Morencie Gets Vote Of Confidence. No, Seriously

Were you as shocked to read that headline as I was to write it?

It's true. Windsor Lancers head coach Mike Morencie, after losing almost as often than the Pittsburgh Pirates, got a public vote of confidence from a former high-ranking Windsor staffer just days after the Lancers rushed for a paltry 15 yards in a 40-7 loss to Queen's.

The following (laughable) letter from Windsor's founding dean of Human Kinetics ran in the Windsor Star today (Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010) with the headline "Morencie Great Football Coach"

As the founding dean of the Faculty of Human Kinetics, I would like to endorse Mike Morencie, head football coach of the Lancer football program at the University of Windsor, as the type of person I would be seeking to hire when first organizing the program at Windsor.
His ethical base is sound and, as an educator, these principles are transmitted to those students who participate on the team he coaches.
I watched the football game recently, and in spite of the score, the team never quit.It would have been easy to roll over and play dead but they did not.
The scoreboard as evaluator is a professional model and has no place in an academic institution. The lessons of life that the students are presented with and taught are the most important element in an inter-university sport program.
PAT J. GALASSO, founding dean of human kinetics, University of Windsor, Windsor

Again, I repeat, this ran in the Windsor Star and not the Onion.

Look, no one, including me, has ever Mike Morencie isn't a "good guy" — he seems like the kind of man I'd love to have a beer or three with while watching NFL football on a Sunday afternoon.

And Mr. Galasso's right, Morencie nor his players aren't quitters. How else can you explain Morencie staying on board as long and as sufferable as he has?

What everyone is saying is this: He's not a good HEAD football coach. He's a fine positions coach, namely at linebacker, his former position. He recruits well there. Has a decent eye for linebacking talent. And, he'd be a good recruiter, selling a qualified coach and winning program to high school players. He's that personable, he really is. People believe what he's saying. Again, how else can you explain how he's hung on as long as he as. Every next year is to be the year. You can't get enough optimism of that magnitude.

But he's just not a good football coach. Period.Half-time adjustments are foreign concepts to the Lancers (see: Two big blown leads against woeful Waterloo in consecutive seasons).

Galasso can say it's not about winning all he wants. That it's about fun. And learning. And growing. And lifelong friendships. But you can get that playing flag football or rooming with someone in residence. You don't a university football program to have all that happen.

If Windsor's really in it for the fun of it, get out. Now. Go have your fun at someone else's expense. Stop wasting every other team's time. Windsor, outside Ottawa, is the most arduous trip for every other program except maybe Western, which is about two hours up the 401 from Windsor. Trips of that magnitude cost everyone time and money. And it pays the programs that care no dividends.

And, if it's truly not about winning Mr. Galasso, why then did Windsor build a beautiful new football stadium at the expense of the students for generations to come? Was it for a happy-go-lucky, just-happy-to-be-here football program? Or, was it for, dare I say it, a "winning" track and field program.

There's no reason this program can't be a winner; shouldn't be a winner.

The Lancers have a new facility. The university has some of the lowest admissions standards in the OUA. And, Windsor-Essex County is a high school football hotbed (see: Essex Ravens, OVFL conference champs this year).

But, if my math is correct, and I think it is, Morencie is 32-73-1 during his tenure at Windsor, which I suspect will end Oct. 25, the Monday after the Lancers' season ends.

Clearly Mr. Galasso is correct. It's not about winning.

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