Crazy Fans

I read the message boards. No, they don't provide great inside information about the program or news that could potentially break. Sometimes they are just down right crazy.

So Thursday night when I logged on following WKU's four point loss to South Alabama, I was appalled.

There were numerous threads calling for Darrin Horn's job following the game, saying he can't win a big game, he can't make an NCAA Tournament.

These folks need a reality check right in the jugular.

Horn will not be let go before his contract expires, which I believe is in 2010. Horn has averaged 20 wins a season every year, he was the second-fastest to win 100 games in his career. Sure he has no Sun Belt Tournament Championships and No NCAA Tournaments, but he's putting a quality product out there that is so close to being there. I know 'almost' doesn't count, but he's not struggling by any means.

He is definitely one of the best young coaches in the game, and with either a SBC Tourney win or NCAA win his stock goes up.

Logistically, athletic director Wood Selig would be crazy to do such a thing. By some estimates, Horn's contract is worth $140,000. You buy that out for two years its $280,000. The university budget is in crisis as it is, the last thing they need to do is pay a buyout to a coach that was doing pretty well by most standards. And then on top of that they bring in a coach that is probably going to be paid $145,000 or so. Not to mention who wants a job after the coach was let go after five, decent 20-win seasons.

I have followed Nebraska closely for years. Following the 2003 season Frank Solich was let go after a 9-3 season. People wanted more out of Solich, his game was becoming out of style so he was fired after a 9-3 season and bowl appearances every year of his career. In came Bill Callahan, went 6-6, missed a bowl. Callahan never got that big win, never beat a top-25 team. The Huskers needed saved, the Husker fans regretted what they wished for. Now former legend Tom Osborne is back at the helm, Callahan is out and former top assistant from the late Solich years, Bo Pelini is back and Nebraska Football appears to be back on its feet.

Western fans really do need a gut check of whats happening. Just because a coach doesn't win here or there, doesnt mean he is bad. You never know what could come into Bowling Green and where the program could head, especially in a fragile conference like the Sun Belt where things can change in a heartbeat.

So hopefully after tonight's win, I'll log on and read about how the fans are optimistic for March, rather than pessimistic and negative about what is happening. Let me remind you, Thursday was the first loss in February. And who said this team was in the NCAA Tournament as an at-large even with a win over South Alabama. The only sure way in is to win on March 9, 10, 11, and that can still happen.