From: stassen@alc.com (Chris Stassen)
Subject: Re: Ohio State Football - No fun, no future to it's players and recrui
Reply-To: STIG@MPS.OHIO-STATE.EDU
Organization: The Lion's Den, San Jose
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 00:31:00 GMT

This is being posted for STIG@MPS.OHIO-STATE.EDU.  It is a response to my
posted article with a query for more information.  Please send all replies
to the 'Reply-To' address given at the top of this article.

Chris Stassen (stassen@alc.com) writes:
> And (as I pointed out in Email to you), despite this fantasizing of
> yours, #1 recruit (at any position) in Ohio just verbally committed to
> Ohio State.  About a month ago, when it looked like Cooper's job was
> in jeopardy, a couple of good Ohio recruits verbally commited to
> Michigan.  Do you think it was a coincidence?

> Face it, you are wrong about this.  Stability, with the recruiting
> machine Cooper has put together, will bring in the Ohio recruits. 
> Keeping Cooper isn't hurting recruiting -- his only sub-par year was
> when his contract was running out and looked like it wouldn't be 
> extended.  *Instability* (what you are whining for) is what has
> hurt Cooper's recruiting in the past and could again in the future.

So can anyone fill me in on exactly who has committed to Ohio State and how
good these guys are?  Also, who are these top recruits who have committed to
Michigan and how are other top Ohio recruits leaning at this time?  Also, how
is freshman LB Jayson Gurch doing?  Was he redshirted?  Is he having academic
problems?  I haven't heard anything about him in a long time.

I think I tend to agree with the above statements about stability and
recruiting.  The argument makes a lot of sense and appears to be born out by
Cooper's recruiting record.  I feel that people are being too critical of what
really is a good season.  We beat (dominated) a better Syracuse team, tied a
very good Michigan team, and lost a close one to a well balanced Georgia team. 
Sure we lost a couple we should have won, but that just shows that we are a
good team and not YET a great one.  Cooper has moved Ohio State up into the top
twenty and given a couple more years may crack the top ten.  What we do know is
that the team has improved during his reign to the point that we are now
competitive with top ten teams.  

What troubles me is that all the negative press that Cooper has received this
year throughout the state is going to seriously hamper his ability to retain
top Ohio talent.  It continually surprises me that students and alumni who are
supposed to be supporters of the school seem to be intent on destroying the
credibility of the program so that the coach will have to be fired instead of
helping in ways they can to improve the program.  If Cooper were doing a
terrible job, and I don't think 8-3-1 and ranked 18th is terrible, then I would 
feel the fans were justified in calling for his head.  I feel that Ohio State
fans that go to the games and wantonly boo the coach, and implicitly the
players, are not true fans.  A true fan would recognize the effort put out by
every member of the program when the team takes the field and would support the
team and cheer them on to victory, especially when the chips are down.  THIS
DOES NOT MEAN BLINDLY EMBRACING INCOMPETENCE AND BEING AN ACTIVE PROPONENT OF
LOSING.  To me, a fan that calls for Cooper's head is someone who believes that
Cooper is a bad coach, a loser.  A coach that takes a program with a dirth of
talent at 4-6-1 to being competitive with top ten teams at 8-3-1 is not a loser
of a coach.  I believe Cooper should be given support and allowed to finish out
his contract without this constant unwarranted criticism so we can see what he
truly can do.
--
Chris Stassen			408-943-0630			stassen@alc.com
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college