Fisher named as head coach

[ST_Lawson]

How many seats did Nielsen fill by winning games that's right 7,000 if lucky it's proven that just because you are successful on the field means nothing if you are not liked @ WIU.

To be fair though, we had been pretty bad for a few years and only just got over .500 this season. Average attendance did tick upwards a little bit vs last year, although the max/highest attended game this year was lower than the max/highest from last year.

As you said though, winning isn't the only factor. Having a good relationship with students, fans, etc. also helps quite a bit. Coach Patterson used to call every student (not personally...they had a dialing machine with a recorded message, but still) with a reminder of the upcoming home football game that weekend. Was kinda cool hearing Coach P's voice on the answering machine telling me when the game is, who it's against, and why it was important (conference rival, homecoming, for a share of the conference championship, etc.)

I feel like Fisher is the kind of guy who is willing to reach out and do things like that to get people to the game.

[LocalYokelFan]

I'm done with the Yelk v. Fisher debate; it's all Faulkner-esque (sound and fury signifying nothing). Fisher is here and I'm excited to have him. Looking forward to seeing what staff he was able to put together and what his first recruiting class looks like. GO 'NECKS.

[letsgonecks]

How many seats did Nielsen fill by winning games that's right 7,000 if lucky it's proven that just because you are successful on the field means nothing if you are not liked @ WIU.

To be fair though, we had been pretty bad for a few years and only just got over .500 this season. Average attendance did tick upwards a little bit vs last year, although the max/highest attended game this year was lower than the max/highest from last year.

As you said though, winning isn't the only factor. Having a good relationship with students, fans, etc. also helps quite a bit. Coach Patterson used to call every student (not personally...they had a dialing machine with a recorded message, but still) with a reminder of the upcoming home football game that weekend. Was kinda cool hearing Coach P's voice on the answering machine telling me when the game is, who it's against, and why it was important (conference rival, homecoming, for a share of the conference championship, etc.)

I feel like Fisher is the kind of guy who is willing to reach out and do things like that to get people to the game.

"This is coach Don Patterson calling to invite to come out and watch your Fighting Leathernecks take on the ------- on Saturday" Lived in a suite sophomore year in Corbin and it was the only phone call we'd ever get. Everyone knew it was Don, so we'd race to phone to see who could answer first. Still get a call every once in awhile with one of the guys starting the conversation with that.

Coach Fisher would have to send a text or tweet or snapchat or something else I'm not even privy to!!!!!!

[ST_Lawson]

Weekly Vines maybe?...or even daily, with a different football player each day.
Snapchat would also work, but you'd have to make sure to promote the account to get students to follow it so they'd see the snaps.
Twitter and Instagram still get pretty decent traction these days as well.

Facebook for the local/older fans.

[vatusay]

Did this thread really stoop tocomparing Nick Saban and Bill Belichick to Tyler yelk lol.

That's like saying I'm a bad driver sometimes because I drive aggressively. But you know who else drove aggressively?!?! Dale Earnhardt so I'm pretty much going to be the second coming of the intimidator.


This team should be one of top three in the valley. Coaching move will only help offense and especially special teams. Waiting to hear about DC.

[LocalYokelFan]

Did this thread really stoop tocomparing Nick Saban and Bill Belichick to Tyler yelk lol.

That's like saying I'm a bad driver sometimes because I drive aggressively. But you know who else drove aggressively?!?! Dale Earnhardt so I'm pretty much going to be the second coming of the intimidator.


This team should be one of top three in the valley. Coaching move will only help offense and especially special teams. Waiting to hear about DC.

Nobody compared Yelk to Belichick or Saban! All I said was coaches don't need to be personable or sociable to be successful; whoever that might be! Posters in the past have made comments that since Fisher seems to be personable and sociable, those traits will translate into football success. That's baloney. If you can get good athletes, manage them, and lead them on the football field, you will have success. Rousing booster club or press conference speeches don't bear a lot of weight between the hash marks.

[huskie]

STOP!

[meganeck]

I'm very close with one of the WIU players and he told me that if Yelk would've got the job players were gonna protest or leave the program. Their reason was Yelk had an issue with players as well some other coaches on how he communicated. The player stated Yelk spoke with an attitude like he was the smartest person in the room.

That's interesting some of the players that are active on Twitter were pushing for Yelk, so assumed he was popular, guess not

[vatusay]

I seem to remember someone had mentioned some of the players felt the same about blazek? Too lazy to look back through the threads lol

[brewer2125]

Weekly Vines maybe?...or even daily, with a different football player each day.
Snapchat would also work, but you'd have to make sure to promote the account to get students to follow it so they'd see the snaps.
Twitter and Instagram still get pretty decent traction these days as well.

Facebook for the local/older fans.

A couple of comments. First, I am in agreement with LN57 (and others echoing his comments) on this. This is all good. To add my two cents, success comes when we understand this is a 2 way street - everything can't be on Fisher's shoulders alone. People have to (and have already I'm assuming) reach out and send e-mails, texts, whatever, directly to him saying we are really glad he is here and that we are all 100% behind him. I'm a former baseball Neck, but once the dust settles I'm going to send him an e-mail to that effect, and offer that if he needs a WIU sports alumn up here (Chicago Metro) to say hello or answer questions for a prospect's family, he can put my name and number on the list. And we should be doing the same with every coach for every sport - even if it is not the primary sport that we support. When they hire a new tennis coach (or in any other sport where there is a change), imagine if the coach is getting a barrage of e-mails not just from the football population, but from those who also played track, baseball, basketball, etc. in the past, that say welcome to our family. I'm sure it happens to some extent, but if it became the norm for everyone who pays any attention to WIU sports, then we have a culture, not just a program. And that stands to benefit every sport because other coaches will get word that this is the way WIU does it, and it may get us on the short lists of top quality coaches when WIU is hiring one. Have a great weekend all!