Topic: Bowl System Future

[CharlestonHerdGuy]

Marshall's mentioned. Says Army and AAC mad. I say who cares. Marshall gotta do what's right for Marshall.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/columnist/dan-wolken/2024/12/19/college-football-bowl-games-future-elimination/77087652007/?tbref=hp

[herd2win]

The problem is from the articles I have read is that MU knew we were having a coaching change and guaranteed the bowl we would play the game.  The bowl director said he had discussions with MU and was secured we would be in the game.

MU brass knew how bad the relation was with Huff and could anticipate some fall out but still accepted the bowl bid.  At a minimum, MU needed to be in front of this story and be specific about why we opted out instead of a generic statement.  From the look of who Huff has already announced on his coaching staff, it could have been we had no coaches.  If that is the case, then say it.  If we had no offensive linemen, then say that.

Don't hide behind a generic statement about player safety.

[luvherd]

This is a cluster f PR wise. Huff was the driver but Spear mishandled the situation.

[Johnnyherd]

Marshall's mentioned. Says Army and AAC mad. I say who cares. Marshall gotta do what's right for Marshall

IMO what?s right for Marshall would be retaini Huff for 1 more season, keep the team intact, identify a coach in waiting, win the bowl game, use the payout to better our program, finish 11-3 and in the top 25, capitalize and build on the national media attention with recruiting.

[Always THE HERD]

IMO what?s right for Marshall would be retaini Huff for 1 more season, keep the team intact, identify a coach in waiting, win the bowl game, use the payout to better our program, finish 11-3 and in the top 25, capitalize and build on the national media attention with recruiting.

Totally disagree with your comments

[marshallmark]

Totally disagree with your comments

It wouldn't work anyway.  Huff would have jumped to any head coach or high assistant position to get out of a one-year w/ coach in waiting scenario. 

[Johnnyherd]

It wouldn't work anyway.  Huff would have jumped to any head coach or high assistant position to get out of a one-year w/ coach in waiting scenario.

How do you figure?  He didn?t have the option to leave yet, evidenced by the best offer was a job at a 1-11 program for less money than we payed Gibson?

[marshallmark]

How do you figure?  He didn?t have the option to leave yet, evidenced by the best offer was a job at a 1-11 program for less money than we payed Gibson?

And that job, or an assistant's position, would have been available anytime after Dec. 1.  He wasn't going to stay without a contract under his terms.

And understand, money was never the issue.  We were willing to pay him as much or more than what he got at Southern Miss.  It was the lack of a buyout, with its implied future threat to leave, that was the sticking point.  Southern Miss didn't see it as much of an impediment, but watch him leave quickly if he has any kind of success down there.  If he waits until 12/1/2025, his buyout is only $750k - that's peanuts. 

[Johnnyherd]

And that job, or an assistant's position, would have been available anytime after Dec. 1.  He wasn't going to stay without a contract under his terms.

And understand, money was never the issue.  We were willing to pay him as much or more than what he got at Southern Miss.  It was the lack of a buyout, with its implied future threat to leave, that was the sticking point.  Southern Miss didn't see it as much of an impediment, but watch him leave quickly if he has any kind of success down there.  If he waits until 12/1/2025, his buyout is only $750k - that's peanuts.

If you?re going in with the idea that he puts together another strong year at Marshall then it?s reasonable to expect him to be hired away and receiving an entire years salary just for the right to hire him is reasonable.

You want winning to beget winning.  You want the top up and coming coaches to see Marshall as a place to win championships and elevate your career.   We should aspire to be the modern cradle of coaches, the best G5 job in the country that usually has the best up and coming coach in the country.  We would only benefit from that reputation. 

[parshall2marshall]

How do you figure?  He didn?t have the option to leave yet, evidenced by the best offer was a job at a 1-11 program for less money than we payed Gibson?

What part of Huff not wanting to be at MU would you and some others not understand. Huff with another HC in waiting is a miserable idea that would never have worked. Huff always had it in his mind that he was too good for MU - that much is clear.

I wouldn't be surprised that MU continually tried to low-ball him on the $$ - perhaps in-part because they knew that Huff was gone at the first decent opportunity anyway. A coach just cannot keep making cringe-worthy statements to the press without drawing the ire of the administration. We simply cut our losses. The buyout demand was the final straw if I had to guess.

Huff did some good very things here as a HC in-training. Nice bond with players. Worked the somewhat / relatively new portal like a guru. Said the right things about MU traditions and the 75. Ran a clean program. Hit and missed on coordinators/coaches. Pretty bad game-day coach considering how long he has been in coaching. But, in the end, like BP once (in?)famously said, "It's just time.".

MU will be fine and Huff will be fine after this parting. No extra animosity or holding grudges is needed ... but the situation came to a head and MU identified a personality-wise antithesis of Huff and have rolled the dice with same. The MU administration cannot reasonably be found at fault in my not-so-humble estimation. IF we strung the Indy Bowl along for awhile there may have been a last-ditch hope that we could iron things out. MU could have certainly used to the money, but will take 1 share instead of two now. Cannot we just let this go and move on.

[Johnnyherd]

Yeah, I agree it?s beating a dead horse, but I think the situation was handled very poorly.  We threw a grenade into our program to prevent Huff from leaving. 

It?s like your wife telling you she wants a divorce in the near future and you taking a bulldozer to the house you own together to show her.

[THECHAMPISHERE]

Seems like the solution is just don't invite Marshall to any more bowls. Problem solved. Everyone else fulfills their commitments just fine (with NIL, with the TP, with coaching changes, with defections, with players leaving, etc.). 

[gochneaur645]

We have nothing to apologize for.

Honestly, there have been plenty of teams in the past couple years that also should have withdrawn from their bowl game. It's more respectful to do that and get a replacement than to send some zombie team playing with the actual team's helmet decals.

Of course, if you know you're not going to have much of a team, you should probably decline the game immediately. But we had to make that decision only about 12 hours after the championship game. I don't think we knew quite how bad it was going to get at that time.

Hopefully our situation will be what causes a serious change to the bowl calendar, and we'll be remembered for that instead of as the team too scared to play. Most of the public opinion I've seen is showing us more sympathy than blame. The people blaming Marshall are the ones in power who stand to lose financially if this dinosaur bowl system goes away.

[MicDrass1]

Did Huff have the same AD his entire tenure at MU? 

[herd2win]

We have nothing to apologize for.

Honestly, there have been plenty of teams in the past couple years that also should have withdrawn from their bowl game. It's more respectful to do that and get a replacement than to send some zombie team playing with the actual team's helmet decals.

Of course, if you know you're not going to have much of a team, you should probably decline the game immediately. But we had to make that decision only about 12 hours after the championship game. I don't think we knew quite how bad it was going to get at that time.

Hopefully our situation will be what causes a serious change to the bowl calendar, and we'll be remembered for that instead of as the team too scared to play. Most of the public opinion I've seen is showing us more sympathy than blame. The people blaming Marshall are the ones in power who stand to lose financially if this dinosaur bowl system goes away.

You make some good points except for one major exception.  Spears and Smith knew Huff had already accepted the USM job prior to us even playing in the championship game.  They knew there would be major issues with the game and still accepted the bowl.

[MicDrass1]

Admin didn?t do their HW

Totally miscalculated the fact that the players loved playing for Huff and were pissed it was not worked out sooner to retain him.

[elginherd]

You make some good points except for one major exception.  Spears and Smith knew Huff had already accepted the USM job prior to us even playing in the championship game.  They knew there would be major issues with the game and still accepted the bowl.

That's a good point.
And I don't know what the timeline would've been, but Spears possibly could've polled the coaches and players to gauge whether they would be participating or not.

[herdloyal]

Here is the one inescapable truth, Marshall dead on arrival at the Bowl game. That is upon the players and the Coaches as well. Huff made his bed and so has Marshall Administrators. The only things I want is a renewal of the Coal-bowl made annually permanent. Anytime we play Southern Miss to kick the living hell out of them worst than I want to beat Appt State! Tony Gibson to position Marshall into the playoffs! It turns my stomach to see Boise State were we could have been.

[Big City]

What's done is done. Don't look back. Move forward.

[D1]

What part of Huff not wanting to be at MU would you and some others not understand. Huff with another HC in waiting is a miserable idea that would never have worked. Huff always had it in his mind that he was too good for MU - that much is clear.

I wouldn't be surprised that MU continually tried to low-ball him on the $$ - perhaps in-part because they knew that Huff was gone at the first decent opportunity anyway. A coach just cannot keep making cringe-worthy statements to the press without drawing the ire of the administration. We simply cut our losses. The buyout demand was the final straw if I had to guess.

Huff did some good very things here as a HC in-training. Nice bond with players. Worked the somewhat / relatively new portal like a guru. Said the right things about MU traditions and the 75. Ran a clean program. Hit and missed on coordinators/coaches. Pretty bad game-day coach considering how long he has been in coaching. But, in the end, like BP once (in?)famously said, "It's just time.".

MU will be fine and Huff will be fine after this parting. No extra animosity or holding grudges is needed ... but the situation came to a head and MU identified a personality-wise antithesis of Huff and have rolled the dice with same. The MU administration cannot reasonably be found at fault in my not-so-humble estimation. IF we strung the Indy Bowl along for awhile there may have been a last-ditch hope that we could iron things out. MU could have certainly used to the money, but will take 1 share instead of two now. Cannot we just let this go and move on.

Absolutely a great Post!
It's time for the Gibson era to have the support of the Marshall faithful. GO HERD!

[s1uggo]

The problem is from the articles I have read is that MU knew we were having a coaching change and guaranteed the bowl we would play the game.  The bowl director said he had discussions with MU and was secured we would be in the game.

MU brass knew how bad the relation was with Huff and could anticipate some fall out but still accepted the bowl bid.  At a minimum, MU needed to be in front of this story and be specific about why we opted out instead of a generic statement.  From the look of who Huff has already announced on his coaching staff, it could have been we had no coaches.  If that is the case, then say it.  If we had no offensive linemen, then say that.

Don't hide behind a generic statement about player safety.

who is/are the MU brass that knew this?

[Johnnyherd]

Saying he didn?t want to be here is a cheap way of justifying, a hurt feelings dismissal over what was best for the school and the football team. 

Step away from the Marshall echo chamber and see what smart people not connected to the school think about how the situation was handled, exactly the opposite of what you?re describing.   However we can let it go, we have no choice anyway.

I can?t help but notice Huff?s current energy and effort on recruiting at So Miss.  While Gibson is silently recruiting below average players and the back ups from last years team.

[bbcard1]

The current bowl and portal system bothers me less than the fact that South Carolina just paid a sophomore edge rusher more than a million dollars a year.

[parshall2marshall]

The only things I want is a renewal of the Coal-bowl made annually permanent.

Absolutely not. What if we were to play USPAM and start losing again. Crazed anti-poutie lunatics such as myself would start spouting our conspiracy theories again, tarnishing any chance of Gibson (and the rumored funding behind him) succeeding here.

[mu79grad]

Marshall's mentioned. Says Army and AAC mad. I say who cares. Marshall gotta do what's right for Marshall.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/columnist/dan-wolken/2024/12/19/college-football-bowl-games-future-elimination/77087652007/?tbref=hp

Blame can be cast all around.  In my opinion Marshall had an obligation to field a team and play Army.  The way I see it is that Marshall's administration flipped a proverbial middle finger to Army, to the Independence Bowl, and to the AAC.  We obviously had at least 25-30 bodies to field a team and give some good experience to those who would appreciate it.  I just never thought I'd see a day where Marshall would just raise the white flag, going down without a hearty, albeit, out-manned, fight!  I'm not a Hannan High School graduate but I always admired them fielding a varsity football team with maybe 15-18 players and giving it their all, knowing they had little chance of winning.  I think when we turned down the bowl it became the second darkest day in Marshall history.