I've decided to post a post mortem on the coaching of Dirk Koetter at ASU. I want to list all of the criticisms that I've heard and read. I don't mean to be saying that I agree with these ideas. Here is my compilation:
1. The fan support had deteriorated to the point that visiting recruits were listening to shouts for his firing.
2. His loyalty to his coaches, such as Guy and Osborne, was hurting the team, because of low performances on their parts.
3. The unusual level of injuries and serious scandals caught up to him.
4. He was unable to win over the Phoenix media.
5. Koetter was cold and arrogant.
6. He continually asked the fans to wait one more year and his years ran out way to late.
7. Koetter was 2-19 against ranked teams and unable to perform in important games.
8. He couldn't motivate the team when necessary.
9. He was 0-12 in California.
10. He couldn't close on the big recruits.
11. He set the bar too high in his final season by saying he had an embarrassment of player talent.
12. He was just a WAC coach that found himself over his head in the bigtime.
13. He was weak in disciplining the players, as evidenced by the number of penalties, etc.
14. He couldn't hold on to talent as evidenced by all the quarterbacks that left the team.
15. He never took us to a BCS bowl.
16. Boosters were willing to pay the price to bring in a big name.
When one surveys the wide range of perceived causes, one would ask why his contract was renewed the last time. Don't worry! The person who renewed his contract also selected our current coach.
One need not feel bad for our old millionaire coach, but the one thing lost in the whole scenario in this poster's opinion, was the opinion of our players toward their coach. I keep asking why these young men would want to play for a fan base such as ours: A fan base that expresses that Koetter could not recruit at the PAC-10 level. A fan base that depicts its players as unmotivated and incapable of winning the big ones. Are these truly mediocre talents that will respond to the miracle touch of Dennis Erickson? We shall all see, won't we? Tune in next year.
3 comments:
I really think that Lisa Love made her decision based on what she saw in the future versus in the past. It wasn't the 2-19 record versus ranked teams, for example, it was the lack of confidence that it would be any better next year, the year after, or ever. Similarly, it wasn't because he had NOT been to a BCS Bowl, it was the complete lack of confidence that he ever WOULD get us to a BCS Bowl in the years ahead. Consistent mediocrity will kill the program, because the Valley sports fans are too fickle to support that type of team.
Mediocrity isn't really supported anywhere in major college football. At a place like Texas or Alabama, Koetter probably wouldn't have made it out of his fourth year, and might not have made it out of his third.
Of course, the biggest schools wouldn't see such a huge flux in attendance, but I don't believe any school could suffer mostly mediocrity for 20 years and still maintain a large fan base. We need to experience a rejuvenating era of truly competitive football to rebuild the base.
Seems like au's Stoops is going about it in a different way. He is replacing assistants left and right. Koetter's perceived weakness was that he was too loyal to his. It will be interesting to see which way produces better results.
Below is an excerpt from an article by Greg Hansen of the AZ Daily Star. Link and URL below.
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"Seeking success with stability
Assistants' high turnover rate could haunt Wildcats
After his offense finished No. 115 nationally last season, Mike Stoops was ready to purge most, if not all, of his offensive coaching staff.
"Things are going to change,'' he promised. And he has delivered on that promise.
Stoops dismissed coordinator Mike Canales and did not attempt to retain proven coaches Kasey Dunn, who took a step down to go to Baylor, and receivers coach Charlie Williams, who went to North Carolina.
Meanwhile co-offensive coordinator Dana Dimel unsuccessfully sought jobs at New Mexico and Rice. Offensive line coach Eric Wolford was essentially replaced at that position while he was still playing host to promising offensive line recruit Adam Tello.
But it works both ways; Wolford was already in the cover-your-backside routine, lining up an interview at LSU and, in what should be announced this week, landed a job at woebegone Illinois. Along with linebackers coach Tim Kish — who has become, in title, Stoops' assistant head coach — Wolford was Arizona's most effective recruiter.
The final salvo was fired Wednesday when Dan Berezowitz, the UA's six-year recruiting coordinator, unaccountably quit at the most critical time of the year, taking a similar job at Minnesota.
It's unheard of for a recruiting coordinator to leave two weeks before letter-of-intent day, and it's equally rare for another school, Minnesota, to ask Berezowitz to violate the profession's unspoken code by leaving at that late date.
Can you imagine what the coaching grapevine says about working at Arizona? Proceed with caution.
Once you get a reputation as a quick-temper coach who fires people and forces them out, hiring capable assistants becomes difficult. As the UA discovered with John Mackovic, it was limited to hiring those desperate to find work, retreads and beginners who just wanted a paycheck.
Stoops' charge is to restore respectability to UA football, at which he has made progress. But respectability doesn't come without stability, which is now in short supply at Arizona."
http://azstarnet.com/sports/165537
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