Q&A With Gene Chizik

[Godfather]

Joe Paterno = Tommy Tuberville?

When Tubs wins about 284 more games and has 2 MNC's perhaps.

[Kaos]

When Tubs wins about 284 more games and has 2 MNC's perhaps.

When he's at a place for 40 years and gets to have a down year or two while he puts things back together, then maybe you'll see that. 

Bowden, Paterno, Osborne, Royal and even Bryant were successful because they lasted.  They survived lean times and kept going. 

Continuity -- if you have a quality person in the position -- is the key to that kind of success.  Blowing shit up and starting over every five to ten years is not. 

[Saniflush]

When he's at a place for 40 years and gets to have a down year or two while he puts things back together, then maybe you'll see that. 

Bowden, Paterno, Osborne, Royal and even Bryant were successful because they lasted.  They survived lean times and kept going. 

Different era.  Not saying there is truth in it but it is also not the way of the world these days.

[jadennis]

Joe Paterno = Tommy Tuberville?

I've never thought it that directly, but many, many times I've thought that we'll never know.

Back in December of 2008 when talk of Tuberville leaving was being tossed around, I made list after list after list of examples of why we should keep him and give him a chance to turn it around.

Just like the guys you listed, they all (except Osborne) experienced those dips.  From 67-70, Bryant won 8, 8, 6 and 6 games.  After having won 11, 10, 9, 10, 9 and 11 games the previous 6 years, he was obviously slipping, washed up, had lost touch with the kids, the game had passed him by....and whatever other career ending phrase you want to insert. 

He was done...finished.

Well, except for the fact that he wasn't.  He won 11, 10, 11, 11, 11, 9, 11, 11, 12, and 10 games in the next 10 years.

Tuberville went 9, 8, 13, 9, 11, 9, and then 5.  Would he have gone back to 11 or 9 or 13 in the next three years?  We'll never know.  But think what Penn State would have missed had they given up on Joe Pa after he won 7 games in 1970.  Or when he won 7 in 1976.  Or when he won 6 in 1984.  Or when he won 5 in 1988.  Or when he won 5 in back to back years in 00 and 01.

The list of "down" years by great coaches is long and includes a lot of hall-of-fame names.  I'm over it now, but I did used to wonder what might have been had we let Tuberville try to fix his 5 win season and situation.  Rumor was he was willing to clean house on the offensive side.  What if he had and hired Malzahn? 

[Godfather]

Different era.  Not saying there is truth in it but it is also not the way of the world these days.

What he said! We want instant gratification and we want it now...dammit!

[Kaos]

Different era.  Not saying there is truth in it but it is also not the way of the world these days.

Sometimes the old ways are the best. 

Where would FSU be today if they'd axed Bowden after a 6-5 season in his sixth year?  Or if they'd decided after 11 seasons that a couple of ten-win campaigns and one 11-win anomaly way back when just wasn't getting them to the next level? 

Knee jerk reaction is no way to go through life. 

That doesn't mean Lebo can stay, though.  Basketball isn't football.

[AWK]

Sometimes the old ways are the best. 

Where would FSU be today if they'd axed Bowden after a 6-5 season in his sixth year?  Or if they'd decided after 11 seasons that a couple of ten-win campaigns and one 11-win anomaly way back when just wasn't getting them to the next level? 

Knee jerk reaction is no way to go through life. 

That doesn't mean Lebo can stay, though.  Basketball isn't football.

Hmmmmmmm