Am I the Man here or what?

DID YOU KNOW? In 1990 KISS recorded a follow-up to their hit “Detroit Rock City” with a tribute to the “Drive” and “Byner Fumbles!” Games, called “Cleveland Choke City.”

My point was that people like to criticize Cameron for destroying the IU program and I don’t know how you can destroy a program that was 1-15 in the Big Ten the two years prior to your arrival, especially when Cameron went 4-4 in the Big Ten the year he was fired.

I am also not being critical of Coach Mallory for not reaching out to Cam to support the program. I’m sure that Bill was very upset that he was fired. I also don’t blame Cam for wanting to put his own stamp on the program. It wasn’t as if he was taking over for Paterno. He took over for a very good football coach whose program had taken a dramatic downturn. Cameron retained Mark Deal from Mallory’s staff, and hired Anthony Thompson as well. The biggest negative that happened to Cameron’s program was when his top assistant, Pete Schmidt, died of cancer during Cam’s third season.

No, Cam Cameron hasn’t been a successful head coach. He also hasn’t been the disaster that some people like to suggest. His last team at IU was very formidable, at a school where it is always difficult to win in football. Miami was a tremendous struggle but I don’t know how you judge a head coach on one season. He has been crucified for the Ted Ginn selection, the same guy that had 175 receiving yards yesterday.

Bad head coach or not, he was an excellent hire for John Harbaugh. That offense will struggle at times for the remainder of the season but Cameron has put a nice plan in place. It’s night and day from Ravens offenses of the past.

But understand this, my background and my loyalty is to the Bill Mallory Hoosiers. So am I a little biased? Absolutely. Bill Mallory’s players were my babysitters when I was growing up, I was on the field during the games, and I was quite informed about the manner in which things went when Cam Cameron took over. You would be hard pressed to find another person who knows more about Indiana football in the 80s and 90s than me. And I am telling you, from my experience, from the people I know and I have talked to, that I have not heard anything positive about Cam Cameron’s tenure at IU.

To further illustrate the difference between the two, I was a student at IU during the majority of Cam Cameron’s tenure as coach. I had many classes with football players and with basketball players. Attendance for football players? Spotty at best. Attendance for basketball players (when Bob Knight was still the coach at least) was spotless. The same was true under Bill Mallory, or players were punished immediately. “Dawn Patrol” it was called. Now who knows, maybe all of the football players who consistently skipped class under Cameron were punished, but they would have been running more than practicing. My roommate for two years in college was a walk-on kicker who played for one year under Cameron and one year under Gerry DiNardo. He said there was no accountability, no discipline, and very little leadership from the coaching staff under either coach.

I don’t dispute that you may have heard differently, and don’t doubt that Cam Cameron has many positive qualities, like when he bought copies of Tony Dungy’s book for every coach at his coaching clinic, but do not say that I need to educate myself or that I am saying anything false, because I am not.

I’ll admit that I’m probably a bit too hard on Cam Cameron for last season with the Dolphins. A lot of things went south that were out of his control. But Cam also did not exhibit much leadership to get things turned around. Why else would he have been jettisoned after one season? Look no further than the recent comments of Vonnie Holliday, comparing last year with Cam to this year:

“What did we have to work with as players? I think you look at it, and it’s clear this year we have a direction. We have a plan in place. And that’s largely attributed to Coach Parcells and Coach Sparano.”

On the flip side, to be fair, there are other informed people who do not blame Cam Cameron for last season’s Dolphins debacle. The truth is that he had one season and a lot of things went wrong. It’s somewhat unfair to judge him by that performance alone as an NFL head coach. But Wayne Huizenga obviously saw no reason to give Cam Cameron more time to turn it around, and made a change as quickly as he could. I’m not “making that up.” It’s what occurred. And it speaks volumes about his head coaching ability.

Please, feel free to present arguments to the contrary. I am not closed minded about Cam Cameron, but the majority of my experience and knowledge about him as a head coach is not positive, so I have arrived at my opinion quite honestly and legitimately. If someone can disprove my original argument, that he is a terrible head coach and failed with both IU and the Dolphins (perhaps the “screw him” line was a bit harsh, admittedly — although it is what a lot of Bill Mallory’s close supporters feel like he did to Coach Mallory) then please, present your argument.

Thank you for the participation camfan, it is always very much appreciated — but vague references to me presenting false statements will not cut it as a legitimate rebuttal.

I love a dedicated fan and admire your commitment to your team. You should focus your energy and passion on support of them rather than on tearing down a man you clearly know no truth about as evidenced by your statement that you know no former Indiana player or coach or fan who would be complimentary of Cam’s tenure there. You quote about Cam not taking responsibility and blaming everyone for his failures is downright funny! You might want to educate yourself before going on the attack next time. Anyone who knows Cam at all knows that you couldn’t be further from the truth on that point and that your many others are misguided and false as well.

I will grant you the points you made in your third paragraph. After a successful decade, IU football had fallen on pretty hard times when Cameron got there. And they do have a serious institutional problem in their athletic department that goes across all sports, as the current status of the basketball team proves.

So we agree on those points.

However, in Bill Mallory’s first year (1984), IU went 0-11. Two years later, in 1986, Indiana beat Ohio State in Columbus in a game that Woody Hayes called “the darkest day in Buckeye history.” They played in the All American Bowl that year. In 1987, IU beat both Ohio State and Michigan en route to an appearance in the Peach Bowl. Mallory’s IU teams would later make a return trip to the Peach Bowl, as well as trips to the Independence Bowl, the Liberty Bowl, and the Copper Bowl, all within his first ten years as coach. Bill Mallory was also named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1986.

So while Cam Cameron may not have “ruined” IU football, he certainly didn’t do anything to advance the program. Once again, how many bowl games did he go to? If a mid-level bowl game every two to three years is all one can expect at IU (and I agree), then Bill Mallory clearly exceeded expectations during his tenure, and was then run out of town after a tough two-year stretch. Was it time for a change? That’s debatable, and depends on your personal view of the right way to build a football program at a mid-level BCS school. But I won’t begrudge anyone for thinking that 1-15 over two years warrants a change. But, you simply cannot compare Cam Cameron as a head coach to Bill Mallory. The results and the facts kill any argument you might put forth.

With respect to Cam Cameron being welcoming of Bill Mallory — all I can say is that you are flat out wrong. I don’t know if you know Bill Mallory, or have any history with IU football, but I grew up very close to Indiana football in the 1980s and early 1990s. Bill Mallory is a man of class and integrity, and his teams at Indiana always exuded these characteristics, even during times when they struggled. There is not one IU fan I know, and I know plenty, many of them big boosters and former coaches and players, who have ever said one negative thing about Bill Mallory or, conversely, who are complimentary about Cam Cameron’s tenure. Cam Cameron absolutely wanted to distance himself from Bill Mallory when he got there and that is not a point on which I will cede any ground.

As to ‘Twaan — let me get this straight. So Antwaan’s brother played for Bill Mallory, and Antwaan is leaning towards committing to IU while Mallory was the coach, but somehow Antwaan would not have played for Mallory if he was still there? You know what, maybe you’re right. Maybe Antwaan would not have wanted to play for Mallory — and Cameron’s system certainly did showcase Randle El’s talents. But my point was the Cam Cameron did not want Antwaan Randle El initially. And were it not for Antwaan’s ridiculous talents, Cam Cameron never would have lasted as long as he did.

Anyway, this whole argument is kind of pointless. You are defending Cam Cameron by saying that IU football was down already and that no one could win with what the Dolphins had last year. The facts are these, and you can massage them any way you want to try to make Cam Cameron look good: Indiana never made a bowl game while he was the coach, despite the presence of one of the most prolific all-around offensive players in college football history; and he was one overtime win away from being the only coach to “lead” a team to an 0-16 season.

Apparently, Cam Cameron’s fans and supporters suffer from the same problem he does: not taking responsibility and blaming everyone but himself for the failures of his teams.

Also, your statement that Cameron told Mallory that he didn’t want him involved in the program is patently false. Mallory didn’t want to be involved in the program because he was bitter that he was fired. Cameron ultimately tried again and the two coaches even did a clinic together during Cameron’s third or fourth season. Mallory could have helped Cameron and chose not to do so.

As for Cameron ruining the program, how does one “ruin” a program when he inherits a program that had a 1-15 Big Ten record during the two seasons prior to his arrival? Indiana football isn’t a continual coaching problem, it’s an instituational and athletic department problem. One IU starts taking football more seriously maybe they’ll have a little more success. With that said, a mid-level bowl game every two-to-three years is about all one can expect at Indiana.

As for the Dolphins, nobody was winning with that team last year. When Cameron Worrell has to start because you are down to your fifth- and sixth-string safeties, and you lose your starting running back (who was leading the entire NFL in yards from scrimmage), and you lose your starting quarterback, and Zach Thomas, it’s nearly an impossible situation.

You want to compare him to predecessor? Fine. How many bowl games did Cam Cameron go to? None. How many did Bill Mallory got to? Six. Bill Mallory is the only coach in IU history who has found semi-consistent success in Bloomington and Cam Cameron came in and pissed all over the tradition that Mallory had been building, including telling Mallory that he did not want him around the program. Are you serious? How arrogant do you have to be to say that when Bill Mallory was willing to swallow his pride and still support the program?

Oh, and ask yourself why Cam Cameron won a few games in his last few seasons. The answer begins and ends with the presence of Antwaan Randle El. Guess who recruited Randle El. Bill Mallory’s staff. Guess who said he didn’t need a “5′10 quarterback” and wanted to take back the scholarship? Cam Cameron. Yeah…he’s a frieking genius.

You might want to do some fact checking before you bring any Cam Cameron BS on this board. I am totally biased and totally informed — not a good combination for you.

However, as I cool down a little bit, I do appreciate your visit and your willingness to contribute. It is just very hard for me to not get worked up talking about Cam Cameron because he absolutely ruined two of my beloved sports teams. He is a fine offensive coordinator, but anyone who lets him be in the charge of the whole show needs to have their head examined.

Or just let them come and talk to me.