I was recently asked to highlight the future of the current MWC Head Coaches. So here is a run-down, based on current conference standings.
TCU: Gary Patterson
He has been on the short list for several prestigious jobs before, yet he remains at TCU. Still, one has to wonder with such a senior-dominated team: how much longer can he hold the magic together at TCU? Given the uphill battle for non-BCS schools to get into a National Championship game, he would have to essentially start from scratch in 2012, even if his TCU team went 10-2 in 2011. I suspect he will stay at TCU, but if there were ever a year to jump, this would be it!
Utah: Kyle Whittingham
He isn't leaving Utah by choice or by force any time soon. There really isn't anything to discuss about his job situation. I would guess that when he leaves Utah, it would be by force (either old age or because they asked him not to come back after 3 or 4 bad seasons in a row: I'm not predicting that things will fall apart, I'm just saying those would be the circumstances).
BYU: Bronco Mendenhall
He will probably leave of his own accord to retire or pursue other life goals, perhaps in the next 5 to 10 years. Given the turnaround this season, I imagine if he ever got in a similar situation (2014, perhaps, when they have to find a replacement for a 4-year starting QB), he would make the necessary changes to turn his team's fortunes around and his job would never really be in jeopardy.
Air Force: Troy Calhoun
His name has surfaced as a top 5 candidate for the Colorado Head Gig. I think he is a long shot to leave the Academy for another university, even a BCS one. My guess is that he would only leave for an NFL job. He played for Air Force and is a perfect fit as their coach. He loves the Air Force type of player, and those are few and far between at other institutions of higher learning. He has shown a real knack for commanding the triple option attack. I believe he is probably going to be a Fisher DeBerry type of coach: stay at his service academy until he gets too old to do it anymore.
San Diego State: Brady Hoke
His name has emerged for head coaching jobs all over the country, most notably and seriously for the job at the University of Minnesota (reports are that he has already met with officials from the University about the vacancy). Will he leave San Diego? Absolutely! He claims that he is not looking to bail on his SDSU Aztecs. Translation: open up your checkbooks, particularly if you want me to coach in the freezing cold. He left Ball State, where he attended school himself, to go to San Diego State, a step up in conferences. I expect he would do the same with SDSU, where he has no ties at all, if a team in a better conference with bigger coffers came calling, i.e. Minnesota. He will be their Urban Meyer, rent-a-coach, but without the BCS win and number 1 draft pick that Urban produced at Utah before moving on to greener swamps, um, pastures.
UNLV: Bobby Hauck
He just got there. The job he has done isn't going to turn any heads, but it also isn't going to make his own roll. He took over a bad team with no discipline. He still has a bad, fairly undisciplined team, but give him two more years and he'll have completely changed the style of the program.
Colorado State: Steve Fairchild
Despite back-to-back disappointing seasons, after a bowl win in his first season, his job appears relatively safe, even after the humiliating defeat at Wyoming. He has a young, inexperienced team this season. Next year, he won't have that excuse anymore. He would be wise to win at least 5 games next year, if not more. It is tough to tell whether he is losing because of inexperience, or the fact that his young players stink. In a weaker MWC next season, they should lose fewer conference games if it is just inexperience.
New Mexico: Mike Locksley
This is the one I cannot figure out. New Mexico does not have the money to fire him ($1.6 million buyout), but they also cannot afford to go 1-11 for a third straight year. I would think if they were going to do it, they would have done it by now before the embarrassing loss at BYU and the one sure to come against TCU on Senior Day.
His first recruiting class was arguably the best ever for New Mexico. His second one, if it comes together, could be even better than the first. Will he be around for it to come together? For me, the question with firing a coach always is: can you get someone better? Well, a lot of coaches could go 1-11 and get blown out a half-dozen times. Then the question becomes: if you can get someone better, can you keep someone better? If the Lobos hired, say, Mike Leach and he won 7 games his first season and then 10 games his next, then they would have to find a new coach when Leach left for a BCS conference school and start all over again.
What is better: giving Locksley one or two more years and see if he can figure it out or canning him now and getting a quick bump in wins but have a long-term problem? I am not sure Locksley can win games as a coach, but he can recruit better players. Maybe they should let him bring in another decent recruiting class (and get started on the next one too) and go 3-9 in 2011 before canning him and letting someone else come coach a program with more talent than it has had in quite some time!
Wyoming: Dave Christensen
The Cowboys won a bowl game last season after several years in a row without a bowl appearance. This year, however, they managed to lose 9 games, including one to New Mexico. But they won the Border War game against CSU. This is another case of a lot of young players out on the field. He will certainly be around for a few more years, even if he didn't turn it around at all he'd get at least two more. I suspect he will turn it around.
No comments:
Post a Comment