Time for a change at the top

[Jacks99]

Re: Time for a change at the top

I support Stig for this season and understand (now) that this discussion is looking forward and not yanking him now. I think SDSU is ready to take the next step and with the I-A games and accelerated scholarships prove they are starting that move.

However, other than the embarassment last week and two years ago at UC Davis, I think this staff and team have lived up to their expectations.

1) We just played the premier juggernaut of I-AA. The first half was in reach and the second half is a result of below.

2) We are still in transistion with less scholarships and our I-AA recruits are not our Juniors and Seniors. No depth yet to hang late with big teams.

3) Football wasn't intended to carry SDSU into DI. However now it seems to be changing.

4) Most games against I-AA teams have been close, most very close. A few blowouts, but what do you expect?

5) Stig is a class act, although no one is arguing that fact.

6) Other than a few select games the last few years the team seems to be prepared and playing their hearts out.

All that said, I have no problem with this discussion for moving to the next level, but have a big problem with people who are expecting that we win the Great west this year and be 2-0 at this point. I think the game today just shows the reality.

[da_coach]

Re: Time for a change at the top

Ladies and Gents,

First off, this is my first post here, ever.

I, like most of you, graduated from SDSU. I am very proud of my school, and try to make it back to Brookings a couple of times a year, to watch the Jacks.

We have not been a good football school. When I was in school, (til 95, not saying how long, though We never did much in FB. Although the BB teams and track and CC teams were always good.

Coach Stig is a good man. Say what you want about him, but he is someone with character that is a good person. Just like Coach Nagy and Coach Johnston.

Everyone with a some knowledge knew this season was going to be tough as hell. I was there at the LaCrosse loss, and it hurt me.

I'm not sure that this is the right direction...changing coaches at this juncture. Support your coach through a tough time people! Coach Stig has done as well as anyone else in the last 30 years, and to turn on him in year 3 of the "transitions" is just not fair.

I love SDSU and I love the Jackrabbits, and I just do not feel that it is fair to tell the school to fire Coach Stig after the job he has done. Think about it...he has done a wonderful job the past two years. Much better than anyone anticipated.

Go Coach. Go Jacks. You have a tough road ahead of you, and I'm pulling for you all the way.

[Rabbitlivinginverm]

Re: Time for a change at the top

To clarify, I don't think anyone is calling for a change in direction tomorrow. I think most people, at least I am, are looking for a change following this season.

[rjacks21]

Re: Time for a change at the top

Coach Stig being a great guy should have nothing to do with this argument. Most coaches who get fired are great people who have had a positive impact on their players lives. I would rather win with a jerk than lose with a "great guy". A coaches job is not be be friend's with his players. His job is to prepare his team to win -- and Stig is proving he's not capable of that.

[da_coach]

Re: Time for a change at the top

Coach Stig being a great guy should have nothing to do with this argument.  Most coaches who get fired are great people who have had a positive impact on their players lives. I would rather win with a jerk than lose with a "great guy". A coaches job is not be be friend's with his players.  His job is to prepare his team to win -- and Stig is proving he's not capable of that.

and that is where we differ.

And his record ain't so bad. Look it up.

I've never heard anyone say he's the players "best friend".
Just a good man who does his best.

Don't dump on a good man. Not yet.

[jackmd]

Re: Time for a change at the top

[quote author=rjacks21 link=1157837690/15#18 date=1157846235]Coach Stig being a great guy should have nothing to do with this argument.  Most coaches who get fired are great people who have had a positive impact on their players lives. I would rather win with a jerk than lose with a "great guy".  A coaches job is not be be friend's with his players.  His job is to prepare his team to win -- and Stig is proving he's not capable of that.

and that is where we differ.  

And his record ain't so bad.  Look it up.

I've never heard anyone say he's the players "best friend".  
Just a good man who does his best.

Don't dump on a good man.  Not yet.[/quote]

Good men are asked to step down everyday. I don't think anyone expect Stig to step away right now. Maybe some do, but not me. I think a change is due at the end of this year. Of course, I thought that last year. What I think doesn't matter in the big picture and I know that.

Why is there such loyalty for Stig? I think each of us knows why. However, liking a guy does not mean keeping a guy. Sometimes change is necessary. Its not like SDSU would be the Yankees of the 80's if that let Stig go. Our neighbors to the south struggled with this decision a couple of years ago. They haven't looked back. NDSU had a similar experience, that haven't looked back. No question Stig is a good guy, he just isn't a good coach. OPINION

[1bunnies]

Re: Time for a change at the top

Da Coach,

I am with you. John is a great man. He is a great coach also. Everyone is failing to mention how many recruits we may have lost out on in all of our sports while we are in the transition period just because they want a shot at post season play immediately. I feel with this move to D1, which I totally support, each program should be given 5-10 years to prove themselves. Armchairs coaches and quarterbacks are what we need to do away with.

[jackmd]

Re: Time for a change at the top

Da Coach,

I am with you. John is a great man. He is a great coach also. Everyone is failing to mention how many recruits we may have lost out on in all of our sports while we are in the transition period just because they want a shot at post season play immediately. I feel with this move to D1, which I totally support, each program should be given 5-10 years to prove themselves. Armchairs coaches and quarterbacks are what we need to do away with.

Point appreciated. To expound, care to comment on the performance of teams pre-transition, if you want to call it that?

If you would like to do away with so-called armchair QB's and coaches who would you ask to be critical of our programs at SDSU? Questions I trust you ponder as you make these statements.

When Stig is asked about decisions made in this game what answers do you expect? Are those answers then without question? I think the performance in the first 2 games this years raises more questions than it answers. If you disagree please explain why.

[jivebunny]

Re: Time for a change at the top

A couple of ... um ... hard love points, I guess. If playing your heart out is all that's called for, I could get a full ride for the Jacks. I'm not trying to be too cruel, but results do matter. The other is if being a good guy is what it takes to be coach, hire me. Again ... results. This all sounds really cold-hearted, I guess. Sorry about that. But other posters are right when they say that a lot of folks won't give the DI move any cred until the school deserves it belongs. I just don't know what that means, though. Obviously it doesn't mean being in the NCAA hoops tourney as that's impossible with the reclassification. Does it mean beating Southern two years ago? Beating Davis last year? By and large, we've had one impressive football game a year in our first two seasons. But that's probably not been enough. Home games against D-II and NAIA schools are not what people want to see if we're going to be D-IAA. Tell me if you disagree, but I think I'm right. And if we are going to play a D-II team, make it USD. Fans would care. They'd show up. That bridge has probably been burnt and I know the dangers of losing that game, but I think it'd be worth it. Here's what I think has been a measuring stick of the general public's mood about the move: how many butts have been in the seats at home basketball games? The numbers are way down. It huts to go to a game and see Frost Arena half empty. And it hurt watching the football game against Wisc.-LC. Again, though, it's early in the move. My hunch has always been that Stig would be the first coach to go after the move. He's a great guy, but I've always had a number of personal concerns. And they're sometimes silly things like how often we run out of the shotgun (which drives me INSANE) and all the personal fouls we take. The big thing, though, was going 40 years in the NCC without a conference title. Obviously, that wasn't all Stig's fault. Not even close. I joked once when the D-I move was being talked about (before the decsion was made public, but after it had been made ... this was during the ram-it-down-the-public's-throat phase) that the front of The Bum it should say something like "Celebrating 40 years without a conference championship." Or "A tradition of mediocrity." Sorry, everybody, for such cold words. But I guess those are the reasons I've had the hunch Stig would ultimately be the first to go. We do need to pump more money into the program, but the question is whether that will take new leadership. Any thoughts? Maybe the past two weeks have been so depressing I shouldn't even comment. I suppose they wouldn't be depressing if I didn't care, though. The rest of the season worries me. It really does.

[Rabbit_FB_Alum]

Re: Time for a change at the top

It's funny how you all forget what Stig did the last 2 years with mostly D2 players. I agree that we need a change starting at the TOP. I mean the VERY TOP. It isn't Stig. We need better facilities and more $$$ to bring in quality assistants (and to keep the good ones that we already have). Stig is doing the best he can with what he has. As to that point, lets look at what he has. A small school, in a small town, in the middle of no where whith second rate facilities. That isn't an easy sell to top calibur athletes. We need to see more from the university "brass" in terms of $$$ for scholarships, facilities, and coaching salaries. If that is in place and we still stink, then blame Stig. As a former player, I can't say 1 bad thing about the man. I gave my body and all my free time to SDSU to play football there. I can't put a price tag on how much it meant to play for a guy that didn't think I was just a piece of meat to grind up on the football field. I wouldn't give up the experiance that I had for anything, not even a national chanpionship.

[Jacked_Up]

Re: Time for a change at the top

The fact that hard-core fans fondly recall 6-5 as a good season is a pretty strong argument for change, not now but maybe after the season is over or when a new president is in place (hopefully one who can help attract new money for assistant coaches and facility improvements). Expectations should be higher than mediocrity, and football fans should feel like there is a realistic chance of reaching that higher level in a year or two. The basketball programs give fans the feeling that things are good (women) or will get better (men). I don't get that feeling with football, at least not yet. Coach Stig is a good man in a tough job. He's bogged down largely by a decade long record on which fans base expectations for future success.

[Haldersham]

Re: Time for a change at the top

Boy md, you're just stirring the pot aren't you ;D

My case is too long to type you there. I think I'd get cut off.  I do remember PM'ing someone last year with my reasons for my feelings on the direction of the program. Wish I still had that because it would be easier than trying to remember what I typed.

Here's what I do remember from 10 years ago though. Four finalists were interviewed.
1. Mike Breske - was UNC's DC, just coming off a National Championship, really blew off his interview because he had a good thing going at UNC. Not sure where he's at now, but I know he's successful.
2. Can't remember the other non-SDSU buy brought in. Al Molde seems to be a name that pops in my head. He's the AD at Gustavus. Just wouldn't have been a fit at all for SDSU.
3. Stig - look at the discussion we're having now.
4. Gerry Gdowski - went to New Mexico State, was OC there, now at Ohio University with Frank Solich. At the time he was considered "too young" by some on the committee. In actuality he was the same age as our head MBB coach at the time, Scott Nagy.

Why bring this up? Because IMO selecting a head coach has to include looking not only at what the coach can do on the field, but what they can bring in for assistants and what they can do off the field.  There's discussions on this board about bringing in new blood for a president, well when Stig was hired there was no new blood brought in (sorry, one newbie that was looking for his next job the day he arrived) and he's proven that recycling coaches is part of his way of operating.

I favored GG at the time because he was a young, hungry coach with Nebraska ties that could have brought in some new blood with recruiting ties all over the country. Yes, he was my OC which also influenced my feelings to an extent. But bottom line was someone with new ideas and great contacts in the coaching world was an exciting thought for the future of the program.

Now, 10 years later the FB team IMO is no better than the day Daly left.  Three of the six assistants are recycled GA's.  The other three actually do have some experience behind them, which is good.  I don't want to hear boo about the $$ these coaches get offered and that limiting our ability to hire quality assistants. There are good coaches out there willing to work for what these guys get paid.

OK, enough for now. Battle armor up. I'm in md's corner.

I believe Mike Breske is still with Joe Glenn at Wyoming after a stint at Montana. Besides his unseparable tie to Joe Glenn, the other problem with Mike might have been his over specialization in defense. I suppose as a head coach he could have brought in a offensive whiz kid who could have done that part for him. I was not present in Brookings when Mike was interviewed, but I have heard from a few that were there. These people have told me that they were not impressed with is over use of mouth tobacco. The HPER would have had to purchase several spitoons if they had hired Mike. That in itself is a horrible image for a head coach. It may have been cool back in the old days, but with all sorts of mouth cancer cases recently, today it is not.

I guess I am guilty of posting "BOO" on this board about coaching salaries, and to me it's a problem at SDSU. This in my opinion is is why Gary Gdawoski split. The offer from Samuelsen who came and went at New Mexico State came about the same time as Stig offered to keep him and we all know that was a no brainer for Gary. Also working for a person who got your job would never be easy.

Yes there are coaches out there. The last two or three positions that were advertised garnered 70 applications. Maybe the wrong ones were thrown in the circular file. Who knows.

As far as three assistants being former grad assistants, I fail to see this as a problem. If they have potential as a coach why would it be wrong to retain them? Tom Osborne was once a grad assistant at Nebraska for Bob DeVenay who later hired him as an assistant. That proved to be a good move.

I have talked to Gadowski a number of times. He is a fine person and no doubt a good coach. Could he have done a better job with the same budget that Stig has had to work with at  SDSU? We cannot ignore that question either. I dont know the answer but really wonder if he could have. I think it will take a very special person to improve our very average  past records of 4 going on 5 decades. This was the point I was making in that large discourse on another thread. I have seen way too many good coaches come and go. I do think its about lack of $$$$$$$$$$.

Recognizing that opinions different from than what I have expressed on this board are being made, I dont want to come off as a surpressor or intimidator of free speech. That I am not, but am expressing what I feel right now and will let it go at that.

I do thinkl that feelings about changes that  are needed can  best be expressed and effectively so by a written communication to the new president. I have not noticed it here, but other boards seem to feel the AD can do as he pleases, but the truth of the matter is the AD at most D1 schools have more communication with the President and the Adminstrative staff then any other department head on campus. Athletics are very important to the president.

I think it would be helpful to let the president  know how you feel about these matters. Also dont forget the $Jack CLUB$

[Haldersham]

Re: Time for a change at the top

Coach Stig being a great guy should have nothing to do with this argument.  Most coaches who get fired are great people who have had a positive impact on their players lives.  I would rather win with a jerk than lose with a "great guy".  A coaches job is not be be friend's with his players.  His job is to prepare his team to win -- and Stig is proving he's not capable of that.

Are you saying that the concept of student/athlete has no meaning and winning is the only thing that matters? So when an athlete completes his 4 years of eligiblity, and is academically only a sophomore, do we push them out the door? He may have broken every football record and won every game for SDSU, but if he has no more eligibility, what use is he? That seems to be the trend when the sole value is placed on winning.

Just this week, I visited a trust department updating some estate planning. I was dealing with this older man and this boyish looking guy, who seem to have a head on his shoulders. As our conversation progressed. I learned that this"boyish" looking guy had not only played for the Jack football team but had also completed his degree, went to law school, passed bar exam and had also practice law for a few years. He made me feel very comfortable since he could answer all my questions and was also able to grasp anything I was telling him about my affairs. To me this is what SDSU is about and this young man was the real winner, not some jock who can't read or write. Coach Stig and Coach Daly did many things right, they pushed their players academcially as well as athletically to win.

My guess is that Stig has been more of jerk to his players then he has been a friend. He wants to win more than anyone does. Its his job to win and a losing season is never what anyone wants, but I dont think we should compromise academics so some jerk other than Stig can win football games.

[rjacks21]

Re: Time for a change at the top

[quote author=rjacks21 link=1157837690/15#18 date=1157846235]Coach Stig being a great guy should have nothing to do with this argument.  Most coaches who get fired are great people who have had a positive impact on their players lives.  I would rather win with a jerk than lose with a "great guy".  A coaches job is not be be friend's with his players.  His job is to prepare his team to win -- and Stig is proving he's not capable of that.

Are you saying that the concept of student/athlete has no meaning and winning is the only thing that matters? So when an athlete completes his 4 years of eligiblity, and is academically only a sophomore, do we push them out the door? He may have broken every football record and won every game for SDSU, but if he has no more eligibility, what use is he? That seems to be the trend when the sole value is placed on winning.

Just this week, I visited a trust department updating some estate planning. I was dealing with this older man and this boyish looking guy, who seem to have a head on his shoulders. As our conversation progressed. I learned that this"boyish" looking guy had not only played for the Jack football team but had also completed his degree, went to law school, passed bar exam and had also practice law for a few years. He made me feel very comfortable since he could answer all my questions and was also able to grasp anything I was telling him about my affairs. To me this is what SDSU is about and this young man was the real winner, not some jock who can't read or write. Coach Stig and Coach Daly did many things right, they pushed their players academcially as well as athletically to win.

[/quote]

A coach can be a hard a%# and still have athletes who understand that being a "student" is part of the student athlete experience.  My point is I'm tired of Stig being a good guy as an excuse not to evaluate his performance fairly.  I was a four year starter in baseball with State and my main focus was winning every game - no excuses.  Even with this attitude I still managed to study hard and graduate and have gone on to a successful career.  College sports are about winning.  If you don't care about winning than load up on the credits and just be a student.   That's just my opinion.

[sdman]

Re: Time for a change at the top

Coach S seems like a good guy and if he can graduate his players regularily, keep them out of trouble and win half or close to half his games I think he should keep his job. But this year it is not out of the realm of possibility that we only win 1 or 2 games. We can't settle for that. As painful as this year has been for fb I sure hope men's bb is ready to step forward with a good team. I always tell myself I go to the games for the social aspect and to support my school but like most fans I want to win at least some of the games we play.