Let's just play football

There were tears in the locker room again Saturday. Not because the Senior's had played their last game, or because their Coach had passed away, nope, these tears were not sad tears, they were happy tears. Moments after defeating Ball State and becoming bowl eligible, a tearful Coach Lynch addressed the team and praised them for their efforts. Together they had overcome all types of doubters, they had overcome the demons of the past, yes, for the first time since most of these kids were in grade school, IU was bowl eligible. Coach Lynch's message was simple and concise, next week, let's just go play football and win!

None of the preseason magazines thought this would be possible, I would even be willing to bet that at 75% of the fan base really didn't believe either that this team could overcome the loss of their leader and become bowl eligible. No one, except the players and coaches will ever understand the kind of pressure this team has had on them. They are not just playing for their past leader, they are also playing for the Coach Lynch's future, the rest of the staff's future, the family of Coach Hep, and alumni and fans that had all but given up on them. Together, they did it and the Saturday afternoon, the tears fell.

Of course, you'd never hear this publically, not now, and maybe not ever. These kids have felt the pressure before. Last year they had 3 games to become bowl eligible and couldn't do it. This season, they lost the past 3 games mainly because they tried way too hard and made bad mental errors instead of just letting the game come to them. With the exception of Wisconsin, IU could have honestly won every game the played in. Of course, the fan base was frustrated, the players were frustrated, but what could they do.

The big problem with IU football is this, there's NOT been the consistancy to put the program where it needed to be in the administrations eyes and every 4 or 5 years the staff and coaches change. Now I'm going to say something that will be controvercial, but I think it needs to be said. There's a lot of "fans" that are calling for Coach Lynch's head, bowl or no bowl, but what this program needs more than ANYTHING ELSE is STABILITY! The administration has put rebuilding the fball program as it's number 1 priority, and they have invested their money and time into making this a reality. Now the big question: Why can't the fans realize stability is the biggest need and ride with who we have for awhile?

I think the answer to the above is 2 fold, and of course these are just my answers, my opinions, but IU is known as a basketball school, but most of the fans don't remember a time that IU basketball wasn't competitive. Sure, they might have had a bad season here or there, but if things went wrong 2 years in row, then the coach got the boot. And thus the main problem with IU football fans today. Not many have the patience to stick with someone through the losing to get to the winning. After a couple bad seasons, they want change. Well, for IU football to ever become anything, they have to build stability. Without stability, there will never be consistency!
Believe me, the adminstration and players have bought into it.

Secondly, no one has patience anymore. It's win now or bye-bye. Fair or not, that's the way most programs are, not just IU. However if you look at what Frank Beamer did at Virginia Tech or Mark Mangilo at Kansas or others just like them, their universities were justified to get rid of these guys after a year or two or more, yet they stuck with them, and now look at the rewards. Why can't IU fall into this category? The answer is they can, but as I referenced above, most Indiana University fans don't comprehend stability equals consistancy because of the success of IU basketball. They believe that change will automatically bring success. They believe that if we pay 3 million/year to some "big name guy" that IU fball will automatically be something. Yet, even the big names have to build stability to bring consistancy.

Which brings me to Coach Lynch. Is he our "best option"? If you believe that stability brings consistency, then yes, he is. Change might not be the best thing for this program. Also, I'm not sure too many coaches could have done what he's done with this team. The roller coaster ride of emotions would have defeated most teams, but not Coach Lynch and not these kids. They are already winners, whether they finish above .500 or not. They have performed and succeeded when very few thought they could or would. This arguement about who is the best coach for IU will continue long after this blog is written until Greenspan makes the final decision.

Until that time, IU can just go out and play football this weekend and next. Both Northwestern and Purdue are good teams, but are very beatable. The real question will be can these kids settle down and just play football, instead of trying to make something happen?

Congrats to the kids for yet another goal achieved of becoming bowl eligible! This fan is extremely proud of you.