Brent Pease fired from UF: should Boise State bring him back?

Let me say this I was never a huge fan of Pease in the first place, was I glad he came back from Indy when Harsin left to be Co-OC at Texas ?hell yes.

With many in Bronco Nation screaming “fire Prince” however I’m not so sure a Pease for Prince deal would be much of a change and at this point I think it would be a change for the worst in the immediate future.  Harsin on the other hand is a much different story.

Hypocrisy you say? Sure Harsin left to be a Co-OC at Texas in the Big 12 while Pease got himself a OC job in the vaunted SEC leading the Florida Gators offense.

Sure I cried lateral move and claimed my distain for Pease that I still hold to this day.

Certainly if Pease’s move was a lateral move some could say Harsin’s was a step back. So why would I rather see Harsin over Pease?

It’s this simple Harsin is a much better asset and coach then Pease. Harsin put 6 years in at Boise State most as OC, Pease only 1as OC. Harisn earned the chance to move on. Pease left as Assistant OC while Harsin was still here for lowly Indy OC job and  returned 5 days later when Harsin moved on to Texas. So if loyalty is your guide fine but loyalty alone doesn’t win games! You think Prince isn’t as loyal as Pease?

True we don’t know if Harsin would even take the OC job back if we were to let Prince go all things considered he’s made some remarks to the people at Ark St. that he intends to stay and create a Boise State of the south east. Add to that I’m not sure Boise States President is willing to pay the money it would take; plus give up total authority that comes with being a Head coach? Certainly I don’t expect Harsin to move just to be back in the comforts of Boise.

I was never as butt sick over Harsin leaving as I was over Pease for a few reasons. One I’ve always looked on Harsin as the future replacement of Coach Pete when Pete finally decides to reties. Harsin is not just a great recruiter and coach he’s young. With more experience like he is getting now makes him target #1 when the day comes that Coach Pete hangs up his whistle. So for the short view I don’t see Harsin coming back to Boise State for anything short of the HC job.

So now with Harsin out of the equation we can get down to the Pease for Prince conversation.

The transition from Harsin to Pease was not as smooth as some would like to remember and after only 1 season as the OC Pease took the money and ran. Pease saw the writing on the wall with Kellen and so many moving on to the next level and completing school it was just a shear result of losing so many pieces while at the same time being hit grossly  hard with NCAA violation. Pease had no heart in staying and was all about show me the money.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yzBB0xYImmM

I was more upset last year with Prince then I am this year, why you ask? This year’s team is extremely young coming off the loss of two shut down corners and numerous player dismissals from 2011 and 2012 left the back field of Boise States defense exposed. In 2012 Boise State still had many great parts and a top defense. Prince’s management of Boise States offense cost the opener against Michigan State and at home vs. SDSU. Those games were not lost by the players on the field they were lost by the coaches. The 2012 team had the talent to play against anyone and should have made a BCS bowl and didn’t that’s the great disappointment.

2013 we saw the roll out of a complete new offense not just pieces and parts but a whole new O.  With all the defensive dismissals and reduced scholarships had cut into the depth in the D. Boise State just didn’t have the D we saw in 2012 at home against BYU to buy the offense time to jell. This was clearly seen in the first game against a Washington team Boise had just defeated in the Vegas Bowl a handful of months earlier. 2013 was a year where the offense needed to buy time for the defense to jell instead we had a team with so much youth along with the new offense it wasn’t going to come together in the time they had.

There were still those games where coach Prince seemed to be out coached and schemed by the opposing teams DC, BYU and SDSU come to mind but there were others like the Air Force first half. Over the last season and this season I have questioned coach Princes ability to adapt during the game and on a few occasions questioned his game planning for the start of the games.  Just like last year there appears to be two games Boise State’s coaching cost them, Fresno State and SDSU. Boise State when we look back beat the teams there were supposed to beat every time but once this year. I give the Fresno State game, a game in which Boise State played above their total ability on the road so it’s a push. That makes the loss to SDSU for the second year in arrow the most disappointing loss of the season.

One would think with all the above stated I’m all for firing Prince, but here is where the rubber needs to meet the road. I am but only of it is for Harsin otherwise I’m fine with going forward with Prince. I do not see a single other candidate that will do better than Prince in 2014, sorry if many of you are upset by that and you will not be called bandwagon fans for voicing your opinions on Prince by me. My concern with Harsin and why I would if he was willing to make that move, call it my Less Miles, Jim Harbaugh fear of loss. I don’t want to see us in the future play Less Miles leave your team now and not play in the MNCG or we are going to offer RR or awe damn we didn’t see Jim being what he was and now it’s too late he’s off to the NFL we will have to settle for Brady Hoke.

So here it is Bronco Nation, Prince will be back next year and for the most part that’s good news, with a 3^rd year under his belt and more experienced, as well as a very talented young team, I expect big things in 2014! The last time Boise State lost 4 games was 2005 and we all know what happened in 2006. And just as the 14-0 2009 team was so very deferment from the 2006 team, the 2014 team is going to be vs. the 2011 team that could have had a shot at the MNCG if not for a missed chip shot field goal.

Bronco Nation is right to have big expectations, and Bronco fans have every right to bitch and moan. I ask however if you could please for at this early point refrain from calling for firings and here is why. One of the things that make Boise State so appealing to other coaches and media types is the fan loyalty to the program itself and no matter how you cut it, Coach Prince is part of that program and with only 2 years under his belt going through what any smart observer knew these last 2 years were some of the most challenging years in Boise State recent football history. Sanctions, over size graduating classes, limits on practice and dismissal’s.  I think frankly Coach Prince deserves a 3^rd year and we can take it from there. The only problem I have with all this talk of firing prince is this it’s not what we do in Bronco Nation. I believe when you consider everything over all, things could have been way worse than they have been and we are judging a man based on a short recorded following some great times just when the penalties along with the policies action that make Boise State football the envy of every fan base in the nation, Honor , Integrity, Winners. Let’s not tarnish our image just yet with the football world.