I'm not laughing. Heads need to roll.
Last Saturday, I reached my breaking point. Today, broiling in 90-degree temps, watching us launch more diarrhea-shit all over the football field, this die-hard fan died, hard.
No more, Mike London. No more. You're a good football coach, you're just not a good head coach. You're a good dude who tried hard, but watching you drown these four seasons has not been fun. You're in over your head. It's plain to see. And your program is, sadly, DOA. We're good football fans, and we deserve better.
It's time for UVA to be very un-UVA and make a midseason move. We have to see what we have in Tom O'Brien, and we have to fire up the coaching search and fundraising effort in earnest.
 |
| Adios. |
We here at Wahooze can't control or influence anything. But what we CAN do is beat the drum, and that's what we're going to do. We're going to beat it hard, and we're going to beat it loud. FIRE MIKE LONDON. That's the drumbeat. FIRE MIKE LONDON. FIRE MIKE LONDON. FIRE MIKE LONDON. FIRE MIKE LONDON. FIRE MIKE LONDON. FIRE MIKE LONDON. FIRE MIKE LONDON.
FIRE MIKE LONDON.
FIRE MIKE LONDON.
FIRE MIKE LONDON.
So if you're still, somehow, a pro-London person, don't bother visiting this blog for a while. It won't be for you. It won't be your cup of tea.
Meanwhile, I have a wish list of coaching candidates. Look for it to appear in this space soon. And this week's podcast... oh boy. You won't want to miss that one.
I like your logic. Let's fire Tenuta, too. He let Mike London go on the field and commit all those penalties. Especially the ones on third down that led to Ball State scoring drives. That explains the difference in play from last week. Let's also try the quarterback carousel again.
ReplyDeleteare you kidding? fire tentuna? no. UVa is leading the nation in 3rd down efficiency and forcing 3 and outs at 8.5 a game. we NEED tenuta.
DeleteI have to agree with the other Anon. While I've seen some terrible playcalling the last few weeks, I can't blame Mike London for that. Today's game, for the most part, wasn't even a result of bad playcalling. We just continuously shot ourselves in the foot. Also, our defense played terribly, but is that Mike London's fault? We've been crediting Tenuta and Tenuta alone when they've played well, so it can't be Mike London's fault today. I pin almost all of the blame on the players and coordinators so far this season. London has attempted to make changes to the lineup, and is doing a terrific job of recruiting. I haven't given up on him yet. No disrespect intended, of course. Just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteHoward Johnson is right!
DeleteNo, for real. x2 with the above. What the hell? Last week's defense shows up today, we win hands down. They did the right things to at least improve the offense from last week. Special teams, too. I was just as pissed as you when I heard Terrell was still #1 on the depth chart, but I saw him nowhere near a punt today.
Kendall, I love your color commentary, and I check this blog every day. But you're wrong here, my friend. If we have the offense today and the defense from last week, minus the refs jobbing the hell out of us, we got a good chance to win every game the rest of the fall minus Klempson and Da U.
It's cool to have dissenting comments, guys - fosters discussion! So thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteI will add a couple things:
I think sloppy play in game after game after game is a direct reflection of the coaching (as a Detroit Lions fan, I'm all too familiar with this...). Sure, London's not the one calling the plays on either side, but looking at the state of the team/program early on in year 4 - we're a disaster.
However, I think there's absolutely 0 chance London gets fired during this year - and probably not even this offseason.
Kendall probably would've fired Welsh after he went 3-8 in his 5th season... What can O'Brien do as head coach that he is not already doing in his current role? If anything, O'Brien should take over playcalling...
ReplyDeleteWelsh won a UVA first bowl game in his 3rd year. Build a program worth noting in the 80's and 90's. This program (and the whole sports program) needs a new AD. Littlepage has sucked since he has been here. This has gotten so bad. Don't say the AD has helped the other programs, cause football brings the money. Don't just fire London, the main one to fire is LITTLEPAGE!!!!!!
DeleteSo... you guys are okay with what you're seeing on the field right now? Who's ultimately responsible for the product on the field? Somebody needs to be held accountable.
ReplyDeleteWell, speaking for me, hell, no. I'm not happy. But what the hell? If you would've told me that the defense would go from championship level last week to WTF this... stupid, stupid errors. And hey, you wanted a change in o-linemen too, right? That got us our ineligible man. Mea culpa, the kid knows he screwed up I'm sure. But that's what I mean. Minus stupid, stupid drive killing penalties-what, we gave them seven free first downs, three or four that then led to scores, right?
DeleteYou sang the praises of Jake McGee and Eli Harold, and and I agree. But they screwed it up today, arguably the most backbreaking incidents of the game- therefore fire Mike London? I'm not there with ya, man.
Agreed ragekage
DeleteTwo comments:
ReplyDeleteThe stadium looked empty on TV. That'll get admin's attention.
London seems like the perfect head coach for everything except what happens when the game is being played.
I agree with everyone saying that mike London should get a pass for this game. Sometimes I feel like we are just cursed. We had everything go against us today. But Mike London did a good job this week with the changes to the depth chart. He's making the right moves now it is on the players to execute. Kendall, I agree that you are a die hard fan, but most of our fans suck. Did you see how empty the stadium was today. If we had a packed house, and some crowd noise, maybe we could have done more to rattle ball state's offense. Meanwhile, Virginia tech probably had a sellout once again. Their fans are embarrassing us. Like I said last week, fans need to support the team through the good and the bad. It doesn't matter who is coaching the team, this program will never be good without fan support.
ReplyDeleteYou're kidding, right? VT fans have 2 things UVA doesn't have: team spirit and a team! I despise VT but at least they're pulling games outta their asses and as long as they win, regardless of how ugly it is, their bandwagon rides high. Maybe UVA fans (like me) are tired of spending their whole day watching the Mike London train wreck. It's not worth the time or ticket cost to be pissed off. I can do that at home for free. Right now, they don't deserve my money and won't get any more of it until it's actually worth seeing them play again.
DeleteNo amount of fan support will catch a pass for our wide receivers, or not shove an opposing player after the whistle, or magically make the refs competent. That's solely on the players and coaching staff.
ReplyDeleteAm I happy with what's been on the field the last few games? No absolutely not. But unless there's a rockstar, guaranteed home run hire lined up to take the spot immediately (there isn't), there's no benefit to firing London midseason and installing TOB, especially since London's not responsible for play calling on either side of the ball. It fixes non of the issues on the short term, so why do it midseason? Long term, firing London means we 99% lose Brown and Blanding, plus probably a good chunk of the rest of the incoming class, PLUS we would see a large glut of London recruited talent transfer since the players all seem to love him (also, look at our depth chart, we are really really young this season, nearly everyone will be back next year, fire London and at least a few of the starters will transfer). London gets this year, and next to prove himself, I think it's unfair to judge coach solely on the past three and a third seasons considering where the program was when he took over. I know it's tempting to think we can fire London tomorrow, hire the reincarnation of Lombardi and immediately win the Orange Bowl, but that's just not how football works usually. We're not going to attract a rockstar head coach here, in all likelihood it's going to be someone unproven, who will be given the task of rebuilding from scratch AGAIN, setting us back another 5 years. Bottomline, a worst case of one more year of mediocrity (with the potential for more) is much much better in my eyes then the guaranteed abysmal 3-4 years of hitting the reset button now. But if we suck this badly for the rest of this year and into next season, I'll be the first to grab my pitchfork and join the mob.
Anonymous, you are right. Fans are not going to catch balls for us or make the plays for us, but Mike London needs the fans at the stadium to help with the perception of our program. Its hard to bring in recruits when they come to visit and the stadium is half empty.
DeleteUnfortunately, winning brings the fans in. Until the product on the field changes, the fan support will be marginal.
DeleteLook, Al Groh took a underrated team in 2007 and won with them. Beat Carolina every year but 2005, beat Duke every year but 2009. Can see NOW see how far this program has gone.
DeleteFrankly, I am AMAZED that there are still people who want London retained. What do you need to see, guys? Three touchdown loss on our home field to Ball State. What's next? Crushed by Maryland? Another 42-17 loss to Duke, but this time at home? Our 10th straight loss to Virginia Tech? Would you still want to give London next year if (when) we end up 2-10 this season? Just to save a few recruits and give the guy a fair chance? It's nuts.
ReplyDeleteAt some point, the head coach has to be culpable for wins and losses. I'm willing to grant a free pass for the first couple of seasons of a new coach's tenure --- he's inheriting the last few crappy recruiting classes of the coach that was fired before him. But I need to see progress. And right now, we're not seeing progress. We're seeing regression.
Year Three: 36-point loss to Georgia Tech, home loss to a WAC team, 25-point loss to Duke, home loss to a bad Maryland team, home loss to a very bad Wake Forest team, crushed by UNC on a Thursday night in front of a half-full stadium, another loss to Virginia Tech.
Year Four: Wasted the best game ever played by our defense in scoring THREE points against a mediocre Pitt defense after THREE weeks to prepare, three touchdown loss on our home field against a team from the MAC.
When does it end? Does your patience know no bounds? At what point does waiting for success just become burying your head in the sand?
I don't care about Quin Blanding. I don't care about Andrew Brown. I don't care about ANY recruits, or ANY of the players currently on the team. Worrying about that stuff is just shifting around the deck chairs on the Titanic. It doesn't matter. These guys aren't just going to magically fix what's ailing our very ill program. Furthermore, we need to STOP making football decisions based on recruiting. That way of thinking is part of what is currently killing our football program.
And the notion of not firing London because we can't get anyone better? That's the epitome of loser thinking. UVA has the money, piles of money, to throw at a coach with the right mix of traits. We'll never know who we could attract until we try.
In closing, you are all entitled to your opinions, just as I am entitled to mine. And my opinion is that we've been waiting long enough to see progress, the current product on the field is unacceptable, and ultimately the head coach needs to be held accountable for what is happening on the football field.
I love you guys, I appreciate your fanship and dedication to Virginia Football. We're all on the same team here, nothing but respect. You and me, we're part of the solution. We're good fans that deserve better, and who will be out there en masse in support of our team.
ReplyDeleteI just hit my breaking point, and I'm sure you can understand why.
Where can I sign the petition. Being a good guy doesn't win games, and I'm sick of taking Duke's spot on the basement of ACC football. It's an embarrassment to watch the games on TV...there's nobody there and half the fans are retirement age or looking at their phones. I don't think just London needs to go, I think the whole damn administration, up to Littlepaige needs to get their asses thrown out on the streets. Think about it, what sports do we have massive success in? Soccer, Lacrosse, Swimming and Diving....how long have those coaches been there? YEARS! It's time for a good ol' fashioned house cleaning.
ReplyDeleteWe HAD a great coach here for years in swimming and diving, but the administration mess that one up, too. Get rid of great coaches and hang on to bad ones so that we don't have to eat yet another contract buyout.
Delete