(04-18-2017 07:46 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  I like to relate EW as the "bad decision ex-girlfriend". She was attractive, but a compulsive liar. You put up with her crap and are happy when things are over. She thinks she broke your heart, but the reality is that she did you a favor. And then you start to see her make the same mistakes with the new guy and you can't help but watch and be entertained that you aren't THAT guy anymore.

You sure we're talking about coaching? That girl was a lot of fun at the time!

(04-18-2017 08:19 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 07:46 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  I like to relate EW as the "bad decision ex-girlfriend". She was attractive, but a compulsive liar. You put up with her crap and are happy when things are over. She thinks she broke your heart, but the reality is that she did you a favor. And then you start to see her make the same mistakes with the new guy and you can't help but watch and be entertained that you aren't THAT guy anymore.

You sure we're talking about coaching? That girl was a lot of fun at the time!

As was playing the SMU game.

(04-18-2017 08:31 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 08:19 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 07:46 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  I like to relate EW as the "bad decision ex-girlfriend". She was attractive, but a compulsive liar. You put up with her crap and are happy when things are over. She thinks she broke your heart, but the reality is that she did you a favor. And then you start to see her make the same mistakes with the new guy and you can't help but watch and be entertained that you aren't THAT guy anymore.

You sure we're talking about coaching? That girl was a lot of fun at the time!

As was playing the SMU game.

I didn't say it was ALL bad. Vad Lee was the best thing to come out of the EW era (aside from him leaving) and have to give total props to EW for bringing him in. Unfortunately for every SMU, there was Richmond, or losing at home in the playoffs. That defense was absolutely painful to watch, because you just knew the other team was going to get some points. We just weren't built to win when it really mattered... playoffs. I truly believe we would have either missed the playoffs last season or been one and done yet again.

(04-18-2017 08:38 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 08:31 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 08:19 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 07:46 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  I like to relate EW as the "bad decision ex-girlfriend". She was attractive, but a compulsive liar. You put up with her crap and are happy when things are over. She thinks she broke your heart, but the reality is that she did you a favor. And then you start to see her make the same mistakes with the new guy and you can't help but watch and be entertained that you aren't THAT guy anymore.

You sure we're talking about coaching? That girl was a lot of fun at the time!

As was playing the SMU game.

I didn't say it was ALL bad. Vad Lee was the best thing to come out of the EW era (aside from him leaving) and have to give total props to EW for bringing him in. Unfortunately for every SMU, there was Richmond, or losing at home in the playoffs. That defense was absolutely painful to watch, because you just knew the other team was going to get some points. We just weren't built to win when it really mattered... playoffs. I truly believe we would have either missed the playoffs last season or been one and done yet again.

Well then we are just going to have to agree to agree... We are all on the same page.

(04-18-2017 08:51 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 08:38 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 08:31 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 08:19 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 07:46 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  I like to relate EW as the "bad decision ex-girlfriend". She was attractive, but a compulsive liar. You put up with her crap and are happy when things are over. She thinks she broke your heart, but the reality is that she did you a favor. And then you start to see her make the same mistakes with the new guy and you can't help but watch and be entertained that you aren't THAT guy anymore.

You sure we're talking about coaching? That girl was a lot of fun at the time!

As was playing the SMU game.

I didn't say it was ALL bad. Vad Lee was the best thing to come out of the EW era (aside from him leaving) and have to give total props to EW for bringing him in. Unfortunately for every SMU, there was Richmond, or losing at home in the playoffs. That defense was absolutely painful to watch, because you just knew the other team was going to get some points. We just weren't built to win when it really mattered... playoffs. I truly believe we would have either missed the playoffs last season or been one and done yet again.

Well then we are just going to have to agree to agree... We are all on the same page.

Definitely. I get that some people are so tired of talking about the guy. I still think it's very interesting what's happening there. Based on the fact that this thread is already 3 pages, other people feel the same. It's not like we're infecting every thread with "Speaking of the spring game, thankfully Withers wasn't on the sideline this year or our defense blah blah blah...". There are plenty of other topics that fulfill that already.
It probably wouldn't hurt to make these OT, though. But then again, since we are talking about Withers, our defense would blow it if we went to OT.

Couldn't resist.

Withers is/was a clown. A well connected clown who can recruit and hype, but a clown nonetheless.

Moving on.

(04-18-2017 08:16 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 07:13 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  ^^ He probably just wants what a lot of other people want; to take the high road and let it go. Withers was a good shot of juice for us to get going, but we're better off. Moving on.

I'm sure you are correct. But when there is time to reflect on the past, what is the harm. Like many posters, I believe EW did some good for JMU, it's simply his attitude I never cared for and still don't. He is the definition of a narcissist.

My man Deez gets it. I'm just ready to move on and not waste time talking about what happened in the past. The best things are all around us right now so why bother with him when we've got MH and a National Championship. Enjoy the greatness while you can. And, I've said it in other threads, EW did some very great things to help move our program forward and he deserves credit. However, I'm tired of talking about it.

As for your other remark, too much of anything is bad for you. That's all I'll say. I have to listen to enough political comments in the political war zone that is DC. Don't need any here.

Subject clearly says Withers in it, don't click it if you are tired of reading about the guy. I agree no one needs or wants every blow by blow of his Texas State tenure but when you are getting gem quotes like "Last year, I didn’t bring my kids over here because I didn’t want them to be infested with what was going on.", hard not to be at least mildly entertained by the situation. It could be argued it it should be labeled OT, but subject was pretty self explanatory either way.

Just because the subject is clear doesn't mean it isn't tired.

I almost hate to say this but, with 20/20 hindsight, I'm going to give JB credit for going 3-0 with FB coaches. EW was exactly what the program needed for the two years he was at JMU. He built the support back up and had back to back playoff appearances for the first time since....? TGranted had EW stayed, I predict he would have gone down as a loser as performance would have dropped and he would go into a MM type slide from 2016-2018. BUT he left and during his time EW brought a FBS, heck P5, feel to the program, which definitely wasn't going to happen hiring MH in 2014 from a D2 school and probably wouldn't have happened to with the actual other candidates in 2014. So yeah, I give credit JB for 3-0 with the note that TXST bailed him out from potentially being 1-1 right now.

Steps to demonstrate insanity:
(1) Say it is silly to talk about a subject.
(2) Later in they day, talk about subject but also say you are tired of talking about said subject.
(3) Talk about subject again 12 minutes later.

(04-18-2017 09:50 AM)DoubleDogDare Wrote:  Steps to demonstrate insanity:
(1) Say it is silly to talk about a subject.
(2) Later in they day, talk about subject but also say you are tired of talking about said subject.
(3) Talk about subject again 12 minutes later.

Troll elsewhere. I'd been done with the topic had BP not fired off but I've completed my necessary replies

(04-18-2017 09:58 AM)Dukes1825 Wrote:  

(04-18-2017 09:50 AM)DoubleDogDare Wrote:  Steps to demonstrate insanity:
(1) Say it is silly to talk about a subject.
(2) Later in they day, talk about subject but also say you are tired of talking about said subject.
(3) Talk about subject again 12 minutes later.

Troll elsewhere. I'd been done with the topic had BP not fired off but I've completed my necessary replies

Oh now....I'm old and practically insane and dang near anything can come out of my mouth or in this case written.

Wow. That was quite a clip. 15 seconds of pure idiocy.

Withers always has to project being the 'smartest person in the room'. His whole bit about not being talented is very obviously a hedge against a train wreck 2017 season. In his mind, people wont be able to pick up on the hedge - thats the way he thinks. Smart as an ox.

As for his time at JMU, he brought some legit positives. Helped get Vad here. Increased national perception of university...and then he self-selected out. I actually give the admin some credit for that. They weren't going to buckle to Withers' whims and were prepared to make a change with a huge character upgrade.

(04-17-2017 11:58 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(04-17-2017 06:48 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(04-17-2017 05:58 PM)jmu007 Wrote:  Lol... The same, "committee" chose Mike Houston.. So far The AD is a solid 2-1 on FB coaches. Not bad.

I was about to say the same thing.
On the other side, Texas State decided to pay the guy a LOT of money, so who's the foolish one?

Bash the admin on men's basketball hires all you want, but they've actually done a good job with football hires. And women's basketball hires. And softball hires. And baseball hires. The list goes on and on.
Basically they've done a damn good job except in one category. It's a biggie, but you can't say that they've been a failure, because they haven't.

Except for men's basketball. I'd like to think of it as our kryptonite at this point.

You have to wonder are the "committee" and AD etc. total buffoons when it comes to Men's Basketball or is that just a tougher job to find someone who can succeed at the level that the other sports can given relative facilities, relative competition (more D1 schools) and the lack of success/winning culture over the last 20 years? Sure I think $ plays into it but I also think finding a MBB coach that can success at JMU is more difficult than finding a football coach who can succeed, a woman's softball coach, a woman's basketball coach etc.

JMU FCS football outspends the entire field of completion, JMU basketball hires on the cheap.

Quite possibly the largest event to expose our University on a national level happened while EW was at the helm, lets not forget that. I'm not talking just athletics, I'm talking the University as a whole. JMU came off looking like a champion big time University, which we are.

That being said, we are much better off, EW is not a good coach. Forgot the rest of the crap he brings to the table, he simply cannot coach.

Mike Houston is a phenomenal coach, I hope he has a Mickey length stay in Harrisonburg.

I follow a college football writer named Matt Murschel on twitter. He covers the florida football teams for the Orlando Sentinel, and in the leadup to the season ranks each FBS school, from 1 all the way down. It's one writer's opinion.

That said, he ranked Texas State ahead of only UAB, which just got its program going again, this year. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/spo...topic.html

Not wanting to beat the proverbial dead horse but I had to laugh at Wither's Spring Game quotes regarding our National Championship and his role in it (https://texasstate.rivals.com/news/sprin...es-stats):

Comparing last year's team to this year: “I didn’t like those guys last year. I didn’t like them, just so you know.

Love (this team). Are we more talented? No, we’re not. But I like being around them. I like being around our guys. They are good people. Generally, I feel they have a better care for each other than a year ago. I want to be around them, I want my son to be around them. I want our coaches’ families to be around that. I want (defensive coordinator) Randall McCray to bring his son and his daughter over here and be around the team. Last year, I didn’t bring my kids over here because I didn’t want them to be infested with what was going on.

No disrespect to last year’s group, they didn’t know us, they didn’t know the expectations. We came in here swinging at them last year. We came here absolutely swinging at everybody in the athletic department because our standards were high. We just left a team that won a national championship at James Madison. We built that and we’ve built the expectations for that. The same expectations are here and they won’t change. We’re going to work until we get here.

I felt like our guys competed better this spring. Tougher and more physical this spring… I feel better about where we’re headed this summer. I always say this but this summer is the most important time for our football team. That’s when you build a team.”

I'll give Withers credit for bringing a new excitement to the program. We needed a change. I was one of the folks in the 400 Level constantly hollering at Mickey because we played down to the competition at times and didn't have a high octane offense.

I also have College GameDay down as one of my favorite post JMU memories but there's no way in the world I felt if Withers and his staff returned in 2016 we'd have been celebrating in the not under construction end zone in Frisco three months ago. No way.

I didn't have any confidence in Withers to develop or even go with Bryan Schor as our starting QB. I had no idea what we would have looked like on the defensive side of the ball or that Gage Steele would have been one of our senior defensive standouts after I thought Withers didn't properly utilize Gage his junior year.

Thank you Texas State for hiring him to take their program to the next level and thanks to Jeff Bourne and the search committee for bringing us Mike Houston. I love his pre-game speeches (those that we heard) and I hope you're here as our head coach for 10+ years.