As a sports journalist you often have to separate your personal feelings from the facts presented to you. Now I'm not just talking about staying non-partisan through the crush I had on the entire women's volleyball team when I covered them last year. No, I'm talking about relationships that you build with people here at Ohio. One of those relationships is the one I've had with football coach Brian Knorr.
Though I have never covered Knorr's team during my three years at The Post, I have interviewed him no less than 10 times either on the phone or in person, and I've talked with him on other occasions. I find him both endearing and intelligent, and while I've interviewed coaches who stammer and stumble for quotes or thoughts, Knorr always brings points of interest to the table and very rarely dodges questions.
But those charming characteristics do not build championship football teams. Well, that's not true. In movies and on ABC sitcoms those characteristics seem to always win a conference championship. But they have failed here in Athens.
With a 7-28 record in three seasons, Knorr has followed the success of his predecessor, Jim Grobe, with a resounding FLOP. But, in times past and now, I have stuck by Knorr. I will continue to give him my support this season, but this is the last time. I have given him a chance to build a program here at Ohio, and I believe this is his last chance. With a new offensive coordinator and a team composed almost entirely of his recruits, the time to put up is now.
With a new president and a Mid-American Conference that is at a crossroads, the program has a lot of decisions to make during and after this season. President Glidden was a staunch Knorr supporter, but our new president, Roderick McDavis, owes nothing to Knorr and his staff.
And with upper-tier teams like Marshall jumping ship from the MAC, the conference stands at risk of going from mid-major threat to a group of also-ran teams. Ohio does not want to get stuck in a group like that.
The excuses have piled up over the years: Players have been injured, finances have been low, recruiting in football-mad Ohio has often proved difficult. And though those excuses seem viable enough, they become a bit tedious when a team like Miami, our rival, can finish in the top 10 nationally.
If that weren't enough, fellow MAC conference opponent Toledo is ranked in the top 25 by several national publications and news associations. Do you know where Ohio is set to start this season? No. 113 in Sports Illustrated's Division I rankings. No. 113 of 117!
We have a beautiful campus, a stadium that is ripe for a great football team and players that are probably the most down to earth of any in the nation. But while all that is a nice combination, and while I hope that you join me in continuing to root for Knorr, another 2-10 season has to be the end of this era in Ohio football.
Otherwise, the MAC might wind up being Ohio and Buffalo playing 10 grudge matches every year. And I'm still not convinced that we'd win that conference.
-Cottrill is a senior English major and The Post's Fall Quarter sports columnist. Send him an e-mail at michael.cottrill@ohiou.edu.
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Michael Cottrill
