Lusk making push to win back fan base

[Cdizzle]

They actually had an RPI of 22 on Selection Sunday and 4 top 50 RPI wins (Creighton, UNI, Bradley and SIU) along with a road Bracketbuster win @ #52 Wisconsin-Milwaukee in February. The shaft job was far worse than most remember.

The shaft was worse than awful. A screw job deluxe.

I remember well.

So do Bears fans. Kind of nice to hear confirmation from other MVC fan bases though.

People know.

[pafan]

It's pretty much SEMO or bust.

There's also IUPUI on the Bears' schedule.

[bleach]

I've been skeptical of MSU's AD for a long time. When Barry didn't get an NCAA invite in 2006 with something like a 24 rpi, but no quality (top-50) wins, Barry got shafted. Then he didn't get a contract extension, which made it impossible for him to recruit. When the lack of recruiting took its' toll, Barry got fired. Nothing quite like making it impossible to succeed and then firing the guy who doesn't succeed.

Different AD.

[PantherSigEp]

So how is this push going?

[glm38]

So how is this push going?

I think it's gone over the cliff.

[Championz]

So how is this push going?

Hard to know as the original poster went MIA (as expected) yet again after another early season posting binge.

[bleach]

This is year 5 of the Lusk era. He inherited not a floundering program but a program rebuilt from where Hinson had sunk it to. Several key pcs from that MVC championship team were in place including the reigning MVP. After 5 years of adding "his" guys, Lusk has taken the program to lows not seen in modern history. He openly says Dorrian Williams is the only guy who understands what they are trying to do. I highly doubt any MVC team would take Dorrian on their team if he was free for the taking.
I do think the talent level is pretty high (the highest in the Lusk era of recruits for sure) but talent seems to scare Lusk (see Marcus Marshall, Gavin Thurman, Ron Mouvica, etc.). I honestly don't know if i've ever seen a worse coach in the MVC (don't remember Kanaskie). Where MSU was before and after Barry were very positive places to grow from. Two bad hires have given MSU a rep we must dump in favor of some coaching expectations.

[Wufan]

Barry had seven straight winning seasons at SWOMO/MSU and 8 of 9 total. He finished 5th or better in the MVC 7 of 9 years and they fired him after a 17-16 season (won 22 games in each of the 2 prior seasons). Lusk has only had one winning season at MSU in his first 4 years. Seems expectations in the athletic department have changed.

[MoValley John]

Barry had seven straight winning seasons at SWOMO/MSU and 8 of 9 total. He finished 5th or better in the MVC 7 of 9 years and they fired him after a 17-16 season (won 22 games in each of the 2 prior seasons). Lusk has only had one winning season at MSU in his first 4 years. Seems expectations in the athletic department have changed.

Barry was great for both the Bears and the Valley. Their fans didn't realize it, and some still refuse to accept the fact that Barry is a pretty good coach and does a great job at programs that don't have deep pockets. They have what they deserve.

[bleach]

Barry was the king of weak schedules to improve records (see SIU). His last year we were in 7th place. I would hope that isn't good enough for anyone in the league. You also cite his winning records. I would hope that also isn't the goals of the league. I certainly hope what we have now doesn't satisfy league members expectations. You are correct that the current AD appears to have lower expectations or at least demands. Simply, Barry wasn't good enough and Paul is worse. Neither have met expectations of the fan base or program history. Anyone would look good next to Lusk (including Barry) but I would hope the bar is higher than that.