The Butler football faithful are getting restless.

Again.

The Golden Tornado’s loss to Shaler — ending the Titans’ 34-game skid — coupled with coach Rob Densmore’s blunt statement recently that his players need to be more coachable have a lot of folks up in arms.

Whispers of Densmore not being the right guy for the job can already be heard.

But here’s a word of advice for anyone who cares to take it: Relax.

All of us involved with Butler football, from the players to the parents to the school to the community and, yes, even the media, are tired of the losing. It’s been 18 years since the Tornado fashioned a winning record — 6-4 in 1997 — and that is a ridiculously long time.

But now more than ever, patience is required to turn this thing around. Densmore speaks his mind. He’s as honest as the day is long and his players will always know where they stand with him. That’s a good thing.

He comes from a winning program in Pine-Richland and he’s determined to change the culture at Butler. The youth football program began playing teams outside of Butler last year. That will benefit the varsity program — in a few years.

In the meantime, give Densmore and his staff a few years to roll up their sleeves and go to work. They are good people and they can produce a good end result — if given the chance.

“I’ve received nothing but support from the administration at Butler,” Densmore said. “I know they’re behind us.”

[naviga:h3]Let’s go wild[/naviga:h3]

All is not lost for the Pirates.

Yes, they have to get past Jake Arrieta and the Cubs in the NL wild-card game Wednesday night. But the Cubs have to get past Gerrit Cole.

If the Pirates do win, they will have Francisco Liriano, J.A. Happ, A.J. Burnett and Cole as a rotation against the banged-up Cardinals. I like the Bucs’ chances because their pitching matchups will be favorable ... if they can sneak past the hottest pitcher in baseball.

[naviga:h3]Pick your poison[/naviga:h3]

OK, so what was more nauseating? The Pirates strand 16 runners on base in a crucial 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals Monday night. The Steelers failed to make a field goal twice late in the fourth quarter or a first down twice in overtime Thursday night — either of which defeats Baltimore.

My stomach is still churning.

[naviga:h3]Crowded at the top[/naviga:h3]

Forget about any football team dominating the PSAC’s West Division for a while.

Gannon, Mercyhurst and Seton Hill are fully-funded programs. Slippery Rock has won the league three of the past four years. California and Indiana have had Division II playoff success in recent seasons.

Oh, yeah, and Clarion won its first four games this season under East Brady graduate Chris Weibel.

The balance in this league is becoming incredible. And it will be incredibly hard to win it.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle