FLBear5630 said:
Timbear said:
As posted on a different thread, awesome game by Dave, coaches and players. This is the Aranda we want.
I have no special love for Aranda, but he does seem sustainable at BU personality and money fit. So, it would be nice to not have to go through the search...
I've been pretty consistent that I think this program would be best off if Dave Aranda could figure out the football side of things and get back to meeting a reasonable on-field standard.
A) I agree that he's a good personality/culture fit for our university and has done a very good job of building a healthy environment that players and coaches want to be/stay part of, which is a big advantage in the transfer portal era.
B) Every coaching change is a crapshoot, and sometimes the devil you know is better than the one you don't.
And C) I really, really like this coaching staff that Aranda has built, and think we can win big if those guys are kept around and allowed to build.
I've been ready to move on from Dave two or three times in the past three years and think he deserved to be fired on multiple occasions. But I still think the best-case scenario is for Dave to get the ship righted and avoid the potential turmoil/unknowns of a coaching change. Have I always had faith in his ability to do that? No. But I do think the hire of Klanderman as DC and his willingness to step into more of a CEO role eliminates -- or at least mitigates -- a lot of his biggest weaknesses as a coach.
Dave's been given way more leeway than he would have at virtually any other school. But there is a scenario where our patience with him pays off handsomely in the end. It's not one I would have bet on last year and I probably still wouldn't bet on it now. But there are a lot of coaches who would have made significant progress with seven-plus years to learn the basics of head coaching. And love him or hate him, I think Dave Aranda has shown an uncommon willingness to learn, adapt and improve. That process is frustratingly non-linear, and it feels like we're dealing with a first-gen AI bot sometimes, but the guy is earnestly curious, introspective and willing to grow, all of which are positive qualities in his profession.
Ironically, I think this program is in a pretty solid spot right now if it can just win enough football games to stay there. But at this point, the wins are what matter. Vibes aren't even secondary IMO. They're only even a factor if accompanied by wins.
