Why do we continue to point a finger at Crowton as if it is his fault that players on the team he coaches make some really poor decisions. Believe me, I was as happy to see Crowton go as the rest of you but wonder why we continue to point a finger at Crowtons problems rather then applaud his successes since leaving our program.
To think such scandals could/would never happen again at BYU is a little naive. It's like any of us who has ever watched another persons kids throwing a tantrum in the middle of a store or church and saying to ourselves, "my kids will never act like that." Only to have kids and realize despite our best efforts it happens to everyone at least once in a while. The truth is, people have their free agency and everyone is susceptible to the choices and decisions that others may make, whether good or bad. Hence the reason why sometimes good people are killed by drunk drivers.
Although I do believe Bronco is a much better fit for BYU's program I do not blame our teams problems solely on Crowton, when he was here. And now that Crowton is gone I still respect him as a person and church member and wish him nothing but success. But for us to think such problems might not occur again at BYU under Bronco and Co. is not only naive but unfair to Bronco himself. Even despite his best efforts, we could end up with some players that make some terrible decisions, thus affecting our team and school with their consequences.
I guess my point to all of this is this...although I'm happy that Crowton is no longer our head coach, I don't believe it's fair to blame all of our teams problems on him. He had a tough roll to fill when he was hired and a lot of expectations we're unduly placed on him. He was expected to bring the team back to high level where it once had been and was expected to have it happen over night.
He in turn brought in some incredible talent in hopes of getting us quickly back to that level, much of which was non LDS youth that may not have completely understood what was truly expected of them even if it had been fully explained. I believe he felt pressured to bring the team to a level of play that required him to bring in the best talent possible despite their actual fit to the program, in order to save his job. Unfortunately, the very reason he brought in such players (to ensure his employment), was what caused him to lose his job.
Crowton was, if you will, our rebound coach.
And like all rebounds, he was there to help our program transition back to where we needed to eventually be, until we found the true love of our hearts, so to speak. Actually, I feel bad for Crowton having to been the coach to follow in LaVell Edwards footsteps. That would have been a tough role for anyone to fill especially the state our team was in at the time. We cannot overlook the fact that if it weren't for Crowton, we wouldn't have Bronco or Coach Omer on our staff right now, two key components to our recent success.
I believe that the way Bronco is running the program will help in curbing any similar problems from plaguing our program in the future but also know that it comes down to the individual decisions of each individual player as to whether or not it will stay that way. That is after all what free agency is all about.
Lets be happy for Crowton and his success elsewhere but also look forward to our own as a program under the guidance of Bronco and Co., knowing that he truly is the perfect fit for BYU. I can only hope that our players continue to proudly and honorably represent our program both on and off the field.
Here is to winning it all next year so that even Crowton himself may be able to look at BYU and smile, happy for our success as well.
Go Cougs!
