HillsboroDuck
New Fish
Disagree with some of this.I don't even think anyone had a problem with firing Rick after the 7-6 season but it was firing him in June what had most fans pissed off.
Also Rick was fired for something stupid that his whole coaching staff including Gilby was also involved in some basketball pool which the whole nation does as well.
There were a few other things (he lied about the 49er interview, the minor recruiting violations, and he was in hot water with the Coaches Association.. I know,who cares but it does reflect poorly). What was the administration supposed to do? Keep letting him fuck up, then fire him 6 months or a year later? There was a pattern.
His w-l wasn't bad, but that 2002 season was an omen of things to come. Their mistake wasn't Hiring an interim coach, then hiring a real coach like THE OHIO STATE did with Rural Meyer.
You don't fire a coach in June without a major scandal Petrino level scandal. Nothing Rick did came close to that, and neither did the sum of his transgressions. If you want to make the decision to let him go after the season, great, that gives you time to get a head start on a replacement list. Firing him in June kicked the team in the nuts. Yeah, Dave's famous 12-0 prediction was crazy but no one had a massive issue with it at the time. That was a good team with a lot of talent. Firing the beloved (by the kids) HC in June and replacing him with TUFF ass Gilby destroyed that season, which destroyed the recruiting class. Firing Gilby after the first year would have helped assuage a lot of that, but 03 was still a lost season that didn't have to be. Every season counts.