I heard all the rumblings coming out of the Liberty Bowl Saturday night. I was even one of those rumbling. But the fact of the matter is that the Tigers football’s problems extend way beyond coaching. Changing the coach at this juncture wouldn’t be too bright. The fact of the matter is that our football program is getting little to no support from the administration. The truth is long-term success can only come from commitment to the program by all levels in the school’s administration. And believe it or not, it is not only about an on-campus stadium. But that would be a huge step in the right direction.

I’m not asking for the school to drop its goals of improving academics. You can do more than just give coaches raises. Coach West took us to three straight bowls and not once did the AD ask for donations for upgrading the facilities. Sure they gave Coach West a raise but that isn’t all that needed to be done.

Our facilities are behind even those at MTSU and ASU. They can recruit players who see a commitment to the program from the school. There have been no plans to improve the weight room. No plans to build an indoor practice facility. Not one time has the school showed an inkling to improve the program as a whole.

So what happens if you fire Coach West? You have to hire someone into a situation where the school doesn’t do anything for the program. You have an athletic director who looks for every reason not to do any work. Just who could we hire? Would you take a job that doesn’t give you all the tools to succeed? I doubt few coaches worth their salt would either.

Coach West is not without fault here. The only thing I’ve heard him mentioned him wanting is new turf for the practice field. He needs to sell his program more to his donors. I don’t know if his hands have been handcuffed or not. But I do know that Coach Cal gets out there and solicits for anything and everything to improve his program. Let’s get a plan together here Coach so the recruiting playing field is even.

I’m sure that there are many folks like me who would be willing to donate to build new things. You have to show what you want to do before you can ask for money to do it. Show me some plans. More importantly show the folks with some deep pockets some plans and let’s get this thing rolling.

I’m tired of going to campus after campus and saying, “I wish we had something that nice.” I’m tired of hearing coaches like Jim Levett at South Florida say that getting into the Big East was the best thing to ever happen to our program. Especially when the AD says he doesn’t want to raise false hopes. Get off you _____ and get us moving.