Jerry Glanville. Hang on to your hats and glasses, folks.
Kari Chisholm
Well, hot damn.
Just fourteen days ago, I was lamenting the lack of university support for Portland State's football program. After all, I said, either support it -- or ditch it:
President Bernstine, either commit to support your college football program, or shut it down. There's no point in choking off the oxygen and watching Vikings football struggle, flail, and ultimately die a slow, painful death.
But I never expected this. Jerry Glanville - one of the most eccentric and brilliant guys in football - is coming to Portland.
For you non-football fans, here's a short Glanville primer:
- For starters, he's a former NFL head coach. It wasn't so long ago that no NFL head coach would be caught dead coaching a college team - even a traditional power. It's still rare, even more so that he'd take on I-AA Portland State. This is going to be huge for recruting and fundraising.
- Glanville is an impressive motivator and strategist - particularly on the defensive side of the ball. As he boldly declared on Wednesday at PSU:
"If you're at Montana State and you're in Bozeman and you think you're tougher than we are, we're going to run a play called 32 Cut, and I don't care if we don't gain a yard, we're going to knock somebody down."
- He's one crazy personality. The most famous story? That he used to leave tickets at the will-call window for Elvis Presley - just in case it's true that Elvis Lives. But more than that, he understands what it takes to build community support for a program. From the O's John Canzano:
Glanville is a gifted storyteller, sure. But PSU may have just hired the world's greatest salesman. Those present at Monday night's dinner between bigwigs, boosters and the coach said Glanville raised nearly $40,000 in booster commitments within the first half hour, and that he later sold Bernstein with a "brilliant" and "inspired" presentation.
So, here we are. Jerry Glanville is coming to Portland. (And, if the rumors are true, he's bringing offensive wizard - and long-ago PSU head coach - Mouse Davis in to run the offense.)
Hang on to your hats and glasses, because this here is going to be the wildest ride in the wilderness.
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2:06 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
LOL
Love the tip of the hat (pun noted) to your Big Thunder Moutnain talk track quotation in your closing line.
2:13 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
Yes, but will he be as big as Pokey?
2:16 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
Glanville is no wallflower, so PSU has made an emphatic statement on which the direction of the athletic program is pointed. No ambivilence here! The only question out there is how many times Glanville will make ESPN (regardless of the team's performance).
Kari's right, it should be a ride.
Now that the University has made a decision to reinvigorate the football program, how about bringing back the Vanport Classic?
2:40 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
Probably a good hire, but expect a blaze of glory and then a program falling into disarray due to lack of discipline and strategic "innovations" that run counter to pro formations orthodoxy, discouraging recruits from attending a program that doesn't prepare them for the pros (in the eyes of the scouts, anyway).
Maybe it will be mitigated by PSU's I-AA status, but this is definitely a PR move rather than a solid coaching upgrade IMO. Yes, he has a reputation for turning around a defense quickly, and as a coordinator he does do a good job. But as a head coach he's never won a division title, never won a playoff game beyond the wild-card round, and if I counted correctly has a 55-56 lifetime record (minus the two games at the end of the 86 season with the Oilers when he took over there).
Why Glanville? Was Buddy Ryan not available? Don't defensive masterminds who never reach their potential as head men and are overaggressive "motivators" grow on trees?
2:46 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
My bad. His record is actually 60-69.
And look at those defensive rankings! His teams NEVER finished out of the bottom third on points allowed, and the least two years were dead LAST in the NFL. His flirtation with the run n shoot shows up positively in the offensive rankings, but as teams figured it out he had no answer and slunk away to do broadcasting.
Mar 1, '07
All Right! Time to dress like Elvis and run amok on the field. Glanville's coming and he has a mouse that's coming back. Elvis and the Mouse!
Mar 1, '07
Go Griz!
3:38 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
Glanville is a solid football guy as well as a high profile PR move. The NFL is a whole 'nother animal. Just ask Nick Saban. I don't give a rip what Glanville's record as a pro head coach was and neither should anyone else.
Un-pro-like schemes might be a reason not to go to Texas but not too many players with their sights set on the NFL are going to consider 1-AA PSU in any case. How well PSU will do will depend a lot more on how well they attract players who are motivated to play college football than on how attractive they are to guys with big NFL prospects.
One thing's for sure, it will be entertaining to have Glanville around.
I hear he once left tickets for "D.B. Cooper" too and the FBI came to the game just in case "Dan" happened to stop by to pick them up.
Mar 1, '07
blueoregonsports.com
please, enough already. we've got the majority in the OR legislature, US Congress back - isn't there enough to do without the need to clog this with
aw, forget about it. go Ducks, Weevils, and Beavers and all.
3:42 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
Torrid Joe -
LOL on Buddy Ryan! (Perhaps Jerry Tarkanian for the basketball team!?)
3:45 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
doretta, you'd better pay attention to his pro career, because it's the only time he's ever been a head coach, college OR pro. Given the reins, he's been mediocre at best.
3:50 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
No fair putting Tark in the same category. He has more (non-community) college wins than any coach in history, including 4 Final Fours and the biggest blowout win in NCAA Final history. Like Glanville he ran a very loose ship and always seemed to be in trouble--but the man could coach like nobody's bidness. Glanville should pray for a pedigree like Tark's.
Mar 1, '07
Can someone please explain to me why PSU needs a football team at all? Why are they using valueable space for football practice instead of expanding their library, thus making them an even stronger academic school? Why is it that PSU students are paying such high rates of tuition while PSU is busy hiring high priced football coaches?
I think that someone needs to reexamine their priorities here.
4:52 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
Can I post my review of Fashion Week here, too? How about my Grey's Anatomy update? Black History Month passed without mention and Womens History is starting with the same neglect. How about the implications to minorities and women at PSU with this undoubtably expensive hire? Little frustrating, friends.
Mar 1, '07
I like edgy personalities in sports. Most Portlanders have this choir boy image of the '88-93 Blazers, but truth is the had one of the most tempestuous relationships with NBA refs of any team. Yes they were much more professional than the Blazer era of JR Rider, Rasheed, Bonzi, etc, but still Buck Williams, Jerome Kersey, and crew were still dubbed "hotheads" by the press. I could deal with putting a basketball team on the floor that was basically the Oakland Raiders of the NBA, so long as they played with the same class as Kenny Stabler, Mark Van Egen, etc.
So all the rose petals being thrown at the feet of Glanville--Man In Black, tough talking, ten-gallon hat, stars and bars, good ol' boy is rather amusing coming from the Portland press. He hasn't even coached a practice and he's already giving a press conference about running plays where he "don't care if we gain a yard, we're going to knock somebody down." Nothing like running a play for the sole purpose of some ol' fash'n ass keekin' to inspire teamwork and commaraderie. Gotta love and praise a coach like that at PSU, but I'll bet throughout the course of 2007 we get at least 20 sports columns that remind us all that Rasheed Wallace threw a towel in Sabonis's face once upon a time.
So let's give it up for the Portland sports press. Ruben Patterson quit drinking, went to marriage counseling, and found God with the help of pious teammate Derek Anderson, but could never live down the wrath of local sports writers. Forgiveness? "Forgetta'bout it!" Yet Glanville's Own, Special Recipe Jar of Whoop Ass is just the thing to throw college student meat on the Grid Iron down at Civic Stadium. I can taste the hypocrisy now.
If it's all done with class, Jerry G. avoids stickin' his foot in his mouth, and it's good for PSU--cool, I'm all for it. Get the Vikings to play like Kenny Stabler or Mean Joe Greene, be tough but win with class, fine. The potential is there for this to be a big plus for the Vikings. I have my doubts. What's he getting paid, anyway?
5:15 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
Spicey and Karol, do I really need to address this AGAIN? (Spicey, I know we've had this conversation before.)
On the day we launched BlueOregon, and posted on our About page every single day since:
This Jerry Glanville column contains my views, and only my views. I happen to believe that Portland State University - Oregon's largest university - should commit substantial financial resources, including taxpayer dollars, for this particular program.
That's CLEARLY a political argument. You're welcome to disagree with me, surely, but let's not get all meta about it. It clearly fits within the mission statement of BlueOregon -- a free-ranging social and cultural critique.
How about the implications to minorities and women at PSU with this undoubtably expensive hire?
An excellent question. You know how to post your own commentary.
Black History Month passed without mention and Womens History is starting with the same neglect.
Again, feel free to post. Personally, I find both of these things insulting -- we're not supposed to study black history the other 11 months? But, if you've got something to say, fire away.
Can I post my review of Fashion Week here, too? How about my Grey's Anatomy update?
Well, if you've got something to say that fits within the BlueOregon concept go ahead. It's a pretty wide-ranging idea, but I'm not sure TV drama and fashion reviews fit... but maybe I'm not seeing the connection.
OK, is that enough meta for a while?
6:42 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
Wow. I smell a challenge. I don't think you've addressed this issue with me, but I'll consider myself "addressed." Black History month is not an insult - it needs to be re-thought, but its an honoring of contributions of Black Americans. We are now free, but the level of respect is still not there. If you continue to deny its value, we risk slipping back. White men write history books, remember? You blogging about it to me isn't going to change the situation. If I could have the chance, it would be different. I guess I was secretly hoping someone other than my "token" behind write about Black History.
But back to PSU football. Lets talk about how many athletic offices push scholarships to minorities, don't insist on superior academic performance, they get hurt, and that's it. What's your friend Jerry going to do about that?
I do know how to make my own post, smarty pants. And when I choose to, I will. PS: I don't know what "meta" means.
Mar 1, '07
I'm sure this has a lot to do with progressive politics, but perhaps someone can give me a teeny weeny hint.
9:55 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
Torrid Joe: No disrespect intended to Tark the Towel-eaten' Shark! He and Glanville just have the same type of headline-making personas. Accomplishments? Those UNLV teams were a force, and I'd give em' the edge over the Falcons - in any game.
Kari: You tell 'em, bud. Folks must be worried that you're gonna use up all your space, eh?
Karol: Whether you like it or not, this change is happening. You want to focus on Black History? Good. Push 'em to bring back the Vanport Classic. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look up the history of Vanport.
10:29 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
It's worth mentioning that BlueOregon features something on the order of 25-30 posts a week, + / - 1300 posts a year, and Kari and I indulge our college football passions no more than 3 or 4, and yet we still get lectured--even when it is, as Karol points out, politically relevant.
Some of the issues Karol raises are interesting, if not relevant to this post. As a member of the PSU faculty, I can tell you that PSU does have its priorities screwed http://diversity.pdx.edu/president.phpup--but not because of its football program. The university just completed a $100 million capital campaign that is going mainly toward new facilities. They cost a lot more than the football program. The faculty remain among the lowest paid of Ph.D.-granting universities, lower than UO and OSU.
Race is certainly a relevant topic if, again, not particularly germaine to this post. The man who just recruited and hired Glanville (President Bernstein) is black--I don't know the numbers, but this puts him in a small minority of black university presidents. Did he put the needs of boosters ahead of black students--a constituency he has made a specific effort to target? An interesting question, but not really something you could expect Kari to cover in his post.
We do our best. I just spent a few days getting hammered for being insufficiently pro-gun. But at least we shouldn't have to answer for posts we're not writing.
11:54 p.m.
Mar 1, '07
Karol, I certainly did not - and would never - suggest that we shouldn't talk about black history. My argument was merely that we shouldn't pigeonhole those discussions into February.
If you (or anyone else) wants to blog about black history, I hope you'll feel welcome to do so in March, April, May, or any month of the year.
4:16 a.m.
Mar 2, '07
What I get sick of is how often PSU as a school is pissed on by other people. As an PSU alum, I really sick of hearing people talk shit and ask why the school should have a team at all. It is very insulting.
It also sucks that someone pisses on Kari's column and moans and complains because they say there's hasn't been anything posted about black history or women's history. Like Kari said, get off your ass and do it yourself. For godsakes if at the very least post on your own damn blog and stop riding other people's asses.
Personally I believe PSU's program is worthy of supporting. I myself have not gotten to as many games as I'd like to when I'm in the country (and I've been gone for over three years) but will try to in the future.
Yeah for 99.99% of the people in Oregon college sports is about Oregon and Oregon State. The worthless crap rag of a paper The Oregonian doesn't bother to write about PSU very often because their too busy covering the other schools.
....End of rant
9:00 a.m.
Mar 2, '07
Wow again. David English, I post a lot on blueoregon on my favorite issues, namely race and women. I'm convienently "off my ass" more than any other 29 year old I've ever met. I don't know if can write competently without actually sitting on my ass, but that's besides the point.
I just wanted to challenge a little bit on the sports column in general. If I wrote about, say, the political implications of having a bunch of whining doctors reflecting the impression of women on TV and the challenge of being strong and sensitive, I don't know if I would have gotten a lot of cheers. As its been my experience, the double standard applies, even on blueoregon. That's all. I threw in some asides, just for perspective.
Really, I'm a pretty sensitive person and I try to keep folks feelings in mind when I post, Kari's included. I took his in the spirit it was offered and I know he did mine. Try not to get self-righteous with me, will ya? Or just click on my name on the side column and read for yourself - gotten "off my ass" plenty.
Mar 2, '07
Yet another exercise in laying down in a Portland velvet-coffin: Hire marginal talent for life at astronomical salaries and hype their talent as supreme... Wow, just what the PNW needs, a salesman wearing a cowboy hat to promote pointy-ball over pointy heads. How about hiring someone with a more cerebral nature about "coaching" grid iron sides of beef like, say, Bill Belichick? When will Stumptown ever learn???
2:07 p.m.
Mar 2, '07
I am still in shock that Glanville actually WANTED to come to PSU!! Go Vikes!
I just want to know who he is going to leave tickets for??? Neil Goldschmidt?
5:48 p.m.
Mar 2, '07
Or just click on my name on the side column and read for yourself
Just a little fair-play note: It's not a given that people know that commenter "Karol" is the same as contributor "Karol Collymore."
I'd suggest including your last name with your comments...
7:01 p.m.
Mar 2, '07
TJ, I just don't agree. Just because they are both called "head football coach" doesn't mean it's the same job. Recruiting is a huge part of a HC's job in college and a tiny part in the pros. Alumni/booster relations is a big part of a college coaching job, not so much for a pro coach. As far as the X's and O's go, give me a guy who has had success as a DC or OC any day.
A college coach has a lot more ability to shape a team's success than an NFL coach does. So much in the NFL is outside the control of the coach.
Bill Bellichick's record in his first NFL head coaching stint (Cleveland): 36-44
His record with the Pats pre-Tom Brady: 5-11
If Bledsoe hadn't gotten hurt would Bellichick have gone down in NFL history as a mediocre coach?
If Glanville doesn't succeed at PSU I think it's a lot more likely to be because he gets bored and leaves or gets in trouble for something he does or says than because he doesn't have what it takes to be successful on the field.
9:52 p.m.
Mar 2, '07
It's certainly possible, but since he never HAS been successful on the field except for brief periods until he's figured out, I'm not optimistic.