5-star and 4-star players that were every greatly over-rated or just never lived up to expectations for whatever reason. We've had recruiting classes that amped us for the upcoming season only to come up short. We've seen (not lately, at least not at UNLV) three star kids that were either better than we thought or became an integral part of the roster for years.
What I'm saying is we just don't know. We all offer up opinions, gaze at numbers, watch some clips, read articles and other people's opinions.... And we form a conclusion of "how it's going to be". The media loves to prey on that last part but they're more full of crap than anybody. More times than not, the reality is a couple spots away from where "we think" things are actually going to be.
UNLV is pretty unique and I do think it's almost feast or famine (fans and boosters make it that way). There's really not any gray area. You either succeed or you fail. We've had one coach that has succeeded. It's not fair to anyone that that's the way things have been at UNLV and I really don't see it changing.
So, if you think this is a bad hire because of the style of play, the elevation in competition, recruiting ability or the relative lack of experience - you could be wrong. Beard's philosophy is a lot different than what we've seen. It might translate well. If you think he's a can't miss because he's showed early promise and his discipline is exactly what the program needs, you could be wrong. This university knows how to chew up coaches and it's difficult to handle.
What I'm saying is whether you are for the hire or against the hire, we just don't know. I don't know, you don't know, TMK and Jessup doesn't know, Gottlieb and Vitale don't know, former Rebels don't know. We just don't know.
I really hope that fans rally behind Beard. If you don't have it in you, that's understandable, everyone has a breaking point. But if that's the point you are at, I hope you don't waste energy banging the drum of hate for five years in hopes of repeating this oh so fun process. I understand taking a wait and see approach, I understand fully backing the program. I even understand turning the page and just disassociating altogether. But I hope no more people join that army of hate that doesn't care about the irreversible damage they create.
What I'm saying is we just don't know. We all offer up opinions, gaze at numbers, watch some clips, read articles and other people's opinions.... And we form a conclusion of "how it's going to be". The media loves to prey on that last part but they're more full of crap than anybody. More times than not, the reality is a couple spots away from where "we think" things are actually going to be.
UNLV is pretty unique and I do think it's almost feast or famine (fans and boosters make it that way). There's really not any gray area. You either succeed or you fail. We've had one coach that has succeeded. It's not fair to anyone that that's the way things have been at UNLV and I really don't see it changing.
So, if you think this is a bad hire because of the style of play, the elevation in competition, recruiting ability or the relative lack of experience - you could be wrong. Beard's philosophy is a lot different than what we've seen. It might translate well. If you think he's a can't miss because he's showed early promise and his discipline is exactly what the program needs, you could be wrong. This university knows how to chew up coaches and it's difficult to handle.
What I'm saying is whether you are for the hire or against the hire, we just don't know. I don't know, you don't know, TMK and Jessup doesn't know, Gottlieb and Vitale don't know, former Rebels don't know. We just don't know.
I really hope that fans rally behind Beard. If you don't have it in you, that's understandable, everyone has a breaking point. But if that's the point you are at, I hope you don't waste energy banging the drum of hate for five years in hopes of repeating this oh so fun process. I understand taking a wait and see approach, I understand fully backing the program. I even understand turning the page and just disassociating altogether. But I hope no more people join that army of hate that doesn't care about the irreversible damage they create.
