In Defense of Coach Jinks

[CrazyFan]

In conversations with guys I know around the team, this is what is taking place.

I don't have pro-Jinks theories. I simply present facts or at least what I believe with near certainty to be facts, and I present them in a way that considers other factors that can impact how others view them.

I think he's a nice guy who is deservedly taking lots of hits from this fan base for losing games. He needs to start winning, period. I'm just as anxious and angry as the rest of you - I just feel that there are more factors to consider in his performance and what impacts it beyond just wins and losses.

Man, I know people are entitled to their own opinions, but damn mbenecke, what's Jinks got on you brother? You owe some Texas High School boosters some money or something that Jinks is holding over your head? Were you hanging with a couple of the football coaches at a bar and you decided to cold cock a bouncer, and the football coaches took the fall for you??

By the way, your "Jinks is saving the freshman" argument makes no sense. Lots of freshman around the country, whether its Division 1 or FBS, play right away. But usually they play when their good enough. Coaches don't hold back great talent just because they want to protect them. If this talent was as good as your making them out to be, they would be playing. End of story. Jinks job depended on it. He knew at the beginning of the year that this could be a hot seat year, and he's not going to not play the best players that give him the best chance to win. And if he did, well, he's going to lose his job because of that (and many, many, many, many other reasons, mainly because he's a terrible head coach).

[mbenecke]

Lol. I can understand why people think I'm defending the guy to the end, but that's simply not the case. I wish it had worked out, but it really hasn't to this point. I'm going to continue to hold out hope that we start winning under this current staff, just as I would with any other staff that would be here.

BG Football means a lot to me. Bottom line, I want to see a winner.

[hammb]

Seems to me the "redshirting our best freshmen to help the program" line could just as easily be an excuse for Jinks. Not saying that mbenecke is doing it, could be his "sources" are. But seems to me like it could just as easily be a ploy for Jinks to say, "See I've brought in these great recruiting classes, but I've been redshirting them for the good of the program, and THAT is why we're still not winning any games."

Dunno...makes for a good excuse, as far as I'm concerned. I agree with the lynchmob. If these kids could help us win now they'd be playing now. They may very well develop into players taht could help us win down the line, but I'm pretty well tired of waiting.

In reality the book on Jinks as a head coach was mostly laid out there in his first season. He took over a team that had been at the top of the league for a few years. He inherited a QB that had started (due to injury) and won 8 games as a sophomore. Jinks took that QB and team, couldn't win, made a desperation play to the backup QB and won a few games. The following year THAT QB savior suddenly couldn't play and Jinks went to Doege. Doege looks like he can play to me, but still we here people talking about Loy this year.

The man can't coach. That's all there is to it. He may be a great dude. He may be a fantastic recruiter. He may even, eventually, prove to be good at developing talent. But he can't coach a lick when it matters. The team is routinely not ready to play, it's routinely punched in the mouth and out-willed by lesser talented opponents, it routinely makes ridiculous mistakes. We're poorly coached. And even if maybe, just maybe, all his wonderful recruiting classes prove to be the godsend some are hoping them to be, we'll STILL be left with a coach who cannot coach leading the charge. The decision should already be made, just a matter of waiting out the rest of this godforsaken season to execute it.

[Antimob]

1. Each year the team is put in near-impossible positions due to the non-conference scheduling of the clueless administration, past and present.

Scheduling is a bit tougher than I would like it to be. But Bowling Green barely beat Eastern Kentucky, for goodness sake.

2. Name another coach outside of Meyer and Clawson that signed Top 3 classes. It'll wait. And it doesn't take 1 or two...it takes several when the talent was as depleted as it was under Babers. Yes some didn't work out, but that happens in every single program in America.

You mean two of our four previous coaches? Jinks seems to be a good recruiter. But when does the team start getting better?

And are we certain talent was that depleted? A massive Babers-era depletion was always one way to try to explain how we went from MAC champion to losing 77-3 at Memphis the next season. But are we certain Babers couldn't recruit? He seems to be winning at Syracuse, at least so far.

3. The "leading in arrests" narrative is completely (and perhaps purposefully) misleading. Most violations are of a minor nature consistent with every college program in the country and all are dealt with swiftly and fairly. Marijuana in college? Fights during Spring Break? I'm shocked, shocked! Call the Washington Post!

I agree with this. We've had a bit more turnover than I would like, but people pushing this argument seem to have an axe to grind. Even great head coaches have players who screw up.

4. He has shown the ability to adjust by firing Eliano and bringing in the most highly qualified defensive coordinator in the MAC. The defensive staff is highly qualified, experienced in the MAC and has a track record to suggest they'll turn the defense around if given time.

This could be true. We saw signs of possible improvement last weekend. Naysayers, of course, will point to the fact that he hired Eliano in the first place.

5. He had the class to speak honestly about the effect of the wanna-be big-shot media darling boosters on recruiting. Saying other things have damaged recruiting (which they have) does not render this untrue. It was a small-time, low-class move that no coach deserves and thankfully does not represent the majority. Anyone not named Sebo has not made the financial investment in BG football to have any sway over the hiring and firing of a coach.

I can understand why Jinks is frustrated by people using the Blade to take anonymous shots at him. If these people were being quoted by name, it would be one thing. But anonymously? I can understand why that bugs him.

You also raise a good point: How confident are we that these boosters quoted anonymously by the Blade actually have any clout?

Even so, I also understand why fans are pushing back on this. Our problems are pretty obvious to anyone paying attention. Jinks made a mistake taking that question head on, even if I don't blame him for being a bit frustrated.

Babers gutted this program from both a talent and discipline standpoint. This was never going to be a 3 year rebuild and those that thought it would be don't understand the roster limitations we've had.

I disagree. I don't even think Jinks thought this was going to be more than a three-year rebuild. Heading into his first season, he was giving the impression that the Falcons might compete right away. Wasn't he?

Can you point where Jinks ever said in his first year that this would be a multiyear rebuild? Did he ever layout a time table for restoring the greatness the way Dave Clawson did?

I don't remember him every doing that. In my mind, this has been one of Jinks's biggest mistakes as a head coach: Not being more clear about what fans can reasonably expect and when. We never got a clear timetable.

That's why, after barely beating Eastern Kentucky and getting walloped by Miami, Jinks seemed completely out of answers, and hope seemed lost.

With Clawson, we expected a five-year rebuild and that's what he delivered, along with just enough progress to keep many of us from jumping out of windows. (Although he always had his critics.) WIth Jinks? We never got a clear timetable. Until last Saturday, we saw precious few signs of progress.

(And I'm being generous by allowing that we saw progress Saturday. Losing 52-35 to Toledo is not where we want to be, obviously.)

A different head coach could have sold me on staying on the bandwagon by managing expectations. I think Jinks is a good guy who means well. But he has never done managed expectations well. And this has turned into an enormous problem right now.

All fair and well-reasoned points. He was in a tough position at the onset; few coaches taking over a program can overtly, explicitly say "This is going to take a while" and expect that to be palatable to fans. That's exactly the position he was in, though.

When will we start getting better? That's a great question, and it traditionally happens when the freshmen get to their junior and senior years. He won't be at that point until next year.

Regarding the schedule, I contend we'd have been in a much better position to compete had we not gotten our brains beat in by two Power 5 teams the previous two weeks. Had some confidence been built up the results could have been better.

With respect to Babers, he's winning at Syracuse with other coaches' players just as he did at EIU and BG. He didn't put the time, energy and attention into recruiting the way Clawson did and Jinks is doing now. He left several positions depleted and populated by former walk-ons and borderline D-I players. I concur that it remains an open question whether Jinks can coach and develop players at a championship level, but the plug shouldn't be pulled prematurely before the answer is known.

[Antimob]

1. Each year the team is put in near-impossible positions due to the non-conference scheduling of the clueless administration, past and present.

2. Name another coach outside of Meyer and Clawson that signed Top 3 classes. It'll wait. And it doesn't take 1 or two...it takes several when the talent was as depleted as it was under Babers. Yes some didn't work out, but that happens in every single program in America.

3. The "leading in arrests" narrative is completely (and perhaps purposefully) misleading. Most violations are of a minor nature consistent with every college program in the country and all are dealt with swiftly and fairly. Marijuana in college? Fights during Spring Break? I'm shocked, shocked! Call the Washington Post!

4. He has shown the ability to adjust by firing Eliano and bringing in the most highly qualified defensive coordinator in the MAC. The defensive staff is highly qualified, experienced in the MAC and has a track record to suggest they'll turn the defense around if given time.

5. He had the class to speak honestly about the effect of the wanna-be big-shot media darling boosters on recruiting. Saying other things have damaged recruiting (which they have) does not render this untrue. It was a small-time, low-class move that no coach deserves and thankfully does not represent the majority. Anyone not named Sebo has not made the financial investment in BG football to have any sway over the hiring and firing of a coach.

Babers gutted this program from both a talent and discipline standpoint. This was never going to be a 3 year rebuild and those that thought it would be don't understand the roster limitations we've had. The bottom line is Jinks and his staff are working every day to bring in talent and make the program better while anonymous big-mouths and sniping "fans" work to counteract these efforts.

Bring it on, and come back with more than snark...

1. BGSU has had plenty of years where they've played multiple P5 opponents and still had success. 2003, 2007, 2008, 2014, and 2015.

2. This argument is counterintuitive. If Jinks signed such great recruiting classes then the results would be showing on the field. The third year under Dave Clawson showed great progress from the 2nd, and the argument can be made he was given a worse hand than Jinks. We've seen zero progress in year three under Mike.

3. There's absolutely no doubt the attrition from this summer hurt the program. The staff was forced to pull guys from the Juco ranks to fill gaps in depth. It was a devastating off season to a program that couldn't afford it.

4. Great. Why did Mike hire unqualified coaches when he took the job? That was a huge criticism and within two of his first three games the team allowed 77 points twice. Hiring Eliano and other defensive coaches for their positions was again an ill-advised move.

5. I can't disagree with this. Mike's been forthcoming about some touchy subjects. Kudos to him. He knows that comes with the territory. I do think it's crap that a donor couldn't put his name behind his comments. But, we wouldn't be here if the results both on and off the field weren't as poor as they have been the past two and a half seasons.

BG's scheduling has always been overly ambitious but the past couple years have been especially onerous: at Ohio State to open 2016, at two upper level Big 10 teams in 2017 and 3 Power 5 teams in 2018. Most years Toledo only plays one Power 5 team and in 2016 they played none. The only team that schedules like this in the MAC is Kent and it kills them just like it kills us. IMO the mistakes of the past should be learned from rather than repeated.

Jinks is not perfect but does seem to recognize areas that need improvement and take action. The lack of progress in Year 3 is at least a product of the scheduling not giving the team a chance as much as it is his coaching. Barring a miracle you start 0-2 right out of the gate. No chance for the young players to play athletes of a similar skill and physical ability and develop the competence needed to master their positions.

Attrition is tough but so are injuries and other external factors. As long as those leaving are replaced by others with equal or better ability it shouldn't be an issue. I know it's painful and difficult to watch, but a football coach with 85 scholarships needs 5 years to see what they can truly do. Pulling the plug prematurely might put us in the exact same position two and a half years from now.

You make a great point about the big-mouth "boosters." They want to help the program? Close their mouths, take out the wallets and write checks with a few zeroes behind them. If they aren't willing to do that they little more than cowardly saboteurs.

[Schadenfreude]

He was in a tough position at the onset; few coaches taking over a program can overtly, explicitly say "This is going to take a while" and expect that to be palatable to fans. That's exactly the position he was in, though.

I'm not as expert on this as some of you, but it seems to me anyone this visible needs to find a way to control expectations. Clawson found a way to do it. If Jinks saw this mess coming, he should have, too.

Honestly, I think any good college head coach would try to manage expectations. Underpromise, overdeliver, you know? Many of us feel Jinks has done the opposite.

With respect to Babers, he's winning at Syracuse with other coaches' players just as he did at EIU and BG.

Indeed. The next couple of years will tell us a lot about what Dino Babers is made of.

[moneymaker02]

I can't wait for the weeknight games so i dont have ruin my saturdays by watching these guys play. At the GA Tech game, you could hear former players talking to each other saying this is embarrassing and how their teams would have beat ga tech by 3 td's.

[BGFalconfromCincy]

I can't wait for the weeknight games so i dont have ruin my saturdays by watching these guys play.

So I shouldn't mention that we only have one weeknight game on the schedule this year, followed by two Saturday games in November.....

[mgmarko]

Ha ha