Will the new Pac 12 balance out the power?

By new, I mainly mean the 3 new coaches in the conference: Leach, RR and Mora.

But, don't forget Utah and Colorado. Both of those teams can sneak up on you and beat you...although Boulder is nowhere near as difficult as it once was (why is that???).

I just want to see the conference balance out a little more. I'm sick of USC and Oregon owning that league. I think that conference really misses the success of ASU in the 90s and Washington's success throughout the 70s, 80s and early 90s.

I think Utah is not going to be as good as they have been. It is easy to dominate the Mountain West and then get up for one big bowl game, but to win consitantly in a good conference isn't easy.

RR at AZ is interesting. Is he going to go with his "lose big, lose close, win close, win big" attitude? If so, they are looking at a rough couple of years. Man, that is what really stuck out for me in Bacon's book. Expecting to lose for two years. What a crock of shit.

Anyway, I don't think Mora will do any better at UCLA then they have had. He is an average guy at a second rate football school. Will always be in USC shadow.

Leach is the X factor. He seems like a weird guy, but he has never had a losing season. Washington State has some history of being a QB school too.

I am not so sure about the other 2.

He will win and adapt fairly quickly. I think the jury is out on RR.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

...RR at AZ is interesting. Is he going to go with his "lose big, lose close, win close, win big" attitude? If so, they are looking at a rough couple of years. Man, that is what really stuck out for me in Bacon's book. Expecting to lose for two years. What a crock of shit.

just playing devils advocate but...

two things,

first AZ has stated that they are committed to RR for five years no matter what. That was certainly not the case at UM. The fans and tradition called for him to win now (as they should). It didn't happen, we figured out after year three that he wasn't the right fit. We moved on.

second, I read the bacon book. That philosophy that he got from a Bobby Bowden coaching camp about "lose big, lose close, win close, win big" wasn't necessarily a coaching strategy rather it was a guideline that a coach could reasonably expect when taking over a terrible team or transitioning a team into a new scheme. While I can't say that the UM talent was terrible in RR's first year, it sure wasn't great. I personally think that if RR would have made a move to seriously address the D UM may have skipped the "win close" phase in his last year and went strait to "Win big." Then who knows where we would be as a program right now.

one more thing about RR is that while the Pac12 does have a couple of tough teams, it's no B1G schedule he'll be running through.

JMO

Agree, but Bowden went through his losing time way before the pressures of today. It is a antiquated approach and needs to be abandoned.

Rich Clod will do well at AZ. Don't forget, the PAC-12 doesn't have to play in Mid-Western Novembers. His first year or two may be rocky but after that I see them doing well.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

Washington State has some history of being a QB school too.

Ryan Leaf?

Wasn't Jack, um, Thompson or something like that from there?

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

Rich Clod will do well at AZ. Don't forget, the PAC-12 doesn't have to play in Mid-Western Novembers. His first year or two may be rocky but after that I see them doing well.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

Washington State has some history of being a QB school too.

Ryan Leaf?

Don't disagree too much. Don't think they'll become perennial Pac-12 contenders necessarily, but could very easily become a consistent 8-9 win team with a couple 10s maybe every once in a while. Remember, the expectations at AZ isn't near what he had at Michigan, or even WVU. As bad as the Cats have been, 8-9 wins a season will make the administration happy for at least a few years while they try and patch back together a solid fan base. Let's also not forget, a little team called Oregon has proven that the spread offense can win, and win BIG, in the Pac-12.