Pease thank you and good bye but???

No matter how you cut it Boise State coaches must be doing something right, the record speaks for itself. While we might argue about someone’s effectiveness it’s really second guessing on the fringes, with that said no doubt Brent Pease is a very good OC and would probable make a great head coach even today.

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ease is 47 and certainly has paid his dues in college football and quite frankly has done well for himself. That being said Pease might have blown the chance he really had at making his mark and get that long sought after head coaching job sooner rather than later.

Consider this last year desperate to get an OC job Pease took the OC job at lowly Indiana, within five days while packing his bags in Boise, Harsin leaves for Texas and Pease unpacks and stays in Boise as OC.  One year later after going 12-1 with what may very well be one of the best senior class of any FBS schools he goes from a top 10 team to a barely .500 squad at FU. Certainly the SEC as a conference is a much more prestigious conference then the Mountain West but is Florida a more prestigious school then Boise? At first glance some would say without a doubt, but when one looks deeper ,like one might looks at a stock, all things are not orbicular, quite the contrary things are every transmuting, just how much change has there been? If you google search the Florida University you get 880 million links if you google Boise State you get 22 million, certainly the schools seem miles apart, but if you go to espn and search Boise State you find 3550 stories while at the same time search Florida you get 8647 stories.

Consider this for all the past glory of the Florida who’s been on the National scene since the  80’s, has won 3 National Championships. Joined the SEC in 1992 has a record of 669-385-40(.630) with a bowl record of 20-19, has won 8 conference titles ,as compared to Boise State who will finally be joining a Major conference in 2013 has a record of 377-145-2 (.721) 8-4 Bowl record 16 conference titles, one has to ask how on the world leader in sports Boise State considering it’s conference alignments and short history in the national cognizance could have nearly half as many stories written about it as a school such as Florida. Remember this is all stories including all sports, clearly FU’s other sports team have received plenty of mention.

Ok so Boise has made a lot of news  this last decade the first full blown internet decade that doesn’t mean anything right? Well sure let’s look at results in the last 10 years Boise State has seen 3 head coaches and in that span gone 2-0 in BCS bowls while going 118-6 with 4 unbeaten season ending with 2 bowl victories becoming only one of 3 teams to go 14-0 in college football history. In the last 4 years Boise has gone 50-3 playing it’s best overall competition ever while winning 3 of 4 bowl games, in that 4 years Boise State is unbeaten by AQ teams and in fact has beaten AQ conference champs in each of those four years. Oregon twice, V-Tech and Georgia while also going undefeated by any AQ schools on that four year run. Boise’s only loses were to top ranked non aq teams by a total of 5 points, and if that wasn’t close enough to perfection, in each loss Boise had a chance to win the game with time expiring very makeable  field goals. I think it’s fair to say no team will ever come that close to perfection over any four year period again and maybe that’s why so many Boise coaches are looking to jump ship in what are clearly lateral moves, as to date I haven’t seen one of these coaches move up the food chain, just leaving for more pay in to what are perceived superior conferences. Ok so they are superior conference in all respect but one Boise State doesn’t play in them only against them.

Let me state I understand Pease’s desire to get a head coaching job he doesn’t want to be 60 when that day finally comes but here’s where I think his anxiety might be getting the best of him, no one believes that the 2012 version of Boise State will be anything but a shadow of the 2011 version and certainly they could be right, but all things considered when you look over college football many schools seem to be in sync  with Boise States graduation class, especially when you look at whom Boise State is playing next year, MSU is just as gutted on defense and loses all of its receiver core, as well possibly the best QB in its history, BYU is BYU so no telling how that match up might work out so for me it’s a tossup leaving only Air Force as a real threat to Boise State in conference next year, barring a serious AQ match up in Mid-October.

Fact is the 2013 squad has a very good chance to go undefeated.  Imagine that a Kellen Moore less team goes undefeated, Pease would not only have a second year under his belt at OC but he will be perceived as a builder, even if the team does drop a game or two still all in all Pease would certainly be getting offers for a head coaching Job sooner rather than later. The reality is Florida is not a good team, and isn’t going anywhere for a while, and even if he managed to work a miracle with Florida’s dismal offence at best the only people that would consider him for a head coaching job at the end of next season would be mid-majors, and here is where his constant jumping will become a problem. Consider you are an AD in a bidding war with other Mid Majors for Pease, here is a guy who within five days of getting his next step up job at a B1G school leaves, then after a 12-1 season with a top 10 program that is on the move and off to a AQ conference leaves for more money and the big lights of a flasher conference, just how loyal to your program do you think he is going to be?

When you step back and look at this move by Pease you can either think one of two things this guy is either supremely confident or not much of a long term thinker. He cannot expect that if Coach Pete leaves he would get the job because no doubt in my mind at this point that’s Harsin Job. Pease goal of becoming a head coach which I am totally in support of is going to require him to turn Florida offence into a National Championship caliber within two years at the very least just to keep his job he’s going to need to beat Georgia and USC east for the SEC east title and frankly I just don’t see that happening.

I can certainly understand Pease excitement at receiving offers from Bama and Florida all in the same week, he must have been giddy as a school girl, but I think his agent didn’t do him any justice in helping him achieve his goal of becoming a head coach, at 47 he needs to have that happen sooner rather than later, Pease should have been the first assistant coach under Pete to get a head coaching job not at Boise State. I believe he would have gotten some nice offers, offers generally made towards Coach Pete after 2012, but as it is he’s decided to gamble, a gamble of high stakes that will require some years ,a gamble that if it doesn’t pay off he could find himself professional worse off although financially better off in the short term.

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side and in this case Bluer, and I fear Pease might have made a mistake, I know for one if I was a parent of a recruit sitting across from Pease in my living room I would be asking some very hard question about his commitment to staying with the program, while some might say hey it’s Florida how hard can recruiting be I might add hey it’s the SEC and LSU, Bama and Georgia are walking through the door next.

I wish you all the luck in the world Pease but I have to say all things considered if we had it all over to do again I think we should have left you to the Hoosiers, long term it might have been better for you and us.