A good hire for Arizona State football and I'm about to
tell you why.
Credentials since 2001 are as follows:
• Linebackers coach and defensive coordinator at West
Virginia under current Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez.
• Defensive coordinator at Tulsa.
• Head coach at Rice in 2006. The Owls went to a bowl game
in his one year for the first time in more than 40 years.
They were 1-10 the previous year. He scrapped the
triple-option and his system worked.
• Head coach at Tulsa from 2007-2010. Three 10-win seasons.
Three bowl games. His 2010 Golden Hurricanes finished the
year ranked 24th in the AP poll. His 36-17 record was the
best winning percentage of a coach at Tulsa who was/is at
the school for more than one year since the 1940s.
• Head coach at Pittsburgh. A very average 6-6 year with a
bowl berth. He took the job on January 10. The recruiting
class was not his and he clearly was not their first
choice. A messy situation he walked into. I know he knew
what he was getting into. That doesn't mean it wasn't
messy.
Tempe is his sixth stop in 10 years. I look at that and
see a coach climbing the ladder and climbing it fast.
Every move has been vertical -- including this one.
If you're already worried about him leaving Tempe you're
only realizing what you already know, Arizona State likely
isn't a final stop career job. It should be the least of
your worries. Go ahead and spend that energy focusing on a
10-win season. Try to look through the clouds and
bitterness and see if you can work towards the Rosy red
color a little further west. Fan support plays a role in
that, believe it or not.
Look at it this way, if he's leaving on his own it will
mean he's having success here. Don't bring the Pitt 6-6
after one year argument. Dave Wannstedt didn't even resign
until December 7 (putting them behind), they hired Mike
Haywood on December 16 and he's arrested on December 31
(being let go on January 1) and Graham gets introduced on
January 10.
Not the most ideal of circumstances, but it was a step up
for
him. The opportunity arose and he jumped at it. He wasn't
afraid. Look at this track record and one can assume the
program was going to be turned around.
In his first head coaching job he hired Major Applewhite
as his offensive coordinator. After that year he left for
Alabama and is now at Texas -- same role.
In his second head coaching job he hired Guz Malzahn. Yes,
the Malzahn that won a national title last year with
Auburn and just received his first college head coaching
job on Wednesday at Arkansas State.
Graham hires talent. He surrounds himself with smart
people.
Rodriguez just raided his staff earlier this month. Graham
had hired them because he saw a bunch of guys out of a job
when Rodriguez didn't last at Michigan (remember, that
firing was after the January 1 bowl game). A January 10
hiring equals slim pickings.
In 2007 and 2008 his offenses LED the country in yards per
game.
Did I mention he came up through the ranks as a
"defensive" coach?
West Virginia went from 3-8 to 9-4 and Tulsa was 1-11 to
8-4 in years before he became defensive coordinator and
years he was. Obviously the offenses would have a big hand
in that as well but no matter how great the offense is,
you have to stop occasionally if you think you're going to
win games consistently.
There it is.
That's a good hire. Not great and didn't knock my socks
off, but let's be honest, there was a near-zero chance
that was going to happen.
Arizona State did well for them.
---
TY's Outtakes
What I learned this week…
I learned Baristas Coffee Co. is coming to the Phoenix
area in early 2012. It has been described as a
cross between Starbucks and Hooters.
I looked into it a little and I think the Hooters
comparison was generous. Wow.
Tweet of the week…
@ReggieMillerTNT: Just spoke with my neighbor
Ryan Braun, he says test is bogus, can only believe a man
for his word.. Truth will always come out..
Time will tell. The court of public opinion doesn't do a
very good job of waiting for that time.
Suggestion of the week…
I hope what he says is followed through. It is a privilege
to play a sport at the college level and those kids need
to understand that.
Arizona and Arizona State will go into the 2012 season
with new head coaches.
Arizona found their guy and Arizona State is still
searching for theirs.
Arizona's search was for the most part quiet. The public
has been given a play-by-play of Arizona State's and it
hasn't been exactly what they want to hear.
On October 10, Arizona dismissed head football coach
Mike Stoops.
Athletic Director Greg Byrne called a press conference an
hour before the dismissal became public. At the presser he
told anyone watching or listening that it was the last
time he would talk about the search until a
coach was being named.
"After today, I won't speak any more about our search
until we have a new coach," Byrne said on that day. "In
today's world of instant information a lot of times there
is a lot of information that's inaccurate that gets out
there and sometimes it's accurate. I want you to know
unless you're hearing from us and you're hearing from me,
that will be the only accurate information you can count
on."
In the 42 days that passed, we heard a few rumors and
possibilities -- even on this site --, but nothing felt
concrete and you read no reports of the job being offered.
Chris Petersen? Sure, the interest was there people said,
but it quietly went away in a hurry.
There was a New York Times
report of a meeting with Urban Meyer but
everyone knew that must be a mutual meeting of someone
Meyer knew or was being briefed about.
After that, not much.
Maybe the lack of attention had to do with the actual
season being played.
Regardless, Arizona State was not that lucky and they are
getting destroyed publicly by some for supposedly
butchering this
hire worse than Jason Garrett handles time management at
the
end of a game.
There have been different reports of who is conducting the
search, people the job has been offered to and who is on
the short list (which in my eyes at this point is a long
list because the names don't fit on my two hands).
The school has recognized the negative publicity and
tackled
it Monday in the form of a written statement.
The statement,
coming from President Michael Crow, came in the
form of an email to media members, alumni and current
students.
What I gathered from the release was Crow telling Sun
Devil fans you have spoken, and spoke loudly. We hear
you and want to let you know we are on the same page as
you. This is a time consuming process. Let us do our due
diligence and find the best possible coach to lead the
football program into the future. Give us time.
They needed to reiterate all of the above because it
hasn't been pretty over the past 10 days.
At this point it is going to take a great hire to please
Sun Devil Nation. The fans are restless.
This has to be weird coming from a media type, but I think
the best thing would be to stay tight-lipped and let
information be known when it's needed to be known -- like
when a new hire is made.
All these leaks of information, twists, turns, rejections
and follow ups with dollar amounts being tossed around is
not what fans want to hear.
They want to get their guy and look towards the future
while trying to forget the immediate past.
I definitely think a good hire can be made and a good
coach will be leading the Sun Devils next season.
It's taking time and it may take more time.
The best thing to do is not let it turn into gossip that's
the
equivalent of who Johnny is taking to the Winter Ball.
---
TY's Outtakes
What I learned this week…
We're going with the dictionary this week.
dipsomania \dip-suh-MEY-nee-uh\, noun:
An irresistible, typically periodic craving for alcoholic
drink.
Is your coach wishing the Britney Spears you grew up
gawking over a Happy Birthday over social media? I didn't
think so.
Suggestion of the week…
The more I get taken into the locker room, the more I like
coaches. Why is that? Because that's where they're real.
None of the behind a microphone and in front of a backdrop
BS we usually have to listen to.
As far as I'm concerned, LSU is the 2011 National
Champions. ... Beat Oregon, beat West Virginia, beat
defending champ Auburn, beat Alabama in the "Game of the
Century" on their field, beat Arkansas and beat Georgia.
The worst they end up is losing to the No. 2 team that
they already beat. Either play a third time or line up
the resumes like we do all year long thanks to the BCS.
I'll
take LSU's every time.
Arizona Wildcat fans should be especially thankful
this Thanksgiving week.
They hired an offensive genius who has coached a team in a
BCS game and will bring an exciting brand of football to
Tucson, the state of Arizona and the Pac-12.
1. Winner. Rodriguez has proven he can win as a
head coach. At one point in the past 10 years he was a
proven
winner as the head coach of a BCS school.
2. Experience. Rodriguez brings the experience of
winning four Big East conference titles and
two BCS game berths. He only coached in one of those
because he took the Michigan job before his team played
Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
3. Recruiting. Brady Hoke is winning with Rich
Rodriguez's players. West Virginia went 9-4 the year after
he left. It doesn't matter who is coaching, the players he
brings in give anyone a chance to win.
4. Going National. He's not afraid of recruiting
everywhere.
- Arizona ties (two are currently on the Michigan roster)
- Denard Robinson (Florida)
- Tate Forcier (San Diego, CA)
- Pat White (Alabama)
- Steve Slaton (Pennslyvania)
5. Biggest Weakness. Rodriguez addressed the
defensive coordinator position in his initial press
conference. He's not hiding from the fact that the DC is
the reason he's not in Ann Arbor anymore.
6. Offensive Guru. He's offensive. In the Pac-12,
offenses do well. You
can't be atrocious on D and win but your O can win you
games. See, Oregon.
7. Been There. Rodriguez has been around big time
football. Coaching at
Michigan will teach you a few things about culture and
expectations. There is no doubt he learned a few things
and will apply them to his future.
8. Rose Bowl. Say what? Yes, the words "Rose Bowl"
were brought up at the press
conference. I don't care if Arizona has never played in
the game. The aspirations are there -- and they should be.
9. Hunger. Rodriguez is hungry after failing in his
last job. He's not an old coach (48 years of age) and is
eager to get back to coaching kids. He wants to erase the
bad taste Michigan left in his mouth.
10. Exposure. The national media will be giving
Arizona
attention because of his past success (and failing at the
high profile Michigan). Their spring practice will be
intriguing and talked about more than it ever has before.
He's a big name. He's a splash. People around the
country and Pac-12 are going to be keeping a close eye on
Tucson.
---
TY's Outtakes
Last week I decided to make a bet with the producer -- Joe Huizenga -- of Karie & Chuck from News-Talk
92.3 KTAR-FM. If Nebraska beat Michigan I would be part of
Family Feud on their show and if Michigan beat Nebraska I
had to dedicate my Outtakes to Michigan football.
This is going to be painful but it's what one must do when
your team plays as poor as John Skelton's Sunday in San
Francisco.
What I learned this week…
The Big House is BIG. OK, yes we already knew that. I
think this puts it in perspective the best for me,
Saturday's game was the largest crowd Nebraska has ever
played in front of. Nebraska has played at Penn St., the
Rose Bowl and in the new Cowboys Stadium. Saturday trumped
them all. I have to get to a game in Ann Arbor one of
these fall Saturdays.
Tweet of the week…
@BFeldmanCBS: Hats off to Mich DC Greg
Mattison: #8 in the nation in scoring D. Last year at this
point, the Wolverines were #108.
What a difference a year makes.
Suggestion of the week…
Michigan hosts Ohio St. Saturday. This should get you
ready. ... I'm predicting a two touchdown win for Go Blue.
Dennis Erickson woke up on the morning of September 25
with a 3-1 record (1-0 in conference) after they had just
beat No. 23 ranked USC 43-22. They ran away with the game
in outscoring USC 15-0 in the final quarter.
It was the first time the Sun Devils had beaten the
Trojans in 11 tries.
Arizona State was headed back to the Top 25 after a one
week hiatus.
Things were good in Tempe. Real good.
Three wins and three losses later (not in that order) and
Erickson probably isn't waking up in the morning because I
doubt he's ever going to sleep.
This is where we are six weeks after things were good.
The 6-4 Sun Devils have to win their very winnable
remaining two home games and get some help to play in the
inaugural Pac-12 Championship game.
These two winnable games are coming off what everyone
thought was two should-have-been wins. Oh how those can
haunt a coach.
People are now calling for Erickson's job. Any type of
slip up over the next 10 days and those calls are only
going to get louder. Fire alarm loud.
Two convincing wins at home over the next 10 days and
Erickson might be able to get back to a good night's sleep
(until he realizes his squad will be headed up to Eugene
for the second time this season).
Point is, let the season play itself out. In August if
fans were told the Sun Devils were going to finish the
season 8-4 and play in the Pac-12 Championship game they
would have accepted it.
Slightly disappointed with all the pre-season hype that
surrounded this team? Sure, but it would have been
acceptable.
This team hasn't played in a bowl game since 2007. Get
real with your 10+ wins or bust ideas.
A chance at nine wins in either the conference
championship game or a bowl game and you're satisfied if
you're a Sun Devils fan.
You're upset. You should be. But take a step back and do
what Erickson and the team is doing, focus on that hated
team 90 minutes south on I-10.
---
TY's Outtakes
What I learned this week…
I learned Gabrielle Giffords is doing better than I ever
could have imagined 10 months after being shot in the
head. I thought her story on 20/20 Monday night was
incredible and I hope to continue hearing good news about
her recovery. Her strength and fight is and should be
inspiration for all of us. She is refusing to allow this
to defeat her.
Tweet of the week…
@HuskerExtraSip: Think the season's not a
grind?
Carl Pelini left work at 2:30 a.m. Monday. Back before 7.
#needanapbad
I don't mind this tweet, don't mind it at all. Big game in
Ann Arbor on Saturday. If Denard Robinson is keeping you
up at night you might as well work...
Suggestion of the week…
Is it the next big idea?
Who doesn't want to be an ice cream tester... even if it
does taste like beer.
Effective immediately Joe Paterno is out as football
coach at Penn St.
This is not about football.
This is not about anything being good. If anything, it's
bad. Terribly bad.
This is not a celebration.
This is sad.
This is the Penn St. Board of Trustees doing the right
thing. I am expecting and hoping more
dismissals will follow.
Did others do wrong along the way and should they be held
for their lack of actions? Absolutely.
This is about young boys being sexually victimized by an
adult. An adult that was in a powerful position.
Jerry Sandusky. A name I think some are looking past in
getting all caught up in the Joe Paterno fracas.
Now that Paterno is officially out of his position I hope
the story and attention turns to where it belongs.
Sandusky's disgusting criminal acts are what started and
have led to this.
Do these victims care if Paterno is on the sidelines
Saturday? What do they think as they see students parading
around Happy Valley based on these announcements? The last
thing I want to do is try to put myself in their shoes.
The focus needs to be on stopping anyone who was -- and is
-- involved in these crimes. Help these victims. Raise
awareness. Make it known this behavior is unacceptable and
the guilty will be held accountable to the highest extent
of the law.
Joe Paterno is out of his leadership role. It was the
right thing to do. As far this story is concerned, let's
move past this quickly.
Let's get back to the real issue at hand.
---
TY's Outtakes
What I learned this week…
I now know what it's like to be in the same room as a 20
foot, 200 pound python. I guess the learning was
that not all pythons are ready to bite your head off on a
moments notice. I still didn't get within 15 feet as
others were all over it.
Tweet of the week…
@PaulCalvisi: Paulie Breaking News: "AP source:
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has decided to
retire at end of the season."
With all that was going on I really didn't expect Paterno
to have any timetable about himself stepping away from the
program. I really thought he was going to have to be
forced out the entire time no matter what. We now know he
tried to hold on for the next two months but that wasn't
acceptable.
The Arizona Cardinals, with a current record of 1-6,
unfortunately have to be mentioned as a team that could
possibly end up with the No. 1 overall pick come draft
time in
April.
With the first pick comes expectations and millions of
people having their idea on who that pick should be.
This year it seems everyone is saying regardless of who
has the pick, that team should take Stanford quarterback
Andrew Luck.
I disagree.
IF the Arizona Cardinals end up with the No. 1 pick next
April they should not take Luck with the pick if
they are going to keep Kevin Kolb on the roster.
The team invested way too much money in Kolb this past
summer to give up on him after one year.
Yes, if you draft Luck you have given up on Kolb.
A team can't (or shouldn't) trade for a "franchise" QB and
give him $21 million guaranteed -- $63.5 overall -- trade
a good cornerback (DRC) and a second-round pick and put
him on the bench after one year. It's bad business and bad
investing.
You gave up -- and gave him -- a whole lot and it's the
guy you are stuck with for the foreseeable future.
Another reason not to draft Luck is because your roster is
full of holes wider than the Grand Canyon.
I don't think the QB position is one of their biggest
needs. I would much rather see a left tackle that could
protect and help Kolb's mental state when he drops back or
a guy coming off the edge with the speed of a safety and
the reach of a power forward.
Left tackles are important and have huge value in this
league as teams continue to pass more and more. The
Cardinals don't have a left tackle on their roster. They
have guys who line up and get beat down after down.
After
watching seven games I think this team can succeed with
Kolb at QB (I don't see another nine completely changing
my mind, not with all the other holes).
I only think Kolb will continue to get better (injury may
prevent that for a few weeks). Give him this entire
season, plus a full off-season and a full season with that
off-season to build off of.
With what the Cardinals did to make it happen this past
August plus their other holes, it makes the most sense.
---
TY's Outtakes
What I learned this week…
I learned Bill Plaschke doesn't get
Halloween. His writing of the Coyotes' Raffi Torres and
his wife dressing up as Jay-Z and Beyonce was
disappointing from a society view of things.
Tweet of the week…
@HuffingtonPost: You won't believe what they
found in this HUGE python's stomach (PHOTOS)
http://huff.to/vt786D
If only there were a video time lapse of this. Unreal.
Suggestion of the week…
NBA players are bored. Kevin Durant playing flag football
at Oklahoma State earlier this week. ... Four touchdowns
and three interceptions. Not bad.
Technically the NBA lockout started on July 1 when
free agents were never allowed to talk with teams, let
alone actually sign with them.
It didn't really do anything for me. Sure, I follow the
off-season acquisitions and all, but as for my grasp of
the league I didn't really care.
Now it's real. To me, the NBA lockout starts on Tuesday
when we start missing games that count. [The opening night
included Chicago at Dallas and Oklahoma City at Los
Angeles (Lakers)]
The Phoenix Suns were scheduled to play their last
preseason game this past Tuesday against the Oklahoma City
Thunder. The Suns were scheduled to host the Thunder next
Wednesday in their season opener.
I'm an average NBA fan. I enjoy watching the marquee
match-ups (especially the last 10 minutes, coincidentally
that's when the players tune in too) and I catch the
highlights of the high flyers.
Next week the World Series will be over. Next week the NBA
will not be tipping off.
I -- like many of you -- am a creature of habit.
Leaves are changing colors, pumpkins are being carved and
I'm ready for my Steve Nash-LeBron James-Kevin Durant-
Blake Griffin fix.
But -- just like you -- I'll find other ways to spend my
time. There are too many things in today's technological
world to capture my short attention span.
The NFL lockout did nothing but annoy me but it also did
exactly what I was hoping and expecting -- ended before I
really missed anything. I had skeptical optimism
for the NBA to do the same. Optimism fail.
I haven't missed the NBA yet but to me there's been
nothing to miss.
Next week when it's hockey or knock-off college football
in the middle of the week I'll start to get irritated, be
disappointed and tune out completely until Griffin or
James give me a jaw dropping, must-see dunk.
Until those dunks come I'll be spending my time on some
other habit. The NBA just better hope it's a habit I'll
want to eventually kick.
---
TY's Outtakes
What I learned this week…
Siri is as awesome as it looks...so I've heard from a
friend who recently purchased a new iPhone. I'm jealous.
Tweet of the week…
I thought this was too much ... even for the New York
Post, and that's tough to do.
@JimmyTraina: Good morning, Alex
Rodriquez
The tweet was in reference to this New York Post cover on October 21,
2011 -- the day after Moammar Gadhafi was killed.
Suggestion of the week…
What are those lights in the sky? Also, check out this slideshow.
For nine months, we talked about how brutal the
beginning of Arizona's schedule was going to be.
I don't think former head coach Mike Stoops not surviving
the season was really a thought.
The Wildcats were coming off three straight bowl seasons
and were returning one of the top quarterbacks in the
conference.
Talk turned to reality and reality was uglier than talk.
Stoops was given a pink slip and the team was 1-5 with a
12-month losing streak to FBS teams.
Thirty minutes into the post-Stoops era and 42 points were
hung on a bad UCLA team.
Let's not get carried away and realize the real Wildcats
are somewhere in between that awful losing streak and the
spectacular first half.
No way should they have ever lost to Oregon State and if
the secondary plays a tiny bit of defense they beat
USC.
The Thursday night shellacking they gave UCLA was bigger
than any of these current players can imagine. It was Pac-
12 big for their future.
This is not a last place Pac-12 South team.
Recruits will see it. Possible future coaches will too.
High school juniors and seniors sitting in their living
rooms Thursday night saw a team with potential.
Are five stars headed to Tucson? No. But neither should
two stars.
When Dan Hawkins left Colorado, they were in a terrible
place. They are and are going to be.
Arizona's not -- and won't -- be in that spot.
I don't see a bowl game in their future this December but
a solid coach and a bit of a break from the schedule
makers could put them right back in one next December.
---
TY's Outtakes
What I learned this week…
I learned that if I went to the Arizona State Fair it's
possible I could be walking by someone as they chow down
on a Maggot Melt
Sandwich. Absolutely disgusting. That's just
nasty.
Minutes after Arizona Athletic Director Greg Byrne dismissed Mike Stoops as the head football coach rumors of possible replacements began spreading faster than the Oregon Ducks offense gets up and down the field.
With all these names you get the best-case-scenario-sexy names (Chris Petersen), hot up and coming names (Kevin Sumlin), successful in the past but currently with no job names (Mike Bellotti, Butch Davis, Mike Leach, Urban Meyer, Rich Rodriguez and Jim Tressel -- wow is that list long) and the I've never heard of him so he's not going to do it for me names (Larry Fedora).
I'm not so much worried about the name Byrne brings in as I am to what system and philosophy he brings in.
It has to be a coach who is going to create an offense that will score points … and then score some more points.
In the Pac-12 teams score points as often as Kim Kardashian changes boyfriends (or now, it will be husbands).
Going into this weekend nine teams were averaging 25 points or more -- five of those are over 30. Those are Saturday afternoon shootouts. You have to be able to keep up. Your defense is unlikely to be winning you games.
This isn't just a 2011 trend either.
Name a head coach in the past 20 years who has come into the Pac-10 (now 12) with a defensive mind and been successful. I don't count Pete Carroll. He was all about putting talent on the offensive side of the ball and surrounding himself with offensive brains in the Southern California sun.
Not counting his 6-6 first year squad Carroll's teams averaged above 30 points a game until his final season, when they were just below 27. That team went 9-4.
That model is what Byrne needs to focus on. Who is going to come in and light up the brand new scoreboard? Who will get the fans excited for an entertaining offense? Who is going to bring in pure speed at the skill positions, get the ball in their hands and let them run, run and run some more?
Once he finds an answer to all of those questions he'll have found his guy. A coach who can get the Wildcats to bowls each year (just as Stoops did the past three) and occasionally make some noise in the conference championship and BCS chatter.
---
TY's Outtakes
What I learned this week…
I learned the Nebraska football team has never come back from being down 21 points ... until Saturday. I now know that because early in the third quarter the Cornhuskers trailed 27-6 against the Buckeyes. A turnover, a QB injury shortly thereafter and all the momentum led to 28 straight points and a 34-27 victory. GBR!
Tweet of the week…
Have to love Pete Carroll. Coach is always having fun. Wednesday was no different.
