#1 - NO ONE here is attacking nick howell or any other coach as a person. there is not a single person on this board that would say that howell and bronco aren't great, amazing people. they are. they appear to be cream of the crop, top notch guys. amazing husbands and fathers, great LDS's, etc. that doesn't make them a great HC or DC. i am all those things too...doesn't mean i should be coaching D1 college football.

#2 - fans ARE the key to a successful D1 program. i'm sorry, but they are. i get that we are not ones sweating and bleeding out there on the field but we are the ones filling the stadium and in many cases paying upwards of $1000 for our family to go see a single game. many of us pay thousands more $$$ to watch the team when we can't go and many more pay thousands more $$$ to travel and fill stadiums all over the country. all these new tv deals that BYU and other P5 conferences are getting are generated by EYEBALLS and CABLE subscriptions. they are FAN generated. the salary that any coach at BYU gets is generated by the money from the fans buying tickets and filling that 65K seat stadium and those who are paying money to watch BYU from afar. the players aren't paying that salary...we are.

it's the coaches job to use that money as motivation to get the players to play well thus exciting the fan base even more prompting more ticket purchases, more cable viewers, more merchandise sales, etc etc. given the fact that we are so invested, we have a right to get frustrated when things don't go right. or when we feel our money and time is being wasted. i'm sure the players are frustrated too as well as the coaches. but they can, presumably, do something to change the outcome. fans can't. we sit back powerless and watch our cougs get embarrassed on national tv four weeks in a row. a once proud defense getting torn to shreds. something has to change and the reason is because if you don't and you keep this up, fans will stop coming, they'll stop watching and that is when a football program runs into trouble.

#3 - quit acting like being a D1 coach is the only hard, pressure filled job in america. it's not. i am an immigration attorney. i represent clients being put into deportation proceedings, people who generally are good people and are facing a life-changing court case that could alter their life forever if i lose. it's the most important thing these people will ever do in their lives. if i lose i face ridicule by the client, by my boss and the judges. if i continue a pattern of losing cases i lose client confidence, my boss begins to doubt me and i could eventually lose my job. it's normal course of business in any job. stop acting like BYU coaches are any different. if they don't like the spotlight or pressure they should have never signed up for the job. if i can't handle a judge yelling at me or the pressure of a 1000+ case load i should have been a school teacher and relaxed and enjoyed my life. HE chose this job. HE gets the big bucks. HE signed up for the promotion. therefore, HE gets to deal with a little fan angst when his team goes on a 4 game spiral that BYU HAS NEVER, EVER SEEN IN THEIR ENTIRE HISTORY. (4 consecutive losses to non-ranked teams has only happened one other time...in addition the total yardage during the last 4 games is a bronco-era high)

rant over.