Rogers to WSU - next man up

[jakejc795]

My wish list in no order:
Dan Jackson - Young and relatable to players. If he can get a quality OC and DC to do the X and O work, he would be tremendous at recruiting/fundraising/relating to players.
Zach Lujan - Would be able to keep current players, knows culture, recruiting area. Northwestern is a tough place to succeed at.
Tyler Roehl - His NDSU offenses didn't blow me away, but he knows the culture of SDSU/can mirror that to NDSU. Knows the recruiting area. Probably wants to give a little FU to NDSU for bypassing him last year. Their players were notably p!ssed off when he was not hired as HC. When you have players wanting to stick up for you, it says something.

My next list:
Josh Davis
Isaiah Jackson
Jed Stugart
Todd Hoeffner
Steve Heiden

My "seen names mentioned but don't really want" list?
Riggs - Really? A semi pro coach, a commentator, and a former NAIA/D2 position coach?
Eidsness - Used his players talents well while here to change his offense to their skill set. His only HC experience did not go well, granted SMSU is not a place anybody could really succeed at.
Meadows - I don't know... could see it going good or bad.
Moore - Quality guy and coach, but I don't know about HC material.
Bergstrom - Hasn't lit up the the world at Winona.
Brown - Interesting, because he has spent the last few years more on the Football Admin side than the coaching side. And in today's world, that is extremely important...

Isaiah Jackson is interesting, and one I haven't seen mentioned. I wonder if he'd consider returning here. It'd keep the Chandler HS chain unbroken, which raises the question of whether Jimmy might try to bring him to WSU

[jakejc795]

any thought or idea about Stig? he is FAR AND AWAY the best choice to keep as many as possible players and to keep the program in tact. i believe that even some players who are VERY strongly thinking about going with jimmy would think twice

I will leave that one at that for now.

after that there are a lot of choices that are at worst interesting and at best offer reason to believe they could keep us at the very top of the FCS mountain.

Lujan, Jackson, Josh Davis, Sluesner (or however you spell it), Eidsness- all are or have been FCS or beyond cooridinators with Stig bloodlines. i give Lujan the edge for top choice for only one reason- he has actual experience with current players and most likely makes them feel the most continued connection and therefore reason to stay

beyond that, all of them have strengths and weaknesses. my guess is Jackson is the best recruiter. Eidsness has the most experience and is the only one with HC experience. i believe he would have the support of many / all the legends of the program. he coached Ranek, Zenner, Minnet, Taryn, Sumner, Wienke, Goedert and many many more. his Jackrabbit / Stig credentials and bloodlines are top notch. also, he is at an age where he may have more desire to finally settle in one place and look to make the most of it as a final destination as opposed to looking around for something bigger and better

Riggs has unquestionable top notch football and coaching knowledge. would be an incredibly interesting hire. i would guess most or all of the top offensive players would look forward to playing for him. it is extremely hard for me to imagine he wants this level of a challenge in his life at this time. he was ready to be done coaching the Storm. a college program requires WAY WAY more time and effort
ONE BIG factor with Riggs- we would have no reason at all to think he would have any loyalty at all to the Stig way

there are other solid and interesting possibilities, but I see the above as the best options

Smith- seems like a big leap from position coach to HC
Bobbit- feels like he needs at least a little more experience

Stig as HC for a couple years could give one of these 2 the needed time to be ready to be the next HC.

i have written so many things and then deleted them. i have very little desire to carry around negative crud and dont wish to write it either. i have long feared the day would come when the NCAA would let Jacks athletics get ruined for me. I am hoping very hard that I am wrong but it feels like that day is dreadfully close. I fear we will never get an honest understanding of what has happened, but it is very very hard for me to believe that Stig and Sell are not incredibly surprised that we are looking for a new coach already. I believe the top reason that he was the anointed successor to Stig is that Stig believed that he would not be quickly out the door. what changed? for now best if I leave that at that, but if we will be just a revolving door of short term players and coaches, I will always care about SDSU and cherish a lot of great memories related to it, but I will have to find something better to do with my time

The prevailing argument I have seen against Stig is "that just delays the inevitable, so we'll be going through this again when Stig's tenure ends."

I think this has merit if the non-Stig alternative has already indicated an interest; however, it ignores the fact that it would allow time for a succession plan to be put into place. This happens all of the time when someone retires. Ideally, Stig would be able to assemble a staff that could include one of the "ideal" successors because, as you mentioned, Stig is a "known commodity" among players currently on the roster.

[mnjackrbt]

My wish list in no order:
Dan Jackson - Young and relatable to players. If he can get a quality OC and DC to do the X and O work, he would be tremendous at recruiting/fundraising/relating to players.
Zach Lujan - Would be able to keep current players, knows culture, recruiting area. Northwestern is a tough place to succeed at.
Tyler Roehl - His NDSU offenses didn't blow me away, but he knows the culture of SDSU/can mirror that to NDSU. Knows the recruiting area. Probably wants to give a little FU to NDSU for bypassing him last year. Their players were notably p!ssed off when he was not hired as HC. When you have players wanting to stick up for you, it says something.

My next list:
Josh Davis
Isaiah Jackson
Jed Stugart
Todd Hoeffner
Steve Heiden

My "seen names mentioned but don't really want" list?
Riggs - Really? A semi pro coach, a commentator, and a former NAIA/D2 position coach?
Eidsness - Used his players talents well while here to change his offense to their skill set. His only HC experience did not go well, granted SMSU is not a place anybody could really succeed at.
Meadows - I don't know... could see it going good or bad.
Moore - Quality guy and coach, but I don't know about HC material.
Bergstrom - Hasn't lit up the the world at Winona.
Brown - Interesting, because he has spent the last few years more on the Football Admin side than the coaching side. And in today's world, that is extremely important...

[Cowbell]

This whole thing sucks and the greatest fear is going back to mediocrity. The idea of "building a program" is out the window given the portal and NIL. The NCAA best get a handle on this or else many people will find something else to do on Saturdays in the Fall - and take their support and money with them.

[bigticket1]

I was impressed by his postgame interview after that game. There's also the argument that we may never have won the Natty if we judged Stig on playoff wins between 2007 and 2015.

I'm not sure how much stock to put in his playoff record necessarily, because Zim and Gaskins have mentioned that Augie fan support has been disappointing.

One hurdle for me to consider him would be whether he indicates he is going to do what Jimmy is doing and bring the entire Augie staff here. If he were to do that, I would get considerably more apprehensive about him as a viable candidate. Not because I think they're bad coaches; rather, with the exception of Paopao, Bradshaw, and Brink, their experience has been at the DII level.

I'm assuming Bergstrom would be "out" for you too, or would you make an exception because he coached with Stig?

I don't dispute that he's a good coach whose players love playing for him. Bergstrom for me is towards the lower end of the Stig tree candidates. If we want to look at coaches at that level, the Mankato State coach would make more sense to me. He's made a number of playoff runs at a school where he doesn't have a lot of resources.

[LetsGoRabbits]

any thought or idea about Stig? he is FAR AND AWAY the best choice to keep as many as possible players and to keep the program in tact. i believe that even some players who are VERY strongly thinking about going with jimmy would think twice

I will leave that one at that for now.

after that there are a lot of choices that are at worst interesting and at best offer reason to believe they could keep us at the very top of the FCS mountain.

Lujan, Jackson, Josh Davis, Sluesner (or however you spell it), Eidsness- all are or have been FCS or beyond cooridinators with Stig bloodlines. i give Lujan the edge for top choice for only one reason- he has actual experience with current players and most likely makes them feel the most continued connection and therefore reason to stay

beyond that, all of them have strengths and weaknesses. my guess is Jackson is the best recruiter. Eidsness has the most experience and is the only one with HC experience. i believe he would have the support of many / all the legends of the program. he coached Ranek, Zenner, Minnet, Taryn, Sumner, Wienke, Goedert and many many more. his Jackrabbit / Stig credentials and bloodlines are top notch. also, he is at an age where he may have more desire to finally settle in one place and look to make the most of it as a final destination as opposed to looking around for something bigger and better

Riggs has unquestionable top notch football and coaching knowledge. would be an incredibly interesting hire. i would guess most or all of the top offensive players would look forward to playing for him. it is extremely hard for me to imagine he wants this level of a challenge in his life at this time. he was ready to be done coaching the Storm. a college program requires WAY WAY more time and effort
ONE BIG factor with Riggs- we would have no reason at all to think he would have any loyalty at all to the Stig way

there are other solid and interesting possibilities, but I see the above as the best options

Smith- seems like a big leap from position coach to HC
Bobbit- feels like he needs at least a little more experience

Stig as HC for a couple years could give one of these 2 the needed time to be ready to be the next HC.

i have written so many things and then deleted them. i have very little desire to carry around negative crud and dont wish to write it either. i have long feared the day would come when the NCAA would let Jacks athletics get ruined for me. I am hoping very hard that I am wrong but it feels like that day is dreadfully close. I fear we will never get an honest understanding of what has happened, but it is very very hard for me to believe that Stig and Sell are not incredibly surprised that we are looking for a new coach already. I believe the top reason that he was the anointed successor to Stig is that Stig believed that he would not be quickly out the door. what changed? for now best if I leave that at that, but if we will be just a revolving door of short term players and coaches, I will always care about SDSU and cherish a lot of great memories related to it, but I will have to find something better to do with my time

[jakejc795]

I don't know, to me the whole OJ thing seems to be an over-reaction to a game Augie played well against us, but still lost 24-3 and got out gained by over 2 to 1.I looked at his Augie record and he's won a grand total of one playoff game in his 10 plus years there. If we're going to hire a coach from a lower level, I would want someone who at least has made some runs at a Natty, if not won some. I would wonder about his ability to put together a staff who could win at the FCS level, and just as importantly recruit beyond our 3 or 4 state area. Hiring someone because he isn't likely to leave seems like a reach we can't afford to be wrong on.

I was impressed by his postgame interview after that game. There's also the argument that we may never have won the Natty if we judged Stig on playoff wins between 2007 and 2015.

I'm not sure how much stock to put in his playoff record necessarily, because Zim and Gaskins have mentioned that Augie fan support has been disappointing.

One hurdle for me to consider him would be whether he indicates he is going to do what Jimmy is doing and bring the entire Augie staff here. If he were to do that, I would get considerably more apprehensive about him as a viable candidate. Not because I think they're bad coaches; rather, with the exception of Paopao, Bradshaw, and Brink, their experience has been at the DII level.

I'm assuming Bergstrom would be "out" for you too, or would you make an exception because he coached with Stig?

[bigticket1]

I think OJ could bring longevity that the other candidates might not, or at least wouldn't to the same extent

I don't know, to me the whole OJ thing seems to be an over-reaction to a game Augie played well against us, but still lost 24-3 and got out gained by over 2 to 1.I looked at his Augie record and he's won a grand total of one playoff game in his 10 plus years there. If we're going to hire a coach from a lower level, I would want someone who at least has made some runs at a Natty, if not won some. I would wonder about his ability to put together a staff who could win at the FCS level, and just as importantly recruit beyond our 3 or 4 state area. Hiring someone because he isn't likely to leave seems like a reach we can't afford to be wrong on.

[Grizzled_Jack]

My top 5 in order:

1. Dan Jackson
2. Kurtiss Riggs
3. Zach Lujan
4. OJ - Augie
5. Jed Stugart

Stugart is a very affable guy with his country music star persona. Think he has Lindenwood on the upswing although he got clobbered in the MIAA, undefeated in the GLVC, and mid pack in the OVC which looks weaker than the MIAA to my untrained eye. Suspect any contacts he had while at the Coo have dried up although I think he got along quite well with Stig. Concentrating on recruiting in the St Louis area so that might relate to Jacks Missouri -Arkansas running backs. Has three good ones at Lindenwood. Has kept offensive and defensive coordinators from his USF days.

[jakejc795]

Just not on the Jackson bandwagon at all, his Idaho defense didn't play that sound or disciplined. Take Smith over him anyday.

Castora and his article do make me think Augie coach wouldn't be a bad hire, Stig like stability and well-respected.

Thank you for the lead on Tanner's article. Here is the link in case anyone else is curious about it.

[jakejc795]

My top 5 in order:

1. Dan Jackson
2. Kurtiss Riggs
3. Zach Lujan
4. OJ - Augie
5. Jed Stugart

I think OJ could bring longevity that the other candidates might not, or at least wouldn't to the same extent

[jakejc795]

I would put him just below Jackson and Lujan since he doesn't have coordinator experience. But I think those three would have the advantage of making a quick connection with the current players and hopefully keep a bunch of them in Brookings.

I think I'd go Lujan, Smith, Jackson, if those are the trio being considered, but I wouldn't be overly disappointed if Jackson's recruiting acumen won out

[jakejc795]

I just don't see a Big 10 coach leaving to become Head Coach at an FCS school. But, I'm sure Christian Smith or Zach Lujan would be great. As a realist, here are my top 5 at this time:

1) Shannon Moore at Wyoming - has a number of FBS years of experience has coached TE's and Special Teams - among others.
2) Eric Eidness - a well known and respected coach
3) Luke Meadows - a well known and respected coach
4) Brian Bergstrom - Stig like coach who has FCS coordinator experience and D-II Head Coaching Experience
5) Ryan McKnight - He would bring passion and excitement to the game! And, he can fundraise and organize with the best of them!

McKnight is reportedly heading up the collective, although I suppose he could hand that off to someone like Zach Zenner, if he's interested in coaching

[73alum]

Never really thought this until the last couple days, but I have to now look at what NDSU has done to stay successful in the last 10 years or so. The Jacks with 28 years of head coaching and only 2 head coaches...if that is correct or reasonably so...the time has come where that probably will not be anymore unless incredibly lucky!!

NDSU the last 11 years that I checked...Polasek...HC, one year now, has had 10 previous years at NDSU and the last seven at FBS Iowa and Wyoming. Entz...HC 5 years and 10 total there. Klieman...HC 5 years and 10 years total there.

A number of you have talked about SD State tradition...culture etc etc. I think whoever is the next head coach needs these SD State traditions like NDSU or we will sit around for years wondering why we are not in the top 8 seeds or even in the playoffs, because who gets in the top 8 seeds consistently??? We know that answer!! Other schools just don't follow the successful traditions of the past. Big headedness comes in....I'll do it my way and the rest of you will follow...And then they are fired after unsuccessful seasons. Justin Sell has the magic wand it seems. Lets see what he can do!!!

[AZjack]

Just not on the Jackson bandwagon at all, his Idaho defense didn't play that sound or disciplined. Take Smith over him anyday.

Castora and his article do make me think Augie coach wouldn't be a bad hire, Stig like stability and well-respected.