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Gerry Faust Story


K-Roo

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What about all the UA grads who screwed around in school, drank more than they studied and got mediocre grades? Don't they reflect poorly on UA as an institution of higher learning? Shouldn't they be discouraged from hanging out around UA? What are the odds that any of the most vocal critics on ZN.o were honors students who've gone on as adults to accomplish great things in the world, and whose records could be held up as shining examples for future generations?

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And just what have YOU ever done for the University?

To name a few, I represent the University by working hard, I put to use a great education, I try to attend as many Universitybevents as possible given my distance, I once volunteered to captain part of a fundraising drive, I bought tickets to sporting events, I have served on panels to help students understand how to best get a job when they graduate, I donate to the University as well. I could go o, but I won't. Any other questions?

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+1. I don't understand the venom for Gerry. Sometimes in life we don't give enough credit to people who are simply decent human beings.

I give him a ton of credit for being a decent person. With that sais, he is an ongoing reminder of the failure of our football program. That doesn't make him a bad person though.

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I give him a ton of credit for being a decent person. With that sais, he is an ongoing reminder of the failure of our football program. That doesn't make him a bad person though.

Agreed, but let's remember that given the totality of the circumstances when he arrived, it was practically guaranteed that he would fail. One would think that he would have served as the sacrificial lamb for later, more successful coaches, and that's how it should have gone, right? We should regard him as the great old guy who took one for the team, who took over a program making the jump in almost impossible circumstances, who built the foundation, and should be thankful to him. Is it possible that people think so poorly of him because he now serves as the elderly archetype for modern UA football failure? I would argue that he should be off of the hook, again considering the circumstances when he arrived.

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To name a few, I represent the University by working hard, I put to use a great education, I try to attend as many Universitybevents as possible given my distance, I once volunteered to captain part of a fundraising drive, I bought tickets to sporting events, I have served on panels to help students understand how to best get a job when they graduate, I donate to the University as well. I could go o, but I won't. Any other questions?

Please do not break your arm patting yourself on the back.

You sound like a typical former student.

Which building is named after you for your contributions?

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Please do not break your arm patting yourself on the back.

You sound like a typical former student.

Which building is named after you for your contributions?

If only the typical former student did that much...

I guess if it takes having a building named after yourself is the benchmark for whether or not someone has done enough for the University, I, Captain Kangaroo, ZipsWin!, JZ84, Big Zip, InTheZone, DrZ, SeeTeeZip, Le Adams and the hundreds of others on this board have done nothing for the University. Congratulations to all of us for our wasted time and money.

Sorry if you didn't like my response, but you asked.

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Please do not break your arm patting yourself on the back.

You sound like a typical former student.

Which building is named after you for your contributions?

If only the typical former student did that much...

I guess if it takes having a building named after yourself is the benchmark for whether or not someone has done enough for the University, I, Captain Kangaroo, ZipsWin!, JZ84, Big Zip, InTheZone, DrZ, SeeTeeZip, Le Adams and the hundreds of others on this board have done nothing for the University. Congratulations to all of us for our wasted time and money.

Sorry if you didn't like my response, but you asked.

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Agreed, but let's remember that given the totality of the circumstances when he arrived, it was practically guaranteed that he would fail. One would think that he would have served as the sacrificial lamb for later, more successful coaches, and that's how it should have gone, right? We should regard him as the great old guy who took one for the team, who took over a program making the jump in almost impossible circumstances, who built the foundation, and should be thankful to him.

Very well said.

I think some people really lose perspective of the situation here in 1985, and the enormous challenge that was ahead of us. It really is unbelievable to look back now and know that the first guy, and not the ones who followed him, was the most successful. That's why I don't understand some of the hammering on Gerry, and it has nothing to do with my feeling that he is a "good guy".

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Very well said.

I think some people really lose perspective of the situation here in 1985, and the enormous challenge that was ahead of us. It really is unbelievable to look back now and know that the first guy, and not the ones who followed him, was the most successful. That's why I don't understand some of the hammering on Gerry, and it has nothing to do with my feeling that he is a "good guy".

Like most things that go bad, people remember the end more than what happened prior. There was a time when Faust had more talent on BOTH sides of the ball at the same time as any coach we've had. Not just a guy or two who had NFL potential with the rest of the team being crap, but an entire team with very good college football talent. However, when it went south, it went south in a hurry. Of course, not all of it was Faust's fault, but he is the one who fell for the pass and pitch idea and kept hold of a hack like Junko on defense too long. At the end of his tenure, I would say the talent on the field was far worse than what Ianello left us with.

How was Faust being a "good guy" a problem? He let too many douche bags stay on the team after repeated off the field problems. He set a tone that you could do just about anything you wanted to do as long as you confessed your sins. "I made a mistake" is something we should hear on Jerry Springer, not Gerry Faust.

With both Faust and Owens, our ADs kept guys around who had no shot of improving the program beyond what it was about five years in to their term as coach.

The one thing Faust does not get enough credit for is the excellent staff he assembled is first go around. A young Terry Bowden. Hal Hunter who is O-Line coach with the Chargers. Chris Ball, now secondary coach at Arizona State, was a grad assistant. Mike Woodford, on our staff now, was one of the assistants and he has had an excellent career. Bob Shaw was at Akron for a year and went to WVU and was the dcoordinator in their national championship game against Notre Dame. When things went south, he had to hold on to hacks like Junko because he couldn't do better. It became a high school staff like it did with Owens because no decent college coach wants to jump on a sinking ship unless he is forced.

Faust did some really good things early. It was hopeless for him and he just didn't have enough to keep the program from sliding into a bad situation. He is also a constant reminder of the failure of our football program the past 25 years. It really isn't an either/or thing with Faust.

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One would think that he would have served as the sacrificial lamb for later, more successful coaches, and that's how it should have gone, right?

With most sacrificial lambs, they get killed, cut up, eaten and crapped out the next day never to be heard from again. We kept the rotting carcass around and didn't flush the toilets. Sort of stinks up the house if you know what I mean.

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Very well said.

I think some people really lose perspective of the situation here in 1985, and the enormous challenge that was ahead of us. It really is unbelievable to look back now and know that the first guy, and not the ones who followed him, was the most successful. That's why I don't understand some of the hammering on Gerry, and it has nothing to do with my feeling that he is a "good guy".

You keep using the phrase "most successful" when talking about Faust like he was a success. In no way shape or form was he a success as a head college football coach.

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You keep using the phrase "most successful" when talking about Faust like he was a success. In no way shape or form was he a success as a head college football coach.

Are you and Gerry neighbors, and did he pee on your bushes one Saturday morning? Sleep with your wife? Throw your kid off the team? Why are you so bound and determined to crap on the guy? It is a numbers-based fact that he won more games than the coaches who followed him, even though he basically had high-school-level facilities to do it with. Why the antipathy? When he joins that great mediocre football program in the sky, will you piss on his grave too?

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Are you and Gerry neighbors, and did he pee on your bushes one Saturday morning? Sleep with your wife? Throw your kid off the team? Why are you so bound and determined to crap on the guy? It is a numbers-based fact that he won more games than the coaches who followed him, even though he basically had high-school-level facilities to do it with. Why the antipathy? When he joins that great mediocre football program in the sky, will you piss on his grave too?

Gerry is not my neighbor and to the best of my knowledge has not urinated on any of my shrubberies, has not had sexual intercourse with my wife, nor had any of my offspring removed from an athletic team. There is little doubt that he is/was a nice guy and also a substandard college football coach (which will still be true after he travels to that big press box in the sky).

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  • 2 years later...

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