"If It's Broke, Fix It"

If Victor E. Bull could alter the permanent, fixated grin on his face, it is likely that following Saturday's football game against Kent State, UB's number one fan would not only be sporting a fierce scorn, but would also need a short sabbatical from the University as a whole until a solution was gathered surrounding the atrocious football exhibition the UB football team displayed in its 33-7 loss to Kent State at UB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The predictable nature of coach Jim Hofher's response to the adversity that the Bulls have faced this season is not working. He cannot become complacent with the fact that he is the leader of a losing team. If Hofher expects to stay on board as head coach at UB, he needs to alter his strategy and tell it like it is.

Following virtually every loss this season, Coach Hofher has maintained the same response. His team "did not play good football." His team "didn't do enough things right to win...the other team did the right things to win." There comes a point when enough is enough.

Hofher is extremely consistent in his vague, post-loss comments, yet he fails to show consistency where it matters the most -- on the field.

For example, the Bulls have experienced a marginal amount of success when they featured a rush-happy offense. But on Saturday, UB's "four-horsemen" (Dawson, Steven King, Jared Patterson and Chris McDuffie) running backs combined for just four net yards on seven carries.

I'm no football genius, nor do I have the insight of a defensive line coach, but somewhere, sometime, a light has to go off in the one of the collective heads of UB's 11 assistant coaches or maybe even Hofher himself that might get the wheels turning; lead to a new strategy, a new reaction or a new method. What I saw on Saturday afternoon was an uninspired effort from the majority of the team.

We, as fans were supposed to be patient. We were supposed to give Coach Hofher and his crew time to work with the players, specifically the players that Hofher recruited himself.

Not only has he not prevailed in his strategy to improve the Bulls, particularly this season, but he has also not shown success as a leader or as a motivator. For UB to register any success -- in the last two games this season, or in future seasons -- Coach Hofher needs to honestly evaluate the status of his team and follow with a consistent and proven game plan.

Or he needs to pack his bags because clearly the University and the community have been pushed to the brink and support for the football program is beginning to diminish.