What are the chances that Small will fire Brick?

[Bornthrilla]

I'd say slim and none.

To me, Small seems like one of those skippers that are willing to go down with the ship.

.
2004 A&T offense:

[TOPPDOGG]

In terms of total offense (yards) we rank 106th out of 117 teams in I-AA. In rushing we are 90th. In passing 89th. In scoring offense we're ranked 110th. If stats like those don't get you fired nothing will.

In almost every interview Small preaches loyalty and family. I don't think he's going to fire Brick despite the fact he obviously deserves to be shown the door.

[Maxell]

Based on what Florida did this week, Small better rethink his position. Both our Chancellor and AC are from PWCs. It's about winning. I may have thought slim and none before today, but if Brick is not on the clock, then Small will be.

[captaggie]

HBCU football coaches produces HBCU football results.

[bluehaze]

This answers the question.

Taken from the weekly press conference:
On how he would evaluate the job the coaching staff has done this year:

Oh, outstanding. No one has let up at all. And the way the coaching staff has tried to prepare these young men week in and week out, has been tremendous. But that’s to be expected of them and that’s why they’re here. That’s why they were chosen, because they are pretty good coaches and teachers.

[DOOMS]

Like I said in another forum, Brick has had nothing to work with. He had winning seasons at freaking Johnson C. Smith! The more I watch the individual play of some of the guys the more obvious to me that Brick ain’t the problem. There really is no play you can call that will work when your o-line cannot produce, your qb cannot make good decisions, and your receivers will not catch the ball. The only thing left is to try to run it and keep it very simple and hope somebody breaks one. Add to that you can’t build on the previous week because the players are changing week-to-week due to injury…<br>
The bottom line is we really want to do whatever we can to keep that exposed defense off the field. If we were airing it out I guarantee we’d be losing a lot worse due to the interceptions off of poorly thrown passes and tipped balls by our ineffective wideouts. Your running backs coach is telling you this guy is better than that guy when that obviously ain’t the case. What would you do differently if you were Brick?

I don’t care who you put in that o.c. position, until we upgrade talent in key areas you won’t see good results.

[DECKS]

DD, I must humbly disagree. I think we are loaded with talent, even with all the injuries. Most of these kids are Hayes recruits and we all know that even if he was deficient as a coach dude could flat out recruit.
This is plain and simple a coaching issue. There is no way anyone can tell me that DSU, Elon, NCCU and NSU have better talent than we do. We should have stomped a mud hole in all of em with our second teamers.
We may arguably have the best wr talent in the conference but all of a sudden these guys can't catch, can't block and are running incorrect routes. These are the same guys we had last year so why are they regressing?
I think the reverse is true.........that these kids have won what they have in spite of the coaches. With the horrible coaching I've seen if we had poor talent we'd be the equivalent of Prarie View right now.

Look at how NCCU improved on offense by getting rid of Ferguson and hiring Asbury. Of course they had a few upgrades in talent but the difference has been like night & day for them. It's apparent that Brick has lost it. He was offensive coordinator at SCSU under Jefferies and had he accomplished anything he would have been hired as Jeff's replacement. I now understand why Pugh didn't mind parting ways with him.

[DOOMS]

Dex, I would agree with you, but man the line hasn't been good since Mo got hurt. They probably weren't good before then but after he got hurt we just couldn't run at all most games. We haven't had but maybe two 200 yard passing games in the past three years, partially due to drops from wideouts. Don't get me started on Glenn. He can make plays when nobody pressures him, but when there's somebody in his face he doesn't maintain poise. Look at all the sacks, the grounding penalty, the picks. All come from pressure and bad decision making.

Last year the ball bounced our way a whole lot. The kids didn't exactly beat up on anybody (cept Del State). For whatever reason the meac coaches refused to notice that we were incedibly soft in the middle like a hostess cake. This year what you saw from Howard was what I was waiting all last year to see cause it was evident to me from day one. Hayes' last crew was loaded with speed guys. They are lite in the a$$. Same thing happened when we played Portland State. They just ran right up the middle on us all game. Wofford too. MEAC coaches? Too slow to adjust to do it.

Hayes' last recruits were recruited to run and defend the spread. He said that he was leaning towards changing to the spread when he hired Ferguson, it was just accelerated a little bit. I know we all think he was an old bear and would never change his ways, but he always knew when something wasn't working anymore and albeit usually a year or two too late (see veer, wing-t, multiple-I) he would change up.

I'm not saying we have an all-star coaching cast. I hate that I'm making excuses for them too, but we simply aren't as strong or talented as we thought we were. In actuality we're better than we're getting but worse than we think we are. And we're probably closer to what we're getting than to what we think we are.

That being said, the recruits should have been playing all year. A ton of them clearly could've won playing time over the current guys. If Pete Carroll at USC can play freshmen because his motto is to play the best he's got, then why can't we? That I have a problem with.

[DECKS]

hate that I'm making excuses for them too, but we simply aren't as strong or talented as we thought we were. In actuality we're better than we're getting but worse than we think we are. And we're probably closer to what we're getting than to what we think we are.

Gimme a minute or two on that one. lol!

[DOOMS]

OK, I just read that and it made no sense...


I meant to say:

...we're better than we've been doing but worse than we think we are...

[DECKS]

I also think that Small would go down with the ship which is something I admire in a leader. Like Doomsday I really like him and hopes he makes the necessary changes on offense to help teach these kids. As a manager I've been in his shoes before and letting go of folks who are loyal to you is about the toughest thing you can do. I guess I can understand if he brings Brick back. I've done the same thing when placed in a similar position.

[DOOMS]

To me continuity is important. If we go off half assed and force Small to drop somebody, who are we gonna get that's better? We already went through this mess with Hayes and now we're probably all deep in our minds thinking what if he was still here. I ain't gonna lie, that sick thought has crossed my mind once or twice.

As far as Small, let him at least get his own players to juniors and seniors before we let the guillotine fall. We haven't given him time to prove much other than he's a great first-year coach.

[Maxell]

Dooms, you getting soft. Our coaches coach like Glenn plays. He's alright as long as there's no pressure or adversity. We both know that great coaches adjust to the talent he has and lays out a plan to get what he needs. Anybody can coach with great talent and win. Hayes had talent and we were 9-2 or 8-3 most seasons. Do we really want to be a powerhouse football program or do we want to just be a winner? There's a difference.

We will NEVER, I repeat NEVER be a powerhouse program with the current offensive staff. I would almost rather have Ferguson back working under Small. Small needs to get some assistants with FIRE to offset his laid back nature.

Coaches have 3 basic jobs:

(1) Evaluate talent
(2) Teach
(3) Make game calls and decisions

Tell me which one of these does Brick do well?

[TOPPDOGG]

Respectfully those are just excuses. We didn't do squat last year either. I'd bet dollars to lemon-filled doughnuts if Brick stays we won't do squat next year. I see now why SCSU fans were eager to get rid of him.

[DECKS]

The decision to keep Brick and / or Berry needs to be Smalls. He just needs to be made aware of the consequences if he's wrong.
Twice in my career I kept folks on my staff who weren't cutting it simply because of their loyalty and past accomplishments.

Twice I was wrong. Never again will I hire people who I have close ties to because it will cloud your judgement. Those guys will have to offer their resignation because I can't see him firing them.