WAC: Conference of Coaches

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WAC: Conference of Coaches

Postby Eric » Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:13 am

Boise State: Chris Petersen (he's going to do well at Boise State)
Fresno State: Pat Hill
Hawai'i: June Jones
Idaho: Dennis Erickson
Nevada: Chris Ault
New Mexico State: Hal Mumme
San Jose State: Dick Tomey
Utah State: Brent Guy

Guys, is this the conference with the best coaches? If not, I'm shocked.
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Postby Spence » Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:52 pm

San Jose State: Dick Tomey


I think this guy is a star in the making.
"History doesn't always repeat itself but it often rhymes." - Mark Twain

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Postby Spence » Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:25 pm

Pat Hill is already a star. I think he is just waiting for the right job.
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Postby Spence » Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:58 pm

I would think Dennis Erickson would have a way to go until a major program would trust him again.
"History doesn't always repeat itself but it often rhymes." - Mark Twain

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Postby colorado_loves_football » Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:22 pm

Call me stupid, I think the WAC is maybe the best 'non-BCS' conference, at the moment. Nevada is going to be good. Idaho wasn't too bad last year, believe it or not. Even Louisana Tech wasn't bad, probaby should have been selected for a bowl, at 7-4, but weren't, had an opportunity to win the WAC, lost a home game to Boise St.
I don't know about Utah St., but they might do better as a WAC school.
So much of it is about tradition, so yes I think Dennis Erickson will do well there. People knock the WAC, but the reality is they have good teams. June Jones, maybe has already 'peaked', but I like him, too.
Now, consider the MWC:
Brigham Young: Bronco Mendenhall - slow start, but BYU nearly beat Utah, and almost beat Cal, in his first year.
Air Force: Fisher DeBerry - possibly losing his touch, but he's still winning games, at least in Colorado Springs, but they weren't too good.
Colorado State: Sonny Lubick - hard to tell where they are headed, but he's done exceptionally well, there. 65% winning.
Utah: Kyle Wittingham - had a tough first year, but they appear to be headed back to their 'previous' form, if their win against Ga. Tech is any indication.
San Diego St: Anyone know who they hired?
UNLV: They were terrible, wish they still had John Robinson.
New Mexico: Rocky Long - not bad, at 6-5 but disappointing, nevertheless
TCU: Gary Patterson - can't say enough good about how he's done as TCU's coach. Good thing he didnt' take the KSU job, and he's better off staying there, anway.

I maintain that these two conferences, united, would possibly serve as the 'best' non-BCS conference, which is another reason why I hope they do it, for the sake of competition.

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Postby Eric » Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:33 pm

CF, SDSU hired Chuck Long.

I'd watch out for UNLV however, Rocky Hinds is a transfer from USC. He is supposedly a good athlete. I think he will be able to master Sanford's spread option game. I think he's a senior, so after a possible 7-5 bowl season, there'll be a chrash in Las Vegas.
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Postby Spence » Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:25 pm

Chuck Long is a good hire. Good offensive game planner. Most former QB's do a good job at game planning.
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Postby Eric » Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:30 pm

I think he is a decent hire. SDSU normally has some good talent. They are bowl material right away when he gets there, which is why this is a good situation. I was wondering why Dennis Erickson didn't take this job instead of Idaho. Idaho is not the place where you really want to build a program. Not a very attractive place, unlike, say, San Diego?
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Postby Spence » Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:35 pm

Erickson comes with a lot of baggage. Maybe San Diego State didn't want him. Chuck Long was a great QB at Iowa and he proved his coaching ability under Bob Stoops. I think Chuck Long will be a star some day.
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Postby ..fanatic » Mon Feb 20, 2006 12:15 am

Anyone heard anything in the last few years of Erickson's drinking problem? That's about the only way I can imagine him winding up where he started after high-profile stints at Miami, Oregon State and in the NFL.

Kinda like Howard Schnellenberger at FAU after working for Miami and Louisville. He supposedly also had a fight with the bottle, right.

Also got to wonder how much Erickson's heart will be into that gig.
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Postby Eric » Mon Feb 20, 2006 12:39 pm

I think Erickson will be focused on getting Idaho to come back. He is going to use this as a launching pad or a Titanic. If he can't get it done at Idaho, he might be finished at big-time D1 football. I wonder why they fired Nick Holt anyway. Wasn't he there for like, 2 or 3 years?
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Postby Eric » Mon Feb 20, 2006 1:31 pm

Oh, I was wondering why there was an opening at Idaho! That's sad when you can't keep him as head coach so he takes a defensive assistant job in the NFL.
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Postby colorado_loves_football » Tue Feb 21, 2006 6:27 pm

I researched the information with respect to Nick Holt on Collegiate Football Data Warehouse's webpage.
As Idaho's coach, he won all of 5 games. This year, they were beaten, soundly, by both Boise St. (70-35) and Fresno St. (40-10) but somehow managed to come within a whisker of beating Louisiana Tech, losing 38-41 at home. They also beat Utah St., and New Mexico St. two former Sun Belt conference 'representatives' who made the 'jump' to the WAC, along with Idaho, this year, so it's possible, that his team was mismatched, competitive-speaking, in those losses.
Still, I believe the conferences, in general, benefitted through the transfer of teams, from C-USA to the Big East. For one thing, they became more regionally appropriate to the southwest. Those teams make the confernece a lot more 'traditional' in nature. This is yet another reason why I support a 'reunion' of traditionally SWC teams to the Big XII. Adding TCU and Arkansas would complete the 'chain' that was dismantled in 1996, when the SWC was divided into 4 sections. The Big East, likely would need to add 4 teams along with a conference championship to keep 'pace', as would the Big Ten & Pac Ten, to make for competitive conference championship games.
The last link to be broken was the link connecting the MWC and WAC together, something that happened in 1999. Reconnecting that 'link' would honor tradition while giving the WAC an 'edge' to the BCS.
Sorry, I had to throw that all in, but it was something I was reminded of when I looked at Nick Holt's record.
As a 'rookie' he won 3 games, beating E. Michigan, and Sun Belt members Arkansas St, and Louisiana Tech.

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Postby Spence » Tue Feb 21, 2006 7:16 pm

Pairing two teams together in the Big Ten would, in my opinion, serve to make the Big Ten more competitive, while also keeping tradition as part of the process, through which a team is selected to represent the Big Ten, as conference 'champions'.


Adding Missouri and Iowa State to the B-10 wouldn't make them more competitive. It would just give the Big 10 another Illinois and Northwestern. The only regional teams the B-10 would look at IF they decided to expand are Notre Dame, Pitt, or West Virginia.

Notre Dame is in the heart of BA-10 country, but they aren't going to join a conference any time soon. West Virginia and Pitt. won't jump to the BA-10 because they have a pretty good deal in the BA-East.

My view is that adding teams to a conference, just to get numbers doesn't make them stronger. Just the opposite happens. The ACC stealing the two top teams from the B-East made the ACC stronger, but that isn't going to happen very often. It would be like Ohio State and Michigan jumping to the B-12 north. They would take us, but it would really hurt the B-10.
"History doesn't always repeat itself but it often rhymes." - Mark Twain

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Postby colorado_loves_football » Wed Feb 22, 2006 2:35 pm

I didn't specify Iowa St. and Missouri in this link, but I heartily disagree with you, Spence, and I don't believe it would be the equialent of Northwestern and/or Indiana, and even if it was, I don't think you should necessarily denegrate teams that have been a part of the Big Ten forever.
Missouri and Iowa State are competitve programs. They might not meet your standards of excellence, but I'm not convinced, myself, they aren't as good, competitively-speaking as teams you mention.
Notre Dame has tradition on its side,but competitively-speaking, I wonder how much better they are than say, West Virginia, if at all.
And, Iowa State and Missouri appear to me to be programs on the rise.
If you want, you can put them in a 'lesser' category, but I don't believe myself they are 'cast-offs' as you are implying. It's just a simple matter of mathematics, really. The Big XII doesn't need 14 teams, although thats' another possibility, I suppose. I'm thinking in terms of 'balance' though, so it would make a lot more sense for the Big Ten to add two programs, than it would for the Big XII to add two, so that's why I suggested it in the first place.
Penn St, in my opinion, is misplaced, conference-wise. They joined, I believe it was 1993, partly because the Big Ten was an established conference, and allowed them the equivalent of a BCS 'bid', if they were the conference representative. To my knowledge, Penn St. has been in the BCS exactly 3 times since their Big Ten 'inaugural' season. They've been in the Rose Bowl once. And that says a lot about how deep the Big Ten is, competitively-speaking. As an independent, Penn State fared much better, in general. What the Big East is, in effect, is a conglomorate of traditionally 'independent' teams, and that suits Penn State's history much better, and they likely would do better in that environment. I'm at a bit of a loss to understand why they remain 'true' to the Big Ten, but they are, and that's commendable.
But, I think for competitiveness, they would 'fit' better in the Big East.
Notre Dame is already a Big East member, they are just holding out, for more money, I'm guessing. They don't want to lose the sweet deal the BCS has given them, even this year, they will be getting more money, than if they were in a conference. But the requirements are tougher, for them to be 'eligible' for a BCS game. That might entice them to unite with the Big East, eventually. But for now, they are 'happy' being an independent, and who can blame them?


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