68, for the game. DARN OUR FANS, ANYWAY!!!!

 

[andy4theherd]

i'll admit... i haven't been pushing myself on leg days...

 

[herdalicious]

I'm just glad to know I actually influence the outcome. This whole time I thought I was just a passive viewer.

 

[pdbailey]

I temper my expectations when it's warranted (2006 thru 2011, for example). I had tempered expectations for last year from the standpoint that you had to believe WKU was going to win the east. Going into this year I knew an east title would be tough because WKU would still be good and Middle, with Stockstill and James, can put up serious points.

With that said, I will never temper my expectations enough to where I expect to lose at home to Akron, a team that graduated 17 starters from a team that barely made a bowl last year. I will never temper them to the level where I accept a loss to a North Texas team that won one game last year and had a totally new coaching staff. I will not temper expectations to the level where I am happy about a nail biter victory over a 1-5 FAU team at home and where we are discussing the need to play well to beat the friggin Charlotte 49ers, a school that shouldn't even be playing FBS football.

I agree with what you said, but Akron replaced those 17 starters with 15 graduate transfers from P5 schools, have a good QB, and are currently in 1st place in the MAC East so they aren't a bad team. I believe they also won 8 games last year as well. We should realistically be 3-3 right now, you can't commit 5 TOs against Akron with 4 being TD returns and expect to have won that game, and we should have looked better doing it. Honestly, we could right the ship and go 5-1 or 6-0 to finish the season, but we need to show improvement quickly or we will go 3-3 and miss out on the postseason. The NT loss is the one that stings the most at this point as it was just a terrible performance from the team.

 

[30Kelly]

The NT loss is the one that stings the most at this point as it was just a terrible performance from the team.

No offense, but the only game so far this season in which we haven't seen a "terrible performance," has been the opener against the youth men's league recreational football team, better known as Morgan State.

 

[pdbailey]

No offense, but the only game so far this season in which we haven't seen a "terrible performance," has been the opener against the youth men's league recreational football team, better known as Morgan State.

FWIW, Morgan St is now 3-3 and is near the top of the MEAC standings. Our execution was nearly flawless in that game, and made us look like a team that could win 10+ games this year. What is inexplicable is how we suddenly became a team that couldn't execute on a consistent basis. The key thing for me is that there is a constant rumor that there is a player leadership issue with this team. I'm not going to call out players, but there is suppose to be an issue, and that may be a reason why the team isn't performing well.

 

[andy4theherd]

FWIW, Morgan St is now 3-3 and is near the top of the MEAC standings.

uhh, that's a negative on both accounts... and those 2 wins are against 1-6 Howard and 0-6 Delaware State...

 

[sistersville]

Herd 72 is the wisest man on the board,then me.lol