I honestly can't remember a head coach taking a lower class swipe at his players than Bielema does here. "Not his players." Ok, sure. Total POS.
Full credit to LTP via Bret Beherns for tweeting the clip.
Bielema for the win...
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I honestly can't remember a head coach taking a lower class swipe at his players than Bielema does here. "Not his players." Ok, sure. Total POS.
Full credit to LTP via Bret Beherns for tweeting the clip.
I agree with NUChicago on the other thread - this is a thoroughly transparent and loud scream to players all over CFB who are considering the portal to Come-A-Runnin to Champaign.
He also said, "we have some tough decisions to make" = "How am I going to tell the parents of at least ten OL that their sons suck, they don't belong in the Big Ten, and they're not welcome back?"
He just did tell the parents AND anyone else that is willing to listen to this DBag. Imagine trying to sell yourself to a new school with this ringing endorsement.
So we are Ok with soft-pedalling? We need to coddle them. kid ain't good enough, he ain't good enough. I don't get the argument here, other than it's someone unpopular and a chance to pile on.
you don't do it thru the media and take a public shot at a few dozen kids.
~25 years ago, a kid from my high school went to Indiana, where he was a non-playing scholarship OL for four years. He perhaps overlapped 2 years with Randle El (who was exciting but always lost).
Midway through his career, my dad ran into his dad at the grocery store, or somewhere:
“How’s your son doing at IU?”
“He’s the smallest offensive lineman, on the worst team in the Big Ten. You put the pieces together.”
He got his degree at IU. I presume some UI dads might be having that conversation with neighbors this week.
Midway through his career, my dad ran into his dad at the grocery store, or somewhere:
“How’s your son doing at IU?”
“He’s the smallest offensive lineman, on the worst team in the Big Ten. You put the pieces together.”
He got his degree at IU. I presume some UI dads might be having that conversation with neighbors this week.
Lame as hell for him to say this, but he's just saying the quiet part out loud.
Tons of programs run off kids to free up spots; I'm pretty amazed at how brazen he is about just saying it publicly.
Pretty much who he is though so not surprised.
And we've seen how many schools/coaches do this even at the recruiting stage with conditional offers and all that, Colter/Stanford, etc.
Tons of programs run off kids to free up spots; I'm pretty amazed at how brazen he is about just saying it publicly.
Pretty much who he is though so not surprised.
And we've seen how many schools/coaches do this even at the recruiting stage with conditional offers and all that, Colter/Stanford, etc.
This is absolutely something a manager tells his boss, but, even then, you take responsibility. You can also nuance it to your employees that you want their performance improves. But you don't blast it out to the org as a whole. It would have been very easy for him to say things like "we have serious issues with depth" or "there are a number of positions where we have to see significant improvement" or some other such vagueness that makes the message clear but doesn't say his top 44 guys suck, even if they do.
What does he accomplish by being a dick about this situation? 1) It gives him an excuse to save face (my players suck so it's not my fault) and 2) announces to the world that the portal is wide open, both ways. You don't need to soft pedal but there are better ways to do it than throwing your entire OL under the bus.
He’s going to be able to bring in 32 new scholarship players this season between high school, juco, and transfers. That means after graduations he’s still going to have to reduce current scholarship players by 22. His team knows that already. He’s just being honest.
What is wrong with a coach putting this out in the open and being honest? Is doing it quietly behind closed doors really any better?
“Johnnie you ****ing suck!” Real classy 👍🏻😂
www.vice.com
What is wrong with a coach putting this out in the open and being honest? Is doing it quietly behind closed doors really any better?
“Johnnie you ****ing suck!” Real classy 👍🏻😂
Did Northwestern Basketball Run Off Johnnie Vassar?
Former Northwestern basketball player Johnnie Vassar is suing the university and the NCAA over what he characterizes as a "run-off"—an attempt to pressure and intimidate Vassar into separating from his four-year athletic scholarship.
www.vice.com
Honesty and throwing 19 year old kids under the bus are two different things. This guy has no feelings for anyone, other than himself and his success as a coach. A familiar problem these days.He’s going to be able to bring in 32 new scholarship players this season between high school, juco, and transfers. That means after graduations he’s still going to have to reduce current scholarship players by 22. His team knows that already. He’s just being honest.
What is wrong with a coach putting this out in the open and being honest? Is doing it quietly behind closed doors really any better?
“Johnnie you ****ing suck!” Real classy 👍🏻😂
Did Northwestern Basketball Run Off Johnnie Vassar?
Former Northwestern basketball player Johnnie Vassar is suing the university and the NCAA over what he characterizes as a "run-off"—an attempt to pressure and intimidate Vassar into separating from his four-year athletic scholarship.
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He’s going to be able to bring in 32 new scholarship players this season between high school, juco, and transfers. That means after graduations he’s still going to have to reduce current scholarship players by 22. His team knows that already. He’s just being honest.
What is wrong with a coach putting this out in the open and being honest? Is doing it quietly behind closed doors really any better?
“Johnnie you ****ing suck!” Real classy 👍🏻😂
Did Northwestern Basketball Run Off Johnnie Vassar?
Former Northwestern basketball player Johnnie Vassar is suing the university and the NCAA over what he characterizes as a "run-off"—an attempt to pressure and intimidate Vassar into separating from his four-year athletic scholarship.
How pathetic. You obviously have never managed or led anyone in your life. You don’t humiliate people in public, particularly young kids who are not paid professionals but rather student athletes trying to do the best they can on a daily basis. If you want to have honest conversations, you do it in private. Your lard ass coach feels the need to do this in public to excuse the pathetic job he has done so far this season leading the program. Point thumbs, not fingers.
He answered the questions he was asked. Compared to the god awful pressers most coaches give, it’s a welcome change. It’s better than non answers and lame coach speak.
NO. Throwing players, no matter how badly they may have played, under the bus is not acceptable. You are so totally missing the point one would suspect you are an Illinois graduate. That is constructive criticism, not meant to disparage you.
Chris Collins humiliated a player repeatedly in front of his teammates to get him to quit and then had time cards forged to try and get him tossed. But yeah, saying his second and third string guys (who haven’t seen the field btw) aren’t good enough to play is the worst thing imaginable
LOL, you’ve got the coach fans like you deserve. Good luck getting those players to bust their ass the rest of this year after their coach showed what a Self serving POS he truly is. Also good luck getting any recruits with engaged parents to commit to Illinois while Bielema is the head coach. No way any parent with a choice and an ounce of common sense would let their son be coached by that scumbag.
i am on record saying multiple times that if those facts are remotely accurate, Chris Collins should have been fired on the spot.
Here we go, not even remotely close. One is based on disgruntled attorneys/player where a Coach cant even publicly defend himself. The other is about a head coach that takes zero accountability about the state of HIS team and publicly blasts an entire group of players that are working to make HIS program better. Is it OK if these players said we have Coaches that really haven’t contributed to helping us win games? Bert has made critical poor costly decisions in at least 2 games. The guy is and has always been a clown. A fraud. Whitman is in over his head with two flashy dumb ass hires. At least Lovie seems to be a decent human being, this guy is a Jag.
They are not “facts” by definition if they have not been proven. Let’s not justify this attempt of “whataboutism” as a means to deflect what a POS Bert is.
Bret Bielema offers us a crash course in 'How to Lose your Locker Room' 101
Nothing plays better than a grown man calling out a bunch of teenagers playing for free
deadspin.com
"While the argument can be made that both Bielema and Campbell were just “stating the obvious,” that action doesn’t build trust in a first-year head coach. Sure, Bielema may have won a few Big Ten titles with Wisconsin and been a solid recruiter with the Badgers, but that doesn’t mean publicly tearing apart everything that came before you is a good idea. You don’t need to call out the obvious, because everybody can already see the obvious. It doesn’t take much research to realize that the Illinois roster isn’t ready to compete for a Big Ten title, or that Jared Goff is a mediocre NFL quarterback. Everybody knows, so re-affirming those claims only builds a culture of distrust and animosity."Bret Bielema offers us a crash course in 'How to Lose your Locker Room' 101
Nothing plays better than a grown man calling out a bunch of teenagers playing for free
His guys already know. I doubt that they are lazy azzes thinking that all is well when the RBs are getting stuffed at the LOS and the QBs are running for their lives. Many of them came back for a COVID year, probably hoping to do better with a new coach. Notice he isn't saying anything like 'we need to hit the weight room' or whatever. just - these guys suck and I will recruit better in the future. By comparison - people here - unpaid commentators, of course, have said how bad the holdover OL's are and that Anderson can only shine when he has his guys. As far as I know, neither Fitz nor Anderson never used the excuse. Bert shouldn't either.
You can be honest with students in a meeting behind closed doors, you don't have to "be honest" at your weekly media briefing where you are all but shaming individual players by name. It's certainly not a form of motivation and if he thinks it is, he's a far worse coach than I've considered him to be.He’s going to be able to bring in 32 new scholarship players this season between high school, juco, and transfers. That means after graduations he’s still going to have to reduce current scholarship players by 22. His team knows that already. He’s just being honest.
What is wrong with a coach putting this out in the open and being honest? Is doing it quietly behind closed doors really any better?
“Johnnie you ****ing suck!” Real classy 👍🏻😂
Did Northwestern Basketball Run Off Johnnie Vassar?
Former Northwestern basketball player Johnnie Vassar is suing the university and the NCAA over what he characterizes as a "run-off"—an attempt to pressure and intimidate Vassar into separating from his four-year athletic scholarship.
Obviously, Lovie wasn't great for Illinois, and obviously, Bret B. has leftovers who aren't buying what he's selling. I do expect the grown-ass multi-millionaire who's been coaching for decades to show a stitch of class in how he comes in and transitions the program.
"I think there are some players here who aren't on board and it may be time for them to consider their options."
"I think there are some players who aren't ready to put in the work that we expect Big Ten players to put in."
"There are position groups that aren't performing to expectations."
I could keep going.
It’s better to respond to a question with a damaging dick answer that names names than simply say we have to get better at every position.
Got it.
GOUNUII
Correct. I should have said if the account of that incident was even remotely accurate.
I believe my second sentence started with "You don't humiliate people in public".
Yes! Doing it quietly behind closed doors is SIGNIFICANTLY better!
The Twitter morons are out attributing today’s game to Bert’s comments. GMAFB.
Assuming this is true, and it’s Only one side of the story, I would feel the same way about Collins. I’ve led corporate teams, even let folks go due to performance issues. What Bielema did was humiliation, and is completely unacceptable.
The Bert apologists would be up in arms in Fitz used this tactic. Like they are with the alledged CCC incident.
