I love GOLisms. I know you all do too. Quite a few have become part of my everyday vernacular. It's one of the things I love about GOL, in addition to the candidness of his personality.
A GOLism can be a word he invented (fieldmanship), an abbreviation (think NGE, BOB, FIW), phrase (Coach me coach attitude, sunrises and sunsets) or a favorite quote.
As we're now halfway into the season and UCF is still sitting winless, knowing the toughest part of the conference schedule remains, I'm often coming back to this GOLism: "It's a short drop from the penthouse to the outhouse."
I've heard it countless times, be it at GOL pressers, radio shows, etc. A quick Google search brings up a couple results from years gone by:
This is from GOL's press conference transcript from Nov. 8, 2005. Losing streak now a distant memory, UCF had just clinched bowl eligibility with their sixth win and now had their sights set on a Conference USA East Division crown. In response to a question about "where the program is going," GOL said:
"Anytime you go from last year to this year you would say you are ahead. I have been there. It is a short drop from the penthouse to the outhouse and a long climb from the outhouse to the penthouse. I think you have to understand that when you are looking at your football team... We have to have a good recruiting class come in. If the kids are on the field, my job is to bring in kids to try and beat them out ... their job is to keep their job. "
And another Google hit, this one from early 2011. It was an ESPN.com feature story from Andrea Adelson, right after the Liberty Bowl victory and the basketball team's early success in the first year under Donnie Jones. At the same time, UCF was lobbying for a BIG EAST invite. It eventually came, but only after the mass exodus.
"It's a short drop from the penthouse to the outhouse," O'Leary said in that interview. "It's hard to get to the top 25. It's hard to stay there. And that's where your consistency has to take place and that's where the growth of the program, the fan base, everybody needs to climb with that top 25."
So here we are.
Saturday's game against UConn certainly felt like the outhouse. It was a sad sight to see. One of the worst teams in the conference, UConn, taking their foot off the pedal in trying to not run up the score. We all saw it coming, though held out some hope that maybe the return of quarterback Justin Holman could provide a little offensive spark, maybe the offensive line improves a little (they actually did) and that defense was saw against FIU and for the first half against Stanford would resurface again.
There are plenty of reasons for the way things are. Injuries have been a legitimate issue. If Justin Holman doesn't get hurt at Stanford, I can't see UCF losing to Furman. A healthier squad did lose to FIU, so it probably would have still been close. Prior to the season, UCF did lose DT Demetris Anderson. That was significant. Taylor Oldham was out, but we're not talking about Breshad Perriman here.
Obviously injuries have piled up in the games since, but the root of the problem, at least as it appears to me anyway, stems from lackluster recruiting and the inability to manage the NCAA-imposed sanctions of 80 total scholarships and reduction of five scholarships in a class per year, which turned out to be for four years (2012-15), for reasons not fully understood.
I hate being critical on student-athletes, but there are plenty of busts in those 2012 and 2013 recruiting years. It's probably too early to judge 2014. There are signs of some promising players in the 2015 class, but again, too early to make a definitive judgment there. That's why so many are playing.
As I posted in another thread, UCF didn't manage the wide receiver depth well at all. Yes, the lack of scholarships are the reason why UCF didn't sign more, but you can't go two years (2012-13) and only sign a total of two wide receivers, one of whom is no longer here. And then you sign three in 2014, but it's more like two because Jordan Franks was initially destined for defense.
I could go into more detail, but it's easy to see how the cupboard became bare. Just a real lack of playmakers all around.
As for other positions, I really can't explain why the offensive line has played so poorly. Yes, Joey Grant had to retire from football, but that was always known to be a possibility ever since he had the surgery last December, that he may not be able to come back for a senior year. Most of those guys returned, except for Torrian Wilson, you'd think another year of experience and summer in the weight room would have meant something.
Running back, I was never on the Will Stanback bandwagon, there's no way he should have been All-AAC last season missing half the season with injuries. He had never proved himself as a No. 1 back, just in terms of durability and talent, speed. His claim to fame was that freshman season being the relief option to Storm Johnson. But you wished that talent was still here. GOL had to do what he had to do there. Just a shame how that worked out.
At DB, losing Chris Williams hurts, but I think it's more of a symptom of having a complete wholesale change in the secondary. Losing Jacoby Glenn, that was a blow and completely unexpected. Beyond that, there was zero experience aside from the very limited action that Shaquill Griffin, D.J. Killins and Drico Johnson saw the past couple seasons.
I could go on and on about the individual positions. It's a combination of NGE and injuries forcing the youth to play.
It is what it is. The question now is: How does UCF get out of this mess?
As Bianchi has opined in columns, this is how it was supposed to be this year: UCF has a respectable season, maybe not conference champs, but a bowl year. GOL transitions to full-time AD and retires from the head coach role. Brent Key is named his successor. This was the plan in July and there are rumblings of contracts to back that up (i.e. the Key HCIW buyout clause).
In fact, if GOL retires at any time after 2013 or 2014, Brent Key is UCF's head coach right now.
Unfortunately for Key, this sort of season, combined with GOL's AD aspirations, has likely ended that.
As I posted last week, the national search for a new AD has already begun. I expect GOL to publicly withdraw from the position this week. It makes sense, given the timing (Oct. 15 was said to be the deadline to declare intent).
What happens next?
If the succession plan (GOL to AD, Key to HC) is out the window, what does GOL do? Does he still retire? Does he lobby Hitt to come back for another year? What's the impact on recruiting? GOL's year-to-year coaching status hasn't been helping that cause, which is why certain recruits were made aware of the Key plan. So what now? Though there's still time before National Signing Day and not all players are always solid anyway, UCF has just four commits, way behind many of their counterparts.
Can GOL rally the fanbase? UCF was already down in season tickets this year and one shudders to think of the impact following an 0-12, 1-11 type season. Will GKC donations take a hit?
Nobody wants to see GOL go out like this. What does he do? Does he retire which would then lead to a complete cleaning of house in terms of the football program? Maybe I'm wrong, but GOL seems emboldened to want to return and try to dig out of this. He still has very influential backers, people whose names are on buildings and whose opinions matter to Dr. Hitt. If he wants another year, can Hitt turn him and those backers down? After all, the man built UCF into one of the most respected programs around, both on the field and in the classroom. He won a Fiesta Bowl. He should be given that opportunity, right?
It just stinks, for all involved, to be in the position to even ask this: What's best for the program?
A GOLism can be a word he invented (fieldmanship), an abbreviation (think NGE, BOB, FIW), phrase (Coach me coach attitude, sunrises and sunsets) or a favorite quote.
As we're now halfway into the season and UCF is still sitting winless, knowing the toughest part of the conference schedule remains, I'm often coming back to this GOLism: "It's a short drop from the penthouse to the outhouse."
I've heard it countless times, be it at GOL pressers, radio shows, etc. A quick Google search brings up a couple results from years gone by:
This is from GOL's press conference transcript from Nov. 8, 2005. Losing streak now a distant memory, UCF had just clinched bowl eligibility with their sixth win and now had their sights set on a Conference USA East Division crown. In response to a question about "where the program is going," GOL said:
"Anytime you go from last year to this year you would say you are ahead. I have been there. It is a short drop from the penthouse to the outhouse and a long climb from the outhouse to the penthouse. I think you have to understand that when you are looking at your football team... We have to have a good recruiting class come in. If the kids are on the field, my job is to bring in kids to try and beat them out ... their job is to keep their job. "
And another Google hit, this one from early 2011. It was an ESPN.com feature story from Andrea Adelson, right after the Liberty Bowl victory and the basketball team's early success in the first year under Donnie Jones. At the same time, UCF was lobbying for a BIG EAST invite. It eventually came, but only after the mass exodus.
"It's a short drop from the penthouse to the outhouse," O'Leary said in that interview. "It's hard to get to the top 25. It's hard to stay there. And that's where your consistency has to take place and that's where the growth of the program, the fan base, everybody needs to climb with that top 25."
So here we are.
Saturday's game against UConn certainly felt like the outhouse. It was a sad sight to see. One of the worst teams in the conference, UConn, taking their foot off the pedal in trying to not run up the score. We all saw it coming, though held out some hope that maybe the return of quarterback Justin Holman could provide a little offensive spark, maybe the offensive line improves a little (they actually did) and that defense was saw against FIU and for the first half against Stanford would resurface again.
There are plenty of reasons for the way things are. Injuries have been a legitimate issue. If Justin Holman doesn't get hurt at Stanford, I can't see UCF losing to Furman. A healthier squad did lose to FIU, so it probably would have still been close. Prior to the season, UCF did lose DT Demetris Anderson. That was significant. Taylor Oldham was out, but we're not talking about Breshad Perriman here.
Obviously injuries have piled up in the games since, but the root of the problem, at least as it appears to me anyway, stems from lackluster recruiting and the inability to manage the NCAA-imposed sanctions of 80 total scholarships and reduction of five scholarships in a class per year, which turned out to be for four years (2012-15), for reasons not fully understood.
I hate being critical on student-athletes, but there are plenty of busts in those 2012 and 2013 recruiting years. It's probably too early to judge 2014. There are signs of some promising players in the 2015 class, but again, too early to make a definitive judgment there. That's why so many are playing.
As I posted in another thread, UCF didn't manage the wide receiver depth well at all. Yes, the lack of scholarships are the reason why UCF didn't sign more, but you can't go two years (2012-13) and only sign a total of two wide receivers, one of whom is no longer here. And then you sign three in 2014, but it's more like two because Jordan Franks was initially destined for defense.
I could go into more detail, but it's easy to see how the cupboard became bare. Just a real lack of playmakers all around.
As for other positions, I really can't explain why the offensive line has played so poorly. Yes, Joey Grant had to retire from football, but that was always known to be a possibility ever since he had the surgery last December, that he may not be able to come back for a senior year. Most of those guys returned, except for Torrian Wilson, you'd think another year of experience and summer in the weight room would have meant something.
Running back, I was never on the Will Stanback bandwagon, there's no way he should have been All-AAC last season missing half the season with injuries. He had never proved himself as a No. 1 back, just in terms of durability and talent, speed. His claim to fame was that freshman season being the relief option to Storm Johnson. But you wished that talent was still here. GOL had to do what he had to do there. Just a shame how that worked out.
At DB, losing Chris Williams hurts, but I think it's more of a symptom of having a complete wholesale change in the secondary. Losing Jacoby Glenn, that was a blow and completely unexpected. Beyond that, there was zero experience aside from the very limited action that Shaquill Griffin, D.J. Killins and Drico Johnson saw the past couple seasons.
I could go on and on about the individual positions. It's a combination of NGE and injuries forcing the youth to play.
It is what it is. The question now is: How does UCF get out of this mess?
As Bianchi has opined in columns, this is how it was supposed to be this year: UCF has a respectable season, maybe not conference champs, but a bowl year. GOL transitions to full-time AD and retires from the head coach role. Brent Key is named his successor. This was the plan in July and there are rumblings of contracts to back that up (i.e. the Key HCIW buyout clause).
In fact, if GOL retires at any time after 2013 or 2014, Brent Key is UCF's head coach right now.
Unfortunately for Key, this sort of season, combined with GOL's AD aspirations, has likely ended that.
As I posted last week, the national search for a new AD has already begun. I expect GOL to publicly withdraw from the position this week. It makes sense, given the timing (Oct. 15 was said to be the deadline to declare intent).
What happens next?
If the succession plan (GOL to AD, Key to HC) is out the window, what does GOL do? Does he still retire? Does he lobby Hitt to come back for another year? What's the impact on recruiting? GOL's year-to-year coaching status hasn't been helping that cause, which is why certain recruits were made aware of the Key plan. So what now? Though there's still time before National Signing Day and not all players are always solid anyway, UCF has just four commits, way behind many of their counterparts.
Can GOL rally the fanbase? UCF was already down in season tickets this year and one shudders to think of the impact following an 0-12, 1-11 type season. Will GKC donations take a hit?
Nobody wants to see GOL go out like this. What does he do? Does he retire which would then lead to a complete cleaning of house in terms of the football program? Maybe I'm wrong, but GOL seems emboldened to want to return and try to dig out of this. He still has very influential backers, people whose names are on buildings and whose opinions matter to Dr. Hitt. If he wants another year, can Hitt turn him and those backers down? After all, the man built UCF into one of the most respected programs around, both on the field and in the classroom. He won a Fiesta Bowl. He should be given that opportunity, right?
It just stinks, for all involved, to be in the position to even ask this: What's best for the program?
